Keto Butter Cookies (Only 4 Ingredients)
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup
blanched almond flour (113 g or 4 oz wt.) (cannot be directly substituted with coconut flour) - 1/4 cup
powdered erythritol (36 g or 1.3 oz wt.) or 3 tbsp confectioners swerve (27 g or 1 oz wt.) - 3 tbsp
salted butter (43 g or 1.5 oz wt.), softened to room temperature - 1/2 tsp
vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. - In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, thoroughly stirring until they form a dough. As you stir, it will initially be crumbly, but will then form a cohesive dough. If your butter isn't soft enough, it may be difficult to fully combine by stirring; instead, try mixing the ingredients using your hands.
- Use the dough to form ten 1-inch balls, placing them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other.
- Flatten each dough ball using a fork, then rotate 90 degrees and flatten again, forming a criss-cross pattern. Or form into your desired shape and pattern. Note that these cookies will maintain their shape during baking and will not spread.
- Bake at 350 F until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies.
- The cookies will be very soft when they come out of the oven. Let them cool completely before removing from the baking sheet. Store leftovers in a covered container at room temperature for up to a few days.
NUTRITION
| Makes 10 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving (1 cookie): |
| Calories 100 | |
| Total Fat 9g | 14% |
| Saturated Fat 3g | 13% |
| Cholesterol 9mg | 3% |
| Sodium 30mg | 1% |
| Net Carb 1g | |
| Total Carb 2g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber 1g | 5% |
| Sugars 0.5g | |
| Protein 2g |
These cookies are also very versatile. They can be an everyday dessert, or a shortbread-like cookie that you might serve at brunch or with tea (perhaps with a London Fog Tea Latte). You can dress them up with flavors like lemon or almond extract, sprinkle with cinnamon, or top with blueberry jam to make healthy Christmas thumbprint cookies during the holidays.
Recipe Development
This recipe was designed to be as simple as possible, keeping the ingredients list short (just almond flour, butter, sweetener, and vanilla) and using just enough softened butter to bind everything together. For convenience, salted butter is used so you don’t need to separately add salt.
Everything can be done by hand, which includes mixing ingredients and forming the dough. All you need is a mixing bowl and a sturdy wooden spoon or similar utensil, no special equipment like an electric mixer.
Sweeteners
Pure erythritol is about 70% as sweet as sugar. I typically buy the granulated form of erythritol online, and use my Nutribullet blender to pulverize it into powdered form, which is easily incorporated into dough. I recommend using 1/4 cup for a standard, sweet cookie and 3 tablespoons for a barely sweet version.
You can also use sweeteners that measure the same as sugar, such as swerve or lakanto monkfruit, both of which are erythritol blends. Verify that they are powdered or confectioners (not granulated) and that they are a 1:1 sugar substitution since these brands sell multiple versions. For these sweeteners, use 3 tablespoons for a standard, sweet cookie and 2 tablespoons for a barely sweet version.
Note that erythritol-based sweeteners are sugar alcohols. When calculating net carbs, subtract out the sugar alcohols as you would do for fiber. Since they are non-impact, the nutrition information below does not include them.
Baking Time
The baking time is about 10 minutes, and it will vary depending on your oven and the thickness of your cookies. The cookies are done when they’re golden around the edges, which has taken me anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes when testing with different ovens.
After the baked cookies have cooled completely, do a taste test. If they’re soft or have an odd texture, then they are likely underbaked. These cookies are perfectly baked when they have a crisp, shortbread-like texture.
Flavor Mix-ins
Since these keto cookies are like a blank canvas, readers have shared some creative ideas in the comments section:
- Replacing some of the almond flour with finely ground pecans
- Replacing some of the vanilla extract with almond extract or lemon extract
- Adding toasted sliced almonds, shredded coconut, or sugar-free dark chocolate chips
- Adding fresh juice or zest from lemons
- Adding unsweetened baking chocolate or cocoa powder
- Making thumbprint cookies with strawberry or blueberry jam
- Making snickerdoodles by dusting with cinnamon
If you’ve tried other flavors, leave a comment below to share your idea.
