These Cashew Butter Cookies with chocolate chips are vegan, gluten-free and oil-free! They only require 8 ingredients, 1 bowl and require only 10 minutes prep! They are crispy on the outside and moist and fudgy on the inside!
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
CASHEW BUTTER COOKIES VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE
This recipe is for those who love cashew butter and want to make cookies specifically using cashew butter. I love cashew butter so much that I have a whole post on how to make it because I use it in so many desserts, and even savory recipes. These cashew butter cookies are inspired by my original grain-free 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies I wrote many years back, then followed by the Almond Butter Chocolate Chip version and now, a cashew version! So, don’t ask to sub with this recipe, just go to either of those if you want to use a different nut butter.
Cashew butter tastes very different than peanut butter and almond butter, as well as bakes up a bit different. It has much less oil than almond butter, so they aren’t an even swap in baking. Cashew butter has a naturally sweet, vanilla-like flavor to it. Quite amazing if you ask me! It is a whole food fat, which makes these cookies decadent and fudgy on the inside and requires no oil! I love baking without oil and you can learn all my secrets here How to Cook and Bake Without Oil!
These cookies are not overly sweet at all, since there is a good amount of chocolate chips in them. As you will see, there is a small amount of syrup with optional coconut sugar for a sweeter cookie.
HOW TO MAKE CASHEW BUTTER COOKIES
First, you will need to gather only these 8 ingredients (+salt): full recipe details and quantities are listed on the recipe card below
- raw cashew butter (Do NOT use a store-bought version with added oil or salt/sugar, etc. Oil versions taste completely different and will not bake the same!)
- superfine blanched almond flour (I like Honeyville, Nature’s Eats and and King Arthur Flour brands the best)
- superfine oat flour
- baking powder
- pure maple syrup
- unsweetened applesauce
- vanilla extract
- dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
To a large bowl, add the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, salt and coconut sugar (if using). Whisk very well, breaking up any lumps.
To the same bowl, add the cashew butter, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir for a few minutes until it comes together into a sticky and thick, cohesive batter. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, as the batter will be too sticky to roll into balls right away.
Use a cookie scoop and form about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth balls, 14 total, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced 2 inches apart.
Press each cookie down with your fingertips to 1/4 inch thick. They should retain their round shape well, but piece and smooth any edges back into the round shape as needed. If the cookies are sticking to your fingers, dampen them lightly with water.
Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 9-12 minutes, just until the edges are turning golden, as you can see in the photos. These will quickly go from baked and golden to burning on the bottom. They are done when they are puffed up some and the edges are just a light golden brown. Watch yours closely. If you chose to chill your batter overnight, they will take closer to the 12 minutes, possibly. Let them cool 10 minutes and devour!
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Almond Butter Blossoms
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Thin Mints
- Best Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Coconut Cookies (reader favorite!)
- Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Coconut Butter Gingersnaps
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Cashew Butter Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (112g) superfine blanched almond flour
- 5 tablespoons (40g) superfine oat flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons (20g) coconut sugar (optional for a sweeter cookie, I used it)
- 6 tablespoons (96g) RAW cashew butter, with no added oil/sugar (SEE NOTES)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup (80g) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon (5g) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First, you will need to make the cashew butter, unless you have a store-bought one that has no added oils/sugar/. Or if you already have a batch made, you can make them right away. See NOTES at the bottom if you don't want to use cashew butter. If making the homemade cashew butter, make sure to let it cool off before making the cookies, otherwise it will melt the chocolate chips.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, salt and coconut sugar (if using). Whisk very well, breaking up any lumps.
- To the same bowl, add the cashew butter, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir for a few minutes until it comes together into a sticky and thick, cohesive batter. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, as the batter will be too sticky to roll into balls right away. Alternatively, you can prep this batter the day before,
- After chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a pan with parchment paper.
- Use a cookie scoop and form about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth balls, 14 total, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced 2 inches apart.
- Press each cookie down with your fingertips to 1/4 inch thick. They should retain their round shape well, but piece and smooth any edges back into the round shape as needed. If the cookies are sticking to your fingers, dampen them lightly with water.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes, just until the edges are turning a light golden brown. These will quickly go from baked and golden to burning on the bottom. They are done when they are puffed up some and the edges are just a light golden brown. See pics above. If you chose to chill your batter overnight, they will take closer to 10-11 minutes, possibly.
