Vegan Almond Cookies
These buttery vegan almond cookies are easy to make and come together in one bowl! They have a crunchy almond exterior, chewy edges, and a soft tender center. These cookies taste like almond croissants!
Why you’ll love these cookies
OCCASION: Perfect for any time of the year or the holiday season, just like my vegan almond cake, almond croissant muffins or almond croissant cookie bars.
TASTE/TEXTURE: Buttery, less sweet and chewier than traditional Italian almond cookies. These cookies are thick, use THREE types of almonds and have a lot of texture.
DIFFICULTY: Easy to make and perfect for baking beginners!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredient notes
Almond flour (or blanched almond meal in UK/Australia) which is basically finely ground almonds. You can make your own almond flour from scratch, as long as you process the almonds finely!
All-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour) to stabilize the almond flour. Cookies made with only almond flour do not stay thick and puffy after baking. If you want cookies made with only almond flour, check out my almond flour shortbread.
Brown sugar for depth of flavor. You can substitute this with granulated sugar for lighter-colored cookies that are a little plainer. Coconut sugar will also work and make the cookies caramelly and darker in color.
Almond extract (optional) for extra flavor. If you don’t like the taste of almond extract or can’t access it, you can simply omit it or use your extract of choice.
Even though these vegan almond flour cookies have no egg, you don’t need any special egg replacers such as aquafaba or flax eggs!
Making vegan almond cookies
First, beat the wet ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and almond extract) in a medium bowl. This step helps aerate the cookies! I recommend using a hand beater but you can still use a whisk with some arm power.
Add the dry ingredients (two flours and baking powder) and mix until combined. The final cookie dough should be a little tacky and soft. It’ll be stickier than regular cookie dough. If you dampen your hands, the dough shouldn’t stick too much to your fingers.
Assembling the cookies
I recommend using a cookie scoop or spoon to divide the almond cookie dough. Then slightly dampen your hands to roll the dough into balls.
The dough is tacky so the almonds will easily stick to their surface.
For soft cookies, bake them for around 12 minutes in your preheated oven. For crunchy cookies, bake them for 15-17 minutes.
When the almond cookies are hot from the oven, they are very delicate so I suggest letting them cool on the baking sheets placed on a wire rack. When cooled, store them in an airtight container.
Customizing the almond cookies
Yes, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post to make the cookies gluten-free and refined sugar-free.
I’ve tried making these cookies without oil and they were a bit dry and lacked flavor. Alternatively, I recommend making my 3-ingredient almond flour shortbread cookies which work wonderfully without oil (and use maple syrup)!
Yes! The options are endless but some ideas are:
– vegan chocolate chips
– other extracts such as lemon, orange or even rose extract
– skip the flaked almond coating and dust the cookies with only powdered sugar or flaked sea salt
– for chocolate almond cookies, check out my gluten-free triple chocolate cookies.
You may be able to add a frangipane filling to these cookies, but I haven’t tested it and suspect it may affect how they spread. Alternatively, I have an almond croissant cookie bar recipe that has a frangipane filling.
Yes, increase the brown sugar to 3/4 cup (150g) for thin, crispy and chewy almond cookies!
Tips for the best results
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. It’s tricky to accurately measure almond flour (or any flour) using cups! Too little or too much flour will change the texture of your vegan almond cookies.
- For evenly sized cookies, bake the cookies only on the middle oven rack. If you have a smaller oven, you might bake only one baking tray at a time.
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Vegan Almond Cookies
Ingredients
Vegan Almond Cookies
- ½ cup (115g) vegan butter, room temperature (note 1)
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, or granulated sugar (note 2)
- 1 tablespoon (15g) dairy-free milk, or as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 1 ½ cups (150g) almond flour / blanched almond meal
- ½ cup (65g) all-purpose plain flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour (note 3)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Coating
- ¾ cup (65g) sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Make the vegan almond cookies:
- Tip: For the best results, I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients.
- Add the butter, sugar, milk, vanilla and almond extract to a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer or wooden spoon to mix until light and fluffy.
- Add the almond flour, all-purpose flour and baking powder and mix until just combined. The cookie dough should be soft and tacky but not too sticky. If you pinch the dough with damp hands, it shouldn't be too sticky.
Assembling the cookies:
- Place the sliced almonds in a small flat bowl.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the dough into around 16 balls. Using clean but damp hands, roll and coat each cookie dough ball in the almonds.
- Arrange the cookie dough balls on your lined baking trays spaced about 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Slightly flatten each ball with your fingers.
Baking the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for around 12-14 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. For softer cookies, bake them for less time. For crunchier cookies, bake them for longer.
- Allow the cookies to cool on their baking trays for 10-15 minutes. They'll be very soft when they're hot from the oven but will firm up. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Enjoy the cookies warm or at room temperature.
- Store leftover cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
- For refined sugar-free cookies, I recommend coconut sugar, although they’ll make the cookies darker in color. For almond cookies sweetened with maple syrup, check out my 3-ingredient almond flour shortbread.
- These cookies will work with chilled spreadable vegan butter or softened coconut oil. If using spreadable butter, I’d recommend omitting the milk and adding more flour if necessary. Your dough may be a little softer and will spread more. If using coconut oil, I recommend salt, to taste.
- Gluten-free options: To make these cookies gluten-free, replace the all-purpose flour with Bob Red Mills 1:1 flour, gluten-free all-purpose flour OR rice flour (I’ve tried and tested all of these using the grams measurements). The gluten-free cookies will be thinner and chewier. I don’t recommend replacing the all-purpose flour with cornstarch or potato starch. These cookies will not work with only almond flour.
