It’s the first day of July which mean it’s almost July 4th! Time to start busting out the grill tools, getting the sunscreen ready, and planning out your festive Independence Day desserts. And while I love a good fruit flag cake as much as the next person, these seemingly plain red sugar cookies are next level festive. These Red, White, and Blue Stuffed Cookies are the perfect healthified treat for the occasion and colored naturally without any food dyes! Which is a rare find during this holiday when red, white, and blue baked goods are key!
These cookies are grain free and dairy free and can easily be made paleo by subbing the cane sugar for coconut sugar and skipping the sugar dusting. While coconut sugar is usually my go-to sweetener when baking paleo cookies, I use organic cane sugar here to ensure a good vibrant red color and for a fun white sparkly exterior. The red sugar cookie is colored with beetroot powder. The interior is stuffed with a lusciously creamy cashew butter filling (but any nut/seed butter will work) and the blue center is colored with blue spirulina (but butterfly pea powder will work too).
The end result is a super soft and chewy cookie with a delightful crunch from the rolled sugar. Inside is a glorious cashew butter filling surprise that’s just lightly sweetened with maple syrup that complements the cookie exterior. And although these are spiked with various superfood powders, you’d never guess from the taste! They are straight up tasty. These have less sugar than your average sugar cookie and made with better-for-you ingredients, but absolutely delicious. And I’d be willing to bet these will disappear as quickly as a lit firework.
paleo-possible (gluten/grain/dairy free)
If you make this recipe, please feel free to leave a review or rating down below. And I’d LOVE to see your creation! Please tag me on Instagram @freshlydafna and use #freshlydafna.
Red, White, & Blue Stuffed Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies with a festive twist! A soft and chewy red sugar cookie stuffed with a luscious white and blue cashew butter (or other light nut butter of choice) filling! These cookies are grain free, gluten, and dairy free and easily made paleo-friendly.
grain free, dairy free, paleo-option
Ingredients
White & Blue Filling
- 1/2 cup cashew butter or other nut/seed butter of your choice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp blue spirulina
Sugar Cookie
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut oil melted & cooled
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 3 tbsp beetroot powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cane sugar for rolling (optional)
Instructions
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First make the filling by mixing the cashew butter and maple syrup together in a small bowl. Add 1 tbsp of tapioca flour and mix again. Transfer 1/3 of the mixture to another small bowl and add 1/2 tsp blue spirulina and mix well to form the blue filling. Add 1 additional tsp of tapioca to the larger portion and mix again. The mixture should be soft but pliable, if your nut/seed butter was very thin, you may need to add an additional 1 tsp of tapioca to the white filling.
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Scoop out 12 small balls (roughly 1/4 inch) of the blue mixture and place on parchment lined plate or baking sheet. Repeat making 12 larger balls (roughly 1/2 inch) with the white mixture. Pop in the freezer to let firm up for easier handling. Don't worry if the balls are not perfectly round. You can re-roll once they are chilled.
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Make the dough by mixing together the wet ingredients either by hand or in a stand mixer. Mix until ingredients are thick and bubbly.
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Add in the dry ingredients (except the cane sugar) and mix until a soft dough forms. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes.
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While the dough is chilling, create the filling balls. Flatten out the white filling balls in the palm of your hand to create a small disc and place the blue ball in the center. Cover the blue ball with the white filling and once completely covered, gently roll it together to form a sphere. Repeat with all remaining balls. If the filling gets too sticky to work with, place back in the freezer to firm for a few minutes.
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Once dough has chilled, heat oven to 350 and prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silpat.
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Start filling the dough by scooping out large 2-3 tbsp balls (I used a 50 mm scoop) and press down into a flat circle (3 in round, 1/4 inch thick) in the palm of your hand.
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Place 1 ball of filling in the center of the cookie dough and fold the cookie edges over the white filling. Roll into a ball and place seam down on the baking sheet. Repeat until all cookie batter is gone.
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In a medium bowl with the remaining cane sugar roll each dough ball in the cane sugar (skip if strict paleo). Place cookies back on baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.
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Flatten the cookie dough balls down with the palm of your hand just slightly. The cookies will not flatten much during baking.
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Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes or until cookies are puffed and just starting to darken on the edges.
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Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to baking sheet to cool completely.
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These are excellent served warm! These will last at room temperature in an airtight container for a day or so. Afterwards, move to freezer for longer storage.
Recipe Notes
- To make these refined sugar free, use coconut sugar. I used organic cane sugar by Wholesome to ensure the best red color. Coconut sugar tends to darken baked goods.
- To get the white and blue filling color use a lighter nut/seed butter like cashew, sun butter, or tahini.
- The Beetroot powder I used is by MRM. And the blue spirulina is by E3Live which is very good quality but a little pricey. For a cheaper blue option, use Butterfly Pea powder instead. All are available on Amazon.
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