These chewy, melt-in-your-mouth vegan cranberry cookies with pistachios are perfect for the holidays. Made with almond flour, almond butter, and maple syrup, they’re gluten-free and oil-free. You’ll want to make them again and again throughout the holiday season.
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This time of year, I love to get out my gingham apron and bake up batches and batches of cookies!
These vegan cranberry cookies quite literally melt in your mouth! They are a bit healthier than standard cookies made with whole-food plant-based ingredients. Combining almond flour and almond butter creates the batter, making these cookies gluten-free. They also have an amazing texture. While the cookie itself is soft and chewy, the cranberries and pistachios offer a sweet and crunchy element. These vegan Christmas cookies are a must this holiday season!
💗 Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
- Vegan and Gluten-Free
- Refined sugar-free
- Chewy and moist texture
- Pistachios add a nice crunch
- You can take them to cookie exchange parties
- Holiday Parties
- Make a great holiday gift.
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Almond Flour: Be sure to use blanched almond flour, not almond meal.
Rolled Oats: This helps to give the batter more structure and holds things together.
Almond Butter: I prefer raw almond butter as it has a milder flavor that lends well to the cookies. I buy natural raw almond butter from Trader Joe’s. However, roasted food will also work if you don’t have raw food.
Pistachios: Use shelled pistachios or shell them yourself. Use unsalted if possible.
Dried Cranberries: You can use sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries or even try fresh cranberries. If you choose fresh cranberries, place them in a food processor and blitz them a few times to break them down. Be aware that using fresh cranberries will create a tart contrast to the sweetness of the batter. Fresh cranberries are not sweet at all.
Maple Syrup: Helps to moisten the cookie batter and add sweetness.
Coconut Sugar: This unrefined sugar works with maple syrup to create the perfect balance of sweetness.
Salt: Balances the other flavors in the cookies and helps to brighten the flavor of the cranberries and pistachios.
Baking Soda: Helps the cookies to leaven.
Vanilla Extract: Brings out the tartness of the cranberries.
📖 Variations and Substitutions
No Cranberries: Add raisins, currants, dried blueberries, or dried cherries instead of cranberries.
No Pistachios: Add a different type of nut, such as chopped pecans or walnuts.
🔪 Tools and Equipment
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Cranberry Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients, rolled oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients, almond butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The dough will be very sticky. That is normal.
- Combine the dry ingredients, rolled oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out about one tablespoon of the cookie dough and place it on the parchment-lined cookie sheets two inches apart.
- Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
📝 Expert Tips
- Allow the almond butter to come to room temperature, making it easier to cream together with the dry ingredients, resulting in a smoother texture.
- Sift the dry ingredients (almond flour, baking soda, and salt) to ensure an even distribution of leavening agents and to prevent lumps in the dough.
- When adding cranberries and pistachios, fold them gently into the cookie dough. Overmixing can lead to tough cookies.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes (or longer) to prevent excessive spreading during baking and to enhance the cookies’ flavor.
❓ FAQS
These are cookies, so calling them healthy is a bit of a stretch. But they are made with wholesome ingredients and have less sugar than other cookies. Making them with almond flour and almond butter instead of vegan butter and all-purpose flour means they are higher in protein, vitamins, and minerals while also being low in saturated fat.
These cookies are a bit more fragile than cookies made with all-purpose flour. This is because almond flour absorbs the moisture more so than regular flour. As a result, these cookies can easily crumble. They are not as sturdy as regular cookies, making them so moist and chewy. However, if you’d like your cookies to have more structure, add a ¼ cup of all-purpose flour or 1:1 gluten-free flour to help keep them from crumbling.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
- Serve warm cookies with a scoop of vegan ice cream. The combination of warm, chewy cookies and cold ice cream is heavenly.
- Create cookie sandwiches by spreading vegan frosting or dairy-free ice cream between two cookies. This makes for a delightful and indulgent treat.
- Serve the cookies alongside a steaming mug of vegan hot cocoa for a comforting and cozy winter treat.
