Keto thumbprint cookies are easy gluten free cream cheese cookies with a fruity raspberry jam filling. They are ready in 25 minutes!
I am a serial cookie baker. A couple of highlights I have shared recently include my keto peanut butter cookies and keto chocolate chip cookies.
Why do I secretly prefer cookies over any other keto dessert?
Firstly, they are easy treats and quick to make. A lot less daunting than a cake. Also, they are portable, can be stored for a long time and look all pretty and petite.
And last but not least, they go so well with coffee!
This time, I wanted to make a fruity cookie. And since I had a jar or my sugar free raspberry jam in the fridge, I settled on keto thumbprint cookies.
It took just a few tweaks to turn the classic thumbprint cookie recipe into a low carb version. Almond flour - tick! Sweetener - tick!
Oh my, they turned out so well.
I ended up making several batches - one with jam, one with a cream cheese filling, one cinnamon "sugar" version and even one without a filling altogether.
Who would have thought that pressing your thumb into a little dough ball was so much fun?
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- The texture - Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy inside.
- The flavor - The fruity raspberry filling pairs perfectly with the buttery vanilla crumb.
- Gluten-free - These are almond flour cookies, which means they don't contain any gluten.
- Keto friendly - Only 0.9 garms of net carbs
- Easy, quick recipe - 7 ingredients, 1 bowl, no special equipment needed
Ingredients
You only need 7 ingredients for this recipe:
- Almond flour - I used ground almonds, which is equivalent to regular almond flour in the US.
- Cream cheese - full fat
- Unsalted butter - should be room temperature
- Sweetener - I used a granulated erythritol monk fruit sweetener blend. The first time I used a white sugar alternative. The next time I chose a brown sugar alternative called Lakanto Gold, which gives the cookies a nice caramel flavor. This is the sweetener you see in the step by step images below. Both worked well.
- Vanilla extract
- Egg - size medium.
- Sugar-free raspberry jam - no cooking necessary! Or, use any other low carb jam.
Option to also add a pinch of salt to the dough. It's not necessary to use baking powder - but if you like an extra fluffy cookie, add ½ teaspoon.
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
Blend the cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla extract and sweetener until smooth.
I used a food processor, but a large bowl and an electric hand mixer work just as well.
Step 2
Add the egg and whisk. Then, add the almond flour and blend until a smooth dough forms.
Step 3
Form cookie dough balls (or use a cookie scoop). Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Press your thumb into the middle of each ball to form an indentation.
Step 4
Fill each indentation with sugar-free jam.
Step 5
Bake in the oven until golden.
Expert Tips
Chill the dough. If the dough feels sticky and too soft to handle, form a ball and wrap it in clingfilm. Then cool it in the fridge for 20 minutes (or in the freezer for 10).
Patience. After baking, don't touch cookies until they have cooled down. Keto cookies are very fragile when hot. They firm up as they cool.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Any sugar free jam can be used. Try my blueberry jam or this sugar free strawberry jam. Store-bought jams should be sweetened with stevia or erythritol and not grape juice.
I recommend an erythritol based sweetener for cookies, because it makes them nice and crunchy on the outside. Pure erythritol works, or erythritol blends such as Swerve. Xylitol, Bocha Sweet and allulose make softer cookies.
No, you cannot replace it 1:1. I recommend making coconut flour cookies instead, and add the raspberry filling.
Yes, you can prepare the cookie dough up to 2 days in advance. Wrap in cling film and store in the fridge.
Variations
I have tried various fillings for keto thumbprint cookies:
Cinnamon Sugar: Mix melted butter, cinnamon and powdered sweetener.
Cheesecake: Stir together cream cheese, powdered sweetener and a few drops of vanilla extract. Add lemon zest or lemon juice for a lemon cheesecake version.
Chocolate: Put a few sugar free chocolate chips into each thumbprint hollow.
Nutella: Use my sugar free nutella!
Peanut butter: Mix it with a pinch of sea salt. Or, use almond butter.
No filling. This is a great pared-down version that ends up deliciously crunchy.
Storage
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Suitable for freezing. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
For a "best of" low carb cookie compilation, get my Keto Cookies cookbook. More recipes like this:
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Thumbprint Cookies
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
- 1 ½ cup almond flour 150g
- ¼ cup full fat cream cheese 2oz / 55g
- ¼ cup unsalted butter 2oz / 55g room temperature
- 5 tablespoon granulated erythritol 50 grams
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg medium ***
- ¼ cup sugar free raspberry jam 60g, or any other sugar free jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit electric or 160C / 320F fan assisted.
