Tiger Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies: Vegan, Gluten Free & So Chufa Good

Simple and quick to make, these tiger nut chocolate chip cookies are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and fudgy in the middle. They have the added bonus of being vegan, comparatively healthy and gluten free.

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my cookie and privacy statement for further details.

One of my most exciting Christmas presents this year was some tiger nut flour from CT. I’m easily pleased. It resulted in a flurry of baking. These tiger nut chocolate chip cookies were one of the delights I conjured up.

They are, without doubt, the easiest and quickest cookies I’ve ever made. Vegan, gluten-free and relatively healthy, they make a perfect sweet treat if you’re participating in Veganuary. They’re also my contribution to this month’s #WeShouldCocoa.

Tiger Nuts or Chufas

Tiger nuts earned their name from the orange stripes found on their tubers. They’re also known as chufas or earth almonds, though their scientific name is Cyperus esculentus. CT has grown them on and off for many years, but has never managed to cultivate them on a large enough scale for me to play with.

Chufas are sweet and tasty with a slightly nutty texture. They are, however, neither nut nor seed; they are in fact tubers produced by a member of the sedge family. Chufas are an ancient crop eaten way back when in Africa and they formed an important part of the early human diet.

They’re gluten-free, high in fibre and contain significant quantities of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and a whole heap of antioxidants.

I first came across tiger nuts in Spain on one of my epic hitchhiking trips many years ago. The Spanish make it into horchata, a delicious creamy drink I’ve never forgotten. I’m still waiting for CT to grow enough for me to make my own horchata. Tiger nut flour is quite sweet, so you can add less sugar to recipes when you use it. It’s also quite sticky, so it works particularly well in baking.

Where To Buy Chufa Flour

Chufa flour is perhaps not the easiest flour to get hold of, but it’s definitely worth searching out. Any good whole food establishment or health food shop should stock it. And if all else fails, you can buy organic tiger nut flour* online.

Tiger Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

The first thing I made with my tiger nut flour were some super duper fudgy brownies. We were entertaining friends so served them up with ice cream. They went down a storm, though nobody had heard of tiger nuts or chufas. Sadly I never got around to taking any photos or even writing up the recipe. Perhaps this is a call to make them again. 

These tiger nut chocolate chip cookies are the simplest and easiest cookies I’ve ever made. It’s pretty much just a case of stirring all the ingredients together, then forming the mixture into balls with your hands.

I didn’t want to use vast amounts of fat in the cookies as I was trying to keep them as healthy as possible, so I ended up using water to bind the dough. I wasn’t at all sure how well this would work, but I needn’t have worried. The biscuits held together just fine. The ingredients needed are few, although I do understand not everyone is going to have a bag of tiger nut flour lying around in their pantry. 

These tiger nut chocolate chip cookies are sweet, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and fudgy in the middle. They do soften if kept for more than a day, but are still quite delicious. A friend helped us demolish them a couple of days after I baked them and she was mightily impressed.

The flavour is hard to describe, but it’s almost coconutty. The chocolate chips broke up the intensity of the sweetness wonderfully and are very much an integral part of the biscuit.

Other Recipes for Vegan Biscuits & Cookies You Might Like

If you fancy baking a more typical choc chip cookie, I have a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies here on Tin and Thyme. They’re not as healthy as these ones, but they sure are delicious.

• Amaretti via Tin and Thyme
• Chocolate sesame cookies via Green Gourmet Giraffe
• Coconut shortbread with chocolate drizzle via Emily’s Recipes and Reviews
• Ginger cookies via Thinly Spread
• Purple corn flour Easter biscuits via Tin and Thyme
• Vanilla almond cookies via Tin and Thyme

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these tiger nut chocolate chip cookies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more gluten-free recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Tiger Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies. PIN IT.

Tiger Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies – The Recipe

Print Pin

4.34 from 3 votes

Tiger Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Simple and quick to make, these cookies are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and fudgy in the middle. They have the added bonus of being vegan and gluten free.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Afternoon Tea, Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: biscuits, chufa flour, cookies, gluten-free, vegan

Servings: 12 cookies

Calories: 131kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 50 g coconut oil
• 100 g coconut sugar
• 125 g chufa flour (I used organic chufa flour*)
• 1 tsp baking powder gluten-free
• 50 g dark chocolate chips vegan
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp water

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Warm the coconut oil gently in a large pan until virtually melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar.
  50 g coconut oil, 100 g coconut sugar
• Add the tiger nut flour, baking powder and chocolate chips and stir until everything is well mixed.
  125 g chufa flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 50 g dark chocolate chips
• Make a well in the centre and add the water and vanilla extract. Stir with a knife from the inside out until everything is well combined.
  1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp water
• Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and roll into a ball with your hands. Place on a lined baking tray and flatten slightly.
• Repeat with the rest of the mixture, leaving room on the tray for the dough to spread. I made 12 cookies.
• Bake in the centre of the oven at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 15 minutes.
• Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes to firm up, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 131kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 43mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

Share on Facebook

Linkies

These tiger nut chocolate chip cookies are my submission to this month’s #WeShouldCocoa.

I’m also sending these splendid chufa flour biscuits to Only Crumbs Remain for #BakingCrumbs

And finally my gluten-free chocolate chip cookies go to Easy Peasy Foodie for #CookBlogShare

This post contains affiliate links which are marked with an asterisk* or (affiliate link). If you buy through a link, it won’t cost you any more, but I might get a small commission. Thank you for your support of the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.