Grain-free Chocolate Mint Cookies
gluten-free | grain-free | dairy-free | tree nut free | refined sugar free
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | April 25, 2024
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These cookies surprised me in more ways than one! I started off with the intentions of making a low sugar, anti-inflammatory cookie that was delicious enough so I could actually enjoy eating it. What these grain-free chocolate mint cookies turned out being was a delightfully sweet, chocolate flavored, minty cookie! They were so good I decided I would write down the recipe (not something I always do…) and share it as a pioneer recipe. These cookies are super easy to whip up in the homestead kitchen and are the perfect recipe when you need an allergy-friendly, low-inflammation sweet treat to enjoy or share!
Pioneer Recipe
These cookies qualify as a pioneer recipe because of how simple they are to make and their wholesome ingredients! While I don’t think the early pioneers made too many chocolate cookies, they did make other cookies that would have had to been made with simple, natural ingredients. I followed the same principles when creating this recipe!
There’s not much you have to do to make these cookies…. melt some coconut oil, combine all the ingredients, and bake the cookies. They’re just that simple! You can literally whip them up in minutes and have a fresh batch of cookies coming out of the oven in no time at all!
As for the wholesome ingredients, just about every ingredient in these cookies is all-natural and contain some health benefits in their raw states. I used two simple, grain-free flours and the healthier, raw form of cocoa powder (cacao powder). The sugars are kept to a minimum in these cookies without sacrificing their sweet taste. Using coconut oil in these cookies makes them dairy-free and incorporates in some healthy fats. And lastly, the chocolate chips are dairy-free and sugar free!
When it comes to a healthy, easy cookie, these grain-free chocolate mint cookies hit the nail on the head!
The Challenge: An Anti-Inflammatory Cookie…
My absolute favorite cookies in the whole world are these peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I always have to have a stash of these in my freezer at all times. They are like my comfort food. However, occasionally Anna and I decide to be a little more strict about the sugars and grains in our diet, especially if we know our immune systems may be suppressed or we notice we are eating more inflammatory foods than we should.
When we first went on an anti-inflammatory diet a few years ago, we were very strict with what we could eat. It was basically just meat and vegetables. As our inflammation symptoms decreased, we were able to incorporate in some grain-free flours, oats, and healthy sugars. As we continued to stay in good health, we began taking more liberties with our diet.
While we still stayed within the gluten-free zone we found that we were being a little slack in monitoring sugar consumption (especially cane sugar) and were allowing a little too much gluten-free flours into our supposedly ‘grain-free’ diet.
That’s when we decided to try and go back to cleaner eating. Thus I chose to give up my favorite peanut butter oatmeal cookies… but just for a little while. If I could at least balance out those cookies with another delicious, anti-inflammatory cookie recipe, then I could make a compromise.
And that’s how these grain-free chocolate mint cookies were born! I wanted to create a cookie that was low in sugar, grain-free, but still tasted delicious!
The Process: Making Low-Sugar Cookies…
When I was trying to come up with a low sugar, grain-free cookie I was running short on ideas. I sifted through a bunch of different cookie flavors but none were really sounding all that feasible of making into a low sugar but still tasty cookie recipe.
Finally, I decided to just start throwing some ingredients in a bowl and see where that took me. Since we were running low on butter at the time, I decided to use coconut oil as my oil/fat base, with the risk of the coconut flavor overpowering the cookies. I also decided to use tapioca flour and coconut flour as my grain-free flours.
For my sweetener I figured out that if I used a 1/2 cup of maple syrup and made at least 18-24 dozen cookies, the grams of sugar in one cookie would figure to around 3-5 grams. Not bad as far as I was concerned.
After combining those ingredients, I threw in some eggs to help the cookies stay together, some baking powder to give them some rise, and some vanilla extract because I hadn’t quite decided what flavor I wanted to make.
As I was standing there staring at my not-so-yummy-looking cookie batter, I thought, well, why not add some cacao powder for chocolate cookies. When I was in the cupboard getting the cacao powder I saw some mint extract. That was just the ingredient I needed! Throw in some sugar-free chocolate chips as well and I was on my way to some delicious cookies!