- Cool on the pan just 5 minutes and transfer to cool completely on a cooling rack. Devour! Store cooled cookies in a sealed container or ziplock bag.
Notes
- This recipe was created specifically based on using cashew butter. If you don't want to use cashew butter, then make the recipes linked within the post that use almond butter or peanut butter that are based on this similar recipe. Those were designed for those nut butters, so make those as opposed to subbing with this one. Each nut butter performs differently in baking because of oil contents.
- For the cashew butter, it must be raw cashew butter that has no added oil/salt/sugar and isn't roasted. Roasted cashew butters in the store tend to have added oil and are much, much oilier than raw cashew butter. That will not work in this recipe and will cause the cookies to overly spread into a mess. I make my own raw cashew butter at home in 5 minutes since it is so easy and because it's so hard to find raw cashew butter in the stores. You can find how to make raw cashew butter here.
These are insanely delicious! I love my cookies soft and a bit chewy, and these were exactly that. It is 100% worth it to make your homemade cashew butter for these, since it’s so simple and easy to do. My kids loved these as well, and these are going on repeat!
Wow!!! These were so easy and incredibly delicious 😋 I’m also a lover of cashew butter so this recipe caught my eye!!
Hi I love all your cookies recipes, can I use silicone mat instead of parchment paper? 💖
Can I use date paste in place of maple syrup in these cookies??
Dear Brandi,
I made those cookies yesterday and they were fantastic! Although I made a double batch there was no time for photos, so fast were they gone.
Since I did not have “superfine blanched almond flour” I put almonds in my food processor unit they were as fine as the machine was able to.
The cookies were slightly darker than yours since the peel was also processed, but they were soooo delicious.
Best wishes from Germany 🙂
Truly amazing and delicious. I made the homemade cashew butter (followed the directions and used a food processor and it worked like a charm) and used 2 tablespoons of maple sugar because I didn’t have any coconut sugar. I had to bake mine about 13 minutes because the dough was chilled. Melt in your mouth deliciousness1
Yay, thank you for the glowing review Anne!
Brandi, This is another wonderful recipe! I always come to your website for simple, “unfailable” and delicious recipes and this is another one that earns 5-stars! I followed your recipe exactly except I just could not wait the 30 minutes to chill before baking. The batter was not at all unreasonably sticky and the cookies were still done in 12 minutes. I also tossed in a handful of chopped walnuts for an extra crunch and omega-3 nutrition. After cooling on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, the cookies were crispy on the outside, moist, buttery and ohhh so delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe and all your encouragement to those of us who keep coming back!
You are so very sweet Kathleen! Your review really made my day, thank you!!
Brandi, thus is another wonderful recipe! I always come to your website for simple, “unfailable” and delicious recipes and this is another one that earns 5-stars! I followed your recipe exactly except I just could not wait the 30 minutes to chill before baking. The batter was not at all unreasonably sticky and the cookies were still done in 12 minutes. I also tossed in a handful of chopped walnuts for an extra crunch and omega-3 nutrition. After cooling on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, the cookies were crispy on the outside, moist, buttery and ohhh so delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe and all your encouragement to those of us who keep coming back!
Just follow the directions, and you will not be disappointed.
Truly impeccable.
Hi Brandi, just curious what the difference is between this recipe and the chocolate chip cookie recipe in your cookbook? Thanks!!
Hi Delia! Oh they are quite different! The one in my book doesn’t contain oat flour or almond flour, has added molasses and is truly the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever tasted. They taste like a true classic chocolate chip cookie. They both contain cashew butter but are definitely different texture and taste wise because the recipes are very different.
These cookies were so good! I love that you used cashew butter instead of peanut butter! So much healthier!
So wonderful to hear that, thank you Maren!
I need to replace maple syrup as it is readily not available in my home country. What do you suggest for me to replace?
How about date syrup?
Agave would be the best sub for maple syrup in my recipes! Date syrup is a different consistency and not nearly as sweet, but you can always experiment if you like, I just can’t say if it would work or not. I do know agave is the best sub, both texturally and taste-wise and it’s very inexpensive.
Amazing cookies! Love all your recipes! It was fascinating to make my own cashew butter!
