Almost too good to share: These keto chocolate chip cookies are the perfect combination of soft chewiness with a crunchy edge. You’ll never guess they are sugar free! Perfect for gluten free and low carb diets.
It’s been grey here the past few days, which has made me crave comfort food. You all know I have a bit of a sweet tooth. And what is more comforting than a freshly baked cookie??!
These keto cookies are an adaptation of an old family recipe.
The reason for their popularity in our house was not just the simple fact that everyone likes chocolate chip cookies. No! They beat all the chocolate chip cookies in the neighbourhood because of my mum’s secret ingredient: double (heavy) cream. It makes them taste richer, creamier and infinitely more yummy.
This is how I made my mom’s cookies low carb and sugar free: I replaced the wheat flour with almond flour and the brown sugar with erythritol.
Instead of using milk chocolate, I settled on 85% dark chocolate. As half a bar (50g) is distributed between 10 cookies, the carb and sugar content is kept low. If you can source it, you can also use sugar free chocolate or sugar free chocolate chips.
How to make super-easy keto chocolate chip cookies – step by step:
First, you add your almond flour, egg, cream, butter, vanilla extract and granulated sweetener into a bowl.
You can use coconut oil if you want a dairy free keto dessert!
To my UK readers – if you use ground almonds, add an extra couple of tablespoons as ground almonds tend to be coarser than almond flour.
You can mix everything with a fork in a large bowl – it comes together really easily. Let the batter sit for a few minutes to let the flour absorb the moisture.
Now, chop your chocolate. Any chocolate with a cocoa solids content of 85% and above is fine.
If you can get hold of sugar free chocolate, even better – it is pricey though. Lily’s is popular in the US (they even sell ready-made chocolate chips) and in the UK you could go for Cavalier.
Want to make your own sugar free chocolate chips? Check out this easy recipe from my blog!
Fold the chopped chocolate into the cookie batter. Now’s a good moment for a little taste – adjust your sweetener if you wish 🙂
Roll the batter into little balls (or portion them with a cookie scoop) and place on a baking tray. The dough will still be a tad soft and sticky.
TIP: Use baking/parchment paper to prevent the cookies from sticking. I had run out, so I greased the tray with butter.
Flatten your low carb chocolate chip cookies with your hand. They should be about 1/2 centimetres thick. Then bake in the oven for around 13 minutes.
Baker’s TOP TIPS
As almond flour does not contain gluten, low carb cookies are always softer than their wheaten counterparts. The browned edges still have a lovely crunch though.
The mixture makes 10 cookies with a diameter of around 6 cm. (I tried so much of the dough we only ended up with 9!)
Keto cookies are really soft and fragile when fresh out of the oven. DON’T WORRY. They firm up as they cool down.
How to make crispy keto chocolate chip cookies
Simply leave out the double / heavy cream. It helps make the cookies chewy, is just not necessary for you.
Flatten them more! The thinner your cookies are, the crispier they will end up.
Bake them for longer. You want the edges to be golden-brown. Consider placing aluminium foil over the cookies so they don’t burn and add another few minutes to the oven time.
Another option is to turn off the oven when they are done and prop the door open with a wooden spoon. Then you leave the cookies in for longer. The air circulating around them will help them to continue crisping up.
How to make this keto chocolate chip cookies recipe chewy
Don’t miss out on the cream! It helps with the chewiness.
Make the cookies larger and thicker. This way, the centre stays lovely and chewy.
Watch out that your cookies do not brown much. Take them out as soon as the edges start to turn golden!
Consider replacing the erythritol with xylitol or allulose. Especially allulose is great for soft baked goods.
Can you make low carb chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour?
Yes! If you prefer coconut flour over almond flour, simply halve the amount of flour stated and use 50g or 1/2 cup of coconut flour. Coconut flour absorbs a lot more moisture than almond flour, that’s why you need less of it. You may want to add 1/2 a teaspoon of xanthan gum to make them a little firmer.
If you want extra fluffy cookies, add 1/2 tsp of baking powder.
NOTE – I love, love, love dark chocolate. That’s why it was a no-brainer for me to use dark chocolate in my healthy chocolate chip cookies. If you have picky children in the house or simply are a milk chocolate person, do try to source sugar free milk chocolate.
