Chewy, lightly crisp and customizable to your taste buds! These gluten free and keto chocolate chip cookies are utterly amazing atĀ just 1.5g net carbs a pop (i.e. the ideal low carb dessert!).
Note: the recipe was first published on December 2nd, 2017 and has since been updated with more deets ān tricks.
Gluten Free & Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bakery Style: Crisp & Chewy!
I must start off by saying that these keto chocolate chip cookies are top 5 of my favorite dessertsā¦ of all time! And if you consider the amount of baking that goes into a food blog, thatās saying a lot.
The taste is ridiculously good and the texture legit ācookie styleā! Iām talking soft centers and lightly crisp edges, with just the right amount of chew.
And at 1.5g net carbs, letās just say Iām fairly in love with the macros!
Plus, you can also whip up a batch, freeze the shaped dough for up to 3 months, and bake straight from the freezer on a rainy day. š§
How To Make Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
But what exactly do I mean by the perfect keto cookies? After all, cookies vary a lot. Some are crunchy all over, others are cake-y, melt-in-your-mouth, crumbly, chewy, round, flat, spreadableā¦ i.e. youāve got options!
And letās be honest, it seems that even though deceptively simpleā¦ itās kinda hard to get keto cookies right (particularly the crisp ones!).
StandardĀ cookie rules are aggravated in sugar free cookies due to the vast difference in ingredients from brand to brand.
So throughout the post youāll findĀ a few rules to help you get the cookies you want. Be it crispier, chewier, cakierā¦ you name it!
But letās get started with some hard-fast tips that apply to all cookies, be them keto or not!
- Cream the butter until light and fluffy. This is a big thing in cookies guys (i.e. the golden rule!) , and thereās no workaround! For best texture you want to cream your butter and the sweetener with your mixer for roughly 10 minutes, scrapping the bowl 2-3 times to ensure no uneven streaks remain.
- Dairy free? Not gonna like, this is a tricky one (particularly for the crisp cookies!). Shortening (i.e. lard!) is probably the closest sub to butter out thereā¦ but youāll have to cut the amount of butter by 20% as itās a pure fat. Also do keep in mind that you donāt get that butter taste (which is why even recipes with lard still throw in some butter).
- Cakier vs Crispier.Ā You can play around with the texture without altering the recipe itself. For instance, if youĀ want them crispier be sure toĀ pre-flatten your cookies quite a bit prior to baking,Ā use parchment paper and even have the cookie dough more at room temp than ultra chilled.Ā
- And for cakier cookies youāll want to do the opposite (ultra chilled, no pre-flattening).Ā Note: convection ovens also lead to cakier cookies overall and sweeteners also play an important role (see section below!).
Whatever you decide. just donāt forget a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top, itāll cut through the chocolate and sweetness beautifully.
Oh, and did I mention you can whip up a double chocolate version of these guys too?!
The Flours
I like a mixture of super fine almond flour (love Anthonyās) and coconut flour (again AnthonyāsĀ best taste and texture by a mile!)Ā and (a very small touch) ofĀ konjac powder (i.e. glucomannan) for best crumb and bite. Add a touch of xanthan gum, and weāre golden.
What is konjac powder (i.e. glucomannan)? Short answer, itās a great substitute to cornstarch for both thickening up sauces and gravy. And it also lends a nice chew and crunch to keto cookies, which you simply donāt get from either almond or coconut flour.
p.s konjac is stuff your miracle noodles (shirataki) are made out of!Ā
Can I sub out the konjac? Yes, you can do arrowroot (closest) or even just more coconut flour. The taste was just as good with all three.
The Sweetener
Perhaps surprisingly, getting the sweetener right for these keto chocolate chip cookies is even more important than the flours. And this recipe works best with erythritol sweeteners, without a doubt.
Not only are they roughly 1-to-1 in sweetness to sugar (and the volume is important here), but they lend a very similar crunch and chew. No other sweetener did that.
My current favorite for these keto chocolate chip cookies? Lakantoās golden (tastes and smells sooo good!).
So for crisp cookiesĀ use an erythritol sweetener for sure, as itās the only one that will crisp up properly. And for even extra crispness you can place your tray in the upper part of your oven and increase the temperature by 10 degrees (the extra heat will spread them faster = crispier cookies!). Do note that erythritol can take up to a couple hours to crisp up completely.
