Why this recipe is so awesome

Gingerbread cookies should be both crisp and tender, which isn’t an easy texture to achieve with keto ingredients. But these cookies live up to the promise! They have the tiniest bit of chewiness to them as well.

Gingerbread cookies need that classic brown sugar flavor, but when I first created this recipe there was no such thing as good brown sugar replacement. So I opted for adding a little molasses or Yacon syrup. These days, however, I make my keto gingerbread men with Swerve Brown sweetener. 

I like to take them out just a bit on the early side, to keep them just a little chewier. If you prefer extra crispy gingerbread cookies, simply bake these a little longer and they will crisp up nicely.

Readers love these keto gingerbread cookies!

“Just made these and they turned out so well – even my fussy six year old loved them!” — Talya

“These are sooooo good! I’m a cookie monster on a low-carb WOE and this is the first cookie I’ve found that doesn’t have a weird sweetener taste. I use powdered erythritol with some powdered stevia mixed in. I didn’t even decorate them and they’re delicious. Thank you so much.” — Susan

“My grandddaughter and I just used these recipes for the keto gingerbread cookies and royal icing to make a gingerbread house. It was a success. We really enjoyed every step of the process. Thanks a million, Miss Carolyn!” — Shari

Ingredients you need

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• Almond flour: For keto gingerbread cookies that have good texture and aren’t grainy, make sure you use finely ground almond flour. If you need to be nut-free, try using sunflower seed flour.
• Sweetener: I prefer to use Brown Swerve in this recipe but you can use any erythritol based sweetener. If you want that brown sugar flavor, make sure you add a little molasses or Yacon syrup. I do not recommend allulose or BochaSweet as they will come out much too soft.
• Coconut flour: Since coconut flour is a little drier, it helps firm up the dough for rolling out and cutting. You could try using some oat fiber, if you can’t use coconut flour.
• Butter or coconut oil: Both of these make delicious keto gingerbread cookies. If you need to be dairy-free, choose the coconut oil.
• Molasses: If you can’t find Swerve Brown, add 2 teaspoons of molasses for color and flavor. It will only add about 0.5g of carbs per serving.
• Spices: Gingerbread cookies should have plenty of ginger, along with a little bit of cinnamon and cloves.
• Powdered Sweetener: You want a powdered erythritol, such as Swerve Confectioners, for keto royal icing to firm up properly. Allulose and BochaSweet tend to make it far to soft and watery, so it won’t harden on the cookies.
• Egg white powder: This is just powdered egg whites, and it helps the icing harden into place. You can use egg white protein powder as well. If you purchase meringue powder, make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar. You can skip it if you really need to but it’s a helpful ingredient.
• Kitchen staples: Baking powder, vanilla extract, and eggs.

Step-by-step directions

1. Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and cloves. Stir in the eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.

2. Roll the dough evenly: Divide the dough in half and turn out first half onto a large piece of parchment paper. Top with another piece of parchment and roll out out about ¼ inch thick. 

3. Cut out: Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes and gently loosen and lift with an offset spatula. Place onto the prepared baking sheets. Gather up scraps and re-roll until too little is left to roll out. Repeat with the second half of dough.

4. Bake: Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 5 minutes on pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You can also keep them in longer if you want very crisp cookies.

5. Prepare the royal icing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sweetener and egg white powder. Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir until smooth. Add more water a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved.

6. Decorate: Pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies and let set 30 minutes or longer.

Decorating your cookies

Sugar-free royal icing is easy to make and so perfect for decorating any kind keto cookies. 

I followed traditional recipes quite closely, and used egg white powder to produce a soft icing for piping that dries very firm and hard. How much water you need varies depending on the consistency you want to achieve.

You could also have some fun with sugar-free sprinkles, as several brands like Good Dee’s and The Sprinkle Company make them now. You can also easily make your own homemade sugar free sprinkles, in any shape or color you want.

Expert tips

How many cookies you get depends on the size of your cookie cutters. I like 3 inch cutters and find that I can get about fifty. It is meant for sharing around the holidays, but you can easily cut this recipe in half if you need fewer cookies.

The great part about keto dough is that you can re-roll the scraps as much as you need without worrying about over-working the gluten. So go ahead and get as many cookies as you possibly can out of this!

If you prefer crispy keto gingerbread cookies, simply bake them a little longer. They should be quite firm to the touch when you remove them from the oven. But keep your eye on them so that they don’t over-brown.

Frequently Asked Questions

More delicious keto gingerbread recipes

• Gingerbread Cream Cheese Pound Cake
• Keto Gingerbread Muffins
• Mini Keto Gingerbread Cheesecakes
• Gingerbread White Chocolate Biscotti
• Keto Gingerbread Cake Roll