- Enjoy these cookies with your favorite hot beverage, such as herbal tea, coffee, or a chai latte.
- Crumble the cookies over a vegan yogurt or oatmeal bowl for added texture and flavor.
⚖️ Serving Size
This recipe makes a total of 24 cookies. One cookie is one serving.
🫙 Storage
Cool Completely: Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing them. This prevents trapped steam from making them soggy.
Use Airtight Containers: Store the cookies in airtight containers or resealable plastic bags with the air squeezed out. The less air and moisture that can reach the cookies, the better. Store them at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Layering: Place a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper between layers of cookies to prevent them from sticking together.
😋 More Vegan Cookie Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Cranberry Cookies with Pistachios
Equipment
- 2 Baking Sheets
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups blanched Almond Flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Raw Almond Butter
- ⅓ cup Organic Pure Maple Syrup
- ½ cup Unsweetened Original Almond Milk
- 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Dried Cranberries reduced sugar
- ½ cup Pistachios shelled and chopped
- ½ cup rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. That is normal.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, rolled oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients, almond butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The dough will be very sticky.
- Fold in the cranberries and pistachios. Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out about one tablespoon of the cookie dough and place it on the parchment-lined cookie sheets two inches apart.
- Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Allow the almond butter to come to room temperature, making it easier to cream together with the dry ingredients, resulting in a smoother texture.
- Sift the dry ingredients (almond flour, baking soda, and salt) to ensure an even distribution of leavening agents and to prevent lumps in the dough.
- When adding cranberries and pistachios, fold them gently into the cookie dough. Overmixing can lead to tough cookies.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes (or longer) to prevent excessive spreading during baking and to enhance the cookies’ flavor.
- After they have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Janet Kenworthy
I made 2 versions of this cookie today. First of all, if you use almond meal and not blanched almond flour, your cookies will be very dark. The first batch was as written and I found the baking time quite short. I needed 15 minutes to get a crispy cookie that didn’t fall apart. That said, they are delicious. The second batch was an experiment with almond pulp, the leftovers from making almond milk. I used 1.5 cups almond meal and 1 cup of almond pulp (moist, not dry). I pulled back about 1 Tablespoon on the syrup, almond butter and almond milk because of the extra moisture. I also added 1 T each flax meal and hemp hearts to put back some fats that are extracted in the milk making process. The dough was less sticky and held together well. It acted more like a mounded drop cookie, but it was also delicious.
Ellen Fife
Hello, I was wondering about coconut sugar and if it is healthy and whether the date sugar is better. I have turbinado sugar. Would that work? Thank you Ellen
Alison Corey
Any type of sugar isn’t exactly healthy, it’s more which is better than the other. Refined white sugar is the least healthy since it has been through the most processing along with artificial sugars or sugar substitutes. Natural sugars such as those in fruit are the most healthy because they are in their most natural form. Coconut sugar and trubinado sugar are better than refined sugar since they are more natural. I think turbinado sugar would work just as well as coconut sugar in this recipe.
Gina Rosenberg
I have had a very hard time finding sugar free cranberries. Any suggestion? Brand?
Alison Corey
It’s challenging to find sugar free cranberries in the grocery store. I buy mine online from Amazon. I use the rand Honestly Cranberry. Their dried cranberries don’t have any sugar or added oils, just the dried fruit itself.
Tonje
So excited for cranberry season. These look delicious, pinning for later!
Heidy L. McCallum
These look perfect for our holiday cookie exchange! I am going to do a test run on them this week and fingers crossed they will come out perfect! They look so delish that I could eat 4 right now!! Saving this recipe. Super excited to let you know how they come out.
Dannii
Cranberry and pistachio is such a delicious combo. I can’t wait to try these.
Michelle
Cranberry and pistachio is such a great combo, can’t wait to make these! They’ll make great holiday gifts too!
Demeter
I love getting that pop of lavor from the cranberries. These cookies were a huge hit!