Healthy Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies | Ambitious Kitchen (2024)

Do you remember those delicious Keebler Fudge Stripes cookies from your childhood? They were sweet, irresistible and perfect dunked in milk. We always had them in our pantry and can even remember sneaking a few extra when Mom wasn’t looking.

Well you see, the Keebler elf has officially inspired these healthy fudge striped cookies and I couldn’t be more excited to share the recipe because these cookies are TRULY delightful in every single way.

I had been wanting to recreate some of my childhood favorite cookies into healthier versions and this was the perfect start. So dreamy, so easy, SO TANTALIZING.

Potentially the wrong adjective, but who really cares. You’re just here for the recipe anyway.

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Reasons to fall in love with fudge striped cookies

If you don’t already love the Keebler elf and his cookies, then it’s about time someone introduced you to the weird wide world of a little elf who lives in a hollow tree and gets his bake on. Is he stoned? No one knows, we just appreciate his cookies.

Here are a few reasons to love this homemade version even more:

They’re easy to make! You only need one bowl for this recipe which means you can get your bake on without all the extra equipment.
these cookies are made with almond flour which helps to keep them both lower in carbs and gluten free — but trust me when I say that no one will be able to tell the difference. They’re buttery and have the perfect shortbread consistency.
They’re naturally sweetened with just a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup. Yum.
You can really make them your own by choosing a fun chocolate bar for dipping, using orange zest in the dough, or even covering the bottoms of them in chopped nuts or toasted coconut. The options are endless!

Ingredients in fudge striped cookies

I’m not sure what’s more exciting about these fudge striped cookies: the fact that they’re gluten free and easily made vegan, OR the fact that you only need 6 ingredients that you likely might already have in your pantry:

Almond flour: it’s important to use fine blanched almond flour in this recipe so that the cookies maintain their perfect consistency.
Butter: I like to use butter in the recipe because it creates a nice shortbread consistency and flavor. However, you are more than welcome to use melted coconut oil or vegan butter for a vegan and dairy free version.
Pure maple syrup: one of my favorite natural sweeteners to use and you only need a few tablespoons!
Vanilla + almond extract: both of these help to flavor the cookie. Don’t skip!
Salt: not absolutely necessary, but I do recommend using! Even better if you sprinkle the cookies with sea salt at the end aka my fav thing to do.
Chocolate: What I love about this recipe is that you can use any kind of chocolate bar you’d like, or chocolate chips if you prefer. I recommend a 60-70% chocolate bar, as anything darker may not provide enough sweetness. Personally, I love using a salted dark chocolate or a mint dark chocolate bar for dipping and drizzling. Next level delicious and essentially you can make a new flavor with every single batch!

Can I use all purpose flour?

Unfortunately, no, I cannot recommend using all purpose flour in this recipe as the texture of the cookies will not turn out right.

Fun, creative flavor variations to try

Here are a few tips to make this cookie recipe your own:

Add zest from 1 orange to the dough for an orange flavored cookie. YUM.
Use a flavored chocolate bar to make these your own: mint, peppermint, brown butter, toffee, orange, etc. Theo, Alter Eco and Divine chocolate have fun flavors — I would not recommend anything with nuts, quinoa or chunks already in it. The same goes for chocolate bars that are stuffed.
If you want to make these vegan, be sure to use a vegan dark chocolate bar. Alter Eco has a few vegan options available as does Hu Chocolate.
After dipping the chocolate on the bottom of the cookies, feel free to sprinkle them or even dip them in toasted coconut, toasted chopped pecans or anything crunchy you love. I love to sprinkle the chocolate dip with a bit of sea salt. YUM.

How to make fudge striped cookies

This recipe takes a few steps but is really quite simple once you do it for the first time (plus there’s a video tutorial below!)

Make the dough. Start by making the shortbread cookie dough, then chill it in the fridge for 1 hour.
Roll it out. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it until it’s 1/4th inch thick.
Cut the cookies out. Use a 2-inch cookie dough cutter, or the top of a wide non-stick cooking spray cap and cut out circles from the dough. Re-roll the cookie dough scraps so you use all of the dough.
Poke a hole & bake. Use the large piping/pastry tip, cut out the center of each circle, or you can use a large stainless steel straw to poke a hole in the middle and remove the dough. Place cut outs on the baking sheet and bake.
Cool, dip & drizzle. Allow cookies to cool completely before dipping the bottoms in chocolate. Chill for 5 minutes, then drizzle the tops of cookies with the remaining chocolate. Chill again and then enjoy!

Storing & freezing tips

To store: store these fudge striped cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
To freeze:you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks forfreezing cookies here.

More cookie recipes you’ll love

Grain Free Snickerdoodles
Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies (gluten free, grain free, paleo friendly)
Grain Free Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Salted Brownie Cookies
Blow Ya Mind Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten free, too!)

Get all of my cookie recipes here!

I hope you love these homemade fudge striped shortbread cookies! If you make them, I’d love to hear from you — feel free to leave a comment below and rate the recipe. I appreciate it! xo.

Healthy Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies | Ambitious Kitchen (8)

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Healthy Homemade Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies

4.88 from 8 votes

Ingredients

1 ½ cups packed fine blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted (can also use vegan butter or melted coconut oil)
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ounce dark chocolate bar (60-70%), vegan/dairy free if desired*

Instructions

Add almond flour, butter, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt to a large bowl. Mix together until a dough forms. Form dough into a disc shape and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or place in a stasher bag. Chill dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place dough on a large sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and add another large sheet of parchment or wax paper on top. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle until the dough is 1/4th inch thick. Use a 2-inch cookie dough cutter to cut rounds out, or you can use the top of a wide cooking spray cap (it works very well!). Re-roll the cookie dough scraps so you use all of the dough. You should get about 14 cookies. Use the large piping/pastry tip, cut out the center of each circle, or you can use a large stainless steel straw (plastic works too) to poke a hole in the middle and remove the dough. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 11-14 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Once cookies are cooled, it’s time for dipping. Break apart chocolate bar and add to a medium bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments until chocolate is melted and smooth. You can also do this in a small pot if you prefer.
Dip the bottom of the cookies in the chocolate, then place cookies upside down (so the chocolate-dipped side is up) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place baking sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.
Once chocolate has hardened, remove the baking sheet from the fridge. Turn cookies upside down and drizzle the tops of the cookies with the remaining chocolate. (You may need to remelt the chocolate by putting it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.) Place baking sheet with cookies back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until chocolate sets up. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

To make vegan: use melted coconut oil or vegan butter. Also be sure to use a vegan chocolate bar.

Optional add-ins: Add zest from 1 orange to dough for an orange flavored cookie.

*Chocolate bar flavors: Use a flavored chocolate bar to make these your own: salted, mint, brown butter, toffee, cherry, orange, etc. Theo, Alter Eco and Divine chocolate have fun flavors -- I would not recommend anything with nuts, quinoa or chunks already in it. Same goes with bars that are stuffed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie (based on 14)Calories: 134calCarbohydrates: 8.2gProtein: 3gFat: 10.9gSaturated Fat: 3.4gFiber: 1.9gSugar: 5.1g

Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by:Eat Love Eats