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I made these and was very impressed in fact I’m making another batch excellent recipe thank you
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! We are so happy to hear that you loved the recipe!
I like to add cacao powder to this recipe. How much cacoa powder you would require without adding any more liquid or butter? Thanks
Hi Huong, any amount of cacao or cocoa powder will require more milk because it’s very absorbent (and even more absorbent than flour). You can try replacing some of the flour with a smaller amount of cocoa powder and adding an extra dash of milk if the dough is dry. Let me know how you go!
These are the easiest and most reliable cookies. If I need to whip something up after work, these are my go to and they’re always well received. I’ve mixed in cacao nibs (and avoided the flaked almonds) as well as some salt and they are just excellent. The almond meal is the perfect amount for a stable cookie with a good chewiness.
Hi Eleanor, I’m thrilled that you’ve baked these cookies a few times and they turned out well every single time! Cacao nibs would be an excellent addition too – I need to try that next time. Thanks so much for letting me know!
✨️Curious if I could supplement oat flour instead of white and get similar results 🤔
Thanks
Hello! I haven’t tested it, but I think you’ll need some sort of binder, such as a flax egg. Hope that helps!
I finally decided to buy plant butter that is not Miyokos, I got one that is a hard block and has coconut oil in it and palm/vegetable oils etc, it’s a local store brand in Canada. I tried it with these cookies and they turned out amazing! My mom was making a non-vegan version and I was super jealous, I never tried hers so I can’t compare, but these ones are delicious, perfectly chewy and soft/fluffy and crispy almondy on the outside. Now I understand the difference between vegan butter and refined coconut oil. I also used a scale and added 10 grams less sugar and it was perfect, I’m glad I did that. I tend to screw up the measurements when making the balls, so I made 6 balls at first and they made big cookies which also turned out awesome, and the second pan I did 9 smaller balls. This recipe is going in my vegan booklet! Thank you 🙂
Hi Flora, I’m so glad that you enjoyed these cookies and that they worked well with Miyokos butter and a tiny less sugar! And I love how you described the texture of the cookies. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Can I please use normal non vegan butter while using the same quantities of the remaining ingredients? Thank you
I’ve only tested my recipes the way they’re written. But some readers use their own ingredients to make my recipes without any other changes and I’ve never heard of any problems.
They came out perfect. So so almondy. And I love that I need to use only one bowl. For my liking they are too sweet but everyone in my family liked them. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Tamara, I’m so glad that you enjoyed these and I totally understand that everyone has a different sweetness preference. Thanks so much for your review!
super good and easy to make! only preference is that they are about 10% less sweet. I may try to reduce the sugar to see if it wont affect the texture / outcome.
Hi Sheila, glad that you enjoyed these cookies! From experience, reducing the sugar will reduce the spread of the cookies and slightly less chewy/moist, but you can counteract this by flattening the cookies beforehand and adding more milk. Hope that helps!
Really delicious! Satisfied my frangipane craving
Aw, that’s great to hear!! I’m a big frangipane fan too – thanks so much for your review 🙂
Delicious even for a non-vegan! Everyone loved them and they were so easy to make. Preparing my second batch tomorrow 😊
That’s amazing to hear, Jill!!! And I’m so glad that the recipe is a keeper for you – thanks so much for your kind comment 🙂
Sorry – do you flatten these out before baking or do they melt on their own?
Hi! These cookies flatten on their own, as long as the flour isn’t overmeasured 🙂
These are so easy and taste so perfectly delicate! I doubled the recipe but didn’t have tremendously high hopes BECAUSE they were so easy. But I took one bite and knew they were a keeper! I took some to my ex husband who normally only likes chocolate desserts, but he ate EIGHT of these in the space of an hour and wanted me to make more. AND NO ONE GOT HURT TO MAKE THEM!
They are going in my recipe box right now 🙂
Thank you, Anthea!!
Hi Franziska, I’m sooo happy that you and your ex loved these cookies!! It’s great that you found the recipe really approachable, and that the effort to reward ratio was worthwhile. Thanks a million for your kind and thoughtful feedback xx
These are delicious!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed these cookies, Marie!
Very easy to make. My whole family loves it. Thank you
That’s great to hear Teri, thanks so much for your review!
Hi,
I made these cookies for a baby shower and they were an absolute hit! Super easy and quick, they turned out great.
I just stumbled across your website and I am definitely going to make some more of your recipes.
Thank you ♡
Hi Juliet! Oh that’s amazing! They’d be wonderful for a baby shower :). I hope you enjoy any other recipes you get to make from my website! Thanks so much for your feedback, I appreciate it a lot :).
Wow, wow wow from Israel 🔥❤️
So glad that you enjoyed these Tamar 🙂
My daughter is due to give birth soon. She specifically requested I make these for to take with her when the time comes… The ultimate complement… Doesn’t get better than that! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Easy to make. Kid’s favorite. Yummy. We couldn’t stop eating them! Thank you!
Thanks for your wonderful feedback Emese! I’m so happy that you love them x
The recipe was easy to follow, Although I did not have enough almond flour, so I went 50/50 of almond and gf flour and I used coconut sugar and spreadable vegan butter they came out great. I did have trouble getting the almonds to stick so I ended up crumbling them. Still yummy!!
Hi Jaja, thanks so much for your feedback! I loved the look of your cookies on Instagram x