Okay, you caught me. There is no oatmeal in these Keto Oatmeal Cookies. Not even a little bit. They are completely grain free, with nary an oat to be seen. Not even the tiniest oat flake. There weren’t even any oats in the vicinity when I made them!
But with a little low carb ingenuity, they look and taste like the real deal. I take flaked coconut and sliced almonds and process them until they resemble oats. It’s the very same trick I used in my Keto Oatmeal recipe.
Who doesn’t love oatmeal cookies? But those of us on low carb or keto diets, we can’t indulge any more. So what’s a cookie lover to do? Fake it ’til you make it, I always say.
I confess, I am not one for cutesie little names like “faux-tmeal” or “N’oatmeal”. Those just annoy me for some reason. If I want oatmeal cookies and I want to make them keto-friendly, I will call them what I please. You are free to do the same.
And now they are bigger and better than ever! I decided to adjust the recipe ever so slightly, and made them a little bigger and thicker, for that chewy cookie goodness. Now there’s more to love!
What Readers are Saying…
“I made these this morning. they are delicious. With the coconut, nuts and butter, you really do not even think about them not being true oatmeal cookies. They come together easily and I usually always have the ingredients on hand.” — Linda
Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Classic texture: They have the same chewy, tender texture of real oatmeal cookies.
- Buttery flavor: Butter, brown sweetener, and a hint of cinnamon gives these cookies the classic flavor.
- Easy to make: In less than 40 minutes, you can satisfy your cookie cravings.
- Customizable: Add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, other nuts, or leave them plain.
- Low carb: Each cookie has only 2.5 grams net carbs, so they fit the keto lifestyle perfectly.
Ingredient Notes
- Sliced almonds: I like the sliced almonds that have the skins on, as they resemble oats even more when processed.
- Flaked coconut: Use flaked coconut, rather than shredded, as it will help give the cookies the right texture.
- Almond flour: This gives the cookies a little more structure.
- Cinnamon: A touch of ground cinnamon gives them the classic oatmeal cookie flavor.
- Sweetener: I like the flavor that a brown sugar replacement adds to these cookies.
- Dark chocolate chips (optional): You can use any variety of sugar-free chocolate chips.
- Unsweetened dried cranberries (optional): Instead of raisins, I use my homemade sugar free dried cranberries.
- Kitchen staples: Egg, butter, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
How to Make Keto Oatmeal Cookies
- Process the nuts: Add the flaked coconut and sliced almonds to your food processor and process until mixture resembles oatmeal.
- Add the other dry ingredients: Add the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add the almond/coconut mixture: Pour in the dry ingredients and beat until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries, if using.
- Form the cookies: Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Press cookies down to about 3/4 inch thickness.
- Bake: Bake until golden brown around the edges. Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Tips for Success
It’s truly astonishing how sliced almonds and flaked coconut can resemble oat flakes. But you do need to grind them up a bit. I recommend using your food processor on the pulse setting so you don’t over-process them. Give a few pulses, see how they look, and pulse more if necessary.
Conventional oatmeal cookies typically take raisins, but raisins simply aren’t a keto-friendly option. You could, of course, add a tiny amount of them in, but it really wouldn’t be worth your while. There would be so few of them, the flavor wouldn’t come through. But sugar-free dried cranberries make a great replacement.
Sweetener Options: As with many keto cookie recipes, I recommend an erythritol-based sweetener for the best texture. Allulose can make the cookies overly soft, and they may brown too much, especially on the bottoms). That said, please feel free to experiment with your preferred sweeteners. Just know that it can affect the results.
More Keto “Oatmeal” Recipes
- Keto Do-si-dos (Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies)
- Keto Granola Bars
- Chewy Keto Butterscotch Bars
- Coconut Cacao Nib Granola
- Keto Pumpkin Breakfast Bars
Keto Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (92 g) sliced almonds
- 3/4 cup (63.75 g) flaked coconut
- 1 cup (112 g) almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar replacement, erythritol recommended
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup (45 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free, (optional)
- 1/4 cup (30.3 g) unsweetened dried cranberries, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sliced almonds and flaked coconut Process until mixture resembles oatmeal.
- Add the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add the almond/coconut mixture and beat until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries, if using.
- Roll into 16 balls and place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. With the heel of your hand, press the cookies down to about 3/4-inch thickness.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, real oatmeal is not okay for keto diets. A a bowl of cooked oatmeal has 27g of carbs and only 4g of fiber. And most people with diabetes see a significant blood sugar spike from consuming it. So you want to avoid oatmeal when following a low carb diet.
Try using more sliced almonds to replace the coconut, in the same amount. They may be a little more crumbly when baked.
