Vanilla Almond Cookies With Mango Chia Icing
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Vegan Vanilla Almond Cookies With Mango Chia Icing.
Now that's a mouthful, (pun intended)!
Are you guys even ready for an oil free vegan vanilla almond cookie recipe that is going to blow your mind, and possibly change your life forever? Because One: they taste ahhhmazing and Two: They're healthy, with zero added oils and zero refined sugar! A yummy plant-based vegan vanilla cookie recipe that is totally guilt-free? Yes, please.
These are SO good with and without the icing - and the fact that I have made these over and over again, and have eaten them plain several times proves that point.
These cookies are sweet, semi-crunchy, a bit chewy, and just overall delicious - full of sweet vanilla and subtle almond flavor. Now add to that a tasty mango icing - fireworks in my mouth.
Are you team vanilla cookie or team chocolate cookie? If you are more of a chocolate cookie lover, then maybe these easy food processor chocolate cookies are more your thing. But, truth be told, I am also a TEAM CHOCOLATE COOKIE lover through and through, however - these sweet vanilla almond cookies have got me hooked! So what I am saying is - give 'em a chance. 😉
Let's talk about what's in these vegan vanilla almond cookies:
- Ground almonds or almond flour. Both work.
- Oat flour or ground oats.
- Good quality pure vanilla flavoring (or extract) - Lately my go to vanilla flavoring is from Frontier Organic (affiliate link), it's alcohol free (which is why it's called a flavoring instead of extract) and it is thicker and much more potent than the stuff with alcohol. It is more expensive, but the quality is superb.
- Sweetened with agave or maple syrup.
- Absolutely no oil! We use apple sauce instead! Make sure it's unsweetened natural apple sauce.
The hardest part of making these cookies is probably the 'rolling out the dough part' just because things can get reallyyyy sticky, but no need to fear! Using plenty of flour on the rolling pin, the dough, and your rolling surface will prevent the stickiness from ruining your cookie-making dreams. Trust me, it works. I've made this recipe several times now and even though things do get sticky, the flour helps.
The icing on top is delicious but absolutely not required. In Miami during the summer there are a ton of mangoes everywhere, and loadsss of them sitting in my fridge - so naturally I wanted to use them up before they spoil. But do understand that the cookies taste SO so so good even without the icing. Just thought I'd share just in case mango icing isn't your thing - please still try the cookies!!!
Reasons to make these cookies:
- It's summer, the sun is shinning and these bright yellow cookies are the perfect accessory.
- Or.... it's grey, and raining, and these bright yellow cookies are exactly what you need to cheer up.
- It's your best friend's birthday and you want to give her/him a special gift.
- It's midnight on a Friday night and you've got some crazy sweet cravings!
- You've got kids you want to entertain - they'll love rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters!
- You've got a ton of mangoes that you need to use, asap. I'm looking at you South Floridians.
The reasons to make these vegan vanilla almond cookies with mango icing are endless. These are just a few to get you excited about 'em!
These vegan vanilla almond cookies were inspired (and recipe is adapted from) feasting on fruit's almond flour sugar cookies. Natalie is a genius in the kitchen - and her entire blog is an inspiration. Make sure to check out her recipes - you'll thank me later. 😛
Want to see more cookie recipes?
Check out this easy food processor healthy chocolate hemp cookie recipe.
with love + gratitude,
Jen ♥
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Vanilla Almond Cookie With Mango Chia Icing
Tasty vegan vanilla almond cookies with mango chia icing on top. Made with almonds and oats – gluten free, oil free, and refined sugar free.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 11 cookies 1x
- Category: baking
- Cuisine: cookies
Ingredients
For cookies:
- 1.5 cups of almond flour (210g)* (see notes for options)
- 1 cup of oat flour (105g)* (see notes for options) – certified GF if needed.
- 3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup (50g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (72g)
- extra flour for dusting* (you can use almond or oat flour)
For Mango Chia Icing:
- 1 medium sized fresh mango (around 210g)
- 1 cup cashews (137g)* (see notes about soaking)
- 2 medjool dates (35g)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (30g)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon white chia seeds (8g) – optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, gently combine dry ingredients – almond flour, oat flour, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the wet ingredients – apple sauce, agave, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add wet ingredients to dry bowl and combine with a spoon. Mixture may seem dry at first but use your hands to completely fold the wet into dry if needed.
- Using your hands, form a ball with the cookie dough. If it’s too sticky add bits of oat flour or almond flour to the dough until you are able to form a ball.
- Get ready to roll out the dough. If using parchment paper or a designated rolling slate, make sure to cover with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Using a rolling pin (glass bottles work too) begin rolling out the dough. Try not to roll out the dough too thin or else it’ll become a sticky disaster. 😛 I roll mines out to 1/4 inch each time, any thinner and things get messy. Continue adding flour to the rolling pin and to the dough as needed to prevent stickiness.
- Using a cookie cutter (mason jar lids or other round lids usually work great as cookie cutters), begin cutting out round cookies and placing on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). I use a spatula to transfer the cut-out cookie onto a baking sheet. Repeat this process until all the dough is used up. You will have to turn the dough into a ball and roll out several times in order to use up all of the dough.
- Once you’ve got all cookies cut out, bake at 350 for 17 to 20 minutes. My cookies are always ready at 17 minutes exactly, but every oven is different. At 17 minutes, my cookies are hard and semi-crunchy but still chewy enough. If you bake them for less, they will be chewier/softer. And if you let them bake a little closer to 20 minutes, they will be harder/crunchier. Your choice!! Experiment. 🙂 Cookies will harden as they cool – they are really soft fresh out the oven so let them cool down a bit before serving.
- If using mango chia icing – Add all ingredients, except the chia seeds, to your blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, add chia seeds by hand and gently combine. Chia seeds are optional but add a nice texture to the icing and acts as a thickener. Let icing sit in the fridge for a few hours before using for best results. Also, wait until cookies are cool to the touch before applying icing (or it will cause the icing to melt). Sprinkle some chia seeds on top and serve. 🙂
Notes
- You can use store bought almond flour, or make your own using a food processor. You want to process almonds until they are broken down evenly making sure to stop before it turns into almond butter! The flour does not have to be super fine. Homemade almond flour is always a bit grittier and that’s okay!
- Store bought oat flour works here as well as homemade oat flour. Make oat flour the same way you make almond flour – using a food processor process oats until smooth.
- I used fresh mangoes for the icing. I have not tried it with frozen mangoes yet.
- I usually don’t soak my cashews because I use a vitamix and it does a great job of blending them down nicely. However, for this recipe I did soak them for 30 minutes because I wasn’t going to be adding any liquid/water to the icing recipe, so I wanted the cashews to be soft to begin with. I recommend that you soak them even if you do have a high powered blender for ultimate creaminess.
- If serving cookies with icing – I recommend serving and eating right away because the icing does make the cookie a bit soft over time. You can always make the cookies at an earlier time, and spread the icing when ready to serve later on.
- Cookies taste great on their own – no icing required.
- After you add the wet ingredients the mixture will become really sticky. Add extra flour until you are able to form a ball that you can roll out. Remember to dust the rolling pin and your work surface as well!
- This recipe was adapted from and inspired by Feasting On Fruit.
Keywords: cookies, vanilla cookies, almond cookies, vegan, plantbased, oil free, gluten free, mango cookies,
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I am a HUGE fan of vanilla and mango, so these cookies seem like they are just for me! They look amazing and looking at the ingredients, I can pretty much tell they taste delicious. Thank you!
Thanks Kate! They are super tasty! Remind me of sugar cookies. <3