These tasty little whole food coconut flour shortbread cookies are light and crumbly and are both gluten-free and grain-free!
I’m back at it with the coconut flour! Today, I’m testing my baking skills with these coconut flour shortbread cookies. To see why I’m ‘testing’, keep on reading!
We are getting the house ready to sell finally, so I decided I needed to make an easy recipe that didn’t make a ton of cookies and boom, this coconut flour shortbread recipe is perfect!
These coconut flour shortbread cookies have just a few ingredients and this recipe only makes 6 or 7 cookies, so that’s totally a win! I won’t have tons-o-cookies laying around to snack on (I admit, I am the one with the cookie problem in this house).
Let me tell you a few things before we get into the good stuff though, number one – these coconut flour shortbread cookies are not identical to traditional shortbread. They’re lighter, much more dry, and even a little crumbly. I blame the coconut flour for all of it, BUT they are grain-free, gluten-free, and whole food, so you can’t be too upset. Right?
And number two – coconut flour is totally strange and kinda hard to work with. It just is, so don’t fret, you’re not alone. It tested me, big time! In fact, I’m considering trying a similar recipe with almond flour instead to make some almond flour shortbread cookies, so stay tuned!
These lightly sweet little cookies are ready to eat in less than 20 minutes, so that makes me a very happy girl! And if you’re feeling frisky, you could easily alter the flavor of these coconut flour shortbread cookies by adding almond extract instead of vanilla, a pinch or two of cinnamon, or even the zest of a lemon or orange. They’re a great addition to any gluten-free, grain-free, whole food cookie lineup!
Ingredients
- 8 TBS coconut flour
- 4 TBS butter, room temperature but still solid
- 1 TBS maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, cream butter and coconut flour.
- Add maple syrup and vanilla and cream until smooth.
- Using a 1 TBS cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a lined baking sheet and gently press down on the tops of the cookies with a fork to flatten.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the pan.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? We want to see! Tag @kristineinbetween on Instagram and hashtag it #kinbetweenLike whole food baked goods? Try these whole grain blender muffins or these whole food almond flour shortbread cookies with homemade raspberry jam!
*The images in this post were updated in February of 2017. You’re in the right place!
These looks like such perfect cookies! I’m trying a gluten-free diet right now, and I have all these ingredients on hand. Will try to make time to try your recipe tomorrow. Thank you!
Thank you so much Andi and thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy them!
Hi, I just tried these cookies and have an excellent idea. I have been searching for a crust or crumble for fresh cranberries sauce that i made. This works absolutely amazing as a crust/crumble over cranberries. I buy fresh cranberries and boil them and add stevia to them as i do not like sugar. this is an excellent crust over a simple cranberry sauce recipe:) YUM. I cannot thank you enuf as I cannot eat egg or sugar or grains.. nummy!!!
That sounds delis! I haven’t made these yet, and I’m wondering if they come out crispy and crunchy, since most recipes made with coconut flour seem to be too soft. I’m guessing they came out crunchy since you used it as a crumble?
Thanks for the recipe!! They actually turned out way too sweet for me (even after reducing the honey by 25%) and not buttery enough — but they’ll be great with my morning tea!
Hi Meg, thank you so much for your feedback! I always love to hear from people who try my recipes. I wonder if you increased the butter and decreased the honey even more (by half or more) if they’d be more to your liking? If you decide to make them again, comment back and let me know how they turned out. 🙂
Thanks Kristine! I’m definitely going to try a variation on it soon — I miss the authentic shortbread I grew up on, I know the texture will never be the same but I home I can replicate the flavor!
I completely understand! Good luck! Let me know how they turn out.
Yum! I increased the butter to 5 TBS (the more the merrier) and used 2 TBS honey. They came out great. Thank you!
