Keto ginger snaps are one of my favourite sweet treats when it's cold outside. They are crispy and buttery with a gorgeous spicy kick. Even better, they are ready in less than 30 minutes. During the Christmas season you can use the recipe to make gingerbread men!
Sugar free ginger snaps are a must make during the cold season! I bake several batches each year, as soon as the weather turns.
My recipe is:
- Super crispy - with that perfect snap
- Easy - suitable for beginners
- Quick - ready in 23 minutes
- Gluten-free - not a grain in sight
- Keto-friendly - only 0.7g net carbs per cookie
- Stores well and is suitable for freezing
Did you know that the name refers to the snapping sound the cookie makes when broken in half or bitten into? Ginger snaps are a derivation of gingerbread and they've been around for hundreds of years. Basically, it's gingerbread that's been rolled out extra thin and left in the oven a little longer to brown.
If you are a gingerbread lover like me, also check out my keto gingerbread cake, sugar free gingerbread cookies and these keto gingerbread cupcakes.
Ingredients
- Almond flour. This is what we use instead of wheat flour. I'm using ground almonds, which is the same as regular almond flour in the US. If you have super-fine almond flour, reduce the amount by 1-2 tablespoons.
- Granulated erythritol. It is possible to use regular (white) granulated erythritol in this recipe. However, I like the flavour of a brown sugar alternative here, such as Lakanto Golden or Sukrin Gold. You'll get that lovely molasses or treacle taste with it that is characteristic of gingerbread. In the UK and Europe you can use NKD Living erythritol gold. It's a very reasonably priced product (#Amazon affiliate links).
- Spices. Ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
- Butter. Must be softened.
- Egg white. Beaten to stiff peaks.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step 1
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl - almond flour, a golden erythritol and the spices.
Step 2
Add the softened butter and blend with an electric mixer until the dough resembles crumbles.
Step 3
Beat the egg white to stiff peaks in a separate bowl. Add to the dough and blend until just combined.
Step 4
Form 2 dough balls...
Step 5
...and roll out the dough thinly between two sheets of baking paper.
Step 6
Chill the dough either in the freezer for 10 or in the fridge for 20 minutes. This is a trick I learned when I made my keto cinnamon stars.
Step 7
Get stamping! Then gather together the leftover dough and roll out again until all dough is used up. Unlike wheat cookie dough, almond flour cookie dough does not become tough or dry if you repeatedly roll it out.
Step 8
Using a knife or a small spatula, pick up your keto ginger snaps and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Step 9
Bake until browned all over. The oven time will depend on how thick you've rolled out the cookies.
Expert Tip
If the dough becomes too soft while you are working with it, simply put it back in the fridge or freezer to cool. This helps solidify the butter and you'll be able to stamp out cookie shapes without problems.
Recipe FAQs
Erythritol based sweeteners are the best sugar substitute for keto cookie baking. Erythritol sets hard and produces crunchy, crispy cookies. I don't recommend using xylitol or allulose.
The tiny air bubbles in the stiff egg white give the cookies a lighter, crisper texture.
Make a keto mayonnaise.
For a sugar free icing, mix Ā¼ cup of powdered sweetener with a splash of water. Brush over or simply dip cookies into the icing mix bowl. Then, dry them on a cookie rack.
Variations
Dough thickness. I like my sugar free ginger snaps snappy - that's why I'd recommend to roll the dough out quite thin. For a chewier cookie, roll out the dough thicker. You can even roll it into a log and cut cookie rounds with a knife, like I did with my keto sugar cookies.
Baking time. The length of time you bake your cookies also has an impact on crispiness. The longer they stay in the oven, the crunchier they'll be. Leave them in until they're nicely browned all over! If necessary, rotate the tray during baking. Ovens tend to be hotter at the back.
Spices. For me, it's the spices that truly make this cookie shine. In my first batch I only used ginger. However, I prefer them with the extra kick that the nutmeg and the cloves lend. If you wish, you could even add cinnamon and cardamom to the mix. I'd go for 1 Ā½ teaspoon and Ā¼ teaspoon respectively.
Blackstrap molasses. Molasses is a traditional ingredient in ginger snaps. You can add 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses to the dough to get a more intense gingerbread flavor. Divided between 30 cookies, the increase in carbs is negligible.
Christmas cookies. Use a star shaped cookie cutter or another festive shape. Then, get decorating!
Dairy-free. Simply use coconut oil instead of the butter. This would affect the taste, but not the texture of the cookies.