And for soft and cakey cookies, adding some xylitol to the mix (think 3 parts erythritol: 2 parts xylitol) can really help a bunch. Other than that just donāt pre-flatten the cookie dough as much, you can bake on parchment or a baking mat, and be sure to place your rack in the middle oven. And, for extra extra cakey-ness you can even decrease the amount of butter by 10-20g.
Note: convection ovens also lead to cakier cookies overall!
Just keep in mind that cookies made with xylitol or allulose will stay soft and cakey (and need to be placed in the freezer once cool to speed up the setting process!).
How sweet?! In case you havenāt noticed, keto palates in regards to sweetness are all over the place (I feel mine fluctuates constantly still!). So Iām giving you guys a range of 110-140g (7-9TBS) of sweetenerā¦ which is already less than the average 200g in your usual cookies!
I also like to add a (optional!) teaspoonĀ of blackstrap molasses for that extraĀ brown sugar kick.Ā 1 teaspoon (7g) adds 5g net carbs to the entire batch (just 0.3g net a cookie!). But carbs aside, blackstrap molassesĀ is a nutritional powerhouse rich in vital vitamins and minerals, such as iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium. But feel free to leave it out, just expect paler cookies!
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as itās highly toxic to the little guys!Ā š
The Keto Chocolate Chips (or Chunks!)
Call me weird, but I donāt like chocolate chips in my chocolate chip cookies. What I like, is an actual chocolate bar broken up into bits. You see, chocolate chips were designed to not melt completely, and Iām all about those chocolate bits melting throughout the cookies. And the darker the chocolate, the more it will melt through!
So I suggest simply breaking up a chocolate bar into bits. Donāt chop it up with a knife, or youāll end up with powder and flakes which will make your cookies cloudy.
But in the end, just use whatever your taste buds desire (and Lilyās does make awesomeĀ sugar freeĀ chocolate chips too!).
Looking for more keto cookies?! Donāt miss out on our legit snickerdoodles, (actually crisp!) oreos, and incredible toasted-almond shortbread (or double chocolate!).
(1.5g net carb!) Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
IngredientsĀ Ā
- 120 g almond flour
- 16 g coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon konjac powder (i.e. glucomannan) arrowroot powder or more coconut flour*
- 1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt **use the larger amount for a 'salted' version!
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 150 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 110-144 g golden erythritol to taste (I use 7 TBS)
- 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses totally optional!***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 85-120 g Lily's Sweets dark chocolate bar or chocolate chips!
- 70 g pecans roughly chopped
- flaky sea salt to garnish
InstructionsĀ
- Please see video for reference, tips and tricks! It's for the double chocolate version, but same difference (just has added cocoa and adjusted ratios!).
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, konjac powder (or arrowroot/more coconut flour), salt, baking soda and xanthan gum to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined and set aside.
- Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until softened, 1-2 minutes. Add in sweetener and molasses (optional), and continue to cream until light and fluffy (about 8 minutes).
- Add in vanilla extract and egg, mixing until just incorporated. The mixture will appear slightly 'broken' (i.e. not thoroughly smooth).Ā With your mixer on low, add in half of your flour mixture- mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the rest.
- Fold in chocolate and pecan bits. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350Ā°F/180Ā°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper (if you use a silpat baking mat they won't spread much, if at all).
- Divide cookie dough into 18 rounds for 3 1/2-inch cookies (or 12 for jumbo style!), and flatten them slightly. The cookies will spread somewhat during baking, but you still need to pre-shape them (i.e. the more you pre-flatten them the more they'll spread = crispier cookies, so if you like them cakier just don't flatten them too much!).Ā
- Place cookie dough on the prepared baking tray. Bake for 9-10 minutes for smaller cookies and 12-13 minutes for the jumbo, turning the tray around 180Ā° half way through.
- Garnish with flaky sea salt and allow the cookies to cool completely on the trays (sugar alcohols can take a few hours to crisp up, so don't despair!). Store in an airtight container for three to four days and freeze for up to 3 months. Ā
- Note that the shaped dough can be frozen for up to 3 months, and they can be baked straight from the freezer (adding 2-3 minutes more to the baking time).
Yet again an amazing recipe ā you really are my keto baking hero! š Thank you!
Perfect perfect cookies. Because sf chocolate chips are too sweet for me, Iāve taken to replacing about 1/3 of the amount called for in most recipes with cacao nibs. They cut the sweetness of the chips, add a nice nutty texture and a boatload of nutrients.
