Holiday cookies are the roll-and-cut canvas of the paleo baking season: a tender almond-coconut dough that stamps cleanly and bakes pale golden, ready for jam glazes and cacao piping. Crisp at the edge, buttery through the middle. Make a double batch for decorating day.
Pro Tips for Success
- Grind the palm sugar superfine first. Coarse sugar leaves grit in a dough this delicate.
- Beat the coconut oil into the flour one piece at a time until the mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet. That texture is the cookie's structure.
- Chill the discs 30 minutes until firm but malleable, then roll between parchment and chill again 10 minutes before cutting.
- Stamp the cookies close together and lift them with a thin metal spatula so the shapes stay perfect.
- Cool completely before decorating. Jam glaze and melted cacao need a cold cookie surface to set.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I decorate these cookies with?
Paleo fruit jams thinned into a glaze, or melted cacao nibs smoothed with a touch of coconut oil and coconut milk for piping.
Why is my dough cracking when I roll it?
It is too cold. Let the disc sit 5 minutes until firm but malleable, and always roll between two sheets of parchment.
Can I make these ahead?
Yes. The wrapped discs keep 3 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer, and the baked cookies hold a week in an airtight tin.
Are holiday cookies paleo?
Yes. Almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, coconut milk, palm sugar, and vanilla, with no grains or dairy.
Ingredients
Method
- 1.
- Place palm sugar in food processor and grind until superfine.
- Remove from processor and set aside in a bowl.
- 2.
- Whisk flour, palm sugar, tapioca flour, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the coconut oil into the flour mixture one piece at a time.
- Continue to beat the flour-coconut oil mixture until it looks crumbly and slightly wet.
- 3.
- Beat in the coconut milk and vanilla until the dough begins to form large clumps (about 30 seconds).
- Knead the dough in the bowl by hand a few times until it forms a large cohesive mass.
- 4.
- Transfer the dough to a clean counter and divide into two even pieces. Press each piece into a four-inch disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until the dough is firm yet malleable (about 30 minutes).
- 5.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough out between two large sheets of parchment paper to an even quarter-inch thickness. With the dough sandwiched between the parchments, slide it onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm (about 10 minutes).
- 6.
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375°F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 7.
- Working with one sheet of dough at a time, remove the top piece of parchment and stamp out cookies using cookie cutters.
- Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet with a thin metal spatula, spaced about one inch apart.
- 8.
- Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until light golden brown (about 10 minutes), rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating as desired.
- Repeat with the remaining dough using freshly lined baking sheets. DECORATING GLAZES: Use your favorite paleo jams (see Fruit Jam Recipe, page 221) as a glaze to decorate, or pipe non-dairy dark, milk, or white cacao nibs. Cacao decorating glaze can be made smooth by adding a small amount of coconut oil and coconut milk while heating to reach desired consistency.
- Heat cacao nibs in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.
