Buttery sweet spritz cookies get a keto makeover. These keto Christmas cookies are perfect for your healthy holidays, and you can make them ahead and freeze them. This makes a ton of cookies, so it’s an ideal recipe for gift-giving. Or just make a half batch of these wonderful low carb cookies and save them all for yourself!
Someone has been holding out on me. I feel cheated, I feel robbed, I feel like I’ve been hanging out in the dark when everyone else has been living it up in the light. Why, oh why, didn’t someone tell me how fun Spritz cookies are to make??? 40+ years I’ve lived without the joy of pushing cookie dough out of a press into fun holiday shapes. Okay so some of this might be by own fault. I might have been unfair to the poor spritz cookie, thinking it a rather plain, flavourless cookie that had very little to recommend it to my taste buds. But in my defense, I have been offered many a plain, flavourless cookie that had little to recommend it to my taste buds so I am a touch gun-shy. Perhaps that was part of the conspiracy, to keep me in the dark about the joy of truly good spritz cookies. An evil plan indeed.
Nevertheless, I prevailed. I didn’t grow up with spritz cookies in Canada, so they weren’t really high on my to-make list. But after many requests for a keto spritz cookie recipe, I broke out the cookie press languishing in my cellar and gave it a go. I knew I needed just the right dough, one that was soft enough to push easily through the disks and yet maintain its shape when baked. It was a huge gamble for me but apparently I was brave feeling brave that day because instead of just doing a little half batch, I threw caution to the wind and made a double batch. I wanted enough to give away as Christmas gifts and I figured I could put a few test cookies into the oven and if they were too soft, I could add more almond or coconut flour.
After doing some research in spritz cookies, I also decided to add a little orange zest to enhance the flavour. I came across a Martha Stewart recipe for orange spritz cookies and thought it sounded lovely. You certainly don’t have to add any to yours if you want straight up buttery spritz cookies but I have a hard time doing anything in “plain” flavour anymore. It’s the food blogger’s gut instinct to want to come out with a new and unique flavour for everything and my gut instinct also urged me to dip some of the cookies in chocolate. I apologize to spritz cookie purists, but this Canuck grew up with some British holiday treats, including Terry’s Chocolate Orange – you know, the one you crack open on a table and it actually comes apart like an orange??? Maybe you haven’t a clue what I am talking about, but it’s something many a child gets in their Christmas stocking in Commonwealth countries. So chocolate and orange just scream holiday flavour to me.
Oh my, what fun I had making these low carb holiday spritz cookies. I couldn’t believe that the huge batch of dough I made took less than an hour to shape bake into 90+ cookies. That press is amazing and awesome and a wonderful cookie-making time-saving device. Just a quick turn of the press and I had a snowman or a Christmas tree or a flower or a wreath. And when they came out of the oven, I popped a single mini M&M in the center of some of them. When they cooled, I dipped the bottoms of half the cookies in dark chocolate and left the rest plain. They looked gorgeous.
And they tasted amazing too. They had a lovely orange-scented, buttery flavour and a slightly soft and yet slightly crisp texture. I think they are spot on, but you spritz cookie lovers will have to tell me if they meet your expectations. I sure hope so because these were a huge hit with friends and family.
Keto Spritz Cookies Recipes
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 4 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 ¼ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 large eggs
- Zest of one large orange
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decorations:
- Mini M&Ms, nonpareils, chopped nuts etc (optional)
Chocolate Dip (optional):
- 3 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate
Instructions
- For the cookies, preheat oven to 325F and line several large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg, orange zest and vanilla.
- Beat in almond flour mixture until dough comes together.
- Fill the canister of a cookie press with dough and fit press with your plate of choice. Follow manufacturer's directions regarding how to press out cookies (mine requires a quarter to half a turn of the handle).
- Press cookies out onto parchment lined cookie sheets. If the cookie does not release well from the cookie press, try holding the parchment down against the cookie sheet as you lift the press. You also may need a bit more dough to come through the press to release properly. (This takes a bit of practice at first, but if you mess up and end up with a blob of dough, you can just pick it up and put it back into the press).
- Bake cookies 12 to 14 minutes, or until set but not browning much around the edges. They will be quite soft still.
- Add any decorations immediately upon removing from oven. Let cool on pans at least 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the chocolate dip, place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (bottom of bowl should not touch water). Line a baking with waxed paper or parchment paper.
- Add chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth (if your chocolate is too thick for coating, add some butter or oil a teaspoon at a time until the right consistency is achieved).
- Add cookies, one at a time, face up into the melted chocolate so bottom is coated. Remove with a fork and tap fork against the side of the bowl gently to remove excess chocolate.
- Place cookies on prepared baking sheet and let set. You can dip all the cookies, half of them or none of them, it's up to you!
autkett says
Sounds great! Any suggestions for making this dairy free? Could butter flavored coconut oil be a substitution?
Carolyn says
You will need to experiment!
Julie says
I want to make these for my diabetic mom and was wondering if I could substitute the butter for shortening and cream cheese, to make them more like my grandmother’s old recipe. Her recipe called for 1 cup shortening and 3 ounces cream cheese to 2 and 1/2 cups AP flour. Would shortening and cream cheese interact differently than butter with the almond and coconut flours?
