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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I made these with what I had on hand which happened to be peanut butter instead of almond butter, dark chocolate chips, and banana cream protein powder (usually rather yucky). I upped the cocoa powder to help them still taste chocolatey and I knew all these changes would affect the macros. I also didn’t have espresso powder or gelatin so I honestly didn’t have high expectations. I carefully under baked and let them cool and WOW. These blew me and my husband away. They absolutely satisfy a cookie craving and I can’t wait to try the proper recipe after a grocery run!
I somehow had missed seeing this recipe until yesterday and, as I was snowed in and looking for something to bake, I gave it a try. These are the most fantastic cookies! Chewy, fudgy, like brownies! I will absolutely be making this recipe often! I made them exactly as your recipe was written, baked for 10 minutes, and left on the cookie sheets to cool before removing. Came out perfect! Thanks, as always, for all the good stuff you give us!
I made these for my granddaughters who are always needed ways to get more protein. They grabbed them for breakfast as they went to school.. and /or in their lunches. Our daughter was thrilled because they were also higher in protein and less expensive to make than the protein bars she was buying. Tastier too!!
These cookies are so good! Mine came out more like soft cookies or whoopie pies, but they are so delicious that I don’t mind at all!
I used chocolate beef protein (I cannot use whey and that’s what I had at home), collagen instead of gelatine and xylitol instead of allulose (in Italy it is not sold nor approved). The dough was at first so crumbly and dry that I had to add a couple of tablespoons of water, and afterwards it was so sticky that I had to use wet hands to form the balls. And honestly, I didn’t think they were going to turn out that good.
And instead I was pleasantly surprised! Your recipes always come out perfect and so delicious! Thank you for all your hard work in developing these recipes!
It might be the difference in ingredients you used… but glad it worked out in the end.
These are really delish and we absolutely love them! I use peanut butter and unflavored whey protein. Even if I add the extra tablespoon of oil (or don’t), the dough is so sticky that I have trouble separating the dough to make the cookies (I cannot use a cookie scoop at all), it sticks (and stays) on my fingers. Do you have any tips for me to make them less sticky? Thank you!
I really want to make your chocolate breakfast cookies (something I can eat on my way to the gym), but I am confused by a few of the ingredients. The grass-fed gelatin & whey protein powder. I have something called Vital Proteins, with collagen peptides, so which one is used for which or what? I have something completely different? HELP?
Collagen is neither whey protein nor gelatin. So it’s not a great sub for either of these ingredients. In a pinch, you can use it to replace the gelatin but you need more of it. (about 3 tbsp). But it cannot replace the whey.
Easy, delicious and oh so chewy! Made mine with sunflower seed butter and vanilla protein powder since that’s what I had on hand and they are fab!
Who doesn’t want to eat a cookie for breakfast? 🙂 This recipe works. The first batch wasn’t as good as the second after I learned not to overbake the cookies. By the third batch, I started changing the nut butters, and each batch has been better than the previous. My current favorite is changing to Macadamia Nut butter, white chips, adding macadamia nuts, and using caramel instead of chocolate collagen protein powder. The recipe is excellent and flexible. The cookies are a great, inexpensive, healthy breakfast. Healthy cookies!
I’ve been invited to a Christmas cookie swap and didn’t want to buy non keto ingredients. So, I tried these out on my family first. What a hit! We loved them with our morning coffee.
I just finished baking them again for the swap!
Many thanks.
I can’t use allulose. It upsets my stomach. Do you think erythritol or xylitol will work as a substitute?
Xylitol is your best bet.
These are delicious! I’d love to make these without the cocoa powder, more like a regular chocolate chip cookie, could I just use additional vanilla protein powder?
Can you use Knox gelatin which I have on hand instead of the grass fed. Would it be same amount?
Yes but use only 1 envelope.
oh. my golly!!!
i made these when they first came out in email to subscribers. oh my!
the dough is SO good. be caredul! i ate three cookies’ worth of dough!
i underbaked as instructed and oh my gosh !!! i did over bake just to test one. DO NOT DO IT!!!
i dont use flavored whey protein or flavored collagens, so i added just a lil more (about 1-2 tbsp) of cocoa. they had a very mocha chocolate flavor i absolutely loved!!!
i alao ended up adding a couple tbsp of cream to loosen the dough just a teeny bit and i measure my vanilla with my heart until the spirit of my ancestors say “enough, child”… so i likely used at least a tablespoon or two lol!! (i should note here my vanilla is double strength and homemade, your mileage may vary).
i ate FOUR at work…. and ill do it again…
my ONLY hold back is i cant afford much almond butter as it isnt cheap around here….and i simply refuse to use PB.
Okay so on the butter… you could make your own with roasted almonds! I bet you can google a recipe and get a good idea of how to do it. And a bulk store will sell almonds inexpensively.
I give these 5+ stars!! My husband and I thought they were delicious!
I followed the recipe except I did not have espresso powder. I made them actually for my grandkids to grab before a practice or a quick breakfast. As long as they don’t know they are actually beneficial to them… I think they’ll like them!!
I always love your recipes!!
Thanks so much!
Cookies for breakfast- yes please! I made these today and OH MY GOODNESS!! These are the absolute BEST keto cookies EVER. No almond flour, no coconut flour, these are chewy and just enough sweetness. Carolyn- you are the best! I always look to you for menu inspiration- Breakfast , lunch, dinner or snacks. Thank you !
Thank you!
These were delicious. I used half allulose and half golden monkfruit, and bone broth protein. Thinned with heavy cream. Wouldn’t change anything. They were perfect!