These Marble Cookies are super simple 5-ingredient gluten-free cookies made with almond flour and with the classic marble effect of a two-color (and two-flavor) dough.
While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!
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Marble Cookies
These Marble Cookies are super simple 5-ingredient gluten-free cookies made with almond flour and with the classic marble effect of a two-color (and two-flavor) dough.
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Servings: 7 cookies
Calories: 295.3 kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups Almond Flour - (note 1)
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup - (note 2)
- ¼ cup Mild-Flavor Olive Oil - (note 3)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract - optional
To Make the Chocolate Cookie Dough
- 2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir almond flour, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla extract, if used.
- Stir with a rubber spatula until it forms a soft and sticky cookie dough.
- Divide the dough into two balls of the same size. Keep one aside. It will be your vanilla cookie dough. Keep the other ball in the mixing and pour the cocoa powder on top of this batch.
- Use a rubber spatula, or lightly oiled hands, to squeeze the cocoa powder into the dough. Keep squeezing until all the cocoa is evenly incorporated into the dough, and you get a soft chocolate cookie dough. If too dry, add a few drops of water to bring everything together. I didn't add any, but you might need it if you accidentally added a bit too much cocoa.
- Divide both dough balls – the vanilla dough and the chocolate dough – into 7 balls. It means you end up with 7 vanilla dough balls and 7 chocolate dough balls.
- Bring one vanilla and one chocolate dough ball into the palm of your hand, give them a light squeeze so they stick together, and roll them between your hands to mix the two flavors. You can roll as long as you want to create any pattern.
- Release onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving a thumb space between each marble cookie dough ball. press the top slightly with the palm. These cookies do not spread as they bake, it means the shape you give them now is what you get after baking them.
- Bake the cookies in the center rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until golden brown on the edges.
- Let them cool them down for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, without touching at all, then slide a spatula under each cookies, and cool down on a wire rack for 1 hour.
Notes
Note 1: The recipe works with almond meal. The texture will be drier, a little grainy too.
Note 2: You can use any liquid sweetener, like agave syrup or coconut nectar.
Note 3: Or any oil with a mild flavor, or melted plant-based butter.
Note 4: or cacao powder.
Storage: Store the cookies at room temperature for up to 4 days in an airtight container. You can freeze the cookies in Ziploc bags and thaw them at room temperature the day before.
Oven Mode: I use the fan-forced (convection) mode. If you have to use conventional mode, I recommend increasing the temperature by 25°F (15 °C). The baking time should be the same, but it might take a few more minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 295.3kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 7.1g | Fat: 23.8g | Saturated Fat: 2.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.7g | Sodium: 1.9mg | Potassium: 57.1mg | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 10.4g | Calcium: 85.9mg | Iron: 1.5mg | Magnesium: 10.4mg | Phosphorus: 10.5mg | Zinc: 0.2mg
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
You only need five simple ingredients to make this recipe. Here’s how to pick and swap them.
- Almond Flour – This is the base of the cookies, giving them a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture and a lovely nutty flavor. The recipe also works with almond meal, but the cookies will come out a bit grainier and drier.
- Maple Syrup – This sweetens the cookies naturally and also helps bind the ingredients together. You can also use other liquid sweeteners like agave syrup or coconut nectar.
- Mild-Flavor Olive Oil – It brings moisture and a rich taste to the cookies, making them soft rather than crunchy. Any neutral-flavored oil like avocado oil or melted coconut oil is a great swap. Melted plant-based butter works well, too.
- Vanilla Extract – This enhances the other flavors in the cookie, adding a lovely warmth to the vanilla dough.
- Cocoa Powder – This gives the chocolate dough its rich, chocolatey flavor and color. Unsweetened cacao powder is a perfect one-to-one replacement.
How to Make Marble Cookies in Pictures
Carine’s Baking Tips
Let me share a few more tips for a perfect marble cookie.
- Smaller Cookies – If you prefer smaller, bite-sized cookies, you can divide each dough into 12 smaller balls instead of 7. Just remember to reduce the baking time slightly; they will likely be ready in about 12-15 minutes.
- Fun Add-Ins – For extra texture, try mixing in some additions. I recommend adding 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips or finely chopped walnuts or pecans to the entire batch of dough before you divide it.
- Flavor Variations – It’s easy to change the flavor of these cookies. Simply add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract or orange extract to the dough when you mix the wet ingredients for a different taste.
- Fixing Dry Dough – Sometimes, adding cocoa powder can make the chocolate dough a bit dry or crumbly. If this happens, you can easily fix it by adding a tiny amount of water or almond milk (start with 1/2 teaspoon) and mixing until it comes back together into a soft, rollable dough.
Delicious!!
I am so happy you love it!
it is been 15 minutes sincd i put them in oven and still i dont see it turns golden or something what you think it is wrong?
It definitely an issue with you oven temperature, are you on fan-forced as stated in all my recipes? Almond flour burnt quickly after 15 minutes at 350F, it’s impossible that it’s not changing color.
This is the 3rd recipe from you that I have tried so far..I just baked a batch and fell inlove with it. It’s not too sweet, not dry at all. I enjoyed baking these cookies and I used Avocado oil since it is the only one I have on hand. I will do this again and will add walnuts next time. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful vegan recipes! I can eat this and not worry about anything. I have IBS and I am lactose intolerant.
It makes me so happy to read your comment! Thank you for baking my recipes.
Can I switch the Maple syrup for another sweetener, like allulose, or is there another option?
You can swap liquid sweeteners for liquid sweeteners, not for a crystal sweetener. It means you can’t swap maple syrup for allulose, but you can swap it for agave syrup, coconut nectar, or potentially a sugar-free liquid sweetener that will be thick and not made from water as a first ingredients. Those kind of sugar free syrup are for toppings on pancakes, and won’t bind in baking.
I made these cookies but 25!minutes was way too much time. I’d start atb10-12 next time.
The recipe says 12-15 minutes, not 25!
Delicious! I halved the cookie shape size and mine came out crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Great recipe here.
That’s amazing, thank you!
Can you use honey instead of maple syrup, since that is sooo expensive.
Absolutely!
Hi
Just wondering if these would work to make pinwheel cookies if I place one sheet of dough on top of the other and roll them up?
Maybe, I haven’t tried yet so I can’t guarantee.
Can you swap 1:1 gluten free flour?
No, you can’t swap almond flour for all-purpose gluten-free flour they will be hard as rock
Can you use oat flour?
No, it will make the cookies dry and crumbly.