This is the only keto chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. These tender low carb cookies are so good, no one will believe they are completely sugar-free. With only 2g net carbs per serving.
Rest assured, my friends, that I don’t dare call these the best keto chocolate chip cookies without good cause. I have been working behind the scenes for a long time to perfect this recipe.
And I am finally satisfied enough to share these amazing almond flour cookies with you. They have quickly become one of my favorite keto desserts and I think you will feel the same way.
Why you will love these keto cookies
It’s true that I have quite a few keto cookie recipes, including another for low carb chocolate chip cookies. And it’s a very good one, that has a wonderful crispy, chewy texture thanks to the inclusion of shredded coconut.
Why did I feel compelled to create a new recipe? Well, times have changed and so have keto sweeteners. And sugar-free chocolate chips have some a long way as well. We have much more choices for ingredients than we used to.
So I played around and experimented, and I hit upon the perfect ratio of butter, almond flour, and sweetener. These gluten-free cookies are so soft and tender, with a slight chewiness. They are sweet without being too sweet, and they use standard keto pantry ingredients.
And they take only 35 minutes total time, start to finish!
Ingredients
The base recipe for these keto chocolate chip cookies is quite similar to my keto snickerdoodles, with a few notable exceptions. It doesn’t take any collagen or gelatin, and yet still ends up soft and chewy. Here’s what you will need:
- Almond flour
- Swerve Brown
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Egg
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar free chocolate chips
- Chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
How to make perfect keto chocolate chip cookies
I worked hard on this recipe and tested it multiple times. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Start with good almond flour: This recipe won’t work with coconut flour, and you need a finely ground almond flour for the best consistency. You may be able to use other nut or seed meals but the texture won’t be as fine.
- Weigh the flour if possible: In testing this recipe, I found that right around 200g of almond flour was just right.
- Use Swerve Brown: This is hands down the best brown sugar replacement and critical to the cookies. I make note of alternatives in the Frequently Asked Questions but I can’t guarantee the same taste or texture with other sugar substitutes.
- Baking soda, not baking powder: This makes a big difference, as it allows the cookies to spread more during baking. They also brown more nicely and become softer and puffier.
- Add melted butter: Rather than creaming the butter with the erythritol, you stir melted butter into the dry ingredients. It’s easier but it also gives them a chewier texture.
- Make them a little bigger: You can make smaller cookies and get 24 (serving size is 2), but they aren’t quite as impressive looking. I found that making 18 larger cookies (serving size = 1) made them deliciously soft and satisfying. It also allowed me to add more sugar-free chocolate chips and some chopped nuts.
- Bake until just golden: The cookies will be very soft when you take them out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool.
- Let them cool completely: Do not even THINK about picking them up until nice and cool, or they will be a hot mess. Delicious, but a mess nonetheless!
Frequently Asked Questions
As I mentioned above, you can’t use coconut flour, but other seed meals may work out alright. Sunflower seed flour is your best option, but you will need to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
You can but you need to understand that it will change the outcome. If you can’t get Swerve Brown, then I recommend using granulated erythritol with two teaspoons of molasses to get the right flavor. It will only add 0.5g of carbs to each cookie.
If you wish to use allulose or BochaSweet, your cookies will come out much softer and more like cake. And allulose has a tendency to brown very quickly.
Read more about keto sweeteners and how they differ.
These are big, thick keto chocolate chip cookies, so yes, a serving is only one. If you wish to make them smaller so you can enjoy two, please do so. But keep your eye on them as they will bake more quickly.
I really love the dark chocolate chips from ChocZero, but Lily’s are great too. You can also use mini keto chocolate chips to get better distribution, if you prefer.
Store your cookies in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 10.
You can also freeze them, both before and after baking, for up to 2 months. Make sure they are tightly wrapped up to avoid freezer burn.
More delicious chocolate chips recipes
- Keto Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Homemade Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
- Keto Cookie Dough Easter Eggs
- The Best Keto Blondies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pecan Bars
- Easy Chocolate Chip Mug Cakes
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200 g) almond flour, (200g)
- 3/4 cup (136.5 g) Swerve Brown
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (90 g) sugar free chocolate chips, divided
- 1/4 cup (29.25 g) chopped walnuts, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. (Use 2 baking sheets if yours are small, don’t crowd the cookies).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, Brown Swerve, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir in the egg, butter, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together. Stir in half of the chocolate chips and the walnuts, if using. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
- Press the balls down to about ¾ inch thick with the palm of your hand. Don't press down too much as these cookies will spread a bit on their own. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until puffed and golden brown around the edges. They will still be very soft. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the pan.
Video
Nutrition
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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Thank you- these really are the Best! I reduced the sugar ( because I ran out of it) and even my carb addicted son ate them- big win. They are easy to make, use standard ingredients and keep really well for a couple of days.
I rarely rate recipes but….these are so delicious! Now I’ve got to try stay out of them!
