Eating cookies for breakfast sounds like an over-the-top indulgence, doesn’t it? Or something you might do after a rough week when you’ve fallen off the healthy eating wagon. But it doesn’t have to be! These Keto Chocolate Breakfast Cookies are rich and fudgy, but they’re also packed with healthy fats and protein to energize your morning.
For more ways to kick your day into high gear, check out this recipe for Cottage Cheese Protein Pancakes. You may also enjoy this Coffee Protein Shake.
I’ve been eating one of these cookies every day before heading to the gym or on a run. I absolutely adore them! They’re just sweet enough to feel like a treat without weighing me down for my workouts.
It did take me a few tries to get them right. The first batch was tasty but quite dry. I knew the recipe had promise, so I tweaked the ingredients and the baking time until I was happy with the results. And oh my, am I ever happy with the results! These Keto Breakfast Cookies are chewy, chocolatey, and full of wholesome fuel.
Why you will love them
- Quick and easy: One bowl and 15 minutes of prep time, and you’re ready to indulge!
- Soft and chewy: The texture is beyond amazing, chewy and soft, but they hold together nicely.
- Low carb and sugar-free: These keto breakfast cookies have only 3 grams net carbs per serving. They’re also gluten-free and can be made nut-free too!
- High in protein: Each cookie packs in 15 grams of protein for a nutritious start to your day.
- Perfect for meal prep: Make a batch for easy on-the-go breakfasts. You can also freeze them for several months.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond butter: Be sure to mix the oils in well before measuring it out. You can use other nut butters or sunflower seed butter for nut-free.
- Sweetener: I used brown sugar replacement along with a little allulose. I found that kept them softer and more chewy.
- Protein powder: You can use whey, egg white, or plant-based protein powder. I used a chocolate variety but you can use vanilla or plain as well.
- Cocoa powder: Use Dutch process for a deeper chocolate flavor.
- Gelatin: This helps give the cookies more chewiness and prevents them from drying out too much.
- Espresso powder: A little espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor but it is optional.
- Chocolate chips: Sugar-free chocolate chips make the cookies extra delicious!
- Baking staples: Eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt.
How to make Keto Chocolate Breakfast Cookies
- Combine the wet ingredients: Beat together the almond butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients: Beat in the protein powder, cocoa powder, gelatin, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Add water if the dough is very stiff.
- Form the cookies: Stir in the chocolate chips and roll into 12 balls. Place on a silicone lined baking mat and press down to 1 inch thick.
- Bake the cookies: Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until puffed and firm around the edges.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Tips for Success
Do not over-bake these cookies! I’ve noticed that baked goods with a high amount of protein powder tend to dry out easily so err on the side of underbaking to keep them fudgy. You want them to be puffy with set edges, but the center should still be very soft.
Use an electric mixer to combine the ingredients. It can be hand-held or a big stand mixer. It will take some effort to get the dry ingredients mixed in properly and you won’t be able to do by hand.
The dough may be quite stiff and you may have a bit of trouble getting all of the dry ingredient to incorporate. Different nut butters, protein powders, and even the cocoa powder can affect the dough. Adding a little liquid like water (or even heavy cream) can help.
Sweetener Options: I recommend a brown sugar substitute that is mostly erythritol, with a little allulose to help keep the cookies softer. You can try using just allulose-based sweeteners but the cookies may get much darker on the edges.
Protein Options: You can use whey protein, egg white protein, or plant-based protein for these cookies. The addition of a little gelatin or collagen helps make them chewy but you don’t want it as the main source of protein – it will make the cookies overly soft and gummy.
I used the chocolate protein powder from Just Ingredients. It’s a mix of whey and plant proteins and has great flavor. If you only have plain protein powder, add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder and another 2 tablespoons of sweetener.
Keto Chocolate Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 g) almond butter, (can sub other nut butters)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar replacement
- 2 tbsp (20.29 g) allulose
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (81 g) chocolate whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp (7.1 g) grass-fed gelatin, or 2 tbsp collagen
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder, (optional)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Water as needed, slightly warm
- 3 ounces (85.05 g) sugar free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Use two baking sheets if yours are small (don't crowd the cookies!).
- In a large bowl, beat the almond butter together with the sweeteners until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
- All at once, add the protein powder, cocoa powder, gelatin, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until a cohesive dough forms.
- If the dough is very stiff and the dry ingredients won't incorporate well, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. The dough should be stiff but malleable.
- Fold in the chocolate chips until well distributed.
