Paleo No-Bake Cookies (No Oats!)

Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.

• ½ cup maple syrup
  Ingredient note

  Source: ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup cacao powder
  Ingredient note

  Source: ¼ cup cacao powder
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil (, or butter)
  Ingredient note

  Source: 3 tablespoons coconut oil (, or butter)
• ½ cup nut butter
  Ingredient note

  Source: ½ cup nut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  Ingredient note

  Source: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  Ingredient note

  Source: ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut, sliced almonds, or sunflower seeds
  Ingredient note

  Source: 2 cups unsweetened coconut, sliced almonds, or sunflower seeds

1. In a small saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a boil. Once it's bubbling, set a timer for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the cacao powder, coconut oil, nut butter, vanilla extract, and salt.
2. Once the mixture looks smooth, stir in the shredded coconut and sliced almonds. (I use 1 cup of each, but feel free to use any mix-ins you prefer.)
3. When the nuts and seeds are coated in the chocolate mixture, use a cookie scoop to drop the mixture onto a large parchment-lined baking sheet. If you're using a 1 ½ tablespoon scoop, you should get roughly 16 cookies from this batch. (A smaller scoop will create more than that.)
4. Flatten the cookies into your desired shape, then place the pan in the freezer to set. When frozen, they should firm up in 30 minutes. Or, place the pan in the fridge for about 1 hour. Once the cookies feel firm, they are ready to enjoy. Serve these cookies chilled from the refrigerator for the best texture. They will soften if left at room temperature for too long.