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!
★ STAY IN TOUCH on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more great food and join my NEWSLETTER for the latest updates.★
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.
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.