How To Make Sugar Free Keto “Sugar” Cookies
Sugar cookies are one of my favorite cookies. Not just at the holidays but anytime I want a sweet sturdy cookie. This recipe is great because it’s easy and can be adjusted to pretty much any diet.
Gluten Free Option
The main recipe for these cookies calls for vital wheat gluten but they can be made without gluten. If you are going gluten free all you need to do is substitute the vital wheat gluten for more almond flour or a low carb flour of your choice.
Gluten does help with the rising of these cookies so going gluten free may effect the fluffiness of the cookies but they will still taste good.
If you are going gluten free make sure to add a teaspoon or so of xanthan gum, The xanthan gum is the binding agent that holds all the ingredients together. If it is left out the cookies will fall apart.
Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour is not a low carb flour by any means but it does give a nice texture to these cookies without adding as much carbs as white flour. However if you are on a keto diet or just counting your carbs the tapioca flour can be substitutes for almond/seed flour or any low carb flour of your choice.
Powdered Swerve Versus Granulated
Most cookie recipes call for granulated sweeteners however for this recipe I think powdered sweetener works best.
Powdered sweetener is more fluffy that granulated sweeteners so as a result it mixes in more easily than granulated sweetener. This results in a cookies that has a nice fluffy texture rather than a dense gritty texture
Sugar Free Keto Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten or almond flour + 1tsp xanthan gum for gluten free
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour, or gluten free flour of choice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered Swerve or powdered sweetener of choice
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together almond flour, vital wheat gluten. tapioca flour, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar until fully combined.
- In a large mixer bowl beat Softened butter and powdered Swerve on low for 1 minute of until creamy.
- Add egg yolks and vanilla. Beat on low 1 more minute or until light and fluffy.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat on low 30 seconds or until no dry ingredients are left in the bowl.
- Scrape all ingredients to the center of the bowl. Lightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and place dough onto lightly floured work surface
- Press or roll dough out to 1/2-1/4 inch thick. Place onto prepared baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown.
- Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies will be soft at first but they will firm up as they cool. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
Nutrition
Sugar Free Buttercream Frosting
You can’t have sugar cookies without buttercream frosting, The frosting is what makes the cookies.
This recipe is sugar free low carb and super easy.
The Secret To Sugar Free Frosting
The secret to the frosting is getting the right blend of powdered sugar and milk and beating the ingredients for the right amount of time.
Everyone’s mixers are different and the consistency of the frosting can vary depending on the type of milk used.
For this recipe I use two percent cows milk and beat it with my standing Kitchen Aid. Basically you want the frosting to be creamy and able to spread easily.
Easy Sugar Free Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered Swerve or powdered sweetener of choice
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 TBS cocoa (for chocolate version)
Instructions
- Place softened butter in a medium mixer bowl. Beat on low 30 seconds or until creamy
- Add remaining ingredients and beat on low 30-45 seconds or until fluffy and able to spread.
- This can be made a day in advanced. Place in airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to use remove the frosting from the refrigerator and stir until the frosting is smooth. If needed stir in small amounts of milk until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.
Hi just wondering what the carbs and calories were. Please and thank you.
I just added the carbs and calories to the written recipe however if you’d like a sugar cookie recipe that is MUCH lower in carbs abd calories check out my coconut flour sugar cookies https://janetsdeliciouslowcarbkitchen.com/quick-keto-coconut-flour-sugar-cookies/
These are fabulous! They’re tasty, fluffy, and structurally sound cookies with the “mouth feel” of regular cookies. So many recipes sacrifice the magic of gluten, not realizing vital wheat gluten gives you the texture of wheat without the carbs. Other keto cookies also tend to crumble, probably because they don’t have the gluten. I’m going for low-carb, so I used another flour in place of tapioca flour.
My one modification: I’m too lazy to roll-out and cut the dough, so I wrapped a log of it in cling-wrap, let it solidify in the fridge, and then sliced round cookies off the log. I topped some with sprinkles before baking (for the non-keto folks) and some with keto icing after baking (powdered sugar/milk mixture). Everyone loved them – one co-worker’s eye’s bugged out in surprise at how good they were. The guy was utterly shocked, lol.
That’s Awesome1 I am so glad these turned out for you.