If you're a cookie monster just like me, don't miss this roundup of sugar free cookie recipes! It includes EVERYTHING I've learned about how to make delicious low-carb cookies - we're talking flours, sweeteners, flavours.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
Made a batch of keto ginger snaps? Give the recipe a star rating below!
ā STAY IN TOUCH on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more great food and join my NEWSLETTER for the latest updates and a FREE EBOOK.ā
Recipe
Keto Ginger Snaps
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 200g almond flour
- ā cup / 60g Lakanto Golden or granulated erythritol
- 2 Ā½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Ā½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ā teaspoon ground cloves
- ā cup / 80g butter softened
- 1 egg white beaten
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients - almond flour, Lakanto golden (or another "brown sugar" erythritol) and the spices.
- Add the soft butter and blend with an electric mixer until the mix resembles crumbles.
- Beat the egg white until stiff and blend into the dough until just combined.
- Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and cool in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.
- Lift off the top parchment and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
- Using a knife or a spatula, transfer cookies onto a lined baking tray.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned. Let cool completely before handling.
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and purchase a product, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Sugar Free Londoner.
Molly
Can I leave out or replace the egg?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
Probably, but i have not tried it. The egg white helps with crunch and it helps bind the mixture. Perhaps a little flaxseed could do the trick as well.
Addie
I only have "finely sifted" almond flour; I suspect that I should reduce the amount in the recipe,
but by how much?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
Try using 2-3 tablespoons less and then judge if the dough is easy to work with. It always depends on the almond flour you're using - all brands are different and some call themselves "super-fine", but really are not.
Sue
Thank you for this recipe! Can coconut palm sugar and/or date syrup be used as the sweetener? If so, how much? One comment says that the recipe can be made without any sweetener. How would that taste?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
You can use any sweetener that is a 1:1 sugar replacement. I guess if you don't use any sweetness it would taste like a cracker with ginger.
Naomi
Iām from New Zealand where ginger crunch is a classic fave. Iāve found the keto version of the topping (butter, cream, lots of ground ginger, and a suitable sweetener) but I havenāt found a good base yet. Iām wondering if this recipe might work. If I press the dough into a baking dish maybe an inch thick, do you have any idea how long it might take to cook?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
Is it supposed to be crunchy and totally dry? 1 inch is quite thick - much thicker than these cookies. If you're looking for something that's 100% crunchy, I would consider adding ground flaxseed. And used the temperature and baking time of my keto granola.
Naomi
Awesome, thank you Katrin! Personal tastes vary a bit but in general yes the base should be fairly firm and dry, and ideally somewhat crunchy, to contrast with the rich, silky smooth topping. The granola looks delicious by the way, I might have to try that too!
Susan Bellin
I kind of wasn't paying attention and messed these up. Didn't realize I was supposed to beat the egg white separately and tossed it right in with everything else. I went ahead and beat a second egg white and added that in as well. Since the dough was kind of loose to roll at that point, I made small scoops and smashed them flat with the bottom of a glass. Worked like a charm - these were fantastic (especially served with homemade pumpkin ice cream with candied hazelnuts - what a combo!) and I couldn't believe that they stayed crispy for 3 days until we ate them all.
Susan
Love them. My experience making them the first time: my egg was not room temperature and did not make any sort of "peaks" when I tried to whip it (for about half an hour). I gave up eventually and just used the runny egg whites. It wasnŹ»t a problem.
Second, you can actually roll the dough too thin. I did. It was next to impossible to scoop the little gingerbread men off the wax paper, so I returned them to the fridge frequently, after about 2 minutes of warming them up to room temperature. It took a lot of patience and I eventually got the job done. After making two full cookie sheetsŹ» worth of tiny very thin gingerbread men and having lots of dough left, I rolled out the rest of the dough fairly thick, used a different cookie cutter, a large heart, and got about six of those. They were fantastic. The little gingerbread men are good too, but I lack the patience to make more of those.
Mary Ann
Can I use all purpose flour for these cookies?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
I have not tried this, because I avoid wheat flour as it's high carb. But I think it would probably work, if you measure in weight and not cups.
Carol dees
Can this cookie be rolled into a log, refridgerated for a while and sliced into disks?
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
Yes I think that would work. You won't be able to get them as thin, which means the baking time will increase.
Joy Winston
Can you use allulose for the sweetener
Katrin NĆ¼rnberger
Yes you can, but I think it will have less of a snap because allulose bakes up softer than erythritol.
Dallas Madsen
These are the perfect crisp biscuit for me. So adaptable regards flavour too. Might try choc chips next time š
Thanks so much for sharing.