These Easy Paleo SunButter Cookies are naturally green with no hidden veggies. With only 6 ingredients they are easy and delicious! Gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and naturally sweetened.
These cookies are so fun! SunButter naturally turns green when baking- the chlorogenic acid (chlorophyll) in the sunflower seeds reacts with the baking soda causing the green color. The color doesn't affect their taste at all so you don't have to worry about that. This makes these cookies perfect for St. Patricks Day or even Christmas and you can call them Grinch cookies.
I used to make a version of these when I was younger. Peanut butter, white sugar and an egg. A classic most people have made. I swapped out the peanut butter for SunButter and used maple syrup to sweeten them. Since the maple syrup adds some moisture, I added a little coconut flour. They came out amazing! A little crunch on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside.
Naturally Sweetened and Nut Free
Since I'm using my favorite No Sugar Added SunButter, they are completely sweetened with maple syrup. It also makes them nut free, so I used some coconut flour instead of almond. It worked great and you only need a little. The texture of these is so perfect! They don't flatten too much and aren't cakey either.
These are just as good as the traditional version- actually better! I know you will love them! They are so easy to make. Something I felt was important. I remade these over and over until they were perfect with as few ingredients as possible. You most likely have all the ingredients already and the most time consuming part is letting the dough chill for an hour.
These are low FODMAP as long as you stick to just a couple. Coconut flour is a limit food, but everything else is approved. Enjoy!
If you really don't want them green then you can use a half the amount of baking soda. If you're looking for another green recipe, you can make this Paleo Low Carb Nut Free Bread and use baking soda and leave out the vinegar. It will turn green on the inside.
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Easy Paleo SunButter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup no sugar added SunButter
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup dairy free mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine SunButter, maple syrup and the eggs. Mix well. Add in the salt, coconut flour, and baking soda. Mix until no dry spots remain. Fold in the chocolate chips if using.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour or over night.
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Scoop 1 tablespoon balls onto the sheet tray. Roll between palms to get smooth and press down slightly. You should get about 19 cookies.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool to get the inside to turn green.
Jen says
Love these but they don’t love me. Would a different nut/seed butter give the same results?
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Jen- unfortunately sunflower seed butter is the only nut butter that works like this. Are you sure it's that and not the coconut flour?
Jennifer says
Positive, I used regular flour. The Sunflower made me horribly gassy. I'll play with maybe a combination of "butters". Never know maybe some sourdough starter as well. I love these and want to truly enjoy them to the fullest.
Jessica DeMay says
I'm sorry about that. It does sound like its the sunbutter causing the issue. Unfortunately there is no other nut butter that has this reaction. You could use pumpkin seed butter for a green cookie, but that starts green as well.
Bola Mac Canna says
Hi there, just wondered if this recipe would work with almond flour instead?
Jessica DeMay says
Yes, but you'll need 3 times the amount which is 1 cup 2 tablespoons. Hope you try them!
michelle ray says
i made a version of these on my own, and discovered the amazing green inside! i looked up some recipes to learn about what caused it. ive had varying degrees of green and wondering does more b. soda = more green? does it matter how or when the different ingredients are added? does the freshness of the sunbutter make a difference? i havent changed my recipe or ingredients, but last two times they were not as green as first time.
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Michelle- the freshness of the baking soda can really make a difference. Also, the longer they sit the more green they will turn. So the next day they should be much more green I haven't noticed if the freshness of the sunbutter makes a difference but I can't imagine it does because it still has that chemical that will react with the baking soda. The timing of mixing the ingredients also doesn't matter. Try fresh baking soda and see how that works. 🙂
Azuree says
Hi! Will this recipe come out just as tasty with standard flour?
Jessica DeMay says
AP flour does not convert 1:1 with coconut flour. You can try using 3x as much, but I can't guarantee the results
Crystal says
How long can this sit in the fridge?
Made these cookies a bunch of times great substitute for peanut butter cookies!!!
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Crystal- they should stay good up to 10 days in the fridge and they also freeze great 🙂
Jamie says
It worked! I used natural sun butter and used sugar free lakanto maple syrup. Thank you for the recipe ma’am
Jessica DeMay says
You're welcome, Jamie! Thanks for making them!
Jessica says
Does the maple syrup have to be real or can we use what we call “pancake sauce” instead?
Jessica DeMay says
I use real maple syrup bc pancake syrup is high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring. It may work, but it won't be as healthy
diane Hu says
I was surprised at how good and easy these were to make. My second time trying to make them this morning. I rolled them in a mixture of seeds/chopped nuts I had on hand. Gave them a little more crunch.
Bean says
It worked! Amazing! I used "natural" sunbutter (my grocery didn't have no sugar added). Not too sweet. Texture is great. Definite sunflower seed flavor, but good. Don't skip the chocolate chips...adds just a bit of depth to the cookie. Marvelous texture...but the color is where it's at. Even if these were horrible, I'd make them again just for the chemistry action!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks for trying them!
Heather Mayes says
Thank you! My kids loved these, and I didn’t even care that my 3 yo kept sneaking more, since they had protein and were only sweetened with maple syrup. My kids were all amazed at the “magic.” I did buy new baking soda after reading the comments. 🙂 My kids don’t like sun butter, but they loved these!