Deliciously Healthy Coconut Cookies That Require No Bake Time

The following post was originally featured on Eating Bird Food, part of POPSUGAR Select Fitness.

Classic no-bake cookies get a healthy upgrade with the addition of quinoa flakes. They’re the perfect sweet treat for the season. Gluten-free & vegan.

You know what makes Mondays in December better than all the other Mondays? Christmas music! I am currently jamming out to A Very She & Him Christmas and it’s making my Monday morning so much better. Mariah is next! I’m also sipping coffee . . . a HUGE cup.

Baking cookies for Christmas is one my favorite holiday traditions. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but every year the ladies in my family get together for a holiday cookie bake. We bake all morning before our family holiday celebration and bring a bunch of treats to share with everyone. There are a few cookie staples that we make year after year (like Nanny’s Crescent Cookies) but we always try out a few new recipes as well. I like to make at least one healthier option so a few years ago I revamped our recipe for the Chocolate No Bake Cookies, one of my absolute favorite holiday cookies. This year I’m doing it again . . . with the help of Ancient Harvest.

I fell in love with using quinoa flour for gluten-free baking a last year (these Quinoa Gingersnap Cookies sealed the deal) and now quinoa flour is one of my go-to flours. It works in pretty much any recipe! This year I wanted to test out quinoa flakes, which are similar to oatmeal. I immediately decided I needed a quinoa no bake cookie and went to work creating a version with quinoa flakes and desiccated coconut.

They turned out to be quite delicious . . . obviously. Peanut butter, chocolate and coconut together is never a bad thing. Am I right?

The quinoa flakes and coconut make the perfect base for the cookies. I love the added coconut flavor and the small texture of the quinoa flakes. The cookies look like little mounds and taste like chocolate macarons.

And since they’re sweetened with only coconut sugar and little maple syrup, they’re not overly sweet, which is nice this time of year when practically everything we eat is super sweet. It’s also nice because you can feel okay about having theses cookies as snack or for breakfast with coffee. Quinoa flakes are technically a breakfast food after all.

Everyone who has tried them agreed that they are flavorful, tasty and would make a great addition to a spread of holiday cookies. The best part, you don’t even have to turn on your oven to make them!

From Eating Bird Food

No-Bake Coconut Quinoa Cookies

Notes

Classic no-bake cookies get a healthy upgrade with the addition of quinoa flakes. They’re the perfect sweet treat for the holiday season. Gluten-free & vegan.

Ingredients

1½ cups Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes

1½ cups unsweetened desiccated (or shredded) coconut

½ cup coconut sugar, date sugar or other unrefined sugar

½ cup creamy almond butter or peanut butter

½ cup coconut oil, in a liquid state

½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of sea salt

Coconut flakes for topping

Directions

Combine quinoa flakes and shredded coconut in a large mixing bowl.
Add sugar, almond butter, coconut oil, almond milk, maple syrup, cocoa powder, vanilla, and sea salt in a sauce pan. Heat over low-medium heat until everything is combined and melted.
Pour chocolate mixture over the quinoa flakes and coconut. Stir until everything is well combined.
Drop dough by spoonfuls on to a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use your hands to shape the cookies into desired shapes – I like making them into little mounds. Top each with a coconut flake, if desired.
Place baking sheet in the fridge or freeze until cookies are set (about 30 minutes), then serve. Store any leftover cookies in the fridge for later.