Check out the links in the text above – Lily’s in the US and Cavalier in the UK both offer stevia-sweetened milk chocolate. You can find sugar free chocolate on Amazon and in health food stores.
More great cookie recipes:
- coconut shortbread cookies
- Keto Sugar Cookies
- Italian walnut kisses
- Keto Almond Butter Brownie Cookies
- Keto Macaroons
… and if you’re after a classic chocolate cookie, you MUST try my Soul-Satisfying Keto Chocolate Cookies!
Made these low carb chocolate chip cookies? Give them a star rating below!
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Low Carb Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 100 g / 1 cup almond flour (to my UK readers - ground almonds work well here, just add another 2 tbsp)
- 1 medium egg
- 2 tbsp double/heavy cream
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted, VERY soft
- 3 tbsp granulated sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g dark chocolate/chocolate chips (85% minimum or sugar free)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius/356 Fahrenheit
- Combine all ingredients apart from the chocolate with a fork. Let the dough sit for a few minutes so the flour can absorb the moisture
- Chop your chocolate and stir into the dough
- Form dough balls with your hand or spoon the mixture on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Press down into the desired shape (ca 1/2 cm thick)
- Bake for ca 13 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned. They are soft when straight out of the oven but firm up as they cool down.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The recipe for keto chocolate chip cookies was first published in September 2016. It was updated in August 2018 with new photos and a recipe change to reflect how we make these cookies now.
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.
firdos telili says
can you use Silk Coconut Milk instead of Heavy Cream
Katrin Nürnberger says
If it is coconut cream from a can and not the watery milk replacement, it should work 🙂
Beda Stoner says
Just took these out of the oven. I made in 9 x 9 pan. I cut them in 12 bars. Very good.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Great idea to make cookie bars!
Trisha Farris says
Tastes great, but not crunchy enough for me. I omitted the cream, flattened the Cookies , added More time and they’re still not crunchy. Any advice?
Katrin Nürnberger says
The crunchiest I have ever gotten pure almond flour cookies was these keto biscotti. Other ways to increase crunch could be to use only egg white and omit the yolk and adding flax.
Sophie says
The batter is runny, even if you put it in the fridge. I even put it in the freezer for a bit and it barely helped. You would have to add a lot of extra almond flour to get it to a normal consistency. I put these in the oven with the runny batter and they came out really good. Once the time was up, the edges were crispy, but the middle still seemed raw. After a few minutes out of the oven though, it cooked.
What I really liked about this recipe was the it did not call for a lot of swerve. The thing about a lot of Keto baking is that it contains a lot of swerve, and I don’t like that for 2 reasons:
#1. It gives a cold taste
#2. It’s super expensive. It’s $10 a bag, and if you are making recipes that take a cup of it, it will not last very long.
That was a big plus about this recipe.
Thanks for the recipe!
Patty says
Made these tonight. Excellent!!
Jane Heald says
I have tried this recipe twice and each time they turn out like cake. Can’t make them in to dough balls too runny. Help
Katrin Nürnberger says
If your dough is too soft, just cool it in the fridge for 30 minutes before you portion out the cookies onto the baking pan.
Lisa Dashper says
Absolutely delicious, thank you! So that I’m not tempted to eat them all at once, can I freeze them?
Katrin Nürnberger says
of course! they freeze well
Amanda Mason says
These are so addictive. Made to the letter and took out of the oven after 14 minutes. These are still slightly soft in the centre making them an awesome and very addictive cookie.
Katrin Nürnberger says
So glad you like them!
Safia says
Hi,
I was really excited to try this recipe and thank you so much for sharing it!
I made it with a few substitutions that you had recommended such as changing the 100g almond flour to 50g coconut flour, 2tbsp of milk instead of heavy cream and changing the butter to cocnut oil. However I used the rest of the ingredients you included such as xylitol as my sweetener and I followed the recipe exactly but my cookies turned out cakey in an unappetizing way. Is there any reason for this? Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger says
I think that it’s probably a combination of things. Coconut flour likes fat, so by using milk instead of cream you’re reducing the fat content further. Try replacing with more coconut oil instead. Also, xylitol produces a softer result than erythritol, so if you’re after crunchy cookies, always use erythritol. Basically, if you’re changing so many things, you’re going to end up with a totally different cookie. I don’t have a pure coconut flour cookies recipe on my site at the moment, otherwise I’d direct you there!
