These delicious, chewy, slightly addictive cookie dough bites (or raisin and cinnamon dough bites for littles ones who don’t eat chocolate yet) have a secret superpower – resistant starch. My kids nd I dreamed them up one Friday night during a debate on whether to play superheroes or make cookies. Obviously we had to do both, so we made the cookies part of the team.
We saved the world, and they saved us.
I should probably back up here. Lately I’ve been reading up on the benefits of resistant starch, which is a prebiotic that feeds our gut microbiome – aka the bacteria that live in our digestive tracts.
Just like with rainforests and other ecosystems, experts believe that gut microbiome diversity may contribute to our overall health and resilience. Unfortunately, as Michael Pollan notes in this article, “Researchers now speak of an impoverished ‘Westernized microbiome’ and ask whether the time has come to embark on a project of ‘restoration ecology’ — not in the rain forest or on the prairie but right here at home, in the human gut.”
To bring back diversity, researchers are turning their attention to resistant starch.
Not A Tiger. Not A Nut. What Is It?
In addition to consuming fermented foods and a good probiotic (you can read about the one I use here), lately I’ve been making an extra effort to incorporate more resistant starch into our diet. That’s because according to Stanford microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg, “The safest way to increase your microbial biodiversity is to eat a variety of polysaccharides.” (source) Resistant starch is a primary source of polysaccharides.
These cookie dough bites are made with tigernut flour, which is an odd name given that, uh, it’s not made from tigers or nuts.
Tigernuts are actually tubers, like potatoes, only they’re much sweeter and delicious raw. You can actually snack on them whole like you would almonds or cashews, or make “nut” milk out of them. And as you might have guessed, they’re a good source of resistant starch – the best we know of in fact.
Because tigernut flour is type 2 resistant starch, which loses most of its benefit when cooked, I try to incorporate it raw when possible. This no-bake cookie dough it the perfect snack, and you can even dress it up by dipping it in chocolate or using it to make ice cream sandwiches.
As I mentioned earlier, the flour is sweet so all you really need is a tablespoon of maple syrup, but if you’d like to you create a more decadent treat you can dip the dough in fair-trade dark chocolate or use it to make ice cream sandwiches.
A word of advice . . .
Changes in gut flora (whether from probiotics or resistant starch) can cause gassiness if too much change happens too soon. Gut health experts typically recommend starting slow and working your way up. Also, according to Dr. Amy Nett:
If you choose to try supplementing with RS, start with small doses of about ¼ teaspoon once daily, and very gradually increase the amount as tolerated. Some increased gas and bloating is expected as your gut flora changes and adapts, but you do not want to feel uncomfortable. If you experience marked discomfort, then decrease the amount you’re taking for a few days until your symptoms resolve, and then try increasing again gradually.
Studies indicate that the benefits of resistant starch may be seen when consuming around 15 to 30 grams daily (equivalent to two to four tablespoons of potato starch). This may be too much for some people to tolerate, particularly in the setting of gut dysbiosis, and going above this amount is not necessarily beneficial.
If you experience marked GI distress with even small amounts of RS, this may be an indication of SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or microbial dysbiosis, and you may need to consider working with a healthcare practitioner to establish a more balanced gut microbiome through the use of herbal antimicrobials and probiotics before adding RS or other prebiotics.” (source)
Each of these cookie dough bites contains two teaspoons of resistant starch, so you may want to divide them further when starting out. They freeze well so you can make a batch and work your way up slowly if desired.
Resistant Starch Cookie Dough Bites
Equipment
- measuring spoons
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup tigernut flour
- 1 cup cashew butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or use this recipe to make your own)
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 1-2 tbsp melted butter if needed
Instructions
- Place tigernut flour, cashew/almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt in a food processor and blend well. If your cashew butter is on the dry side, add one tablespoon of melted butter (or a little more if needed). You want it to be pretty soft/oily so that the dough doesn’t dry out in the fridge.
- Remove dough from the food processor and place in a bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips, then roll the dough into twelve balls and place in the fridge or freezer to enjoy as desired.
m.w.
great recipe! i have a bag of tigernuts and they taste good but i am not a fan of the texture, a little too chewy for me. do u think it is possible to make flour out of them in a food processor perhaps? also, do u have a recipe for making tigernut milk?
Elena
tigernut milk is horchata.
Todzak
Hmmm… I’m Mexican and horchata was always made out of rice.
I just googled it and seems like tigernut milk as horchata is mostly a Spanish thing.
Seems like it would probably be best to confirm what the horchata on the menu is made of… If it’s a Mexican restaurant, it is most likely not tigernut. On the other hand, if it’s Spanish tapas, likely it is tiger nut! How cool!
Mercedes
No, it doesn’t work to make the nuts into flour. At least it didn’t for me when I tried it in my food processor.
Sheryll Ziemer
Oh yes, this looks amazing. Just waiting for my order of tigernut flour to arrive.
Sarah
Wow, these look delicious! I think I’m going to have to make these tomorrow… my boys will love them!
Shelley West
Hmmm…will have to try these with sunflower butter.
Chani
Hey heather, first wanted to say, love love ur site. And i just so happpened to buy a bag of tigernut flour i found in my local co-op and had no idea what to use it for. These sound like a delicious way to get resistant starch in, something i hav been having a hard time with
Carrie S
Do you have any recommendations for replacing cashews or cashew butter in this recipe or others? I’m amazed at how often cashews show up in paleo recipes (especially sweet alternatives like frosting, pancakes, cookies, etc) but they came up as a red/dangerous food on my food sensitivity test so I can’t eat them.