Hi Maggie! I am glad you enjoyed them, thank you so much for commenting! And, I totally agree about the butter. 🙂
Kristine,
How many times have you made these cookies? I just made these and they taste good, but texture stinks! I can buy the exact same thing at my local grocery store, that actually stay together BC they’ve been tested!!! So glad it only yielded 9 cookies, or else they’d wind up in my trashcan.
Hi Patty! Only a few times actually, I had the same feeling about the texture of the cookie. I’ve been making the almond flour version recently and the texture is much better! https://kristineinbetween.com/almond-flour-shortbread-cookies/
Hello Kristine your cookies looks amazing and I love the simply recipe, my were too fragile and crumbly it was hard to get them in one piece of the plate, I put some eggs (first one then two) and now they keep their shape. How did you get such a cookie without using eggs? with love Daisy
Hi Daisy! Mine were fragile too, though not quite as much as what you’re describing. I didn’t make any other modifications, but I’ve seen some other people try using more butter. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! Have a great day!
I had the same problem! I did use stick margarine instead of butter to make them dairy-free, but I am surprised that alone would make such a significant difference. They weren’t just fragile—they crumbled to powdery bits when I tried to pick them up. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for me!
Mmmm these were excellent. Surprised they turned out this well with minimal ingredients. I used 5 TBS of kerry gold butter & a dropper of liquid vanilla stevia. I also used a bit (only 1/4 tsp bc unsure) of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Next time I’m going to increase spices to 1/2 tsp. Thinking about using these as a topping on my coconut ice cream. Mmmm!
Hi Jaclyn! Thank you so much, I’m really glad you enjoyed them. I love your idea of using them over ice cream, that sounds delicious! 🙂
Mine melted on the pan.. Still a yummy thing but just one big pancake. I used coconut oil and only 1tbs honey. I forgot to melt the oil first, would that be why?
Oh no! It sure could be, coconut oil can be tricky. Here in Arizona mine stays melted even in the cabinet! Thank you for sharing your comment! 🙂
So glad to hear that all the pups and mum are doing well!!! The photo of them is fab, makes my heart melt!Oh, almost forgot, your card is fab too!Take care,hugsMaarit
If melted doesn’t do it I’ll try ghee. Me and my 2yr old had a blast making these, great one for doing with little kids!
Ghee is a great idea too! Write back and let me know how it goes! I agree about little ones, it’s great for hands on fun! 🙂
I tried it with the ghee, and being more careful with measurements. Pre melted the ghee. They kept shape this time but I didn’t like them, they squished away and were all oily and the texture was weird, they were hard to swallow and I had to drink water to get them down my throat. I dunno, they didn’t look anything like your ones on that picture, maybe the flour i have is too corse? I might do some experimenting with stuff and other recipes. Maybe our ideas of shortbread are too different, I was thinking of the crummy creamy kind of crisp but melty biscuits.. Maybe that’s just not something to be obtained gluten free? I dunno, we had fun though 😛
Bummer! Mine were definitely crummy, crunchy, and dry. I just used coconut flour from Sprouts, nothing fancy. There’s also that element of being GF too though, they’re definitely not the same as traditional shortbread. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you. I hope you find something that works! Feel free to come back and share it with us when you do! 🙂
I just made these, followed the directions exactly, and used maple syrup and regular old butter. After I mixed everything together the dough had the consistency of sand, and would not stick together at all. I mixed in an egg to a double batch and was able to form balls, although they were very crumbly. They baked fine, held their shape, and now that they’ve cooled off they hold together alright but are still very, very crumbly. They have a nice buttery taste but otherwise are nothing like shortbread at all. 🙂 Not a bad tasting cookie, but very dry. Definitely need a drink with these.
I also followed the recipe exatly and it is just dry crumbles. I guess I will add an egg?
