These soft keto chocolate chip cookies are the best ever and are so easy to make! No stand mixer or hand mixer required for this quick one bowl recipe made with almond flour.
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies came about last month over the Christmas season. We were really doing our best to eat well during the holidays, but I mean, it is the holidays, so cookies are part of the deal – right?
We made probably half a dozen batches of these throughout the month, and they definitely satisfied the Christmas sweet tooth for both of us.
I’ve actually got some of these cookies in the freezer right now. I’m going to make a keto ice cream sandwich them, and I’m pretty dang excited about it.
If you’re like Shane and believe that cookie dough is the best part about homemade cookies, try our Keto Cookie Dough recipe! Seriously, that recipe is one of the ones I’m the most proud of. It tastes pretty spot on to the real thing.
What Are Keto Cookies Made Of?
If you’re new to eating a keto diet, then you might be asking yourself “Can I eat a chocolate chip cookie on keto?” The answer is yes -as long as the cookies are made with keto friendly ingredients. You can enjoy one of these cookies as dessert on keto.
Keto cookies have a few key swaps that lower the net carb count. The first is the flour. Rather than using wheat flour, keto baking is normally done with either almond flour or coconut flour.
For this recipe I chose almond flour (or technically almond meal, since it’s not actually a real flour). Even though almond flour doesn’t have the binding power of coconut flour, I prefer the taste. If you’d like to try a cookie made with a combination of both flours, try my Keto Shortbread Cookies!
The second swap is the sweetener. Rather than using sugar, these cookies rely on a keto powdered sweetener. I’ve tested it with both Swerve Confectioners Sugar Substitute and Lakanto Classic Monkfruit Powdered Sugar, and both worked well.
I also tested this recipe using granulated keto sweeteners. It still tasted great! The texture just wasn’t as good, so I’d definitely recommend using powdered sweetener if you can.
Can I Have Chocolate On Keto?
While most chocolate in stores is too full of sugar for a keto diet, there are some chocolate brands that you can use. Thankfully, sugar free chocolate has come a long way in recent years. There are now a couple of really great sugar free options for snacking and for keto baking.
For this recipe, I’d recommend using either Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips or Choc Zero Sugar Free Chocolate Chips.
What Is Dirty Keto?
Dirty keto means that you’re not focusing on eating whole foods and are only focusing on eating your target macronutrient ratio, and staying within your net carbs. These cookies are a perfect treat for someone enjoying a dirty keto diet!
Is It Gluten Free?
Yes, this recipe is gluten free as it’s written.
How To Make It Vegan
To make this recipe vegan, you’d need to omit the egg, replace the butter with coconut oil, and swap the heavy whipping cream for a plant based milk (like almond milk).
I’ve tested it this way and it was delicious! Just be sure to let the cookies cool for the full 10 minutes on the baking tray after they come out of the oven so they have time to firm up. Then gently move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
If you want to make paleo chocolate chip cookies, you’ll need to swap the butter for coconut oil, the cream for plant milk, and the powdered sweetener for powdered coconut sugar. To make powdered coconut sugar, pulse it in a food processor until it reaches a fine texture.
Optional Adaptations
I love these soft cookies as-is, but there are a few alternative ways you can make them if you like.
- Add in unsweetened shredded coconut.
- To make it dairy free, swap the butter for coconut oil and the cream for unsweetened almond milk.
- Use cream cheese instead of butter – you’ll probably have to use a mixer to get the dough fully incorporated.
- Brown the butter to make delicious keto brown butter cookies.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes if you want fluffy cookies.
- Add peanut butter to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
Keto Recipes
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out our entire keto recipes section! We love keto baking, so we’ve got lots of recipes I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
Some reader favorites are:
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
These soft keto chocolate chip cookies are the best ever and are so easy to make! No stand mixer or hand mixer required for this quick recipe made with almond flour.
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup keto powdered sweetener*
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 - 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (depending on taste preference)
- 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (or milk of choice)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F (163 C).
- To a large mixing bowl, add the almond flour, granulated keto sweetener of choice, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine, making sure there aren’t any clumps of baking soda hidden in the mix.
- Add the vanilla, cream, and egg. Use a small silicone spatula to stir to fully combine.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Wait to add the melted butter to the dough until it’s relatively cool (otherwise it will melt the chocolate chips when you add them in the next step).
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Using a regular sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a nonstick baking sheet. I prefer to use an air-insulated cookie sheet for these.
- Use your fingers to lightly press down the cookie dough mounds. You’ll be able to feel when you should stop pressing, and they’ll have flattened to about a 1 1/2” circle.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn slightly golden.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet. This is important, because they will continue to firm up as they cool. Use a spatula to move the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Notes
*I’ve only tested this recipe with powdered Swerve and powdered Lakanto, but any powdered keto sweetener with a monk fruit or erythritol base should work. I've also tested this with granulated sweeteners, and they still tasted great. The texture just wasn't as good.
If you like a strong vanilla flavor, you can use a full Tablespoon (or 3 teaspoons) of vanilla extract. Alternatively, you could use 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.
I love these cookies as-is, but if you think you’ll be likely to miss the warm notes that brown sugar gives traditional chocolate chip cookies, there are a couple of options. I’d recommend either: 1) Incorporate 1/4 teaspoon of blackstrap molasses to the sweetener before mixing it into the almond flour (you'll have to run the macronutrient count on this to make sure you're comfortable with it). 2) Make these cookies with 3 Tablespoons golden keto granulated sugar of choice and 1 Tablespoon regular keto granulated sugar of choice (you'll have to pulse the granulated sugars in a food processor to get a fine texture).
If you want the chocolate chips to be very visible on top, you may want to add a few to the top of each cookie.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/22 (1 cookie)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 102Total Fat: 9.2gCarbohydrates: 4.6gNet Carbohydrates: 3.1gFiber: 1.5gSugar: 0.5gProtein: 2.7g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime
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Make these delicious keto chocolate chip cookies for an easy keto friendly way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
