My crisp and chewy keto gingerbread cookies are the highlight of our holiday cookie baking sessions. These sugar free gingerbread men are deliciously spiced and only 1.1g net carbs each.
Sugar free gingerbread cookies get me in the Christmas mood instantly!
I make these keto cookies every year and my whole family adore them. They taste super authentic, just like gingerbread (Lebkuchen) from Germany, where I grew up.
Seriously, you'd never guess that they are sugar free, gluten free and diabetic-friendly.
Gingerbread lover? Also try my keto gingerbread cake, gingerbread cupcakes and keto ginger snaps.
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🌟 Why I Love This Recipe
- So simple - You only need a handful of standard low carb ingredients.
- Authentic taste and texture - The cookies are the perfect combination of crunchy outside and chewy centre. (And if you love a fully crisp gingerbread, just add on a few more minutes in the oven!)
- Fun to make - Such a lovely activity to get into the holiday spirit. Also, great for gift bags.
- 100% keto friendly - 1.1g net carbs per cookie, my sugar free friends!
Ingredients
Here's what I used:
COOKIES
- Hazelnut flour and almond flour - It's the hazelnuts that give low carb gingerbread cookies their classic deep and nutty taste. I grind shelled hazelnuts in a food processor to make it at home. This is much cheaper than buying it at the store.
- Butter - I always use unsalted butter. Make sure it's very soft so you can easily mix it into the cookie dough.
- Spices - I'm using ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Egg white - Essential for a fluffier, lighter cookie texture. Also helps to bind the dough.
- Bicarbonate of Soda - Helps the cookies rise. You can replace it with 2 teaspoons baking powder.
- Sweetener - I used a brown monk fruit sweetener blend, which is a 1:1 brown sugar substitute. It has a mellow caramel flavour. However, white granulated sweeteners also work. Choose erythritol blends if you want crunchy cookies. Allulose, xylitol and Bocha Sweet make softer, chewy cookies.
ICING
- Powdered sweetener
- Water or cream
Instructions
It is simple to make keto gingerbread cookies. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with ingredient amounts, timings and nutrition information.
STEP 1
Stir together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (hazelnut and almond flour, sweetener, spices, bicarbonate of soda).
STEP 2
Add the soft butter and whisk with an electric mixer. A crumbly dough will form.
STEP 3
In another bowl, beat the egg white to stiff peaks.
STEP 4
Fold the egg white into the mixture until a smooth cookie dough forms. Use a spatula for this to keep the air bubbles intact.
STEP 5
Split the dough in 2 and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper. Then chill the rolled out dough in the freezer for 15 minutes.
STEP 6
Now we are ready to cut out cookies! Remove the top sheet of parchment and cut out cookies using a gingerbread man cutter (or any other cookie cutter).
STEP 7
Transfer the gingerbead men onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden. Allow to fully cool.
STEP 8
Mix the powdered sweetener with water or heavy cream in a small bowl. Put the mix into a piping bag with a fine nozzle. Ice the cookies and allow to set.
Katrin's Top Tips
- Chill the dough! It's MUCH easier to cut out cookies this way. If the dough gets sticky while you're working with it, pop it back into the freezer.
- Use a knife or spatula to lift the cookies onto the baking sheet.
- Place the cookies 1 inch apart as they spread a little.
- Rotate the baking sheet if necessary to ensure the gingerbread men brown evenly.
- Watch them. My cookie cutter measured 9 x 7 centimetres and the cookies took 12 minutes to bake. Smaller cookies need less time, only 7-9 minutes.
Variations
Here are ideas how you can change up the recipe.
- Save time: Roll the cookie dough into a log. Then, slice into round cookies.
- Add spices: Cloves, cardamom, mace or allspice all work well.
- Up the flavor: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Option to also add 1 teaspoon of blackstrap molasses for a darker colour and even more gingerbread vibes.
- Dairy-free: Replace the butter with coconut oil.