Thanks for this nice easy to follow recipe! As I am trying to avoid using dairy, I used coconut oil (melted). I added only 1 tbs of mapple sirop and also some blueberries and pine nuts. It worked out just fine. In my opinion, these cookies taste rather close to the shortbread with added benefit of high fiber content (6.5 g per cookie!) and sans saturated fat from butter (replaced by healthy saturated medium chain fatty acids from virgin coconut oil). I will definitely make these cookies again 🙂 Thank you 🙂
Great post, Finbarr! Very good take on it and I love your perspective from Northern Ireland. Sending this to my family back home. And…..wanna share it with Say Kimchi News?
These we’re sooo surprisingly yummy!! I used your exact recipe with coconut oil and extra lemon zest. I think next time I’ll see how it turns out with one egg for binding and moisture. Mine stayed together well. I let them cool for five minutes. Now I have something to make with the extra coconut flour in the pantry! Yaaaay! 🙂 😉
I just baked these. I’m not trying to be negative, but honestly they were less than great….. I used coconut four, 2 TBS honey, vanilla, coconut oil. They were really dry and had a strange texture and taste. I followed the recipe.
Hi S! I appreciate your honesty and I’m sorry you weren’t a huge fan of these cookies. I’m glad you stopped by though and hope you find something you like better next time! Have a great day!
I have just made these and the are currently in the oven. Hope the term out right this is my trial run for little Christmas gifts. Thanks so much for the recipe.
From
Daisy
Surrey, United kingdom
These are great! I made two batches, one with lemon essence and another with some almond meal and vanilla essence. I found adding extra butter gave them a smoother texture.
Those sound delicious Katie! Thank you so much for stopping by to share! Happy holidays!
Made these today with coconut oil (we are dairy free). They tasted lovely but really stuck in our throats and we all had to have a glass of water to get them down. Not sure how to fix that!
Hi Jessica! Oh my gosh, I know exactly what you mean. I’m not sure what the answer is either, I find that a lot of things I make with coconut flour are this way…maybe it’s the flour? Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! Happy New Year!
LOVE! Thank you so much!
Hi Trina! So glad you liked them! Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!
Hi Kristine! I was so excited to try the recipe that I jumped right in and whipped up a double batch!
The first batch was, as you mentioned in comments, crumbly and kind of dry so in the second half i mixed in a “flaxseed egg”, and they were amazing!
The flax held more moisture and helped with the buttery “shortbread” texture.
Thanks for the inspiration!
In wellness,
Nicole
Hi Nicole! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! Great idea with the flaxseed egg; so glad to hear it improved the texture! Have a wonderful weekend!
I made these a few months ago, and they were fabulous! Thank you!
Tonight, I used them as a base for….something? lol I wanted to make them, but I am watching my calories and macros fairly closely, so I needed more carbs. But, I couldn’t have two because then I’d go over my calories…..I ended up with much less butter, some applesauce, a little more maple syrup, and added some cocoa….it’s a completely different thing! Still good, though, so thanks for that, too!
I don’t understand- if you shape them into balls and they don’t spread when they bake, how do they form flat cookies like in your photo?
I followed all the directions, but they came out as balls, and I’m afraid the insides didn’t get cooked. When do I flatten them?
Hi Bethers, in step #3 it says to roll the cookies into balls and to gently press down on the tops of them with a fork (like you would for a peanut butter cookie). Hope this helps! 🙂
Hey!
Great recipe, I’ve made these this evening. However, they seemed to be super dry in texture – any ideas how to change this? Tasted great though!!
Sarah
Hi Sarah! Yes, several people have said the same thing. Another reader said she used slightly more butter and that improved the texture and someone else suggested adding an egg (but then it really isn’t a shortbread cookie anymore lol). If you find something that works, please write again and tell us! 🙂
Just wanted to say thanks for this simple little cookie recipe!!! Hubby and I are on a 21 day detox diet. This is Day 8…wanting something sweet SO badly. Made w/coconut oil, and although a bit dry, you wouldn’t believe how happy these made us 😀 Daughter liked them, too. Thank you! Happy clean cooking!
