February being the month of our wedding anniversary (and Valentine’s Day of course), it always makes me want to bake something special and I try to create a new dessert every year. Since the last three years, these desserts have been Paleo and / AIP. This year I wanted to bake cookies for some reason. And I am not even a cookies person …I mean at least wasn’t until now! Up until now if I had a choice between cookies or cake, I would definitely choose cake! But my husband is a ‘cookie’ person for sure. Maybe that’s why I wanted to try my hand at baking an AIP cookie this year! 
Nothing too fancy just a simple chocolatey cookie. I also wanted to try making the cookies using just cassava flour versus using a combination of other flours like coconut, arrowroot and / tiger nut. I just wanted a simple recipe with minimal ingredients. Tigernut flour even though I hear is great in baking, I for some reason cannot tolerate it 🙁 So I decided to experiment with cassava flour as it also closely resembles in taste to all purpose flour.
So I came across this chocolate chip cookie recipe on ‘Otto’s Cassava flour’ website. Since I wanted to avoid chocolate chips, I modified the recipe slightly to create these plain chocolate cookies! I tried adding some beet puree to the mix to make them ‘red velvet’ but unfortunately the red color didn’t last and when baked the cookies turned out to be just brown. So then I baked them once again without adding the puree and instead I made a pink frosting using the beet puree 🙂 That makes them special enough for Valentines day don’t you agree?
And boy, these cookies are DELICIOUS! They are soft and cake like when they are warm and once they cool down they crisp up a bit. Gosh they are so wicked good that I am guilty of gobbling up 10 cookies in the past 2 days and that’s just not me! And because of my experiments, I ended up with two batches of a dozen cookies each. Now I am offering the 2nd batch up to my daughter and husband so that I don’t gorge on them again!
These cookies are great as is! There is no need for any frosting! But if you want to dress them up for valentine’s day you could make the pink frosting. You could also do a chocolate frosting similarly. These cookies would also be great for a sandwich cookie! 
Notes on the ingredients in this recipe:
- You can substitute palm shortening with coconut oil however the texture and taste of the cookies will differ slightly. I prefer the ones made with palm shortening.
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day friends! This excerpt from the Bible is my absolute favorite one!
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13 1
I am sharing these cookies at the Paleo/AIP recipe Roundtable hosted by Phoenix Helix.
- ¾ th cup cassava flour
- 1 tbsp carob or raw cacao (use carob for AIP)
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup softened palm shortening
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract - use alcohol free for AIP
- ¼ cup softened palm shortening
- 1 tsp coconut cream(top of coconut milk can or use coconut cream can)
- 1 tsp homemade beet puree or [beet powder| https://amzn.to/2Uwy0bl}
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- In a large tray or a plate, add the cassava flour, carob (or raw cacao), gelatin, sea salt and baking soda. Using a spatula mix thoroughly to get everything uniformly distributed. Keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the coconut sugar and the maple syrup.
- Soften the palm shortening by heating in a microwave for 30 seconds and then measure ½ cup. Add this to the bowl with the sugar and maple syrup. Add the lemon juice and the vanilla and mix again. Now add the flour mixture in parts and mix to form a dough. The dough will be slightly sticky. if its too sticky then keep in refrigerator for 10 -15 mins.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Divide dough into about 12 equal sized balls and place them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Using a greased fork, press lightly twice on each ball to flatten them.
- Place the tray in the oven and bake cookies for about 11-12 mins. The cookies will not spread much and they will be still soft when out of the oven so do not touch them. let them cool in the tray at room temperature for 10 mins before serving! Once cooled, frost cookies with the pink frosting (recipe below) if desired and place cookies in an airtight container.
- Mix all ingredients listed under frosting in a small bowl by using a whisk or a hand blender. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 15 mins and then use it to frost the cookies
First soften the palm shortening before measuring otherwise the measurement may not be accurate.
Hi Indu,
I’m new to your website. Most recipes I’ve looked at call for the gelatin to be dissolved in liquid, then added to wet ingredients. I see that this recipe says to add the gelatin powder directly to the dry ingredients. How does that work-is the gelatin in this rescue to replace egg?
Yes in this recipe it works even though it’s added directly instead of dissolving it in liquid. It gives a cake like texture to the cookie.
Can you use Agar instead of beef gelatain? If so do I add it dry or “bloom” it with water first?
Hello I have not tried agar. However from what I know it does need to be bloomed first. Good Luck and let me know how it turns out!