The Results: Grain-free Chocolate Mint Cookies…
Once I had my batter all set, it was time to see how they baked up. There’s always that anticipation of whether or not the cookies will be flat and run together, stay in the shape of a clump of batter, or flatten and rise a little to form the perfect cookie shape.
These cookies did the latter and ended up being perfect chocolate mint cookies!
The second test came when I taste tested one. They passed the taste test too! No coconut flavor from the coconut oil, just the perfect sweetness despite being low in sugar, and an amazing chocolate minty flavor! Not to mention the occasional soft chocolate chip that just added to the texture!
So what started off as an experiment ended up being recipe worthy! I am happy to say that these chocolate cookies are:
- grain-free
- gluten-free
- tree nut free
- naturally sweetened
- dairy-free
- corn free
- contain only 3-5 grams of sugar per cookie
- use all natural ingredients
For an egg free chocolate cookie recipe, make sure you check out these grain-free double chocolate cookies!
Grain-free Cookie Recipe Tips
These cookies were so good that I had to make them a second time before I even shared the recipe with you! When you make a new recipe a second time it always helps iron out any little mishaps or accidents in the recipe. Luckily, these cookies turned out the second time just as good as they were the first time! However, I did take a few notes to help ensure that your cookies turn out just the same as mine:
- Batter Too Moist– If the batter seems too moist after you mix together all the ingredients, let it set for 2-3 minutes. The coconut flour will absorb some of the moisture so that when you place the cookies on the baking sheet they don’t flatten out (unless you like flat cookies).
- Egg Size– The eggs I used were large to extra large size. If you use medium eggs it shouldn’t matter too much.
- Natural Sweetener– Honey can also be used in place of the maple syrup in this recipe.
- Butter Option– Butter can be used instead of coconut oil if you are not dairy-free, just make sure you melt the butter completely.
- Cocoa or Cacao– Cocoa powder can be used instead of cacao powder.
- Heating– Make sure the coconut oil/maple syrup mixture doesn’t boil, the coconut oil just needs to be melted.
- Room Temp Eggs– Room temperature eggs work best in this recipe since you are combining them with the warm coconut oil/maple syrup mixture.
You will never know these chocolate mint cookies are low in sugar and healthy for you! The combination of grain-free flours gives these cookies just the right texture and the combination of cacao and mint creates the perfect flavor. I know I’ll definitely be using these cookies as a low sugar substitute for my favorite peanut butter oatmeal cookies (on occasion)!
Grain-free Chocolate Mint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. mint extract
- 2 large organic, pasture-raised eggs room temp.
- 1/2 cup Lily's Sweets dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with unbleached parchment paper.
- On the stovetop, combine the coconut oil and maple syrup in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until the coconut oil has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the tapioca flour, coconut flour, cacao powder, and baking powder. Mix to combine. Add the vanilla extract, mint extract, and eggs. Give it a brief stir.
- Add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup and stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. You may need to let the batter rest for 2-3 minutes so that it gets thicker.
- Place heaping tablespoon size dollops of the batter on the cookie sheets, fitting about a dozen cookies per sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
- Optional: As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press additional chocolate chips into the cookies and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
- Cool for 2 minutes before removing to a rack to finish cooling. Enjoy warm or cooled! Store leftover cookies in airtight container at room temperature (5-7 days) or in the freezer.
Where to Find the Ingredients
- Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- Nutiva coconut oil
- Anthony’s organic coconut flour
- Navitas cacao powder
- Organic mint extract
- Vanilla extract
- Lily’s Sweets chocolate chips
- Otto’s Naturals baking powder
- Supplies: parchment paper
These grain-free chocolate mint cookies are the perfect dessert to have on hand for when you need a low sugar treat! They are actually surprisingly sweet and have the most amazing chocolate minty flavor. You can make them with simple ingredients that you may already have on hand in your homestead pantry. I find that these cookies are the perfect recipe when I need to bring a sweet treat to share with folks who are dairy-free and gluten-free. Dairy-free cookies that actually taste good can be hard to come by…. but this recipe is full of natural ingredients that anyone can enjoy!
Making simple, healthy recipes like these cookies is my goal as I learn how to bake like a modern pioneer. Join our modern pioneer community as we learn to not only to bake wholesomely, but to live a more sustainable, self-reliant lifestyle too!
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