In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to share these tricksy little color-changing cookies.

Although the original post at Against All Grain passes off these cookies as “oatmeal raisin” cookies, I think they have their own unique taste and texture that could be compromised by comparison to a classic recipe. They are chewy and soft, with subtle flavors of dates and coconut; I left out the raisins, and think these would be delicious with other dried fruit, say apricots or cranberries.

And as for why these cookies are deep green inside? It isn’t because of the avocado! Actually, a chemical reaction occurs between the chlorogenic acid in the sunflower seed butter and the alkaline baking soda; for more information, this post offers some technical insights. Trade out the sunbutter for peanut or almond butter, and you will have equally tasty, but less tricksy, cookies!

Leprechaun Cookies

½ C unsweetened sunbutter
6 medium pitted dates
½ C avocado
1 egg
2 T honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ C finely shredded coconut
¼ C coconut flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the sunbutter, dates, and applesauce in a food processor; process until smooth. Add the egg, honey, and vanilla, and pulse for 15 seconds to combine. Add the coconut, coconut flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Pulse for 10 seconds, until fully incorporated.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet; I use a 2-tablespoon disher for this task. Gently flatten tops of cookies with damp fingers.

Bake for 15 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Cookies will turn green inside once cooled and will continue to get a deeper green after 2 hours.

Source: Slightly adapted from Against All Grain (this link provides a vegan version of the recipe in case you want them egg-free!)