A holiday classic gets a healthy makeover! These Keto Butter Cookies are buttery and crisp, and piped in festive swirls. Dip them in chocolate or leave them plain, it’s up to you.
Remember those Danish butter cookies making the rounds every holiday season? You know the ones – they came in a pretty blue metal tin and the cookies were all nestled in fluted paper cups.
Every house had them, back in my childhood. It was standard holiday issue, usually gifted by some aunt, grandmother, or coworker. They were tasty but the tin usually lasted so long, they grew stale before you could eat them all.
Well, you no longer need to mourn those holiday memories, because Keto Butter Cookies have arrived! And they are just as buttery, tender, and sweet as the real thing.
They look so festive on a cookie tray, along with other favorites like Keto Sugar Cookies and perhaps a few Chewy Keto Ginger Cookies. How can you resist?
Why you will love these cookies
I can’t tell you how fun it was to tackle this classic cookie recipe. I actually had to tackle it a few times, as the first few batches simply didn’t live up to the butter cookies of my memory.
It’s a tricky thing to get right, a soft dough that you can pipe into pretty swirls, whilst also being firm enough to not completely dissolve during baking. All the more tricky with keto ingredients!
But it was worth it to me to persevere. I found that if I let them sit in a warm oven, they got firmed up without browning too much. They stayed super buttery, but with a delightful crispness. Just like the real deal.
Reader Reviews
“These cookies are so delicious. Crisp on outside and melt in our mouth inside. Perfect. I will be making more of these. I was going to make these to take to work. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will last that long. So so good. Thank you so much.” — Charlie
“Just made a batch of these and they are delicious! Will be making more for the family Christmas gathering (I’m on dessert detail). Keeper! Thanks Carolyn for this one and all the many other wonderous recipes you share.Delicious and so simple to make. They look and taste great. Definitely recommend this recipe.” — Valerie
“Another perfect recipe! I will be able to make my family our traditional cookies once again – it’s been 7 years!!” — Jocelyne
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: Use finely ground almond flour so your cookies will have the best texture without being grainy. If you need to be nut-free, try using sunflower seed flour.
- Sweetener: You need an erythritol based sweetener for these cookies to firm up properly.
- Butter: If you use salted butter, you can omit the additional salt in the recipe. Be sure to use softened butter for better consistency.
- Sugar-free dark chocolate: Both Lily’s and ChocZero work well for the chocolate coating.
- Cocoa butter: I add a little cocoa butter to the melted chocolate for a smoother melt. You can also use 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp coconut oil, but they will be much more melty at room temperature.
- Sugar-free sprinkles: If you want to decorate your cookies with a little something extra, you can use store bought or homemade sugar free sprinkles. You could also use finely chopped nuts.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, vanilla extract, and salt.
Step by step directions
1. Combine the dry ingredients: In a food processor, combine the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Pulse to combine.
2. Add the wet ingredients: Cut the softened butter into chunks and add to the processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and vanilla and process until the dough clumps together.
3. Pipe the cookie dough: Fit a piping bag with a large open star tip such as the Ateco #826 or 828, and fill with dough. Holding the bag straight up and down, pipe the dough into tight circles, about 2 inches in diameter, onto two baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
4. Bake the cookies: Bake at 325ºF for about 18 to 20 minutes, until they are just golden brown around the edges. Remove and turn off the oven. Let the oven cool for about 15 minutes, then put the cookies back in to dry out and firm up, another 15 to 20 minutes or so. Remove and let cool completely.
5. Dip in chocolate: In a heatproof bowl set over a bowl of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and cocoa butter. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate and set on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar-free sprinkles, if desired.
Tips for Success
Using a food processor makes the dough more cohesive and very well combined. I first tried just beating things together in my stand mixer but it didn’t produce as fine a dough and the resulting cookies had a slightly gritty texture.
Make sure that butter is well softened. This is an important factor too, as it helps create a softer dough that squeezes through the piping tip. The ideal temperature for softened butter is 70F. If your house is a bit chilly, give the butter a slight zap in the microwave (10 seconds).
Use a larger open star piping tip. The tip you use for piping these cookies is very important, as the prongs need to be open enough to allow the dough to squeeze through. I used the Ateco 824, but the Wilton 1M tips can work as well.
It takes a bit to get the hang of piping these cookies. But the good news is that if you mess up, you can just add the dough back into the bag to be re-piped.
Double baking helps crisp them up. Danish butter cookies should be quite crisp but you also want them a pale golden color. To avoid over-browning, I took mine out at about the 20 minute mark, but then I returned them to the warm oven for a bit to help them crisp up. Worked like a charm!
As always, your sweetener matters. The only way to achieve a truly crisp cookie is with erythritol based sweeteners such as Swerve. Other sweeteners like BochaSweet, allulose, etc, make for cake-y soft cookies. Not necessarily a bad thing but not the perfect Danish Butter Cookie consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keto shortbread cookies are made like classic shortbread, which means they don’t contain any egg. These keto butter cookies have an egg to help make the dough pliable and soft, so that it can be piped into shapes.
You can easily store these cookies in freezer. Once baked and cooled, place them in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper. They will keep for up to 2 months.
This keto Danish butter cookie recipe has 4.2g of carbs and 2.1g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.1g net carbs per cookie.
Want more keto holiday cookie recipes?
Check out my updated holiday cookies and bars ebook. All of my most popular cookies, plus a few exclusive recipes! Only $5.99.