Keto Pecan Bars
Keto Peanut Butter Cookies
Keto Apple Crisp
Keto Pecan Sandies
These were great! I made a few batches and tried some variations, as I am experimenting with keto baking. One interesting variation was substituting in 1/4 cup coconut flour in place of the 1 cup of almond flour, and adding an egg. I also used almond extract instead of vanilla and they turned out a bit like a macaroon. Next time
I might add coconut into them. I also didn’t have blanched almond flour but they were still delicious. I used ZenSweet Monkfruit Sweetener because I couldn’t find my fave Whole Earth sweetener. They were a bit too sweet so I also made a batch with less and they were great. Thanks for an awesome recipe with so many ways to adjust and experiment!
😭 I wish I would have read this before I made them. I have been craving macaroons and have the extra ingredients. oh well. I’ll just have to make another batch 😂
Tired of watching all my high carb, gluten eaters devouring holiday cookies so I decided to treat myself and give these a try. Just took them out of the oven, and they are delicious, a little crumbly but that’s what I was looking for, more like a shortbread cookie. I didn’t crisscross pattern with a fork, I used the back of a spoon dipped in swerve to flatten and sprinkled the top with a tiny bit of coarse salt. The mix of the swerve with the salt on top tastes really, really good on these cookies, thanks for the recipe!
Used lemon extract! So delish!!
These are amazing! By far the best I’ve made. (I tried making a peanut butter one and it didn’t turn out, they were really dry)….so, I added an egg and an extra tablespoon of butter to this recipe. I made two batches. The second batch I used banana extract and about a 1/4 cups chopped walnuts. They turned out pretty good. I love bananas but can’t have them on keto so with variations works good to give me a banana nut cookie. Thank you for the recipe Julia!!!
Loved this recipe! Taste amazing. However i found that my cookies break very very easily, could i be doing something wrong?
It’s hard to say without knowing exactly what you did. If you have access to a kitchen scale, I would measure out the ingredients by weight (assuming you’re not already doing so) to make sure your proportions are correct, since almond flour and powdered sweeteners can vary a lot depending on how you pack them into a measuring cup.
Another thing to look into is baking and cooling times. The shorter the baking time, the softer and more underdone the cookies will be, and vice versa. You can try decreasing or increasing your baking time, which would alter the final texture of the cookie. Also, make sure to allow the cookies to fully cool since they are very soft when they initially come out of the oven.
My last suggestion is adding an egg yolk to help bind the cookies better. I hope these suggestions are helpful for you and that you get a chance to make them again.
Amazingly easy to make and sooo good. I’m the worst baker and even I didn’t mess them up!
I like them but mine are not crisp and could be a tad sweeter (used erythritol). If I were to cook any longer, they would be burnt as they’re pretty brown. I’m thinking I may need to lower cooking temperature?
I did use unsalted butter as it’s all I had. Could this be the reason for non-crisp?
I don’t think the unsalted butter would affect the crispness of the cookies. I agree with your suggestion to lower the baking temperature to 300 F, baking for a longer period of time which helps with crispness. Another thing you can try is adding a bit more almond flour so that the cookie dough is drier to begin with.
This recipe is beyond fantastic! I have made it several times. Thank you so much!
I am also eager to try your Asian Wraps recipe as well. I am following Plant Paradox, so will have to omit the pickled cucumbers. However everything else can be made compliant.
Thanks again!
These were great, and the only keto sweet I find palatable. I paired them with sugar free strawberry jam or sugar free ganache icing. Thanks for a small batch recipe, because I ate five immediately. 😂❤️
Julia, I want to commend you on offering us fabulous recipes. Really. They’re easy, balanced and delicious. Most Keto sweeties taste fake. Yours don’t and I love that they are adaptable. Great work!
I adapted this recipe from my favorite carbie version of ‘Lemon-Cardamom-Poppyseed’ cookies. Add one egg yolk, poppy seeds to taste, zest of 2 lemons, and pinch of sea salt to taste. Dust with Swerve powdered sugar when cool and firm. SO good.
That sounds delicious, Annie. I’m going to try it out — thanks for sharing!
New to Keto, so of course Google helps. This is first snack I came across and sounded good. Well, I was right. They are really good. I did sprinkle with cinnamon, which I love, so to me made even better. Thank you for recipes, makes this easier when I want a snack.
Can these be rolled for cut out shapes?