Hi Winter! I know, mine were dry too, but I’m glad they hit the spot! Thank you for taking the time to comment 🙂
I tried this recipe using 6T coconut flour, 4T melted coconut oil, 2T honey and 1/4t almond extract. The resulting mix was goopy and unshapeable. It took several extra T of coconut flour to get the right consistency. The cookies started to burn before 8 min. The flavor of the cookie is alright, but the consistency was unmanageable without something to wash it down. Please advise.
Was excited to try this recipe, but unfortunately when I made it as shown, the cookies were really inedible. Actually, slightly dangerous to eat, as they were so dry they stuck in my throat and made me choke. I think the comments above indicate more butter is required, perhaps thats the secret for these?
I attempted to make these cookies but they just fell apart. I don’t know what I did wrong. I used the exact measurements that the recipe called for 🙁 what did I do wrong?
After looking at the eariler comments, I guess I should have used more butter 🙂
Hi Kristine,
Can you please tell me what is flaxseed eggs. Is it the same as flaxmeal?
Thank you.
Mei
To substitute eggs try 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed in 3 tablespoons of water for each egg. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will gel up a bit.
Cononut flour is sooo DRY…how it can soak up a half a stick of butter and still taste like cardboard..the mind, it boggles 🙁
I added lemon zest and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Can you tell me… Level or heaped tablespoons of coconut flour
These turned out really dry…not sure what I did wrong…followed recipe exact 🙁 I will try again with extra butter and honey.
I just made these with butter, one egg, cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla, honey and two drops of maple flavoring. I also added a few chopped almonds! They are still warm and I can’t stay away from them! Would be great crumbled on yogurt or even used as a crust for pie! YUM!!
I just made these with some modifications – I used 5 TBS Kerrygold butter, added 1 egg and used 1/2 tsp vanilla and used 3 TBS coconut sugar for it’s low glycemic index. They were still very crumbly but pretty tasty. They were much easier to eat with an ice cold glass of almond milk! Knowing how coconut flour behaves I would use 2 eggs next time and maybe a little more sugar, but that’s just for my taste. Thanks for the recipe! I look forward to playing with it some more to make different flavors
I made these a couple of days ago and added an extra tbsp of butter as one of the commenters suggested. These were so dry that my boyfriend and I couldn’t really swallow without water after every bite. They were almost powdery in my mouth. I wonder if the brand of coconut flour matters.
I am new to clean eating but I liked the texture of these cookies; it lends to mindful eating, allowing me to slow down and enjoy the cookie! I doubled the recipe but used 4 Tbs of Cocout MANNA and 4 Tbs of butter. I added 1/2 tsp of lemon juice. My tiny chef (daughter) enjoyed shaping the dough.
I also experimented with a thumbprint and added a tiny spoonful of strawberry preserves in the center of a few of them, which added a little juicy moisture. Yum!
My tiny chef and I will make these again!
I made your recipe exactly except only 1/2 tbsp honey and instead of baking them I rolled them into cookie shapes and refrigerated them 😀
The are so good, shortbread cookie dough bites anyone? lol 🙂
I made these over the weekend and I am addicted. They are wonderful. I also made them with honey. I can not even taste the honey. I also paniced b/c I could not remember where I saved the recipe. Def. a keeper. Thanks for sharing and keep baking healthy paleo treats. I am always willing to try a new recipe. Thanks again!!
Amazing taste but a little too dry for me. I’ll try egg next time. Thanks!
Awesome recipe! I doubled the recipe since the original only yields 6 cookies. In addition I tweaked a few things per comments left prior: I did 1/2 butter, 1/2 coconut oil (extra virgin)-+ 2 extra TBS. Used Vanilla Bean Paste instead of extract, Honey, and also added 2 eggs. Had to add a little extra coconut flour to form the balls, but turned out great! Will definitely make again, and possibly try adding peanut butter or using almond flour?
