Whole Wheat Coconut Oil Cutout Cookies
I really didn’t set out to post 3 cookie recipes in a row. I wish I could say this was all part of my well-organized December Christmas blog plan, but the truth is that I just really really really like cookies, and my blog plan is determined by my tummy.
I’ve mentioned before that my family’s Christmas diet is about 90% cookies, and the other 10% is filled with various types of white bread. I guess the meat eaters also have some sort of poultry or pig, but really it’s all about the sugar and white carbs.
…so obviously I had to kind of screw that up.
Although our cookie spread will include the usual white-sugar, white flour, and butter-laden treats, some of our sugar cookie cutouts will be hiding healthy secrets. These guys are made with 100% whole wheat flour, no butter, and no refined sugars, yet are still soft, sweet, and cute as can be.
Especially if you use a Minnesota-shaped cookie cutter. Obviously.
The folks at Ziggy Marley Organics were nice enough to gift me with a lovely array of products to play with, so I replaced the butter in these cookies with coconut oil. The resulting cookies don’t taste like coconut (my crazy coconut-hating sister didn’t even notice the coconut flavor), but the smooth and rich texture of the coconut oil results in a cookie that’s light in texture, yet full of moisture and healthy fats.
Whole wheat pastry flour lends a nutty flavor, which I highlighted with a little cinnamon. Sucanat’s flavor is similar to brown sugar, but I find it’s a little sweeter, so I balanced it with a bit more salt than I’d usually use in a cookie recipe.
I actually baked these earlier today, so this marks the FASTEST I’ve ever put up a blog post. My mom, sister, and sister-in-law came over to throw around flour, butter, and powdered sugar this afternoon. Our annual Christmas baking day is one of my favorite days of the year, because it’s just the start of the family time (and cookie time) that the holidays bring. I won’t be posting again this week, so here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful and delicious holiday!
Whole Wheat Coconut Oil Cutout Cookies
Soft, light cutout cookies made with coconut oil, whole wheat flour, and no refined sugars.
Yield: Many
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, measured solid and then melted
- 3/4 cup Sucanat (See Note)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Directions:
- Beat together the coconut oil and Sucanat. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. You don't want to refrigerate it for too long, because the dough will get hard.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness, and then cut with cookie cutters.
- Place the cookies on a parchment/silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely, and then top with your favorite glaze. I used a variety of melted white chocolate, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles.
Sucanat is natural sugar cane. It has a flavor similar to brown sugar, but it's not refined. You can find it in the baking aisle of natural grocery stores.
the dough looks easy to work with. they look great!
These look delicious! I’ve been searching for a healthy roll-out cookie recipe for my little girls to use cutouts with, so I’ll be keeping this in mind. Thanks Katie!
Thank you Lauren! One of my family members (who is especially obsessed with cookies) is on a special diet with no white flour or refined sugar, and she loved these! If you try them I hope your girls love them too :)
These look fabulous!
How long do these last and how do you keep them? they look great :)
I just kept them in an airtight container with a piece of sliced bread (to keep them soft). I ate them for an entire week, which might have been pushing it, but about 4 days would probably be a good assumption?
This is a late comment, but do you beat melted (like, liquefied) coconut oil with the sugar? Usually sugar cookie recipes call for room temp butter. Just wondering.
Yes, this recipe is a little different than most sugar cookies in that you want to melt the coconut oil before beating it with the sugar. Hope that helps!
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I would love to make this recipe, but I don’t have the Sucanant right now. Would it be better to substitute organic sugar (evaporated cane juice, texture like white sugar), or refined brown sugar?
Brown sugar would be closest to the flavor of sucanat, so I would recommend that. If you want to avoid refined sugar you could probably go with organic sugar, but I haven’t tried it before. Let me know how it goes!
If only there were a substitute for confectioners’ sugar in Royal Icing to make it white sugar free for decorating cookies.
What did you use to make the icing? Is it free if refined sugar?
These were great! I used coconut sugar and they came out great. Kids loved them. Been looking for a good cookie recipe that works with clean eating. Thanks!
I made these tonight along with some skinny peanut butter cookies and these were by far my favorite. They are so yummy. I picked up a trick along the way in my baking travels where I roll my dough between two large sheets of parchment paper so I don’t have to add any unnecessary flour. It works like a charm every time. The only slight challenge with cookies made with coconut oil is the dough tends to get soft after working with it and it warms up to room temp. So I found rolling it, cutting it with cutters and placing it on a tray and then in the fridge for a few minutes to “harden” up a bit made it much easier to pick up and place on the cookie tray. I thought I’d share that for future bakers.
That’s an awesome tip! Thanks so much for the comment – really happy you liked these!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made these last night along with some skinny peanut butter cookies and these were by far our favorite. They are delicious and although I love the flavor of coconut it really was hardly detectable. I used a trick I picked up along the way on my baking journey and that is to roll the dough between two large sheets of parchment paper so you don’t have to add unnecessary flour. It makes the process easier and less messy too. I find coconut oil-based rolled dough recipes challenging as is it tends to “melt” quickly and makes picking up and retaining its shape harder. So I found rolling the dough out, pressing my cookie cutters in the dough and then putting it back in the fridge for a few minutes to “harden” up a bit easier. I thought I’d share that for any future bakers. Again, thanks for the recipe share.
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A great recipe! I put it for maybe 5 minutes in the fridge. With it being winter, it hardened up quickly just being on the kitchen table (it was freezing today!!!) I would have loved to send you a picture too.
Great recipe, will try today! Do we know how long the dough can be kept in the refrigerator, and/or if it can be frozen?
The dough gets very hard if refrigerated for too long, so I wouldn’t go much longer than 30 minutes. I also haven’t tried freezing the dough, so I can’t say if it would work. Sorry I can’t be more helpful – I’ve only made these as written. I hope you like them!
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