That is so sweet Tracy! So glad you loved these and my recipes in general, thank you!
Oh and yes, making your own cashew butter is a game changer!
Can I just say these are the PERFECT chocolate chip cookies … couldn’t believe the taste! Yum yum yum
Oh yay Dina!! Really glad you loved them so much!
I needed a little baking therapy yesterday after a really rough start to the day and these cookies were at the top of my list to try! I also got a new food processor a few months ago and hadn’t made nut butter with it yet, so I got to test it out with some homemade raw cashew butter! Brandi, these cookies are incredible!!! Downright perfect, if I say so myself. I love the crispy edges and tender, almost melt in your mouth centers. I don’t use cashew butter very often because it’s SO expensive to buy the brands without anything added to them, but this recipe reminded me just how easy and delicious it is to whip up your own. These cookies had a wonderful buttery, slightly caramel-y flavor with a great sweet + salty balance…and there was no skimping on the chocolate chips, which is highly enjoyed by everyone in my house 🙂 We each had a couple after dinner with a cup of tea and I’m really looking forward to the leftovers currently calling my name…but I’m staying strong and making breakfast first! Hope you’re having a great week so far! Also, I can’t believe it’s been one year since the release of your cookbook! It is still getting lots of love over here and we’ve acquired a good number of favorites/go-to’s! Hugs to you! xoxo
Woohoo, thank you my sweet friend for making them!! I’m ecstatic they were so perfect for you! I wasn’t kidding when I said they are Olivia’s favorite cookie, to the point that she keeps begging me to make more, hahaha! She is not like that with most cookie recipes. I think cashew butter is just so magical in comparison to other nut butters! Yes, having a great, but BUSY week, haha! Hope you are well! I still have your pancakes on my to-do list!! xoxo
Definitely don’t substitute coconut flour for the almond flour. So crumbly I might have to throw this batch out. 🙁
Oh yes, never ever use coconut flour in my recipes, especially as a sub for almond flour. The 2 are complete opposites, as almond flour yields lots of moisture (acts as oil) whereas coconut flour is 5 times as absorbent and makes things excessively dry and crumbly. Any recipe calling for almond flour needs the almond flour for the moisture. It’s just not a flour that can be subbed, particularly in my recipes since I don’t use oil, it’s key!
These are amazing! Like so many of Brandi’s recipes these are simple to make and don’t require advanced technical baking skills (good for me!). When I was making the dough they reminded me of a cookie recipe from my childhood, which I haven’t been able to recreate as vegan. The nostalgic moment of baking them was a bonus! I decided to roll the batter in parchment paper to chill, then slice them once ready for baking. I also left out the optional sugar. These cookies turned out so tasty!! I like the no-oil and reduced sugar so that my toddler can enjoy one as well. Glad I doubled the recipe from the start because these went FAST!
Thank you so much Shelley for such a fantastic review, I really appreciate it!!
These are incredible, Brandi! They turned out soft, chewy, and insanely good. Thanks for such a great recipe! You rock!
Thank you so much for making them and sharing them on Instagram Lana! So thrilled you loved these so much!
Can I sub the oat flour for coconut flour or cassava flour or just more almond flour?
Definitely not coconut flour. That stuff is extremely drying and crumbly and would ruin the cookies. I can’t speak to whether cassava would work or not since I’ve never used it. You can always try it, but I can’t guarantee it’ll work.
Is there a way of omitting or subbing something for the Oat flour?
I have peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that I linked above to another reader. Those are made with rice flour and you can sub the peanut butter with cashew butter. I’d do that as opposed to subbing the oat flour here, as they are a key ingredient the texture.
Do you know a brand of choc chips that is both dairy free and sugar free?
I’ve not tried them personally, but Lily’s makes a brand of vegan chocolate chips that are sweetened with stevia. I believe Whole Foods sells them, as well as online.
These look and sound wonderful! I know you sometimes can sub flours, any chance the almond flour can be subbed for another, perhaps all oat? Thank you! Can’t wait to bake!
Hi Sandra, for these, no, since a whole cup of almond flour is needed for the texture and moisture, it can’t really be subbed. Instead, I would make this recipe and sub the peanut butter with cashew butter! They don’t use almond flour. https://thevegan8.com/vegan-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/