Keto Danish Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200 g) almond flour
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) Powdered Swerve Sweetener , or other powdered erythritol
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter , softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ounces (113.4 g) sugar-free dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 ounce (14.17 g) cocoa butter
- sugar-free sprinkles, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a food processor, combine the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Pulse to combine.
- Cut the softened butter into chunks and add to the processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and vanilla and process until the dough clumps together in one big ball.
- Fit a piping bag with a large open star tip such as the Ateco #824, and fill with dough. Holding the bag straight up and down, pipe the dough into tight circles, about 2 inches in diameter. Tip: It takes a bit to get the hang of this but if you mess up, just take that cookie dough and add it back into the bag to be re-piped.
- Bake the cookies for about 18 to 20 minutes, until they are just golden brown around the edges. Remove and turn off the oven. Let the oven cool for about 15 minutes, then put the cookies back in to dry out and firm up, another 15 to 20 minutes or so. Remove and let cool completely.
- In a heatproof bowl set over a bowl of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and cocoa butter. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate and set on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar-free sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Another perfect recipe! I will be able to make my family our traditional cookies once again – it’s been 7 years!!
Question: how do you dry out if you have a convection oven?
Convection ovens are just fan-forced, they are not more or less dry. So it works the same but you need to lower the temp by 25 to 50 degrees.
This cookies are delicious
I had a little trouble piping though, it required strength 😀
And I can’t find cocoa butter, I was wondering if I can substitute it for coconut oil and in what proportion
Thanks. I love your recipes
Yes, just use about 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp coconut oil.
Good morning, Carolyn
Quick question… what can I use instead of Cocoa Butter? I’m having issues trying to find it in my area. Wanted to make this for Christmas and delivery will be to late.
Thank you in advance
YOu can use coconut oil but they will be much more melty at room temp.
Much Obliged Carolyn
I’ll use that for this batch and wait on the Cocoa Butter for the next one.
Merry Christmas
Have a good one!
Hi Carolyn,
any substitution for Cocoa Butter?
Thank you in advance
YOu can try coconut oil but they will be much more melty at room temp.
Much Obliged Carolyn
I’ll use that for this batch and wait on the Cocoa Butter for the next one.
Merry Christmas
hi I was wondering if I could use a cookie press with the dough for the Danish butter cookies? cheers x
Yes, I would think so.
I used powdered Swerve, Bob’s Red Mill fine almond flour, kerrygold butter, but mine were very soft. They got overly brown, but we ate them anyway.
No baking powder/soda in this recipe? Thanks!
I have a very limited kitchen so I was wondering if you can suggest a keto butter or sugar cookie recipe for refrigerator slice & bake cookies?
These cookies are perfect for slice and bake… read the blog post as I tell you how! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-butter-pecan-cookies-2/
These were excellent. Perfectly tender and crisp. My first batch was a little soft still in the middle- which was still awesome! On my next batch, after letting sit in oven for the additional 20 minutes, they were still just a little soft in middle so I put back in a 200 degree oven for another 15 minutes to dry out some more. After cooling completely they were a perfect crispness all the way through. This has become my husbands addiction with morning coffee as an alternate to your biscottis! Thanks ever so much Carolyn????
Apparently I made these really tiny. I ended up with over 70! LOL! But they’re wonderful! Thank you for all you do!
Wow! Well enjoy them!
OMG! These are fantastic! I need to work on my piping skills as it has been years since I used them. No problem, however, next time I will not fill the bag too full and pipe tighter circles so I make the full 20 cookies. I managed to squeeze out 18. So buttery, and the texture improved with time…. patience was a must. Chocolate was a perfect accompaniment. These will be on my holiday cookie platter this year. Thank you.
These cookies are so delicious. Crisp on outside and melt in our mouth inside. Perfect. I will be making more of these. I was going to make these to take to work. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will last that long. So so good. Thank you so much.
Would this dough work in a cookie press?
It would but I have a better one for that sort of thing: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/chocolate-orange-spritz-cookies-low-carb-and-gluten-free/
My Mom was Danish, so my memories are of making our family recipe for these cookies. Her Aunt was the pastry chef at Hotel Dangleterre in Copenhagen. King Christian X loved her version so much he asked for the recipe! Hers used ground almonds in the dough I’m so glad to have a Keto version this year.
I can’t wait to try these! I have all of your cookbooks (I’ve been keto for 3 years and can’t imagine any other lifestyle), they helped me transition into keto and to maintain this lifestyle without missing the foods I’ve always loved. Keep up the good work!
Is there any way you can make this recipe without using eggs? Allergy!
Thanks
Not this one, I don’t think. But I highly recommend my butter pecan cookies (with or without the pecans) for an really good egg-free cookie. Without the pecans, you might even be able to press the dough through a cookie press, creating a similar cookie to this.
Being Danish.. I can reveal, the type you know from the blue tin boxers (with the little mermaid on the lid) these cookies are not good at all and actually an embarresment to danish bakery..
So looking forward to bake this Keto friendly variant. Thanks, Carolyn!!
I can totally get that! Anything pre-packaged like that is never as good as the original!
I can’t believe you grew up in Toronto, I grew up on the Danforth 🙂 your recipes are awesome and I used pretty much daily! Thank you so much!
In your humble opinion, could a cookie press be used to make these cookies?
Absolutely! I also have a proper spritz cookie recipe here: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/chocolate-orange-spritz-cookies-low-carb-and-gluten-free/