- Roll the dough into 12 even balls about 2 inches in diameter. The dough will seem very oily, this is normal – it will reincorporate as the cookies bake. Press the balls down to about 1 inch thick.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and firm around the edges but still soft in the middle.
- Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes but it tends to thicken more than other nut butters when you add the eggs. I recommend adding an additional tablespoon of oil such as avocado or melted butter.
Yes, just use a protein powder like egg white or pea protein. Hemp protein may also work nicely. Be sure not to skip the gelatin or collagen if you do this, because it will help offset the dryness of the protein powder.
Each cookie has 7.3g of carbs and 4.3g of fiber. If you count net carbs, that comes to 3g net carbs per cookie.
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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These cookies are delicious! No one would ever know that they are filled with protein. Every time I ate one for breakfast this week, I said, “If you give a mouse a cookie…” 🙂 Also, the cookies are less expensive to make than the cost of any protein bar. Thank you, Caroline, for doing the work to write this excellent recipe.
I am so glad!
Sounds wonderful.
Good recipe, Carolyn! I was looking for a good protein cookie/bar recipe and this one passes the test. My husband commented it was the best low carb cookie recipe I’ve tried so far. Thank you!
Great to hear!
I accidentally used chocolate collagen powder instead of protein powder. They came out fudgy and delicious. Not even sure if I want to try it again using just protein powder. Yummy!
Just took these out of the oven. Can’t wait to try one when they cool! They look amazing
Would Equip Protein Powder work for this recipe?
I can’t say for sure… I think it’s mostly beef bone protein which means it’s more like collagen.
These are soooo good. I absolutely love them. The dough is very strange, super greasy. I kept saying to myself “there’s no way these are going to work, I must have done something wrong “. They came out perfect. They’re more of a soft cookie. Very delicious.
I know exactly what you mean… That’s why I gave the warning in the recipe! 😉
Yes, those headlines were really sneaky. It’s the plant-based protein powders that tested high for lead. And, much of that is naturally occurring.
The health headlines are always sensationalist. I’ve learned to ignore a lot of them and instead dig for the original studies.
Could you use reconstituted Almond of Peanut powder?
I wouldn’t. It’s been “de-fatted”, and the cookies will be quite dry, even if you reconstitute with water.
Really worried about the new reports of lead in protein powders!! So many of your recipies use these powders. Do you have more information about safe brands?
Just steer clear of the brands that are on that list. I don’t use any of them and the ones listed in this post and others are not on that list. https://www.newsweek.com/list-protein-powder-brands-containing-lead-consumer-reports-10883945
From that article: “Plant-based protein supplements, on average, had about nine times the lead content of dairy-based (whey) protein and about twice as much as beef-derived powders.”
Seems to me sticking with whey protein is a better option.
I have several large containers of Orgain and am using them ip making these cookies. Orgain was tested but not listed as contaminated. I make my morning shakes and most everything else with organic grass fed whey protein. Thanks for the info Carolyn
OMGoodness is all i can say. I used peanut butter and Orgain Vanilla Protein Powder, so added another T of cocoa powder and 2 T heavy cream. All the rest was weighed and exact. I even had grass fed gelatin. The cookies were rich and decadent. Sooo good! My grandsons play football and are always looking for high protein snacks. I’ll be making them again!! Thank you!!
I am so glad you tried them… and liked them!
Can i use tahini in these cookies? I have 2 jars in the pantry.
I can’t see why not… but I do find it can have a slight bitter flavor in baked goods.
These are amazing! I was worried about the oil, but like you said, it absorbed while baking. Absolutely delicious! Carolyn, you are truly the Baking Queen!
I know… isn’t it weird? They seem SO oily when you are forming them. But then they turn out perfectly.
Hi, Carolyn. Thank you for this delicious-looking recipe! I have chocolate bone broth protein powder. Do you have an opinion on how that might work as a substitute for the chocolate protein powder?
So the problem with bone broth powder is that it’s essentially collagen protein. I don’t think they will turn out as well… you’re welcome to try, though!
Thanks for your reply. I’ll let you know how it goes if I decide to experiment. ☺️
Do you think I can make them in a waffle iron to crisp them up?
No, they will be a disaster. And this recipe isn’t supposed to be crisp.
These were great! I’m out of brown sugar substitute so I used regular brown sugar but otherwise followed the recipe. My husband hurt himself eating so many of these!
Carolyn you are the Best. Chocolate for Breakfast! Love it! Thanks for All You Do!