I love several of your recipes, thank you for all the work you put into creating such yummy recipes that I can trust will turn out good
Finally able to make these cookies and they definitely live up to the hype! Absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much!!
So great to hear!
That’s it! I’m throwing out all the other keto chocolate chip cookies recipes, and believe me, I have acquired a lot of recipes over the last several years. This is by far the best recipe for keto chocolate chip cookies!! Thank you for making it possible to enjoy sugar free cookies!!
That is such a lovely comment, thank you!
Holy cow these are awesome!! Best keto recipe yet! Instead of using chocolate chips, I used be honest candy coated chocolate (think M&Ms) and these cookies are addicting. I’m thinking of using less sweetener next time to lessen the cooling effect a bit that didn’t stop me from pigging out (nor did it stop my non-keto husband). Great & easy recipe – so glad I found it. I felt like I was eating “normal” cookies.
So glad to hear it!!!
OMG!!!! Seriously the best cookies. Perfect in every way. I over cooked mine by a minute or two(was busy doing another project, missed the timer)even so, they are so delicious and just the perfect amount of snap to them! Thank you for all you do
Excellent!
I just made these and the taste is great but mine really really really spread out! Like pancakes! I weighed my almond flour but figure I might’ve rushed adding the butter? I know the recipe says melted but cooled and mine wasn’t hot but it also wasn’t cooled. So I consider that a user error ???? will make again in the future and slow my roll a bit, see if my results get better. Thank goodness they’re still tasty if not pretty!
Mine looked like pancakes too but very tasty and yes maybe my butter was to warm to. Thank you so much Carolyn for all your recipes you share with us.
I made these yesterday. So easy and quick, and delicious!. I made mine with a small melon baller and got 38 plenty-big-for-us cookies. They baked to perfection in 15 minutes. Thanks for another great recipe, Carolyn. Oh, and thanks so much for the weight measurement on the flour. Love it when you do that!
So glad it worked out!
Hi, Caroline! Love ALL your recipes and this one is no exception. I was wondering, if there is too much of a cooling effect, could two sweeteners be used e.g. swerve brown and allulose? If so, what amounts would you use? Thank you so much for all that you do!
You’re going to get much softer, cakier cookies and allulose tends to brown much more during baking so keep your eye on them.
Yummy! Made exactly as directed. Might use a little more swerve brown next time.
I followed this recipe while substituting freshly ground sunflower seed flour. I was careful to make nice round balls of dough and did not crowd the cookies. When I pulled them out of the oven they were all 1 cookie. I’m guessing I should have added more flour. Will that solve the problem, or did I choose the wrong recipe to try out my sunflower seed flour on?
Did you happen to weigh it out and see if was 200 grams? I’d say yes, it was an issue of too little flour. Hopefully it still tastes great!
I made these last weekend and love them! I used a (very) heaping small cookie scoop to get them on the cookie sheet and came out with 19 large cookies. I only had 1/2 c of swerve brown left so I had to substitute 1/4 c with Purecane though, and mine were a little more cakey than I would prefer, but still delicious! I have since restocked my swerve brown and can’t wait to try again and see if it makes a difference. 🙂
These were amazing!! Besides the slight chunkier texture of the almond flour, I wouldn’t be able to tell they were low carb! They were crispy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside, nice and sweet too. I didn’t make any substitutions and didn’t use walnuts. I did buy swerve for this recipe, which was pretty expensive ($7.99/bag at Kroger) otherwise I would make this recipe all the time. I’ll be bringing them to my sister’s show as a surprise, as she and my mom do low carb. Definitely a winner!
Keep you eye out for sales on Swerve and grab several bags! That’s what I do. I’ve seen it as low as 5.49 at whole foods.
This is true about the sales! Occasionally, at Fry’s (owned by Kroger) I’ve gotten bags of Swerve for around $5.99, maybe slightly less. Doesn’t happen often but I always look when I’m at the store.
I usually grab as many bags as I am allowed to purchase with the sale price.
Please share high altitude tips for these. Thank you!
I don’t live at altitude so I can’t possibly do so. But my understanding is that you make the same adjustments as you would for regular baking.
I baked 18 perfect looking cookies that my family thought were awful . We didn’t care for the taste of the Swerve or the Lily’s chocolate bits. What a waste of ingredients.I would prefer to take an extra unit of insulin and eat a ‘real cookie’.
Hello and thanks for your feedback. Please understand that the recipe is not the issue. You and your family clearly experience an aftertaste from erythritol (both Swerve and Lily’s contain it). These are real cookies and for most of us, taste delicious. But I understand your frustration. You might want to read this guide to keto sweeteners to understand your other options: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-keto-sweeteners/
Wonderfully perfect!!! Just threw away all other chocolate chip cookie recipes in my recipe binder except for yours! Thanks for doing all the hard work for us!!!
Thanks so much!