I love how flexible both you and the recipe are! Missing an ingredient? Skip it or try something else. Use whatever chocolate you like, use whatever nuts you like.
Thanks so much for all that you do!
Iāve made these a few times and love them so much! Thank you for this recipe.
A couple notes for other bakers: for added deliciousness, toast the almond flour first (spread it thin on parchment paper in the oven and keep a careful eye on it.)
Also, I made a vegan version of this recipe for a friend, and it turned out beautifullyāyou can substitute 3 TBSP almond butter for the egg, and use coconut oil in lieu of butter.
These look amazing! I donāt have konjac powder or arrowroot powder. Could I substitute with gelatin?
It states in the recipe that you can substitute the Konjak flour with more coconut flour.
I was wondering the same thing, since gelatin will add to the chewinessā¦ Iām getting ready to make them and will use 1/2T of gelatin and the rest coconut flour. I will post my results once done.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
When creaming the sugar and butter what am I looking for? I have a hand mixer so itās a tiring task.
Also, I loved how your chocolate chips were just melted throughout the cookie. I didnāt quite get the same effect. What could I be wrong? The edges of my cookies started to get brown and I didnāt want to risk burning them.
Many thanks
Hi! Would it be possible to replace the kosher salt with regular salt or Himalayan salt ? Thank you
Amazing!! I am in chocolate chip cookie heaven. Thanks for sharing this great recipe. Havenāt had cookies in months and this def scratches the itch š
Is there anything I can use in place of xanthan gum? If Iām compromising an actually chewy cookie by omitting this, I wonāt risk it but just thought Iād ask so I donāt have to buy another item if possible
Thanks in advance!
Erin
You know Erinā¦ keto baked goods really do come out muuuuch better with xanthan gum. I know a little bag can seem pricey, but itāll last you probably a year! Check out the crazy Keto Dough too, it uses it and easily the most popular baked recipe on the site (because of its myriad of applications) xo!
Thanks Paola. Iāll just have to get some in the morning and make that bread as well. š
Please help. I made the mistake of assuming a bag of oat fiber was my coconut flour. I do not have any coconut four but I already creamed the butter and golden erythritol. Can I use more almond flour? If so, how much & if not is there any substitute?
TIA
So how did they turn out?
Erin,
You can also get it in little packets (similar to the individual instant yeast packets). I bought a box of them from Walmart, and it wasnāt terribly expensive.
Oh niiice! Thanks Sara!
So, Iām super Allergic to Coconut (makes being keto difficult but Iāve been Keto for over a year) I havenāt been able to make/buy good crisp outside gooey inside cookies since I started because of my coconut allergy. Any tips or replacements???? I really want to make these!!!
Can i add more than a tsp of bootstrap molasses?
Sure thing! Just watch out for your macros if keto š xo!
Paola ~ First of all, I love all of your recipes. Second, this is my favorite. I make these all the time and each time, they come out differently. But I know that is part of ketogenic cooking. Ingredients vary greatly. A friend of mine turned me on to adding browned butter to ketogenic recipes, and I thought I would try it with this recipe. Well, they were really dense and crispy, and they lacked the creaminess of mixing the butter and sweetener together. So I tried again, using half browned butter and creaming the other half with the sweetener for 10 minutes. The result was out of this world. My family cannot tell that these are keto cookies. Thank you for all that you do!!!
LOl yeah! Agree that these are also my fav cookies AND that they always come out different!! I moved apartments and ovens REALLY make a big difference in their look! Also thanks so much for the heads up with the browned butter! Thereās another thread where we were talking about making these with browned butter and allulose next and seeings whatās up- so Iāll follow your lead and do half and half (because yeah, creaming the butter well is paramount for these guys!). Big kiss and its my absolute pleasure (THANK YOU for taking the time to provide such valuable feedback= always love hearing what you guys are up to!)!
I know there are 6 pages of comments so I apologize if this is a repeated one (Iām new around here), but my mom always used Butter Flavored Crisco in her cookies and I think that would be a good dairy free alternative for those who need it. (I still have never been able to make my cookies taste as good as hers, even using real butter š)
Lol Kristynā¦ yeah a lot of comments! I honestly donāt bake with Crisco so I cannot guarantee, but part lard works wonderful in chocolate chip cookies so I donāt see why it shouldnāt work. Iām just not a fan of the ingredients personally, but I do think some peeps will benefit from your advice so thank you! xo!
I totally understand that! I only eat it when Iām at home because itās just what my mom bakes everything with. š
š!!!
