Sugar free, low carb and gluten free cookie heaven: These walnut cookies are a super healthy take on the Italian classic Dolci di Noci.
Holidays are a fab time to get inspiration for new recipes. One leg of our Grand Tour of Europe we’ve just returned from – who would have thought our little car could drive through five countries without breaking down?! – took us to Italy. It is the cradle of food porn, to put it in Instagram speak.
Naturally, good sugar free intentions had to be put on hold quite bit. Tiramisu – of course. Gelato – it would have been rude to say no. You cannot travel 1000 miles and eat like you do at home.
And then there were some particularly wonderful walnut cookies called Dolci di Noci – little balls of nutty awesomeness, which we sampled with a perfect espresso, wearing dark shades. The Italians are stylissimo, so you’ve got to keep up!
Friends, now that I’m back to real life, may I present to you with my take on Dolci di Noci cookies. These sugar free walnut cookies have only 4 ingredients and are
- super easy to make
- ready in 15 minutes
- gluten free
- low carb
- delicious
- crunchy
- nutty
- satisfyingly sweet!
How to make sugar free walnut cookies:
1.) You beat an egg with powdered sweetener and cinnamon. If you want, you could also use granulated sweetener – I have used both with success. This brown sugar alternative by Sukrin works well too.
2.) Grind walnuts in a food processor or with a stick blender. How crunchy you want them is up to you. I like to leave some larger chunks, so I make sure I don’t grind them too long. You don’t want to end up with walnut flour!
3.) Add the walnut pieces to the egg/sweetener mix and stir until you have a cookie batter.
4.) Form little walnut cookie balls (see the image above for the size I made them) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (I had run out so had to spray my baking tray with walnut oil.
5. ) Bake and enjoy!
Recipe Tips and Variations:
I have tried this walnut cookie recipe with coarsely ground and more finely ground walnuts. Both versions taste great.
I imagine you could also use almonds, pecans or hazelnuts.
If you are a chocolate lover, you could also add some homemade sugar free chocolate chips!
Update October 2018: I have since made this recipe with 1 large egg white minus the egg yolk and found this way the walnut cookies turn out even crunchier.
Before you go… take a look at my other cookie recipes!
Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sugar Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies
Low Carb Coconut Shortbread Cookies
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Sugar Free Walnut Cookies
Sugar free, low carb and gluten free cookie heaven: These Italian Walnut Cookies are a super healthy take on the Italian classic Dolci di Noci.
Ingredients
- 175 g / a generous 1 1/2 cups coarsely ground walnuts
- 1 medium egg
- 25 g / 2 heaped tablespoons powdered sweetener
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius
Beat the egg with the sweetener and cinnamon
- Add the ground walnuts
- Have a little taste! If you have a sweet tooth, you may want to add another teaspoon of sweetener.
- Form little balls and place on a baking sheet (I greased mine with walnut oil - I would have used baking paper had I not run out)
- Bake for 10 minutes or until nicely browned
Recipe Notes
You could experiment with other spices - I think cardamom or mixed spice / pumpkin spice would work well with this recipe.
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Mary says
Hi. I’m not eating sugar free, but I made your almond bread and love it. Can I use real powdered sugar in this recipe or would the amount need to be reduced?
Katrin says
Hi Mary, yes, you can use “real” sugar in all the recipes. Just in case, use a little less first and taste your dough, then add add more if necessary. The erythritol I use is supposed to be a 1:1 sugar replacement, but it’s always good to be on the safe side.
Mariam says
Hi Katrin,
Thanks for all your hard work inventing and testing these delicious recipes for us. I’ve made a few of your recipes and they’ve worked out a treat :).
I’m keen on trying these walnut cookies, was wondering if it would be possible to make the balls and freeze them ( like cookie dough), and just bake a few at a time when I want to eat them, rather than having a whole batch made. Do you think that would work?
Katrin says
I have not tried that myself, but why not? I think it should work fine. You might need to add a few more minutes to the baking time – just take it out when it looks and smells good!
Melissa says
Decided to try this recipe out tonight since it was the only dessert recipe I had all the ingredients for. I used monkfruit for the sweetener and it was great! I will make again when I get a sweet tooth. Thank you!
Katrin says
Perfect! I love it when I find a recipe I like and everything is in the cupboard! Happy days 🙂
Tanya says
Made these last night. Thank you for my new go-to sweet treat! I used pecans, added a little vanilla and sea salt, and skipped the cinnamon. So quick and delicious!
Katrin says
That’s great! Using pecans with vanilla and salt sounds delicious
Linda says
What’s the conversion from 180 C to °F?
Josette Duran says
I made these. The cookies were more “drop” than balls as I could not resist adding some vanilla which made the mixture looser. Also drizzled a little melted chocolate on top while cooling. Will try with my favorite macadamia nuts next. Very good, super simple recipe. Thank you!
Katrin says
I love nutty “drop” balls! Glad you like the recipe 🙂
Kevin says
Awesome recipe and I love this site, saving to favorites now!
Katrin says
Kevin, what a lovely message to get on a Friday morning. Thank you!
Deb Groom says
I can’t tolerate most sweeteners. If you use real sugar is it an equivalent balance or can you use a little less? Thanks.
Katrin says
The erythritol I used is a 1:1 sugar replacement. So you would have to use a similar amount of sugar. You could also try honey!
Taryn says
I can’t wait to try these! They look amazing.
Katrin says
They are almost too good to share! Mine are in the secret Mama cookie jar
Stacey says
These look so good, yet so simple to make!
Sarah says
These look lovely! I loved reading your post, as well!
Katrin says
Thank you Sarah, that’s so nice to hear 🙂
Kim | Low Carb Maven says
I’m glad your car made it without breaking down, but then you might have had an extended-holiday, which doesn’t sound too terrible to me! I’m so glad that you did try all of those yummy treats because now we reap the benefits of your lovely recipes! I love the simplicity of this one and can’t wait to try it. #kisses and bliss forever!
Katrin says
Good point about the car there. Love your positive stance! 🙂
Georgina says
These look SO good! I bet they would work with pecans too (although less traditional!)
Katrin says
Using pecans sounds like a great idea. I was also thinking they would be great dipped in chocolate!