KC says
I have made this recipe regularly for about 2 years now. Even those that normally eat sugar like these cookies. When I don’t have heavy cream, I just substitute with milk. Delicious.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Thanks for letting us know it works with milk!
Ben says
Love the recipe! Would love it more if it is possible to add peanut butter to it.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, absolutely! I would reduce the amount of cream accordingly.
Julie Clarke says
My first attempt at cookies they are amazing
Katrin Nürnberger says
Awesome! So glad they were a success
Debra says
Made these this afternoon. You were right…18 minutes later success and yum! Thx for the recipe! It’s husband approved.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Success!!!!! Goodies for the next few days sorted 😉
Heather Umlah says
i made the choc chips- yum- and used them for the cookies. the chips melted and ran out of the cookies. Still tasty, but mostly chocolate on the bottom. What did I do wrong?
Katrin Nürnberger says
What a shame! Maybe it has something to do with the type of cacao butter you used?
Lindsey R says
Mine sure didnt look like hers I must have added to much liquid somehow, but they definitely tasted delicious.
Sally Haynes says
Hi, tried these with a mix of lupin flour and almond flour (used 30g almond and 50g lupin instead of 100g almond, using less as you don’t need as much flour using lupin) and they were amazing! The two flours work so well together, cancelling out each others’ less palatable aspects and the result is like a biscuit made with normal flour. Just be careful with lupin flour if you have allergies (peanut especially).
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Sally, I’ve had a pack of lupin flour in the cupboard for months and never used it. You have totally inspired me to give it a go now! Thanks for adding the measurements, always super-helpful.
Debra says
I’ve never heard of lupin flour! Is it from the Lupin ‘flower’, no pun intended :).
Catherine says
Made these tonight and forgot to add the cream. I also used cocoa chips. They taste very nice but some of the chips are still hard so I’ll definitely have a go with 90% next time.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Good to know you can omit the cream – thanks for your comment!
Manyee lau says
Is it possible to use sour cream instead of heavy cream?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, why not, it’s the same consistency 🙂
Rebecca says
Oh my, oh my! I just wouldn’t guess these are keto, and I used half 85% choc and half 95%, so it’s not sugar from the choc creeping in – just that sweetener doing its job in a great recipe! I’m sooo happy with these! I didn’t have double cream in the house so used 1 tbsp single cream and 1 tbsp mascarpone and combined, which worked well. I also added some chopped walnuts and hazelnuts. These are gonna be a staple of my keto diet from now on. Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger says
So glad you like the cookies! Great idea to mix single cream and mascarpone 🙂
Deb Oxendine says
These are absolutly delicious! I made 12 cookies instead of 10 so carbs were only 3g ea. Are these 0 carbs net? I also made a batch with coconut flour as you suggested. Halving the flour and adding xanthan gum. Also came out fabulous!
Jess says
Right after I popped these in the oven, I noticed a comment that mentioned baking powder, but there is none listed in the recipe. Should there be, or has that changed?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Jess, I did not add baking powder, but if you added some, you’d get more of a rise. It would still work 🙂
Valentina says
Hello,
Is there a way to make these without erythritol? I am allergic.
Katrin Nürnberger says
You can use xylitol instead if that works better for you!
allie says
Any suggestions for dairy free? Egg is ok. I tried with olive oil instead of butter and coconut cream instead of cream. They were ok, but a bit blah !
Katrin Nürnberger says
I would use coconut oil instead of the butter. And maybe leave out the cream altogether and add more vanilla instead for flavour.
Catherine says
Hi Katrin!
These cookies look amazing and i’d love to try them.
Unfortunately at the moment i can’t have dairy (excluding butter & ghee) so i’m wondering what i could replace the heavy cream with?
Cheers
Katrin says
You could either replace it with coconut cream or simply use a little more butter 🙂
Susan says
Hi! I tried making these tonight but for some reason the batter came out super watery, is not doughey as in the video, and the cookies came out with a very weird consistency as if they were made with coconut zest. Help please!
