Grain-Free Parmesan Olive Oil Cookies

The perfect balance of salty and sweet in a soft fluffy cookie! This grain-free, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free dessert is sure to be one of my new go-to’s this Fall…

Healthier Grain-Free Cookies

Almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca flour is a sure fire blend of grain-free flour alternatives that never seems to fail me. Baking cookies that still have a soft fluffy texture is deceivingly very difficult with grain-free nut-based flour options!

Almond flour alone usually leads to a perfectly moist, but gritty texture. Coconut flour and tapioca flour are both great thickening flours that are less gritty but can be too dense and tough to use alone. Most paleo friendly dessert recipes use different ratios of this trio; it’s really all about finding the perfect amount of each one to use for different purposes.

The Perfect Soft Cookie Recipe

If you happen to be a soft cookie person, this one’s for you! I always always always prefer soft, chewy cookies over a crunchy cookie.

With that said, I love adding in ingredients that give soft cookies a fun textural variety. These grain-free parmesan olive oil cookies are not only perfectly melt-in-your-mouth from the low melting point of olive oil BUT they also have a slight chewiness from the shredded aged parmesan cheese and crunchy toasted walnuts.

This blend makes these cookies nearly impossible to stop eating after just one!

What Makes it “Healthy”?

I lovingly refer to these cookies as my favorite healthy treat for many reasons:

1. Grain-Free/Gluten Free: Traditional wheat flour is not only inflammatory to many people (especially all my fellow IBD friends!), but its also extremely refined. Refining flour strips wheat bran of all of its gut-healing components such as soluble fiber, antioxidants, and amino acids.
2. No Added Sugar: Refined sugar is one of the biggest things I actively avoid at all costs! Not only does it lead to unpredictable glucose spikes and crashes (hello mood swings) but sucrose and fructose also feeds some of the “bad bacteria” in our gut microbiome. If we are feeding these bad microbes more than the good ones, this can lead to gut dysbiosis over time!
3. Healthy fats: Extra Virgin Olive Oil has been well loved my the health & wellness community for good reason! EVOO is high in hydroxytyrosol, a special polyphenol that is extremely powerful at removing free radicals in the body to support a healthy immune response, a healthy heart, blood sugar control, and healthy skin. Aged cheeses, such as parmesan, are also a great healthy fat to incorporate! Aged cheese has negligible amounts of lactose left from fermentation while still having a relatively complete amino acid profile for a healthy protein boost too! The added walnuts are just an extra heart healthy nutrition punch at this point.

Finding the Best Olive Oil!

I’m not going to lie… I did an absolute deep dive on finding the best olive oil before re-filling my olive oil bottle. From reading a lot of the current peer-reviewed data on what makes olive oil a health powerhouse, it became super clear that I needed to find olive oils with the following properties:

1. Extra Virgin, Cold-pressed: Extra virgin olive oil isn’t refined or heat-treated; whereas regular olive oil is. Refining olive oil is done to remove the olive-like, grassy, fruity aromas and flavors. However, refining olive oil also gets rid of the polyphenols that make olive oil a healthy fat!
2. Packaged in a dark bottle: Because olive oil is unsaturated, the double bonds in its chemical structure make it vulnerable to light oxidation. Oxidation leads to an increased rate of nutrient degradation and rancidity so it’s very important to store and protect olive oil in a cool, dark container.
3. Made from monovarietal/single-country olives: If the label says that the olive oil was made from a blend of olives from several countries, this is a resounding red flag! Olives, like most other produce, loses its nutrient value and flavor from shipping over long distances. Therefore, well-travelled olives will always result in a lower-quality olive oil in comparison to local, fresh olives.

What You’ll Need:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I recommend the olive oil found HERE!)
• 9-quart Ninja Food Processor
• 24-month aged parmesan cheese
• Other baking staples found HERE

How to Make Parmesan Olive Oil Cookies:

Step 1: Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Pulse 3-5 times to mix.

Step 2: Add in the date syrup, egg, olive oil, and vanilla extract. Blend for about a minute, or just until a thick cookie dough forms.

Step 3: Use a tablespoon to scoop out about 28 cookie dough balls. Roll between the palms of your hands to smooth and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Slightly press down each ball of cookie dough to flatten. Bake for 7 minutes at 350F.

Optional: Top with a drizzle of melted coconut butter to finish. Eat warm or store in an air-tight container for later. These parmesan olive oil cookies also freeze well!

More of My Favorite Grain-Free Cookies:

• Paleo Strawberry Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies
• Single-Serve Honeybun Cookie (Paleo, Vegan)
• Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies
• Paleo Chocolate Cream Cookie Cups
• Paleo Russian Tea Cake Cookies

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