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 almond flour (200g)
- ¾ cup Swerve Brown
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup butter melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar free chocolate chips divided
- ¼ cup 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 ½ 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.
Julie says
How can I fix my blunder? I used ALL coconut flour as my container wasn’t marked. Can I fix this?
Carolyn says
Oh boy, I am really not sure. YOu will need a lot more eggs and a lot more fat to offset that amount of coconut flour.
Carolyn says
Oh and then I’d probably add more liquid and turn it into a cake! 🙂
Leila says
These cookies are delicious! I love melted chocolate in the cookie.Will definitely make it again! thank you as always for the recipe!
Heather says
I made the cookies with two changes, first 1/2c of swerve brown and second 1/4 of chocolate chips. These were by far the best and easiest to make. Still not a fan of swerve but lessening the dose seemed to work without hurting the recipe. Ps I got 24 normal size cookies. Very impressed!!!
Marisa B. says
Followed the recipe to a T and kept a close eye when they were in the oven. 14 minutes seemed to be just right for our size cookies. My 10 year old daughter made most of it by herself, she did a wonderful job! I always use Carolyn’s recipes because I trust her work. She takes great pride in the keto lifestyle. Ingredients are can be expensive so always go with Carolyn, you won’t be disappointed as long as you read her tips as well! Thanks again ♡
Carolyn says
That’s so great your daughter made them!
Mel says
I just made the cookies and I must have weighed something out wrong. They spread a lot even though they looked like your cookies on the pan before baking. The only thing I can think of is I didn’t properly weigh my almond flour. The cookies are a bit greasy on the bottom. Any thoughts?
They taste good though.
Mel says
And the texture of my cookies is totally wrong. I used the same ingredients I always use: Kirkland almond flour, Swerve brown, and Kerrygold. Nothing new or different. Plus, for some reason the cooling effect of the Swerve plus my Lily’s chocolate chips is more noticeable than normal. ????????
Carolyn says
YOu mention the Kirkland brand of flour. It’s a lot more coarse than Bob’s so it lets some of the oil leach out during baking. That’s probably why they spread and you see the oil.
Mel says
That makes perfect sense. Thank you. I’ll stick with Bob’s in the future.
Laurie Hilliard says
Wow! I am blown away. These things are CRAZY GOOD. I’ve never baked with brown sugar Swerve. Im not sure why but this time there was no cooling effect. I will definitely be looking for more recipes that call for it. Question: I’m out of almond flour until I can qet to the store but I have walnut flour. What do you think about me subbing the walnut flour as the base? Think it would work? This is really my favorite keto cookie recipe I’ve tried in 3 years. You are talented indeed.
Sonya says
Laurie, I often sub other nut flours since I’m allergic to almond, I am going to bet walnut flour is too wet/oily, almonds seem much drier. I subbed pecan flour once and feel it was too wet/oily for the recipe. usually I sub hazelnut flour with no problem but this recipe seems super wet, not sure what I did wrong as I weighed everything. they’re about to come out of the oven but I’ll be surprised if they turn out right, the dough wasn’t good enough to lick off the spoon which is usually my barometer for deliciousness ????
Martha Newell says
should we substract fiber from carbohydrates? to get net carbs?.
Carolyn says
Yes.
Libby says
I really dislike anything with almond flour and have tried many times but always end up throwing in the bin. There’s just something about the flavour I dislike. Any suggestions please for alternative to almond. I guess coconut won’t work?
Carolyn says
No… and I suspect you are not using a very good almond flour. What brand?
Greg says
These cookies are sheer perfection! I was trained as a professional chef so I know my way around cookies. Ever since I took control of my health and reversed type 2 diabetes and hypertension by eating a ketogenic lifestyle I’m always looking for delicious and yummy keto recipes. Carolyn has a plethora but these cookies hit it out of the ballpark! I run a keto support group at our local park for people who are concerned with improving their metabolic health. I always recommend Dr Annette Bosworth for the medical stuff and then the second half is always related to the fun stuff the yummy stuff and that’s where Carolyn and all day I dream about food comes in. While I really respect Dr Boz, she says when you get a craving eat a can of sardines, that’s not going to cut it I’d rather have one of Caroline’s gooey chewy chocolate chip cookies anything.
Carolyn says
Thank you so much, Greg!
Carolyn Archer says
So good! I am literally crying right now. It has been so long since I’ve been able to just take a day for baking and cooking, which are my passions. To have a KETO COOKIE taste this good is amazing. Thank you Carolyn!
Gwen says
I have to agree! I truly believe these are the best low carb chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had! They were super easy to make! I doubled the recipe, adding chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Thank you Carolyn for all your hard work in coming up with this recipe! You always do such a great job!
Kathy says
These cookies are wonderful. Super easy to make. We live full time in an RV, with a small micro/convection oven. They baked beautifully. The taste was delicious, texture was soft and chewy. There was a small cooling effect from the sweetener. Not anything that bothered us. Thank you so much for working so hard to perfect these!
Kristy says
Can you sub the butter with Coconut oil for dairy free? Have you tried it? any advice?
Carolyn says
You’re welcome to experiment.
Judy Smith says
Does Swerve brown need to be packed like regular brown sugar?
Carolyn says
Only lightly pack it, otherwise they may end up too sweet.
Lyn says
So much of Keto cooking is technique. These are simple and easy. Thank you!
Chantal says
They taste great!!
The only thing is….. they are flat… what did I do wrong?…..
Kristin says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but being an avid baker and taking a look over the recipe, it could possibly be that your baking soda was not fresh. If it’s been open and sitting longer than 30 days, it doesn’t work as well. I always open a fresh box every time I bake something. Actually just tossed an old open box today.
Sally says
These look amazing! Do you think I could use regular Swerve or monkfruit if I don’t have swerve brown?
Carolyn says
Well, as I mention in the post, Swerve Brown is part of what helps with the texture. If you don’t have it, fine. But if you can add a bit of molasses (like a single teaspoon), it may help as well.
Cheri Mello says
Thanks Carolyn ????????????????????????♥️ These LOOK AWESOME ????????????????????❗️And AFTER seeing Carb , Sugar AND Calories In OTHER ???? WHY Make Others ? YUM ????G-d♥️Bless ????
Pattie says
This is an awesome cookie and will become my go-to chocolate cookie from now on. Followed the recipe exactly. The first time I baked for 18 minutes and they were very brown and crunchy, and everyone loved them. The second batch I pulled out of the oven at exactly 15 minutes and they were much softer and chewier, and everyone again loved them. Amazing both ways. So they can satisfy either crunchy or chewy cookie lovers depending on the baking time. I used a small cookie scoop, filled to heaping and then rolled in balls to make 18 cookies. Thank you Carolyn for this amazing and easy to make recipe!
Sheri Miller says
These are, hands down, the best lowcarb chocolate chip cookies ever!!!!