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them! One question: I can’t eat honey or syrup because I’m on the candida diet. Stevia is pretty much the only sweet thing I can have right now. Can I use it as a substitute? If so, what measurement should I use?
Hello! Thx for posting this recipe- Im excited to try it out.
Would you happen to know the macros as I log mine in daily?
Protein/Fat/Carbs- please please!!
Assuming you use butter and 2 tbsp of honey for this recipe, there are:
8 g protein
55 g fat
34 g carb
And 700 calories, for 6 cookies.
I did it today, it is good to me.
Although the dough is a bit dry (everyone who has made something with coconut flour knows, this flour is sneaky. You add fluid in, it seems fine. A while after, what is this sand like mixture?) I added a few teaspoon to form a shapable dough (like what you do with pie crust) and it turned out well:)
These are really good!!! In my experience coconut flour can be tricky and very dry. I doubled the recipe and added 1/2 cup PB, 2 Tbs maple extract, 1/2 cup almond/cocnut milk and a pinch of salt. Baked for 15 min. Delicious…crispy on the outside and moist in the center. Thank you for the recipe!!!
I have been making these cookies for months now and love them. I use coconut oil instead of butter and I add 2 tbsp of unsweetened coconut as well. Yes they are dry but so delicious. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Can this dough be used with cookie cutters?
I’m on an anti-Candida diet and these cookies fit perfectly into my eating plan! I made a double batch of these, and added 2 eggs, 1 tsp. of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 tsp. of xantham gum. I combined the dry ingredients first, and then added the wet ingredients. The cookies turned out fine, and didn’t crumble any more than other gluten free cookies. I’m definitely going to keep this as a base recipe and experiment more with it.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I wanted a simple & healthy cookie that my daughter and I could make, this was perfect. I added chia seeds and Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes on the top to give it a little more oomph!
I made these. I even baked them past the 10 mins, but they still crumbled when I tried to pick them up. Any ideas?
Also, I’m not supposed to consume sugar. Is the honey a must? Can I sub anything?
These cookies are super yummy! Pretty sweet, but I think they are the perfect snack if you are on a paleo or gluten free diet. Thanks for the recipe! 😉
Can I leave out the sweetener?
I love this recipe!! With almond extract it reminds me of a bear claw. Yum! I took a batch, and rolled it in some croissant dough. A little dry, but Yum!
Pretty good cookie. I used 1 tablespoon honey and mixed it and the almond extract with the 5 tablespoons of butter before adding to the coconut flour. I used my 1/2 tablespoon measure to make each cookie and I got a Baker’s dozen. I put 1/2 tablespoon of flaked coconut into the cup that I had mixed the butter, honey and extract in and mixed until I got some of the leftover mixture onto the coconut and placed a bit on each cookie before I baked them. I am very pleased with the result. They do seem a bit salty so I think next time I will try coconut oil, since I used salted butter this time. I may also try coconut extract instead also. (I figured out there are 2.1 gms carbs in each cookie.) We are counting carbs to keep my husbands diabetes under control.
I just made homemade coconut milk today from fresh coconuts (SO GOOD!) and now I have all of this coconut flour to use. These look like such an amazing way to use some of it! I’m really excited to make them 😀
I’m sorry, but these are gross cookies. The dough, is very crumbly and doesn’t flatten at all. Then the cookies themselves just taste blah and the coconut flour is so thick in your mouth and throat. Sorry to leave a negative comment but I was very disappointed with this cookie. The only upside is that it used a small amount of ingredients so I didn’t waste time or money really in trying them out. I understand that coconut flour doesn’t have the same qualities as wheat and other flours, but I’ve tasted much better alternative cookies that is for sure.
Hi. Are there any other types of “healthy” flour I can use (e.g. gluten free, rice, garbanzo, etc.). I wish I had had this recipe before. I never could find a good use for a significant amount of coconut flour and ended up giving it away (I just moved). Thanks for the option.