Katrin says
Ok, let’s try and figure it out. If you measured all ingredients using either scales or cups, the only wild card would be the egg. I used a medium egg, so if you used an extra large egg, for example, your dough would be more runny. It’s good you checked the consistency and compared it with the video- in your case, I would have added additional almond flour. As for the coconut taste, I’m stumped. There’s no coconut in the recipe! Maybe more vanilla extract would work for you?
Susan says
Hi! I noticed in my ingredients that I actually used a large egg instead, how much flour would you recommend adding to make it more consistent? And I think the coconut zest texture was related to some bigger chunks I had left in my flour after using the strainer, I’ll try again tonight using only the finer flour and correcting the amount of flour as well!
Katrin says
I would try adding an additional 2 tablespoons of almond flour/ground almonds. You could also chill the dough in the fridge for a while to make it easier to handle.
Rea says
Hi katrin, can I use powdered sweetener instead of granulated? Thanks
Katrin says
Yes, of course you can!
Katja says
I have just made these cookies and oh my goooooodness they are quite literally amazing!!!! Perfect for a quick sweet treat but still keeping in my macros! Thank you so much!
Lucy Mcalister says
I just made these as I’ve been craving biscuits all week and I’m doing keto. They really hit the spot! I made 14 thin cookies (as I wanted something firmer.) I also halved the double cream as I’m small and find it easy to go over on my fat macros. I used salted butter as I like a hint of salt with my sweet. They tasted indulgent – (the chocolate goes a long way!) and had a good texture. Nicely filling too so you’re not tempted to scoff the lot.
Katrin says
Thanks for sharing all your tweaks – and so happy you liked the recipe 🙂
Lucy says
You’re welcome. They have become my ‘Breakfast Biscuits’. I have 3 late morning and then I’m not hungry until about 2pm. Such a tasty way to start the day. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Constance says
Hi, i was thinking of adding some chopped hazelnuts or pecans into this cookie recipe- do you think I’d need to adjust for the temperature or timing if i do so ? Thanks !
Katrin says
No, I think it will need the same amount of time 🙂
ray says
Hi Katrin, for some reason mine keep coming out as one big blob, and really soggy..once they’ve cooled and almost hardened they do taste amazing but I’m wondering if I need more baking powder or ?
I’m scrupulously using the same measurements as provided, with almond flour, erythritol etc..
Katrin says
Hi Ray, are you using metric measurements/ a scale or US cups?
ray says
US cups…and a set of tbsp/tsp measures too
Katrin says
Hi Ray, I’m thinking what it could have been. If your butter was too liquid that could have affected the dough and made it sticky and difficult to handle. In that case, you can just put the dough in the fridge for half an hour and it will work well.
iris Reyes says
Katrin, OMG. My first time making ur almond flour sugarfree chocolate chips cookies last night 5-25-2019. And am in love!!!! they taste soooooooo good… am in a low carb, sugar free, sodium free and anything that’s healthy for me. I thank you so much. I can’t wait to try more delicious recipes. #1 FAN!!!!! ❤❤❤ ps next will be the chocolate chip muffins.
Katrin says
Hi Iris, so glad you found my website and happy you like the recipe!!
Pauline says
Love love love this recipe – tackles my sugar cravings and keeps me on my keto diet track. Weight loss continues…..Thanks a million!
Katrin says
Oh, that’s so good to hear!!! I’m glad you like the recipe 🙂
Rebecca says
OMG, these are soo good! They taste very close to the real thing. I used Swerve erythritol and Lilly’s dark chocolate baking bar. I doubled the butter and added more vanilla. Fantastic.
Katrin says
Awesome!! Glad you like the recipe 🙂
CS says
Hi. Can I add gluten (I’m more concerned with low carb and no sugar) rather than xanthum gum or to almond flour in general?
Thank you!
Katrin says
Hi there, I’ve never come across gluten on its own, but I guess it would do the same job!
madness says
If you want to add gluten why not just make regular cookies?
Mad Scientist says
Gluten is a protein and gluten powder (or vital wheat gluten) is high protein, low carb and it makes an excellent additive to low carb flour substitutes to make them behave more like wheat flour in recipes.
It’s very easy to buy online as it’s used to make seitan, a popular vegetarian meat and protein substitute that’s been eaten all around the world for thousands of years.