Cashew Cookie Dough with Protein (Grain Free Dairy Free)
I’ve made chickpea cookie dough which the kids devoured. The recipe link is right here if you have some chickpeas on hand. Then I thought I would try making a cashew based cookie dough since everything dairy free that I’ve ever LOVED has a cashew base. My absolute favorite ice cream ever is cashew based. I used to fall head over heals for Dairy Queen cake on my birthday. It was one of the few times a year I would eat sugar. Then, I found So Delish Ice Cream bars and my life was changed forever… okay, well, changed for the better a couple times a year when I choose to indulge in these amazing treats. They don’t have “perfect ingredients” but they are a HUGE step up from DQ cake. But I digress…
All this to say, I like a sweet treat that doesn’t have sugar in it every now and then. And cashews are my new best friend when it comes to sweets. This keto friendly, grain free, dairy free recipe is perfect for days I’m feeling like having a sweet without all the carbs.
Here is how I made it:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups organic cashews or cashew pieces (or about 230 grams to be more precise)
- 1 TBS sea salt just for soaking the cashews (not for the recipe itself)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (for the cookie dough) We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt at Thrive Market.
- 1 scoop collagen protein (this is optional but it gives it a little extra protein plus the benefits of collagen). We buy ours cheapest at Thrive Market.
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp monk fruit (or however much you want to get your desired sweetness) I used the 25% MGV Smart Monk brand that’s pure monk fruit from Amazon. Pure monk fruit is really expensive but it doesn’t have added erythritol or anything like that an a little goes a VERY long way. I’ve tried other brands on Amazon and the 25% is best. I tried a 7% that tasted chalky or had a weird aftertaste. Smart Monk is my favorite.
- 1/8-1/4 cup chocolate chips of choice (I used the no sugar added cacao chips from Trader Joes. They are 100% dark but super creamy)
Directions:
- First you want to put your cashews in a glass container (like a mason jar) with a TBS of sea salt and soak them for 1 to 8 hours. One hour will be plenty to get them nice and soft, more hours will help to make them more digestible.
- Once your cashews are done soaking you will want to strain them in a mesh colander and rinse most of the salt off .You don’t have to get them perfectly salt free… you just don’t want this recipe extra salty.
- Put the cashews in a food processor and process until nice and creamy like a cashew butter. You may need to scrape off the crunchy pieces from the side from time to time and blend them in nicely.
- Add one scoop of collagen (You can add more if you like but I find that even though the collagen is “unflavored”, too much does seem to alter the taste of my cookie dough.)
- Add the 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1.5 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp of monk fruit then blend thoroughly.
- I then add the remaining monk fruit a little at a time tasting the mixture as I go. This is not only to ensure that it’s not too blah or too sweet, it’s also an excuse for me to eat my cookie dough before it’s done.
- Once you get your cookie dough to the desired sweetness add your chocolate chips and stir them in with a spoon. I add 1/8 to 1/4 cup depending on what kind of chocolate chips I’m using. Too many of the cacao chips can make it taste bitter. If you are using sweetened chocolate chips like Enjoy Life dairy free or Hu chocolate chips you may want to use more if you are big fan of yummy sweet chocolate, or less if you want to limit your sugar (although they have a relatively small amount in each serving.
- Taste again to make sure it’s perfect.
- Scoop out into a glass air tight glass container and store it in your fridge… or just eat it with a spoon. 😉
Remember this whole batch is 2 cups of cashews and typically a “serving of cashews” is closer to 1/4 cup so this makes about 8 servings. But lets be realistic, I could finish off half the batch pretty easily. Okay, who am I kidding, of course I could eat the whole thing. This is why I sometimes scoop them into little bite sized pieces to make myself slow down and enjoy one at a time rather than eat the whole thing with a spoon like I just got dumped or I’m stuck in Covid quarantine and bored out of my mind.
I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do. I grew up eating raw cookie dough straight out the plastic roll. Anyone else? No, just me? Well, apparently there are raw eggs in there… and some other not so great ingredients. So this is my healthier option. Yum!
Let me know how you like it in the comments below and if you have any other childhood yums you want me to remake to a somewhat healthier version. I’ll be happy to try!
Here are some other recipes you may like that also contain collagen:
Here are some of my favorite recipes that contain collagen:
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