Store the cookies in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can also freeze them for several months. Bring the cookies to room temperature before serving.
This keto oatmeal cookie recipe has 5.7g of carbs and 3.2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.5 grams 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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Your recipe came at a time when I had just noticed that flaked coconut and sliced almonds *looked* like oatmeal! I’d say “great minds” and all that, but if mine is “great” it’s that I know a great recipe when I see one, whereas you’re the actual culinary genius. I’m not even kidding!! These cookies are already a favorite — I’ve made them at least 3-4 times since your recipe came out — and they have been elevated to the permanent Christmas Cookie folder. (Along with your gingerbread men, walnut cardamom snowballs, snickerdoodles, peanut blossoms, and, of course, salted caramel magic cookie bars.) 🙂
These are seriously amazing!! I LOVE your recipes!!
Thanks!
These turned out amazing! They smelled like oatmeal cookies baking and even managed that great texture!
Could you post a picture of when the almond and coconut flakes resemble oatmeal? I thought they looked like oatmeal before blended, so I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing. I’m pretty sure I mixed them too fine.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Oatmeal cookies are my favorite, and I was so sad about having to give them up after going low carb. I hate the texture of coconut, so I may have to tweak the recipe a bit. But these look like a great substitute.
Ok Carolyn, you are seriously a genius. Just made these and they are amazing. Thank you!!
Carolyn another big thank you for your creativity! Second batch in the oven- made these as soon as you posted the recipe and they are yum! Dipping half into melted chocolate cuz I’m living a little dangerously. Thank you for your thousands of yummy recipes!
Sounds good to me!
I don’t like coconut very much, but I love oatmeal cookies and really want to try these. Can you taste the coconut in these?
I’d say definitely worth an attempt. The overall taste is….cinnamony oatmeal – and I used to avoid coconut.
I just made these on the weekend and oh my, they are amazing. No one would be the wiser if I didn’t tell them there are no oats in them. I yielded 34 cookies out of the batch, making them only 72kcal per cookie and only 1g net carb. I have to add that I didn’t add the chocolate chips – didn’t need them. Thanks for another yummy recipe.
Btw, I have to view your recipes in drips and drabs. I made the mistake of scrolling through all the pages of your dessert section and I promise you, if I had the time, space to store the food and the supplies, I would have made them all in one day HAHA
Wow, my first time trying one of your recipes, and these were divine. Plus the kitchen smells like heaven now too Thank you!
Glad you liked them!
Made these today and they were wonderful. Used Splenda brown sugar blend and swerve because I didn’t have enough swerve. I blended my almonds and coconut a little too much and made my first tray and forgot the chips. But my non keto son ate like 6 and liked them. Kept saying how good they were, even with my mistakes, still very good and easy. Put all ingredients in my kitchen aide and was done. You always make such good tasting treats and I don’t feel sick or guilty after I’ve had some.
That’s wonderful to hear!
I made these tonight,,, and they are amazing,,, thank you so much for sharing this…. I did make one small change,,, Instead of using 1 cup of almond flour, I did 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup THM Baking mix,,, I will definitely make these again ! ! ! thanks again
So glad it worked!
Just made these. Had to use pecans instead of almonds (no almonds). They just came from the oven and oh… So good! I’d give you my firstborn child if I could, but she’s 29 and a handful. So probably not. But truly, thank you for these great recipes!
Well, thanks for the offer anyway! 😉
how does the swerve sweetener compare to THM brands? I’m new to this and not familiar with some of this stuff. Thanks
Swerve measures cup for cup like sugar. The THM sweeteners do not, they are much sweeter and you use less of them. And they contain stevia, which some people don’t really like.
Looks delish! So that I don’t go overboard, I wanted to confirm that each cookie has 115 cals vs the whole batch (wishful thinking, I think).
Yep, that’s per cookie. 🙂
Wow, can’t wait to try these! Thank you so much for all of your fabulous recipes – they keep me safe on my low carb diet of almost a year now. I have to ask: what would be the carb effect of replacing the chocolate chips (only sugar-sweetened available in South Africa) with raisins…. Yes, I know they’re evil and probably the biggest single cause of my weight gain over the years, but even 1/4 cup?
As long as it’s no more than 1/4 cup, I think you’re looking at about an extra gram of carbs per cookie. So it’s not that bad.
Love you! Thanks for going the extra mile.
These are dangerously tasty little cookies! Who can stop from just eating a reasonable amount? Not Me! Next time I’m going to just barely process the coconut/nut mixture so they are even a little chunkier (I used walnuts because that’s what I had on hand). And I loved that there is no added stevia because I am not a fan of the bitter aftertaste. I made these at 9600 ft. and they turned out superb. Thank you so much!