Thin and Crispy Salted Almond Butter Oat Cookies
I’ve always been a thick-cookie person. Make ’em fat and chewy and a little underbaked and we are rolling in the cookie happiness.
Then I discovered the joy that is thin and crispy cookies. Somehow my sister and I got on the subject this weekend, and she reminded me about these perfectly thin and crispy cookies from Trader Joe’s. They’re light, buttery, crispy, and just so darn pop-able. Should a cookie be pop-able? I think so.
To be clear, we’re talking intentionally thin cookies. None of those flat and burnt cookies that were meant to be fat. Those have no place here.
When I set out to create my own perfectly-crispy cookie, I decided to work with oats in place of flour, partially because oats are a wholesome and gluten free alternative, but mostly because the texture is just so crucial to deliciously thin cookies. The majority of the oats get processed into flour along with the other dry ingredients (cane sugar, salt, baking soda), while the rest are left whole for a little texture variety.
The wet ingredients are a simple mix of solid coconut oil that’s creamed with salted almond butter, a flax egg, and vanilla and almond extracts. Combine dry with the wet, fold in the rest of the oats and some chocolate chips, and then let them bake into thin, lacy little cookies full of crispy flavor and chocolate.
Once they get out of the oven, you should sprinkle on a bit more sea salt. It heightens all the other buttery, almond and vanilla flavors in those little cookies.
If you tasted these, you wouldn’t believe that this recipe is completely free of butter or vegan butter, but it’s the truth. Crazy baking science craftery is at work.
Ryan ate 5 (FIVE) of these in one hour on Saturday, which is huge, since he’s not that big on sweets. There’s something about these thin little cookies that just makes you need more. You’ve been warned.
Thin and Crispy Salted Almond Butter Oat Cookies
Thin, crispy and buttery (tasting) salted almond butter and oat cookies! Vegan and gluten free.
Yield: 28 cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided (gluten free, if needed)
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
- 1/2 cup creamy salted almond butter
- 1 flax egg (see note)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (vegan, if needed)
- Sea salt, for topping
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Combine 1 1/2 cup oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor, and process until a flour forms.
- In another bowl, beat together the solid coconut oil and almond butter until creamy. Add the flax egg and extracts. Gradually add the dry ingredients, and then fold in the remaining oats and chocolate chips, if using.
- Shape 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball, and then flatten with your hand. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving as much space between cookies as possible, and bake for 9-11 minutes.
- Sprinkle with additional sea salt when you remove them from the oven. Let sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. They will be fragile while they cool, so move them carefully.
1 Flax Egg: 1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
I tried this recipe with a chicken egg, and sadly it just wasn't as good. The egg makes the cookies a little thicker, so they don't have that light and crispy texture.
Nutrition Information: Serving Size: 1 cookie, Calories: 120, Sugar: 6.9g, Sodium: 56mg, Fat: 7.4g, Saturated Fat: 4.0g, Carbs: 12.8g, Fiber: 1.2g, Protein: 2.1g
These look amazing – like you would never expect them to be a bit healthier! I definitely love a thin, not too crispy cookie, chewy and so wide like a frisbee, mmmmm. So these are right up my husband’s and my alleys!
Thank you! And yes “a bit healthier” is a good way to put it, because they’re still cookies! :)
thin and sooooo tasty looking! i just love them!
Thanks for the comment, Katrina!
These sounds delicious! I love the addition of almond butter!
Thank you! The almond butter really makes these so rich and buttery tasting. It’s magic, I tell ya.
I’m not one for salty in my sweet, but these look wonderful! Would mini chips work here, or do they have to be full size?
I’ve made them with mini and regular – both are great! You can definitely leave off the sea salt on top, too – I just like that extra salt :)
love your pictures.. so adorable how your dog looks at the cookies :) must smell good ;)
Thank you, Claudia! I think she may have been more interested in how I was standing on a table, haha :)
Can you please confirm for me that the first ingredient is oats?
Yup! Old fashioned oats.
Your ingredient list says baking soda but your directions say baking powder. Which is it?
Baking powder! Will fix now. Sorry for the confusion.
Hi! These look amazing but I never find almond butter around here, do you think peanut butter would work? Should I make any adjustments? Thanks in advance =)
I think natural peanut butter would work well! I haven’t tried it, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t turn out great.
These are really good. Mine came out a little more rounded but just as yummy I’m sure. I had a craving for a peanut butter cookie after a long bicycle ride today but we only do almond butter in our house (daughter is allergic to peanuts) so this was a good find and satisfied my craving!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for the comment!
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These are delish but mine do not come out crispy any ideas?
Interesting – do they come out thin for you?
Hi, do you know if these would be as thin and crispy without sugar or if I added honey instead? I want to make these for my diabetic mother who sometimes craves sweet and crunchy cookies.
I don’t think honey would work because it’s a liquid sweetener, whereas this recipe calls for regular cane sugar (which is a dry ingredient). I’m not knowledgeable on diabetic baking, but if you’re looking for an unrefined sugar I do think coconut sugar would work.
Hi there,
I made these in an attempt to offer my four year old a better, more natural alternative to her favorite ‘purple cookies’ (Annie’s chocolate chip cookies come in a purple wrapper). She is reluctant to even try them but my neighbors are absolutely in love with them. I’m talking, knocking on my door at 10 pm, ‘if I happen to have some leftover cookies?’. They are amazingly good. I could eat myself sick with these. The only thing is, I find it hard to roll the dough in a ball. It is so crumbly and it takes a while before the mixture sticks together. Any recommendations?
Thank you, I found my go-to cookie recipe.
I’m so glad you like these cookies – thank you for the comment! I’m not sure why the dough is so crumbly…Almond butter consistency varies greatly by brand – I usually use the Trader Joe’s brand, which is generally smoother and more liquid-y than others. Also, almond butter hardens the longer it is open, so an older container may produce a more crumbly cookie dough. Perhaps that makes a difference?
Hi Katie,
These look so great. I’m thinking to add some unsweetened coconut flakes since my husband loves coconut. Do you think I should do anything else to the flakes besides adding them in at the end in place of chocolate chips, at least for his batch? Thanks!