These have to be the BEST low-carb cookies I have ever made or eaten! They are every bit as good as āfull sugarā cookies. I had to use what I had on hand, so I used arrowroot and Hersheyās Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips. Every batch Iāve made, so far, has only lasted about 1 ā 2 days (at most). My family loves them! I gave one to a friend and he liked them so much that he ended up taking the recipe home to his family. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Hi Paola!
I first made these cookies with the original recipe in April, the one that didnāt call for refrigeration. My whole family LOVED them, and even though I intend to make these updated cookies as well, I wondered if thereās any chance you could post the original somewhere too? Thanks for all you do. Loving your eBooks by the way! I canāt recommend them highly enough!
These look awesome! Have you tried substituting konjac for gelatin?
I just want to say that these are WELL worth the trouble! Yes, they take 15 minutes more than the other keto cookie recipes online but theyāre SOOOOOOOOO much better! They actually TASTE GOOD! WELL DONE PAOLA! gnom-gnom for life!
Jennifer thatās super awesome to hear!!! š Glad you find the extra work totally worth it xo!!
Best cookies by far. I canāt stop eating them, they are so good. I made my own chocolate chips to save some money since they can be pricey. They turned out perfectly. Thank you so much. I love trying your recipes and I love love love this site and all your hard work.
Paola,
Iāve made these and they are great!
I left out the nuts and increased the chocolate and used browned butter. I followed your tips for crispy cookies ā I was looking for something like a Tateās thin and crispy experience ā and after they cooked, I put them in my dehydrator.
Perfection!
Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh Linda I LOVE your dehydrator tip! And donāt even get me started on the browned butter! Iāve been meaning to make a batch with salted browned butter and try them with allulose! Big kiss!
Please do Paola !! And report back :))
Iāve been thinking on browned butter and allulose as well Sounds good !
These cookies are the best !
Did you solidify then soften your brown butter before creaming or did you skip the creaming step?
I had been wanting to try these for a while, and as usual, you dont disappoint! The flavor is right on. I used know better brand chocolate chips, just because itās easier than chopping a chocolate bar, but aside from that, followed this exactly. Well worth it!
So wonderful to hear Julie! And yup, you can use whatever chocolate floats your boat (I even love using a mixture of chocolate chips, 90% chocolate bars and Lilyās dark chocolateā¦ :-S lol!) xo!
Would it be possible to switch the butter for coconut oil? I realize that would affect the creaming process and might not turn out as tasty but is it possible? I ran out of butter and want to make these š
I donāt know about the cookability of this with coconut oil, but in my opinion, you want to use butter to get that bakery taste. It was may be the best part of the cookie, how buttery it was
I make a choc chip cookie (low carb) and use refined coconut oil in place of butter. Sometimes I do 1/2 butter 1/2 coconut both with no issues.
By the way it doesnāt say how many eggs or how much butter to use on the recipe.
It DEF says! All the ingredients are listed š
I made these this week & the flavors were great! I was missing the chewiness I love in chocolate chip cookies. And advice to up the chewiness? I got nice crispy edges, although they softened up the next day. Used arrowroot & lakanto golden.
Thanks!
Think there might be confusion about the amount of butter.
10 1/2 tablespoons.
Is this 10, 1/2 table spoons (i.e., 5 tablespoons) or 10 and 1/2 tablespoons. Very different!
Use metric, its more accurate and the standard worldwide for baking.. its 10 & 1/2 tbs ā better known as 150gmā¦
These turned out delicious. Iām glad I cut the recipe in half so I wasnāt tempted to eat too many. I used Lillyās salted caramel bar for choc chunks. Thanks again for the delicious recipes.
Ok so how do I make this almond free with swerve? My kid canāt have buys but is fine with coconut.
Oh Paola, These look ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Iām very much looking forward to making these this Saturday. Question- my family and I are staying away from dairy and not using Xanthan gumā¦
Might we be able to omit the xanthan gum, and substitute the butter with palm shortening/coconut oil or something?
I saw in the comments that someone omitted the xanthan gum, but another comment said that they replaced it with gelatin, which Iād rather not do if I donāt have to.
Would love your advice! ā„ļøā„ļøā„ļø
I have tried a few keto cookie recipes and never been satisfied. This one is amazing!! You are a wizard, Paola! Thanks so much! I used Swerve ābrown sugarā and they are so similar to real chocolate chip cookies! I also used the molasses but didnāt use the arrowroot. Really, really happy! Many thanks!
