Cookie butter started catching on here in the United States somewhere between 2011 and 2015. I personally did not jump on the cookie butter bandwagon, but it has always intrigued me. What do you put it on? And why would anyone want to eat this when they can just eat a cookie? Well, curiosity got the best of me and I’m here to tell you that I’ve done my best to make a healthier version for all the rest of you wanting to give it a shot. Check out my healthy cinnamon cookie butter recipe and let me know what you think.
Nutritional Benefits of Healthy Cinnamon Cookie Butter
In all honesty, there aren’t any in-your-face health benefits of eating cookie butter. It’s a “sometimes” food that should be eaten in moderation. Which is one reason I felt the need to create a healthier version. We should be able to feed into our cravings without feeling too guilty about our choices.
When coming up with this version, I looked to two very popular cookie butters on the market. The first being Lotus brand Biscoff Cookie Butter.
This famous cookie butter is a blend of Biscoff cookies, canola oil, and sugar. For each tablespoon, it contains 85 calories, 5.5 gm total fat, 1.25 gm saturated fat, 8.5 gm carbohydrate, and only half a gram of protein. Overall, this cookie butter is 58% calories from fat! Umm, I’ll pass.
Then there is the second most popular cookie butter, Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter.
This extremely raved over cookie butter is made with speculoos cookies, sugar, soy flour, and sugar syrup among other additives. Each tablespoon has 90 calories, 6 gm total fat, 1.5 gm saturated fat, 6 gm carbohydrates, and <1 gm protein. Overall, making this one approximately 60% calories from fat! The taste just isn’t worth it to me.
Now let’s analyze this Healthy Cinnamon Cookie Butter recipe. With only 41 calories per tablespoon and about 44% calories from fat, this one beats the competition by a landslide. And unlike the competitors, it has 1.3 gm protein per tablespoon.
Even compared to peanut butter, Healthy Cinnamon Cookie Butter has less calories and fat. Peanut butter only beats this recipe in terms of the protein content, which is 3.5 gm per tablespoon for peanut butter versus 1.3 gm from the cookie butter.
How To Make Healthy Cinnamon Cookie Butter
Making this cookie butter couldn’t be easier. The hardest part about this recipe is cleaning the food processor afterwards.
The first step is roughly crushing the Kodiak Bear Bites graham crackers. I did this by placing about 7 ounces of cookies into a sealable plastic baggie and crushing them with the bottom of a coffee cup.
The next step is adding all the ingredients into your food processor and pulsing on and off until the ingredients are nice and smooth. Think creamy peanut butter consistency.
That’s all! Now it’s time to eat it plain or use it in a multitude of creative and delectable ways.
Ways To Use Cookie Butter
There are actually so many ways to enjoy this cinnamon cookie butter. My absolute favorite is to use it as a dip for apples. Here are 15 other ways to enjoy this fun dessert or snack:
- spread on toast
- use as a dip for pretzels, graham crackers, or cookies
- use it to top cereals, granolas, parfaits, smoothie bowls
- swirl into oatmeal
- use in smoothies to make a decadent drinkable treat
- top waffles and pancakes
- make a milkshake
- add to ice cream or frozen yogurt
- add to pancake, muffin, or biscuit mix
- stir into banana bread mix
- swirl into brownie batter
- use it in frosting recipes
- make cookie butter cookies
- use it literally anywhere you’d use peanut butter!
- eat is straight out of the container
Recipe FAQ
How long does homemade cookie butter stay fresh?
I recommend storing your cookie butter in a container with tight-fitting lid and placing it in the refrigerator. It will last up to one week. Just remember to bring it to room temperature to soften up before eating.
Commercially-made cookie butters are treated similarly to peanut butter in that they do not need to be refrigerated. There is larger amount of fat and additives that it does not need refrigeration. However, when making your own version at home you should always refrigerate the finished product. We are using almond milk in the recipe which does need refrigeration after opening.
Can you freeze cookie butter?
Some food bloggers say that you can freeze cookie butter in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. I personally feel this is fine if you are going to be blending it in smoothies. Although if using it as a dip or spread, I don’t recommend freezing because the almond milk and fats may separate during the freezing process. This messes with the consistency after thawing. So if this is the case, just whip up a batch as needed and refrigerate and eat within one week.
Can I make this cookie butter vegan?
This recipe for healthy cinnamon cookie butter is NOT vegan. However, you can easily make a vegan version by swapping out the Kodiak graham crackers (which contain milk products, egg, and wheat) for any gluten-free cookie you like. All other ingredients in this recipe are vegan friendly.
I will say that Lotus brand Biscoff Cookie Butter is vegan. The only allergens this brand of cookie butter contains is soy and gluten. Although it will be much healthier and cheaper to simply swap out the type of cookie.
Healthy Cinnamon Cookie Butter
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups Kodiak Bear Bites honey graham crackers
- ~1/4 cup vanilla Silk almond milk
- 2 Tbsp almond butter creamy
- 1 Tbsp Cocavo solid coconut and avocado oil blend
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
Instructions
- Roughly crush the graham crackers and place in food processor.
- Add all other ingredients to food processor and pulse to combine, adding 1-2 tablespoons of the almond milk at a time until it forms a smooth and spreadable consistency.
- Scrape sides as needed and pulse again until thoroughly combined.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- using a different type of cookie- such as a vegan cookie or other cookie of choice
- using a different type of milk such as skim milk, soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, etc.
- adding vanilla extract, almond extract, more cinnamon
- sprinkling in other spices such as ground nutmeg, cardmom, anise, or ginger to mimic that taste of traditional speculoos cookie butter
- folding in crushed cookie pieces after pulsing in the food processor to make a “crunchy” cookie butter
Share With Me: Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear what you thought and if you tried any of the suggestions I listed above. What do YOU eat your cookie butter with?
Similar Recipes You May Like:
Feel free to pin this post to save and share with others
Kiran Campbell is a registered dietitian and entrepreneur with 13 years of experience. She has a degree in psychology as well as dietetics. She is also a proud member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ and its Cardiovascular Health and Well-being Dietetics Practice Group among others. Kiran proudly presents and promotes the most up-to-date, science-based nutrition information on all things heart-related. She aims to serve not only individuals with heart disease, but also those wanting to protect against it. Learn more about Kiran by visiting her About Page.