- Extra sturdy cookies: Add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum to the dry ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
Roll out the dough thinner and bake the cookies for longer. Also, use erythritol over any other sweetener. (Thicker cookies with erythritol will still be chewy if not over-baked.)
Yes, you can make keto gingerbread cookies with just almond flour.
Use a ziploc bag and snip off a corner.
I think it's possible! You could bake rectangular slabs. Make sure to use erythritol as a sweetener, add xanthan gum for sturdiness and bake until the
Prep And Storage
Prep: I know that December is a busy month for everyone! You may find it useful that you can prepare the cookie dough ahead. It freezes well for up to 3 months. Simply defrost it when you are ready to bake.
Storage: I store sugar-free gingerbread cookies at room temperature in an airtight container. If you have iced them, store in a single layer. They stay fresh for about 2 weeks.
You can also freeze keto cookies for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
My Keto Christmas cookies roundup has all the best festive cookie recipes in one place. Here are more keto recipes to try:
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 200g ground hazelnuts (from about 2 cups of whole shelled hazelnuts without skins)
- 1 cup / 100g almond flour
- ⅓ cup / 60g golden sweetener or sweetener of your choice, use ½ cup for a sweeter dough
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2.5 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup / 75g softened butter
- 1 egg white beaten
Optional Icing
- ½ cup powdered erythritol
- 1 ½ tablespoon water or cream
Instructions
Cookies
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (hazelnut and almond flour, golden sweetener, spices, bicarbonate of soda).
- Add the soft butter and whisk with an electric mixer until a crumbly dough forms.
- In another bowl, beat the egg white until stiff, then fold through the dough with a spatula until just combined.
- Split the dough into 2 and roll between two sheets of parchment paper. Then chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. This is an essential step! The dough needs to be very cold so it does not stick to the cookie cutter and the cookies are firm enough to be transferred onto a baking tray.
- Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C electric (320F / 160C fan). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the freezer. Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper and cut out cookies using a gingerbread man cutter. Use a knife or spatula to carefully lift the cookies onto the baking tray. Re-roll any remaining dough until all the dough is used up. ***see notes
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Rotate the tray if necessary so the cookies brown evenly. Allow to fully cool.
Icing
- Mix the sweetener with and water or cream in a small bowl with a spoon until thick and smooth. Add more powdered sweetener if it is too thin.
- Fill into a piping bag with a fine nozzle or use a ziploc bag and finely snip off the end. Ice and allow to set for 30 minutes.
K I
Great recipe! I Chilling the dough before cutting worked great. Even my sugar-eating family liked these!!
Margo
The Ginger Snaps recipe (the recipe i want to make) comes in as Gingerbread cookies, not ginger snaps, and clicking on gingerbread cookies to see if we're switched, still brought up gingerbread cookies. Where can I find gingerbread snap cookies? Thanks in advance.
Katrin Nürnberger
You can find all my recipes easily via the recipe search bar on my website. The ginger snaps are here: Sugar Free Keto Ginger Snaps
Linda Smith
Will the recipe not work with just all almond flour, replacing the hazelnut flour?
Katrin Nürnberger
Sure, that would also work.
Linda Smith
I decided to try pecan flour with the almond flour instead of the hazelnut flour and the dough turned out nice but when I tried to use my snowflake cookie cutter, they fell apart as I tried to lift it off the parchment even after 15 min in freezer. So I just made a log and sliced... cookies have a really good flavor and a nice texture. Don't know if adding xanthum gun would help make the cookie dough less likely to fall apart? I meant to add it, but forgot. All good, love the ginger flavor and I also added cloves and vanilla
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, xanthan gum will make the texture stronger. But in my opinion, the dough does not require xanthan gum to hold together. It is all about having a cold dough and rolling it out not too thinly so the cookies are easy to pick up.
Alex
How were the cookies (taste-wise) just using all almond flour please?
Thank you for reading.