Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake
“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the California Walnut Commission and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time, however, I received free samples of California walnuts mentioned in this post.”
Shakespeare once said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” ~ so am thinking it wouldn’t really matter if I called this a “cookie cake” or a “dessert pizza” – right?
As I sat pondering, I figured I’d Google the difference between the two and Google got all upset and started spewing out cookie cake recipes and dessert pizza recipes and surveys of which pizza chain was better than the other.
I made it to page 10 of that Google search, when my daughter came into the kitchen, grabbed a slice of this (then naked) cookie cake-dessert pizza and asked me what I planned to top this cookie cake with and that, my friends, is how I settled on naming this a Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake!
But, this cookie cake wasn’t part of my initial plan at all. When the good people at California Walnuts sent me a generous sampling of their walnuts, I figured I’d make some Cardamom, Cinnamon, and Ginger Spiced Walnut Butter by first roasting them and then blending them. Y’all – this nut butter smelled soooooooo incredibly good, it felt almost like a sin to keep it in a jar with a lid on it so I figured I’d use it to make a cookie cake-dessert pizza because then I could custom-size those slices when I cut them!
Jam-packed with 4 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, phosphorous, magnesium, and 2.5 grams of Alpha-Linolenic Acid (Omega-3), each ounce of walnuts are a nutritional treasure trove! A friend of mine sang their praises to me over other nuts and ever since I have come to recognize how versatile and delicious walnuts are.
After 2 failed attempts where I worked with different quantities of the same ingredients, I ended up with the crust you see here.
This totally gluten free crust has equal amounts of homemade, spiced, walnut butter and coconut flour – in addition to a couple of eggs, coconut sugar (or brown sugar) and vanilla essence baked together. The crust alone is like a spiced, rich, dense, sugar cookie. If you are not a fan of coconut, no worries, because the walnuts and spices jive so well with it that you don’t even taste it. No lie.
In pulling this together, my daughter suggested the melted chocolate layer. I threw on some dairy-free whipped topping on top of that, and dropped some berries and pomegranate arils on top because we eat with our eyes right?! That and all the berries and chocolate simply pair so well together with that spiced Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake crust!
[Tweet “Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake #ad #glutenfree #thereciperedux @CaWalnuts”]
This gluten-free, cookie cake just happens to be perfect for any 4th of July shenanigans as well! Throw some more melted chocolate on top and it will be a must try for chocoholics everywhere – anytime!
For more recipe ideas and inspiration, I urge y’all to check out California Walnuts on:
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Ingredients
For the Spiced Walnut Butter
- 4 cups California Walnuts roasted I roasted them at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons honey
For the Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake
- 1/2 cup Spiced Walnut Butter
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup melted chocolate of your choice dark, semi-sweet, or milk
- 1/4 cup dairy free whipped topping or coconut whipped cream
- blueberries blackberries, pomegranate arils, chopped walnuts
Instructions
For the Spiced Walnut Butter
- Place the roasted California Walnuts in a blender and pulse till they change from whole to powder to butter consistency. Now this will take a lot of scraping down the sides but it is so worth it.
- Once the walnuts have reached a butter-like consistency, add the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and honey and blend till well incorporated.
- Store unused butter in a glass jar
For the Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a bowl, add the Spiced Walnut Butter, coconut flour, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla essence and mix well till "dough" begins to form.
- Dough will be a bit sticky but spoon it onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely (I let mine cool overnight)
- When cooled, top with melted chocolate, whipped coconut cream or non dairy topping, berries, pomegranate arils, chopped walnuts and drizzled melted chocolate and enjoy.
I’d love to know if you happen to make this recipe (or any other on here) so pretty please tag me @RunninSrilankan and #RunninSrilankan on Instagram,Twitter &/or Facebook. And, if you haven’t yet, then please make sure to subscribe to my mailing list to have all sorts of eats and treats delivered to your inbox! Thanks Y’all!
What a fun cookie! Love the mix of fruit, nuts and chocolate!
Sashi, this is an amazing cookie cake with everything I love in it. Walnuts are my favorite kind of nut and this has coconut too. So so good. I like how you little girl thinks, perfect with the chocolate and cream part. This would be amazing for July 4th or any party or just for us.
I absolutely love this and truly pray that you win the contest. You deserve it.
Hope you are doing well. Now off to read your other posts.
xoxo
I love cookie cakes! They always make me think of those mrs fields ones that we used to see in the mall all the time as kids! haha This one sounds fantastic! I love walnuts!
Love everything about this post from how you came up with the name, to that walnut butter to the gorgeous photos!
Such a beautiful recipe, my friend! Fabulous flavors for one lovely treat!
My FAVORITE kind of butter is walnut butter, because walnuts make SUCH a creamy texture compared to others! Mmm mmm mmm, love this! Great entry girl 🙂
xo,
Sarah Grace
I would just call it delicious and bypass the whole cookie cake vs. dessert pizza debate completely 😀 Loving the base, loving the chocolate sauce, and loving the coconut cream topping! I hope you win, Shashi! This looks amazing.
Cookie cake… dessert pizza.. doesn’t matter to me what you call it as long as you share! 😉 This looks delicious, Shashi! LOVE the walnuts in here — so genius (as always)! I could eat this whole cookie cake all by myself in about .2 seconds flat! I hope you win the contest chicka!! You definitely deserve to win with this!! Cheers, friend!
I love dessert pizzas and these cookies serve a beautiful, healthy slice!
Cookie cake/pizza — what’s in a name? Just as long as it tastes good, and boy I’ll bet this is wonderful! Love the idea of this — really creative. Thanks!
That’s a gorgeous cookie cake! I just made a huge batch of nut butter and this recipe comes just in time!
Girl, you have outdone yourself. I hope you win this contest. I love walnuts too. So many great uses and awesome nutrition. Your daughter sure knows ow to take it to the next level with the chocolate. I’m a big fan of walnuts. And chocolate. And this delicious Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake! Hope all is well there. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here today and I have all kinds of house CLEANING to do. Wish I was eating this cookie cake with you instead! Have a beautiful day.
You knocked it out of the park with this one, Shashi! (How’s that for a baseball reference seeing as we are in the middle of baseball season?) Seriously, though, this one is awesome. That cookie base looks perfect enough as is…but then those toppings. And the melted chocolate. I kinda want to just shove my face into that one. Can I have a smash Walnut Coconut Cookie Cake for my birthday this year? 🙂
What a lovely treat! I love how creative you are….I have some coconut flour and walnuts in my house and I need to try this out. 🙂
Oh my goodness this cookie cake looks incredible Shashi! I wish I could grab it out from my screen right now and eat it all!!! Yum!!!! The walnut butter sounds amazing!
4th of july PERFECTION! i love a good cookie cake. and you had me sold at gluten free. LOL!