Whether you like your keto Christmas cookies crisp, chewy, soft (or all three!), in this list you’ll find what it takes to nail them all. Think twenty recipes (with tips and tricks!) for the cookie monster in all of us!
Keto Christmas Cookies 🍪
#CookieMonsterApproved
The perfect twenty keto christmas cookies… boy does time fly!!
But what exactly do I mean by the perfect keto cookies? After all, cookies vary a lot. Some are crunchy all over, others are cake-y and soft, melt-in-your-mouth, crumbly, chewy, round, flat, spreadable… i.e. we’ve got options.
And let’s be honest, it seems that even though deceptively simple… it’s kinda hard to get keto cookies right (particularly the crisp ones!), as normal cookie rules are aggravated in sugar free baking due to the vast difference in ingredients from brand to brand. So throughout the post you’ll find a few rules to help you get the cookies you want.
But let’s get started with some hard-fast rules that apply to all cookies, be them keto or not!
- Cream the butter until light and fluffy. This is a big thing in cookies guys (i.e. the golden rule!), and there’s no workaround! For best texture you want to cream your butter and the sweetener with your mixer for roughly 10 minutes, scrapping the bowl 2-3 times to ensure no uneven streaks remain.
- Dairy free? Not gonna like, this is a tricky one (particularly for the crisp cookies!). Shortening (i.e. lard) is probably the closest sub to butter out there (this tip came from you guys!)… but you’ll have to cut the amount used by 20% as it’s a pure fat. Also do keep in mind that you don’t get that butter taste (which is why even recipes with lard still throw in some butter or at least a butter extract).
- Soft vs Crisp: in terms of spreadable cookies (think chocolate chip or snickerdoodle sorta thing), you can play around with their texture without altering the recipe itself. For instance, if you want them crispier be sure to pre-flatten your cookies quite a bit prior to baking, use parchment paper and even have the cookie dough more at room temp than ultra chilled. And for softer cookies you’ll want to do the opposite (ultra chilled, no pre-flattening). Note: convection ovens also lead to softer cookies overall.
- How sweet?! In case you haven’t noticed, keto palates in regards to sweetness are all over the place (I feel mine fluctuates constantly still!). So I’ll generally give you guys a range in terms of the sweetener so you find the level that suits your taste buds. And this will also depend on what sweetener you use, so if you favor allulose (which is 30% less sweet) you’ll want to stick to the upper range for the most part (or add in a touch of pure monkfruit extract to make up for it).
On The Crisp Side! 🥛 #ToDunkInMilk
To get extra crisp keto cookies keep the following pointers in mind:
- Always (I mean always!) use erythritol as your sweetener. It’s the only keto natural sweetener that lends a very similar crunch and chew. My favorite, for less cooling effect and aftertaste, is surely Lakanto (classic or golden!). And if you feel like you’re getting minty crystals post bake, simply powder it in your food processor or bullet!
- Never (ever!) use coconut flour for crisp cookies, as it retains moisture and ends up dry not crisp.
- Stick to a finely ground almond flour such as Anthony’s.
- Can’t do almond flour? Sunflower seed flour is a very good straight sub! The one caveat is that it can turn green in the presence of baking soda (St. Pattys Day ideal!), so you want to swap it for baking powder (your cookies might need a double bake to ensure they turn out crisp).
2. (The Real Deal!) Chocolate Shortbread
3. (Nice ‘N Crisp!) Oreos
Psssst! Consider dipping these guys in a keto white chocolate for an ultra Christmas-y treat. 😉
4. (Toasted Almond!) Shortbread
5. Speculoos (i.e. Biscoff Cookies!)
6. Mexican Wedding Cookies (i.e. Russian Tea Cakes!)
7. Wagon Wheels (i.e. Moon Pies)
8. Extra Crunchy Graham Crackers
9. Thin Mints (!!)
The Soft (‘N Chewy!) Ones 🍪
To get soft, chewy and lightly crisp keto cookies keep the following pointers in mind:
- If you want crisp, soft and chewy you’ll need to use erythritol as your sweetener. It’s the only keto natural sweetener that lends a very similar crunch and chew. My favorite, for less cooling effect and aftertaste, is surely Lakanto (classic or golden!).
- Alternatively, xylitol or allulose will taste ‘just like sugar’, but the trade off is that you won’t get any crispness (ideal for purely soft ‘n chewy cookies). Your cookies will also likely spread more, and may take up to 24 hours to firm up. What I like to do here is simply pop them in the freezer so they firm up.
- The use of coconut flour throughout these recipes helps to keep things moist and chewy.
- And adding in a touch of konjac powder (or arrowroot) will also help to get an even better texture (but its not a *must* if you don’t have it around, just sub with more coconut flour).
- Stick to a finely ground almond flour such as Anthony’s.
- Can’t do almond flour? Again, sunflower seed flour is a very good straight sub! Again, vip, be sure to swap out the baking soda for baking powder.
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Snickerdoodles (or an Ultra Cozy Skillet Cookie!)
2. Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie
3. Supreme Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
4. (Bakery Style!) Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. Soft ‘N Chewy Cookie Pie For-1 (Or Two!)
6. Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Soft ‘N Delicate ☁️ #MeltInYourMouthSituation
These are the guys with delicate textures that generally just melt-in-your mouth! The one general rule here is that whatever sweetener you choose (be it erythritol, xylitol or allulose) must be powdered.
You can always buy a powdered sweetener, but honestly I just find best to powder it myself in a (very dry!) blender or bullet. Oh, and be sure to let the dust settle or you’ll end up covered in powder (been there, done that).
Wait how do I get the recipes?!
Click through the titles Jimmy 😬 (ahhhh weird the links aren’t pink on my phone!)
They aren’t pink on my phone either
I have no idea how to get to the Recipes now 👀
Click through the titles of the recipe above the pictures Petra 😉