Little bitty Boston Cream Pie Bites are a tasty keto treat. Easy and fun to make, these little low carb cookie cups are sugar free and grain free. This post is sponsored by ChocZero.
Okay now this is a keto dessert with an identity complex! Are they keto cookies? Are they mini keto pies? Or are they little mini cakes?
The name alone is quite misleading and my full size Keto Boston Cream Pie often puzzles readers. For those unfamiliar with this classic American dessert, they come expecting… well… pie.
Instead they see a large layer cake with a pastry cream filling and a rich chocolate ganache frosting. Blame those crazy New Englanders! I mean, who else would call a cake a pie???
Boston Cream Pie Cookies
And now I’ve given this misnamed dessert yet another little twist. These are indeed cookie cups, made with keto sugar cookie dough. You roll the dough into balls, press it into a mini muffin pan, and bake it into little cup-shaped cookies.
Then you fill each tender cookie with sugar free vanilla pastry cream and top it all off with a rich keto chocolate drizzle.
I spotted a conventional recipe on Practically Homemade and thought it would be fun, and tasty, to ketofy. Was it ever!
ChocZero Sugar Free Chocolate
I used ChocZero dark chocolate chips for an easy chocolate topping in this recipe. One of the benefits of ChocZero is that it’s not made with any erythritol.
I personally don’t have issues with erythritol, since it doesn’t upset my system in any way. And it’s very keto friendly, as it doesn’t raise blood sugar at all. It’s one of the few sweeteners I trust implicitly.
But chocolate made with erythritol can become cloudy after it has melted and cooled. This means that frostings and glazes don’t stay nice and shiny, the way you want them to.
ChocZero doesn’t have this issue so it’s perfect when you want a bright, shiny chocolate topping.
Tips for Mini Keto Boston Cream Pies
The cookie cups
The cups are made of a soft keto sugar cookie dough. Roll into balls and press into the bottom and up the sides of a mini muffin pan.
I recommend using a silicone muffin pan or silicone liners to keep the cookie cups from sticking and from over-browning. If you don’t have silicone, then use parchment paper liners.
The cups will puff up during baking and you will need to reform the wells after they’ve cooled for a bit.
The cream filling
Vanilla pastry cream is quite easy to make. Because this is a smaller amount, be sure to use a small saucepan. If you use a larger one, it will cook too quickly and possibly curdle on you.
Never walk away while making something like keto pudding or pastry cream. That moment when it thickens can happen quite suddenly, and you don’t want to miss it.
Also be sure to keep whisking constantly, and move the whisk all around the pan to ensure nothing curdles.
Let the pastry cool to lukewarm and then simply spoon it into the cups. Let it pile on top a bit. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to set up a bit.
The chocolate glaze
Now this part couldn’t be easier! Simply melt the butter and chocolate chips together. You can do this in a small saucepan, or you can melt them in the microwave, stirring frequently.
Then just spoon it over and let it cover the very top of each cookie cup, with plenty of pastry cream peeking out.
More delicious recipes with pastry cream
- The Original Keto Nanaimo Bars
- Keto Chocolate Eclair Cake
- Lemon Sugar Cookie Cups
- Keto Coconut Cream Pie
- Boston Cream Pie Poke Cake
Keto Boston Cream Pie Bites
Ingredients
Cookie Cups
- 1 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Granular
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 large egg white
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 tbsp confectioner’s Swerve Sweetener
- pinch salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter cut into two pieces
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp glucomannan (or xanthan gum)
Topping
- 2 ounces dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- 1 tbsp butter
Instructions
Cookie Cups
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a mini muffin pan with 20 silicone liners (or use a silicone mini muffin pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk togehter the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the melted butter, egg white, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and press into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared mini muffin cups.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and the edges are just golden brown. Remove and let cool 10 minutes, then gently press into the centers to reform the wells.
Cream Pie Filling
- Bring the whipping cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sweetener and salt until well combined.
- Slowly whisk about half of the hot cream into the yolks to temper, then slowly return the yolk/cream mixture back to the saucepan and cook until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes, whisking continuously. It thickens up very suddenly and quickly, so watch it carefully!
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Sprinkle the surface with glucomannan, whisking as you go, to combine well. Let cool to room temperature and then spoon into the cookie cups.
- Refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes to firm up.
Chocolate Topping
- In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate chips and butter. Stir until melted and smooth, then drizzle over the tops of the cookie cups.
- Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.
- Refrigerate another 10 minutes or so to set the chocolate. Store in the refrigerator in a closed container.
Kim says
Can I use xanthan gum instead in the pastry cream?
Carolyn says
Yes, that’s fine.
Lori says
Looks delish! Fun fact: cakes were sometimes called pies back in the early American settler days(when this cake was invented) because pie tins were more available than cake tins at the time. So when they came out it was more pie shaped than contemporary cake shaped. Thus the Boston cream pie instead of cake.
Carolyn says
I actually read that when I was writing this post. But much more fun to blame it on the crazy New Englanders. 😉
Roberta says
No way to have Choc Zero products where I live… I suppose the recipe could be done with the same amount of home-made chcocolate chips with erithrytol, as I usually do in these cases; anyway, a challange for you, keto maste: what about thinking to offer us your recipe for a “Coolyned Choc Zero” chocolare, resembling those ones without erithrytol and so giving us the opportunity to try something similar while we wait that the Brand will be sell also in our EU Countries? Anyway, great recipe as always: thank you!
Annalisa says
These are AWESOME! I made them on Sunday, since my daughter was having a friend over for dinner, and the whole family (which is not keto) raved about these bites. They are so delicious!
By the way, I live in Italy, so for those who cannot find Choczero or other products wiht allulose (which is not approved for consumption in EU, yet), I used regular chocolate sweetened with stevia and erythritol and they came out just wonderful all the same.
Oh, I also used coconut milk instead of heavy cream, as I did not have it on hand, and xanthan gum instead of glucomannan. Thet turnedo out wonderful and delicious anyway.
Your recipes never disappoint! You definitely are my favourite low carb/keto blogger 😉
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them! And yes, using other keto chocolate is totally fine for the topping… it just tends to get that grey look after it cools.
Christin says
These are amazing! Only sub I made was Allulose for Swerve. I also put melted white chocolate on half and dark chocolate on the other half. Really, really amazing!