- Mix the cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla extract and erythritol in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth.
- Add the egg and mix, then add the almond flour and blend until a smooth dough.
- If the dough feels too soft to handle, form a dough ball, wrap it in clingfilm and cool in the fridge for 20 minutes (or in the freezer for 10).Â
- Form small balls (15 grams) in your hands and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Â
- Press your thumb into the middle of each ball to form an indentation. Fill each indentation with sugar free raspberry jam.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Lin
Hi! Can I leave the dough in the fridge overnight or a day, until I have the time to finish it up? I have made 5 and baked them. They tasted sooooo good. But the dough gets quite soft while I was working on those little guys so I put them back to the fridge. Thinking maybe I will just finish up tomorrow if it will be still good?
Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I think that should be no problem!
Liz
Hi - Can you let me know what you call "soft butter"? I used normal hard butter left at room temp for an hour, but the mix turned out really sloppy with lumpy bits of butter! Just watching them in the oven now - ended up putting them in patty tins. Do you mean "spreadable " butter? I made them once before and turned out fine but can't think what I did wrong this time.
Liz
haha - they actually tasted better than the first time! I used Bocha Sweet, unsure if that's what changed it, but basically if the mix is sloppy just pop spoonfuls in bun trays and cook until golden
Michelle
Hi. Can I substitute the almond flour with whey protein powder or coconut flour without changing the rest of the ingredients? If yes, possible to advise the quantity? Thanks so much
Katrin Nürnberger
Normally, you can replace almond flour with about 1/3 the amount of coconut flour, sometimes a little bit more (but never more than 1/2 the amount). Consistency will be more brittle, so you will definitely want to use xanthan gum to bind, about 1/2 tsp. I'd say you can substitute almond flour with protein powder 1:1, but never the full amount. Maybe up to 1/4 of the total flour amount used. Keep in mind that this will be an experiment and you'll have to judge the consistency of your batter.
J
Hello,
I'm just curious to know if it would be okay to reduce the sugar content as I don't have much sweet tooth. x
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course, it's not essential to the recipe 🙂
Larry Mayer
Just made these this morning for Father's Day. Yes, I'm the dad. But it's more like I am taking after my mother. Anyway, They. ARE. Delicious! Mine came out a tad larger-two bite cookies-but quite satisfying. Have a collection of at least 10 of your recipes I've rebaked at least a dozen times each. Thank you for doing all the legwork to make our lives easier and yummier!
Debbie
Forgive me if I missed this information, but how do you store these cookies? How long will theylast?
Katrin Nürnberger
I kept them in a cookie jar on the counter. They were fine for several days - then they were gone. As I made 3 batches I froze the rest.
Jo
Hi, instead of jam would peanut or almond butter work in the filling?
Katrin Nürnberger
Sure, that's a great idea!
Addie
Hi, Katrin - I only buy large eggs; will that be a problem?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Addie, I think it should be fine.
Toni
Love them ,love them. They are amazing
Do you think I could add shredded coconut to the dough.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work well! You'd add a nice crunch.
Sue
Hi Katrin. Loved these were cookies but I didn't get a firm enough mixture to make balls...am I getting mixed up between almond flour and almond meal? I haven't found almond flour in my local supermarket (New Zealand) . Could I use coconut flour instead? I've found a couple of recipes where I haven't got the right consistency and wonder if it's the almond flour/meal confusion 🙂
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Sue, I use what we call ground almonds here in the UK. It's blanched almonds ground (so no skins). It's not very finely ground. In the US they'd call it almond flour (from my research, they differentiate between almond flour and super-fine almond flour). Not sure if in New Zealand almond meal is essentially blanched ground almonds or whether it's got the skins in it too and is therefore even coarser. However, I think the problem may be that your dough was not cold enough? Try cooling it in the fridge before shaping the cookies, once the butter firms up the dough is easy to work with.
Tina
Hello Sue, I use super fine almond flour with 10% fat content for her cookie recipes. That gives firm cookies. I put them in the freezer and they are very juicy later. Or add a little bit of the super fine 10% fat content almond flour to get a firmer dough.