Hi Lori, I just tried this recipe out and I think it would work fine. The only thing I would say is to keep it about 1/4 inch thick, maybe a little more, and make sure to keep an eye on them so you don’t overbake them. I hope this helps! 🙂
I just made these cookies today. I did add an extra tablespoon of butter to the recipe. Also, instead of vanilla extract I used almond extract (3/4 tsp) and also added anise (1 tsp.) to the recipe. They were delicious! An almond biscotti cookie! Thank you ever so much. I’m making the thumbprints next time….
I was able to get 12 cookies out of this recipe and definitely do not bake past 10mins. Taste great tho!
Would a gluten free flour blend work? I’m not keto, but I am GF, and I’m looking for erythritol for diabetic friends and family
Beverly, I haven’t tested this recipe with a gluten-free flour blend. Generally, flours cannot be directly substituted with each other, so my guess is that it wouldn’t work out, at least not without additional tweaks to the other ingredients.
Fantastic and Easy!!! The perfect treat to get through the holidays. Thank you so much Julia for posting this recipe.
Made these for the first time today. Used a bit more butter than specified and also used 1/4 almond extract and 1/4 vanilla extract in the first batch (yes.. they were so good that I made a second batch!). Will definitely be making these again! Thanks
I make these cookies 2 -3 times a week. I also like to experiment with different flavorings too. One in the afternoon with a cup of tea is a nice treat.
Amazing cookies! Couldn’t find vanilla essence so used a dash of lemon juice instead and they turned out fab.
love your recipe …easy and tasty…
I found that an egg yolk helped to bind the mixture slightly better but these are simply outstanding cookies for the ease of making – thank you very much for sharing!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it several times now using different variations of sweeteners. 1/2 Lakanto monkfruit granular and 1/2 stevia were delicious and had the perfect texture, but I could just barely taste the bitterness from the stevia. Then tried only Swerve confectioners in another batch, also delish, but the texture wasn’t as good. My final and favorite version uses 1/2 Swerve granular and 1/2 Swerve confectioners…the texture, consistency and flavor are amazing! Family, and most important critics, all agree these are the closest we will ever get to grandma’s butter cookies, and they are keto friendly and guilt-free! Now, to experiment with other flavors (almond extract, chocolate mint…) yum!
Thank you for sharing, Kat! If you experiment with other flavors, I’d love to hear what your favorites are.
Do you think Almond meal (from making almond milk) would work?
I’m not sure. My concern is that almond pulp resulting from making almond milk is usually damp and moist, whereas almond flour is the opposite. You would need to find a way to dry out your almond pulp.
We LOVE these cookies! My 3yo son is basically keto for health reasons and has never had a cookie… he has been so excited to enjoy these with everybody 💙
I want to make a big batch and freeze… do these freeze well? And would you freeze as dough or can you freeze these cooked? I’m a little new to baking…
That’s awesome that your son is able to enjoy these cookies. I haven’t tried freezing them so I’m not positive, but I think the dough would likely freeze fine (a safer bet than freezing the baked cookies).
Loved it! I added roasted pecans on each cookie for an extra crunch! Great recipe! Can’t wait to try the others.
These are so delicious! Made these with my daughter, and we both enjoyed. Used keto friendly jam, cinnamon and sprinkled Swerve on top…so good! The flavour options are limitless 😊
Very good recipe. I used powdered monkfruit sweetener and added some toasted almonds. Much better texture than other keto cookies that I have made, actually a crispy texture that I love!
I’m not doing Keto myself, made these for my husband who has been doing Keto for the last 6 months. I ended up with 13 cookies – I used a tablespoon sized cookie scoop on them. I stupidly didn’t adjust the cooking time for the smaller cookies, and at 10 minutes the edges ended up almost burnt. However they came out delicious despite the burn. I used Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener (Confectioners) which has basically the same nutrition info as plain erythritol sweetener but personally I like its flavor better. I plan to make these again, next time I may try using granulated Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener instead to give the cookies more of a sugar cookie texture (and I’ll remember to adjust the baking time lol).
These are awesome and so, so very easy to make. Even my no-keto friends thought they were great. I didn’t have blanched almond flower, so used regular, super-fine almond flour. Turned out great but were more brown, which made for a really nice looking cookie.
