These keto gingerbread cookies are the highlight of our holiday cookie baking sessions. They are gluten free and sugar free gingerbread men with only 1.1g net carbs each.
What would December be like without gingerbread? I love the spicy ginger kick in both cakes and cookies. It gets me in the Christmas mood instantly.
I adore my keto gingerbread cake and these gingerbread cupcakes. Another popular recipe are these keto ginger snaps. They are super crispy.
But for the holiday season it's fun to go that extra mile...and make proper gingerbread men!
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Gluten-free, sugar free and grain free
- So much flavor. They taste just like the real thing - with a spicy ginger kick.
- Soft and chewy
- Fun to make - such a lovely activity to get into the holiday spirit
- Great for gift bags
I've kept the icing on mine to a minimum, but feel free to use different colours and make them look all professional.
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make these yummy festive treats:
Hazelnut flour and almond flour - It's the hazelnuts that give low carb gingerbread cookies their classic deep and nutty taste. There's no need to buy it and spend a fortune. Simply grind shelled hazelnuts in a food processor!
Butter - I always use unsalted butter in my baking.
Spices - I'm using ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Egg white - This helps to bind the dough and makes the cookies sturdier.
Bicarbonate of Soda - For a bit of rise and lightness. You can replace it with 2 teaspoons baking powder.
Sweetener - I used a brown erythritol monk fruit sweetener blend, which is a 1:1 brown sugar substitute. It has a mellow caramel flavour. However, white erythritol sweetener also work.
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: Stir together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (hazelnut and almond flour, sweetener, spices, bicarbonate of soda). Add the soft butter and whisk with an electric mixer.
Step 2: In another bowl, beat the egg white until stiff.
Step 3: Fold the egg white through the dough with a spatula.
Step 4: Split the dough into 2 and roll between two sheets of parchment paper. Then chill it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Step 5: Remove the top sheet of paper and cut out cookies using a gingerbread man cutter (or any other cookie cutter).
Step 6: Bake in the oven until the edges are golden. Allow to fully cool before decorating.
Step 7: 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.
Top tips
- Taste the dough and adjust the sweetener if needed.
- Use a knife or spatula to lift the cookies onto a baking sheet.
- Place the cookies 1 inch apart from one another. Don't overcrowd the baking sheet.
- Measure. My cookie cutter measured 9 x 7 centimetres and the cookies took 12 minutes to bake. Smaller cookies will need less time, perhaps only 7-9 minutes.
- Watch the cookies closely as they bake. Nut flours brown quickly. You may need to rotate the baking sheet to ensure the gingerbread men brown evenly.
FAQ
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. Any 1:1 sugar substitute works, from Swerve to Bocha Sweet. For a soft cookie, allulose is a great option. Xylitol also bakes up softer than erythritol.
You can prepare the dough for keto gingerbread cookies ahead. It freezes well for up to 3 months. Simply defrost it when you are ready to bake.
Low carb cookie dough is more fragile than regular cookie dough because it lacks gluten. This means it is more sticky. When you chill it before cutting out shapes, it's easy to handle. If the dough gets sticky while you're working with it, pop it back into the freezer.
Use a ziploc bag and snip off a corner.
No. This recipe does not work with coconut flour.
Variations
Save time: Roll the cookie dough into a log. Then, slice into cookies.
Add spices: Cloves, cardamom, mace or allspice all work well in this recipe.
More flavor: You can add 1 teaspoon if vanilla extract and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Option to also add 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses.
Dairy-free: Replace the butter with coconut oil.
Extra sturdy cookies: Add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum to the dry ingredients.
Storage
Sugar-free gingerbread cookies should be stored 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.
There is no need to store them in the fridge.
Related recipes
My Keto Christmas cookies roundup has all the best festive cookie recipes in one place. Here are more keto recipes to try during the holiday season:
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Sugar Free Gingerbread 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
- 2 cups / 200g ground hazelnuts (from circa 2 cups of whole shelled hazelnuts without skins)
- 1 cup / 100g almond flour
- ⅓ cup / 60g Lakanto Golden or sweetener of your choice, use ½ cup for a sweeter dough
- 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
- 2.5 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- â…“ cup / 75g softened butter
- 1 egg white beaten
Optional Icing
- ½ cup powdered erythritol
- 1 ½ tablespoon water or cream
Instructions
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (hazelnut and almond flour, golden Lakanto, spices, bicarbonate of soda).
- Add the soft butter and whisk with an electric whisk until it resembles a crumb. 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 greaseproof 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 / 160C fan.
- Remove the top sheet of greaseproof paper and cut out using a gingerbread man cutter. Use a knife or spatula to carefully lift onto a greaseproof lined baking tray. Re-roll any remaining dough until all the dough is used up.
- If you find the dough warms up too much to cut neatly again just pop back in the freezer.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Allow to fully cool before lifting from the tray and decorating.
- To make the icing, mix the sweetener with and water or cream in a small bowl with a spoon until smooth. Place into a piping bag with a fine nozzle or use a ziploc / disposable piping bag and finely snip off the end. Ice and allow to set for 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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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.