Carolyn says
I really can’t say since I haven’t made mine that way. I think you will need to experiment.
Donna says
I haven’t tried the cookies yet. I’ve requested a cookie press from Santa. I just wanted to thank you for that reference to Terry’s Orange chocolate. It brought back so many memories of Christmas! My brother -in-law Terry always used to get one in his stocking. He passed away last year. One of those small things that remind me of him.
Vickie says
This recipe actually worked in my spritz gun. Very pleased. Thank you thank you!
Carolyn says
Very welcome!
Karine says
Thank you Vickie for the feedback about spritz gun, I will try it thanks to your comment !! and of course thank you Carolyn for all that recipes (I am in France so keto is a bit complicated…) even if I don’t find all the products.
I consider your work a treasure!!!!! The first recipe I tried was the angel cake and it was the first angel cake I prepared perfectly EVER !! Loved it!
Karine
Paige says
How long do these stay good after baking?
Carolyn says
In the freezer for months. In the fridge, probably 10 days. On the counter, 5 to 7.
Jan says
Just wondering if these could be rolled into balls and slightly flattened with the bottom of a glass instead of the cookie press? Or some other method?
Carolyn says
Yes absolutely!
Nancy G says
The first cookie press batch deposited onto the silicone lined baking sheet easily.
Piece of cake, I thought. Second batch not so lucky, dough doesn’t want to exit the press onto the sheet. When I lift up the cookie press, it is a long, dangling piece of cookie dough. Not sure of the solution, put cookie press with the dough contents into the refrigerator.
How many cookie sheets do you use at one time?
Thanks
Carolyn says
I’ve easily done two cookie sheets with this dough.
Kris says
My keto cookies often turn out grainy, and a grainy spritz cookie just won’t do, so I was hoping you could suggest something. Is it the flour I’m using? Thank you!
Carolyn says
The flour or the sweetener. What brands are you using?
Julie says
I am excited to try this! The other I bought a spritz press thinking how much fun I had as child making these. I made some with my grandkids but couldn’t help but wonder if they could be made in keto fashion! Thankyou!
Jeannine says
Hi Carolyn !
Would this recipe work with cookie stamps?? (like Nordic Ware cookie stamps)
if not, could you tell me which of your cookies recipes will work?
Thank you so much 🙂
Carolyn says
I have some cookie stamps and I’ve tried them with my cut out sugar cookies. These might be too soft for the stamp imprints to stay during baking…
PamIam says
These sound so good, I can’t wait to try them. We moved this summer, so I have to find my cookie press. I’ve been making my Mom’s spritz cookie recipe for 30 years, she used lemon extract in hers. She also used a candied cherry cut in half in stead of an M&M. I’m on a low sugar diet now, so I’ve been looking for a new recipe, so glad I found your site. Even though I live in the US, I’ve been enjoying Terry’s Chocolate Orange for years! I like the dark chocolate the best. I didn’t know they are a British holiday treat! Thanks for reminding me, I’ll have to go out and get some tomorrow before they sell out!
Kelly says
These are awesome! I’m not an orange fan so first time I made them I used almond extract. They were great. Today I used peppermint extract and I love them.
Only thing I wish they didn’t have is the cooling effect but seems to be the keto trade off.
Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
Barb turcotte says
Hey! I’ll be making these today and using orange extract since we are keto and don’t keep oranges around (May need to now if these turn out great)! I also may try 2 half batches to compare one with all butter and the other with half butter half cream cheese. I’ll let you know how all these turn out.
I inherited my husband’s grandmother’s cookie press. I never met her as she passed away 5 years before I came into his life but I’ve been told I have a little of her soul in me when I’m baking, biggest compliment ever! I’m hoping they will all agree with this recipe using her press, I’ll bring them to all her family’s Christmas party this year. Thanks so much for all you do!
Carolyn says
Enjoy! Cream cheese would be nice… they tend not to crisp up as much, in my experience.
TAZ says
Tried the recipe today and had these issues:
I have made traditional spritz for 40 + years. I halved your recipe to test it out before making large batch. The dough was too soft so I added a bit more almond flour. Still soft so I put in fridge for 20 minutes. That worked ok. (I know my butter was pretty soft having been out overnight, but it was not melty-next time I might only slightly soften the butter. I know too soft butter is a problem in cookie baking in general and always have carefullly handled my spritz dough so as not to overheat the dough..) At 12 minutes about 8 of the cookies burned at 325 degrees so that was a bummer. I should have watched closer but I usually have to add time…my 1/2 batch made 30 cookies. Different spritz guns make different size cookies. My old spritz gun made smaller cookies while my pampered chef spritz gun makes larger cookies (I used the Pampered Chef gun).
I brushed melted chocolate on the cookie backs and drizzled a bit on the front.
While I liked the flavor, they taste nothing like spritz cookies IMO. And they have a much courser crumb.In truth, I liked the raw cookie dough the best!
Carolyn says
Sorry you didn’t like them. But if they were coarse, then your almond flour wasn’t finely ground enough. And if your dough was too soft, again I suspect your flours and not my recipe.