Wondering if this could be used as the base/ crust for a fruit pizza? If so, any idea what the cooking time might be?
Thank you so much for this recipe !!! I make them …..A LOT lol . although I do use the swerve granular they turn out amazing . first time I made them I missed the part where you noted no mixer needed . next time I mixed by hand and I have to say you can tell a difference .both were very delicious but , the batch mixed with the the electric mixer had a better texture . but just my opinion absolutely zero complaints on this recipe DELICIOUS !!!
Thank you for your receipe, I just made my first batch for my family and everyone loved them. I’ve been on Keto for almost two months and these cookies are satisfying.
Hey Julia, any idea if we could use Carbquik in place of Almond flour? I really prefer the texture.
Thanks!
Not sure, I haven’t tested this recipe with Carbquik. My guess is that the resulting texture and density will be off, not as shortbread-like, since Carbquik contains baking powder.
Hi Julia. Thank you for creating and sharing easy Keto friendly dessert recipes.
May I ask, if I wanted to add some chocolate, how much unsweetened baking cocoa can I use for this recipe?
Thank you!
To add some chocolate flavor, it would probably be easiest to mix in some chocolate chips (like Lily’s sugar-free ones) rather than cocoa powder (which would require adding more sweetener to balance it, and probably some further testing to get it right).
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m single, and love the fact that this is a small batch recipe! I have made the original several times with just adding on a single pecan to the top. I started using half vanilla/ half caramel (both a little less than 1/2 teaspoon) with just a tad more almond flour (to keep original texture). My daughter stopped by today, and mentioned how good the cookies were when she was here last. These are so quick and easy that I made a batch. I added some crushed pecans (probably a tbsp or two), and 1 finely grated miniature Hershey bar. She loved them, and asked for the recipe. I had to admit they were made with almond flour, swerve, and pecans (she doesn’t like any of these ingredients!) She couldn’t believe it. Now she’s taking home the rest, and I’m making another batch.
The next time I make these for me, I’m going to use the original recipe, but use the rum extract that I accidentally bought. Butter Rum cookies sound great.
Thank you again!
You’re welcome, Melissa. Thank you for taking the time to share your customizations! They all sound delicious.
I just made these but added 2 tbs. Sour cream, I also used confectioners serve. I put them in mini cupcake tins. They turned out perfect.
The cupcake tins sounds interesting. Think I’ll give it a try.
I just made these cookies. Best I’ve tried. Love them
Love these cookies!!!!!
This is my “go to”
cookie when I’m craving a treat and best part is that it is egg free. My son can’t have eggs and i’m grain free so I can make a treat we both enjoy!
I just made these after googling around for a sweet keto-friendly treat…my first treat since starting Keto several weeks ago. I am having with my bulletproof coffee right now and am so happy, thank you!
Mmmmmm! Just made these and they were delicious! Bravo!
What’s the difference between blanched almond flour and just regular almond flour.
Blanched almond flour uses blanched almonds (skins taken off), so that the flour looks white-ish instead of a darker color. Most almond flour that I have come across in the U.S. uses blanched almonds (check the ingredients label to determine this). Unblanched almond flour is fine to use; it’ll mean that your cookies won’t look quite the same as my photos.
I tried the recipe with a bit increased Erythritol, 1/2 cup. It was still pretty good.
Hi, can I replace the sweetener with stevia? im a newbie in ketodiet btw, tq😊
Hi Dieyla! Stevia is fine to use on a keto diet. As for this particular recipe, I recommend using the sweetener listed in the recipe box, not stevia, for best results. Swerve/erythritol is a dry sweetener and stevia is liquid, so it would alter the ratio of wet to dry ingredients for this recipe.
My stevia is dry and says it’s great for baking
Thank you! My to go keto cookie when I’m craving for sweets! I add a couple of macadamia or almond or walnuts on top for variety. Happiness!
Made these half with almonds and half with strawberry jam…. so good!! Will try other combinations of extract and toppings!!
These were delicious! Made another batch with chocolate chips and coconut flour instead. Who needs normal cookies when you can make ones like these.
Great recipe, I make a double batch every week and the grandchildren also love them but I use less sweetener.
Loved it!!! Superb! Thank you