Heather
Hi Carrie, does almond butter agree with you? If so, that would be my first choice as a substitute.
Tammy
What about sunflower seed butter? I can’t do almond or cashew…Thanks!
Nicki
Hi!! Would love to try these, I have a son with a nut allergy. What could I substitute the cashew butter with? He also has an allergy to sunflower butter?
Heather
Sunflower butter is my go-to suggestion for those with nut allergies, so unfortunately I’m not sure.
Shanti
I’d use coconut oil or just use tiger nuts otherwise like nut milk.
If someone has autoimmune conditions starchy foods/tubers and grains besides nuts, seeds and legumes might all not be a good idea! Fruits, greens and raw vegetables if possible after transitioning slowly is what I do and seaweeds, spirulina and chlorella etc. Actually maca powder and coconut oil might be an alternative to nut/seed butters!
Carla
I use Tahini when I don’t want to use nut butter.
Anna
Mmmm. Looks delicious for grown up kids too. I wonder if I can get tigernut flour in New Zealand! Thanks for your great work Heather.
Rachael
Hi Anna
If you find some here in NZ please let me know! I’ve been looking but can’t find any 🙁
Erik
Would potato starch work instead of tiger nut flour?
ERIN
I made these as written except I used tahini paste. They came out a bit too oily but the taste was good! Next time if I use tahini I will just omit the butter completely. I just love all the informative posts, you are one of my favorite bloggers!
Heather
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to let me know, Erin 🙂
Robynn
Ohhh a sesamen Tahini bite that sounds wonderful,
Monica
These are amazing! My picky son couldn’t get enough of them (and honestly, neither could I!).
Heather
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that!
Julia
These look so delicious! I bet kids go crazy for them! They look like real cookie dough ball! Keep posting delicious recipes, I love them!
laura
Would another type of starch work – such as tapioca starch?
Rachael
Tapioca should not be consumed raw, as it requires cooking to remove the toxins.
Shelly
Rachael thank you for sharing this, I had no idea it had toxins in it’s raw form.
Leah
Ah!! Finally! A cookie dough recipe that doesn’t suck! I’ve tried so many cookie dough ball recipes that didn’t even close taste like the real thing. But this recipe is amazing!! My sweet tooth and I thank you Mommypotamus!
Amy P
Just made these for the first time. They are really good! The best part is, they’re kid approved! I used Almond Butter, as that is what I had on hand. Thank you for the recipe!
Tracy
I made these. And they are AWESOME! They’re like grain free cookie dough. Soooo happy. Yum.
Heather
So glad you liked them! 🙂
Leah
Heather- Do you have a substitute suggestion for maple syrup? I am sensitive to it, but I’m dying to try this recipe. They look delicious! I’m waiting for my tigernut flour to arrive. 🙂
Heather
Honey would work, or really any natural sweetener 🙂
Sarah
Could the tigernuts also be used whole, since they’re going through the foodprocessor?
e4hand
Thank you so much for this recipe! My kids are picky eaters and don’t like peanut butter and lots of other healthy fats so I’ve been searching for a way to get them to eat more healthy fats. This is perfect and they love it! They are delicious! I ran out of cashew butter and used almond butter to make up the difference and they taste great. The resistant starch is a major added bonus as well.
Pat Heckman
Can tiger not flour be eaten raw on a regular basis, I just love scooping it and eating it raw? It isn’t toxic? Can coconut flour be eaten raw, I like its taste as well, but not as much as tiger nut flour.
kate
We have allergies to all nuts, sunflower, sesame, and coconut – any ideas for a safe substitute for the cashew butter? Bought the tiger nut flour to make these but then saw that they call for nut butter :/ Thanks!
Andrenna
I made these today and they were SO GOOD! I used Wild Friends pumpkin spice peanut butter and ghee, and they had the perfect fall flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
Karin
This sounds yummy but we have a son allergic to peanuts and cashews. What would be a good substitute for this?!
Thank you,
Karin
Heather
Almond butter will work but you’ll want to use a bit less because it tends to be more runny. 🙂
Maria
If we wanted to bake into real cookies, do you know how long and at what temp?
Thank you!!!!
Angeline
I just made this and it’s gorgeous! I cannot have nuts so I used cacao butter. Definitely a hit with my daughter and me. Thank you.
Deborah bean
Hi,
I just love this website!!! My husband and I have some health issues and I have been doing research for more natural alternatives for our everyday life! Plus we have adopted two of our youngest grandchildren, they are soon to be 4 and 6. It is a whole different world now. I do a lot of research about vaccines and alternative medicine. I want these little ones to grow up with every advantage I can give. Being healthy is number one. But as new parents it is important that we take care of ourselves.
Thank you so much for being here! Much success to you!
Jann Simpson
These sound so good! and I want to get Resistant starch into my diet. However, Im currently on the AIP Diet and can’t do nut or seed butters. 🙁 What would be a good alternative?
Heather Dessinger
Normally for people who can’t do nuts I suggest seeds, but if both are out I’m out of ideas 🙁
Nikki
Just made these and neither my food processor nor blendtec would blend this! Had to mix with my hands and still couldn’t get the ingredients to fully incorporate. What did I do wrong?