Hi Stephanie! I haven’t tried it with any other flours, but I think you could. Let me know if you have any success! 🙂
Mine turned out tasteless, dry, and really crumbley
This popped up on my Pinterest feed this morning. Since I had some time before work and all the ingredients, I headed to the kitchen a threw a batch in the oven right away. They came right together and smell great. Am looking forward to tasting them later!
I made them today. After I mixed all the ingredients I felt like they lacked some binding, so I added half of a mashed banana. This was a great idea! Surely they didn’t look or taste like regular cookies, but they were great anyway.
Can I skip the honey and use something different, or more butter? I’m not a fan of honey :/
Hi Hannah, you could probably omit it all together (but the won’t be sweet at all) or substitute another sweetener like maple syrup or agave if you prefer one of those.
I pinned these and was so excited to try them. Simple recipe without a lot of ingredients. I was disappointed at how poorly they turned out. I followed the recipe exactly. They were somehow both really runny (couldn’t form a ball, it was more batter than paste even after giving the coconut flour 5 minutes to absorb the liquid) and extremely dry and crumbly when baked up. I couldn’t breathe for a full minute after eating one of them! No joke. I continued to search and a comment on another post stated that it is extremely important to sift into your measuring cup/spoon and not scoop coconut flour. Every time! I decided to try your recipe again. So glad I did. It was delicious and baked up perfectly. I used coconut oil, maple syrup and almond extract each time. Unfortunately, it is such a simple recipe, I keep coming back to it and now have dessert more often than I should. (I make half a batch at a time so I can have fresh ones often.)
Comment on an old article, but had to post about it.
My wife is on a low carb diet, and I’d made cookies similar to this in the past…but they always came out too crumbly to even get off the cookie sheet…but she still really liked them.
This time, however, I substituted out 2 tbsp of the coconut flour for 1 tbsp of almond flour and 1 tbsp of tigernut flour.
They came out beautifully. I used a little over 1 tbsp of syrup for the sweetener, but it didn’t even need that much sweetness. Just came out so tasty and moist.
So, just a note on a tasty substitution for this!
Love this recipe !!! I did make a number of changes to adapt to my diet. I bake low carb, gluten free and with protein powder. I doubled the recipe and added 2 scoops of Nutralean Whey protein to the recipe, I also increased the butter by adding an extra 1/4 cup of butter My choice of Maple syrup was Walden Farms Maple Syrup (sugar free and no Carbs). I also added for the flavoring Lorann Gourmet Butter Vanilla syrup and OMG !!!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
These look delicious and easy. I’ve just made a batch only I struggled to get six cookies out of the mix. How many is this supposed to make? Thank you! X
Hi Kristine,
I love baking too, but I have to eat low carb goods. I added almond essence to the biscuits and some spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a pinch of mixed spice. I also made the cookie with 51/2 tablespoons butter and 6 tablespoons coconut flour. I added 2 tablespoons, honey. I baked it in a low oven for a crispier cookie. The flavours were lovely spicy and buttery. The cookie is soft and crumbly but overall not a bad recipe.
Hi Rehana! Your cookies sound delicious! I love hearing how people modify and change my recipes and make them even better! I’m a HUGE fan of adding spices to cookies, especially this time of year! Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to leave a comment and share your recipe modifications! 🙂
These hit the spot. I just need a bit of sweetness every so often.
The taste was light and slightly sweet and buttery. yum! They were light and very fragile, but I only got 7 cookies out of my batch, I will try to make them smaller next time and I think I would have less trouble with them crumbling. More bite-size.
Coconut flour does have a tendency to be dry. I find a creamy ingredient often helps, like maybe a bit of cream cheese. Otherwise, a big glass of milk or a cup of tea. 😀
I also love someone’s suggestion of some cinnamon spice added that might be nice too.
Thanks for sharing.