Hi Paola,
I stumbled upon your site. Iām now living in a nursing home. My Naturopath got me started on the Keto diet & I love it! But Incanāt cook for myself now. I think I will be able to move out in about 1 year & Iām looking so forward to trying all your recipes. Iāve bookmarked them all! Thank you for sharing these!!!
Oh Lordy, these came out SO GOOD! Yikesā¦ these cookies are dangerous. š
I didnāt add in the molasses or the arrowroot/konjac, and I used regular granulated Swerve. Also, I used Lilyās Chips, instead of the bar, and added walnuts instead of pecans. I was religious about creaming the butter with the erythritol, refrigerated the dough for 2hrs, used a tiny ice-cream scooper to scoop them onto cookie sheet, and made sure to flatten them evenly. An hour after emerging from the oven they were PERFECT. Crunchy on the edges and chewy at the center. So so good.
These cookies are awesome! Grandkid tested and approved! Thanks for all you do, so happy to have found this site!
Iāve tried a lot of keto cookies. once. because they just made me miss real cookies. but THESE are AWESOME!! Iāve made them twice now. i use the arrowroot version with no salt on top. first time I used half ān half powdered xylitol and erythritol because thatās my go to. 2nd time I tried all powdered erythritol plus a tsp of Truvia added at the end because I felt the Lindt 90% chocolate I used needed it. PERFECT! I was nearly in tears. itās been 2years since I had decent baking before becoming T2. Canāt thank you enough! How about putting this into a no churn ice cream? I can barely leave it alone in the fridge!
Lulu how awesome to hear you enjoyed them so much! And thanks for including your deets on the sweeteners in detail, always super helpful! AND YES on the ice cream sandwichesā¦ soooooooo good! xo!!
I feel for Shaay Gallagher-Starr and her super-sensitivity to coconut. I must have the same type of sensitivity to the cooling effects of polyols such as erythritol because I had to spit out the first bite of this cookie because I felt like Iād just bitten off a hunk of minty toothpaste (which I hate). Clearly, a change of sweetener was in order, so I tried them again using isomalt and inulin for bulk and sucralose for high intensity sweetener. The result was amazing and completely unexpected. These cookies actually tasted like Toll House cookies, not a close almondy fake. They spread on the parchment paper like a normal cookie, so since I flattened them as instructed, I ended up with 5ā³ cookies. Totally and completely thin, crisp, light, delightfully tender cookies that once cooled on the pan for a few minutes did not fall apart with handling until bitten into, then melt in my mouth. And no minty blast!!! I thought I was going to melt into the floor myself ā I was in complete cookie heaven. If you would like to know what I did, here it is: Instead of golden erythritol, I used 110g LorAnn Oils isomalt and 34g NOW inulin, plus 24 drops EZ-Sweetz sucralose (equal to 24 teaspoons sugar). I also used 12 drops brown sugar flavoring by OOOFlavors. I am not a chocoholic and normally donāt use as much chocolate as the Toll House recipe calls for, so I only used 70g of sugar-free mini chocolate chips from nuts.com. Thatās the brand I had on hand. (Iāll be trying Lilyās chips, too, as well as getting up the nerve to make homemade chocolate chips.) I always use walnuts in chocolate chip cookies, so I added 100 grams chopped walnuts. I did not change the preparation method, but I will make 24 cookies instead of 18 next time to reduce the diameter a bit. I may also try just dropping the dough instead of flattening, but I sure like the flattened version. And to Shaay Gallagher-Starr, I donāt see why you shouldnāt be able to replace the coconut flour with a little more almond flour, since the change in sweetener made a complete texture change to the cookie. This is one of my very first forays into low carb recipe development and Iām really shocked that I had success. Iām not keto, just want great food that doesnāt mess with my blood sugar, which by the way, 4 (yes, four ā and Iām so stuffed) of these cookies didnāt raise. The idea of using sucralose (āSplendaā) doesnāt bother me at all, but if you donāt use artificial sweeteners, you could try experimenting with stevia and/or monk fruit. For me, Iām not changing this recipe one bit past what Iāve already done!
Removing the coconut flour will DEF change the textureā¦ theyāll become shortbread š xo!
Would substituting oat fiber for the coconut flour work or affect the texture too much?
I honestly havenāt tried here so wouldnāt be able to tell you what happens. I have substituted it in our crazy keto dough and it does work well. xo!