If you love thin, crispy cookies, these Keto Pecan Lace Cookies will steal your heart. They’re delicate and buttery, and studded with toasted pecans for that signature lacy look. Dipping them in chocolate or turning them into sandwich cookies only adds to their appeal.
My regular readers know how much I adore pecans in both sweet and savory recipes. I have recipes for everything from Keto Pecan Pie to Pecan Crusted Salmon. And Salted Rosemary Pecans are my all-time favorite snack!
A long-time reader reminded me of these sweet, lacy cookies recently. I had all but forgotten about them, but the time was right to give them a little update.
Lace cookies require a delicate balance between butter and flour so that they spread thin but still hold together. Making them without flour or gluten is tricky at best. But after years of low-carb baking, I’ve learned exactly how to coax my keto ingredients into the desired outcome.
The result is a cookie that’s light and crisp around the edges, with a hefty toasted pecan flavor. They’re delicious on their own, but absolutely magical with a little dark chocolate.
What readers are saying
“These are simply the best crisp keto cookie I’ve baked yet!! Simply yummy and satisfying.” — Deb
Why you will love these cookies
- Thin and crispy – just like lace cookies should be!
- Rich pecan flavor – The toasted pecans and brown sweetener give them a wonderful caramelized flavor.
- Customizable – Leave them plain, dip them in chocolate, or turn them into sandwich cookies.
- Make ahead recipe – Great for holidays and parties. You can freeze them with or without the chocolate.
- Low carb and gluten-free – Each serving has only 5.1 grams of carbs.
Ingredient Notes
- Pecan halves: You can use raw pecan halves and toast them yourself, or get them already roasted (unsalted). I provide instructions for roasting them at home.
- Sweetener: This recipe requires erythritol-based sweeteners for the correct consistency. I like to use some brown sugar replacement for a caramelized flavor.
- Almond flour: A little almond flour helps give the cookies more structure.
- Sugar-free chocolate: These cookies are delightful when dipped in chocolate or turned into sandwich cookies!
- Pantry staples: Butter, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt.
How to Make Keto Pecan Lace Cookies
- Prepare the pecans: Spread the pecans on a baking pan and bake until nicely toasted. Keep your eye on them so that they don’t burn. Remove and let cool completely, then transfer to a food processor and grind them up.
- Make the dough: Beat the butter with the sweeteners until well combined. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract, then beat in the ground pecans, almond flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Bake the cookies: Scoop out 1-tablespoon of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake 5 minutes.
- Flatten the cookies: Remove from the oven and press down with a flat bottomed glass to flatten them out. Return to the oven and bake until golden brown.
- Dip the chocolate: Melt the chocolate and butter together and stir until smooth. Dip the cookies in the chocolate to about halfway into the chocolate.
- To make sandwich cookies: Spread about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture on to the bottom of one cookie and top with another cookie. Refrigerate until set.
Tips for Success
Use the right sweetener. The kind of sweetener you use plays a big role in getting your cookies nice and crisp. To put it bluntly, nothing but erythritol-based sweeteners will work. Any amount of allulose or xylitol will keep them from crisping up. If you wish to cut back on the erythritol, try adding a little pure monk fruit or stevia extract. But I wouldn’t cut back to any less than half a cup.
Ground and toasted pecans. You can start with toasted pecans, or you can toast your own (instructions in the recipe). But it is important to grind them well, almost to a flour, so that they hold the cookies together. Watch them carefully as you grind, so that they don’t become pecan butter.
Use baking soda, not baking powder! Don’t confuse these two! You don’t want these lace cookies to rise, but you do want them to spread properly. Baking soda encourages cookies spreading and crisping. As long as there is no acid to cause a reaction, they won’t rise.
Flatten midway through baking. They do still need a tiny bit of help spreading, as many keto cookie recipes do (because they don’t contain sugar). Pressing them down with a glass partway through baking always helps.
Silicone vs parchment. I specified silicone mats for lining the pans, as they will protect your cookies better. You can probably use parchment instead but I would watch them carefully so that they don’t burn before they are properly cooked.
Cookie scoops for perfect cookies! I honestly don’t normally bother with cookie scoops, but in this case they helped me achieve perfectly sized keto lace cookies that baked evenly. I used a 1 tablespoon scoop and I leveled it off every time. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, make sure you are using only 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie.
More delicious keto pecan recipes
Keto Pecan Lace Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups (148.5 g) pecan halves
- 6 tbsp (85.21 g) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) brown sugar replacement, erythritol based
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granular erythritol sweetener
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (37.33 g) almond flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate Dip/Filling
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) sugar-free dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 tbsp (14.2 g) butter
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spread the pecans out in a single layer. Bake 8 minutes or so, until nicely toasted. Keep a close eye on them.
- Remove and let cool completely, then transfer to a food processor and process until well ground. Set aside.
- Reduce the oven heat to 325ºF and line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweeteners until well combined. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract, then beat in the ground pecans, almond flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. (You can also use a regular spoon but you want only 1 tbsp of dough per cookie). You should get about 30 cookies.
- Bake 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Cover each cookie with parchment and press down with a flat bottomed glass to flatten them out.
- Return to the oven and bake another 10 minutes or so, until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely on the pan. Some oil may leach out during the baking process but it will re-absorb as they sit and cool.
Chocolate Dip/Filling
- In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, combine the chocolate and butter. Stir until melted and smooth.
- To dip cookies: Dip the cookies in the chocolate to about halfway up and hold above the melted chocolate to let the excess drain off. Lay on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional chopped pecans, if desired. Refrigerate until set.
- To make sandwich cookies: Spread about 2 tsp of the chocolate mixture on to the bottom of one cookie and top with another cookie. Refrigerate until set.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Keto lace cookies rely on butter and sweetener to spread. If they aren’t spreading, the most likely issue is dough that’s too cold. Make sure the butter is properly softened before making the dough. You will also flatten them with a glass during the baking process, which helps make them thin and crisp.
They will still be soft when they first come out of the oven but will crisp up as they cool. If they stay soft, they likely need another minute or two in the oven. However, if you used a sweetener that contains allulose or xylitol, they will stay very soft.
Store the cookies in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 10 days. They can also be frozen for several months.
This keto pecan lace cookie recipe has 5.1 of carbs and 2.8 of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.3g net carbs for 2 cookies.
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.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Instead of roasting the pecans and then processing them, could you just use pecan flour? If so how much do you think you would need?
Pecan flour isn’t toasted so it won’t have the same flavor.
you can toast your pecan flour ON MEDIUM in a dry skillet just like nuts, but watch carefully and stir a LOT!
Crisp and lacy cookies. Very easy to make. Mine flattened in the oven all on their own. They’ll definitely be in my weekly rotation.
I have never been able to do the swerve sweetener. I get terrible tummy issues with them. I do have the THM sweeteners. Can I some how make brown sugar with one of those?
THM sweeteners often contain xylitol… and that won’t give you a crisp cookie at all.
I am wondering if pecan flour would work for this recipe ? I have a full bag, just used to make your keto cheese cake bites which were awesome. Trying to find more recipes that use the pecan flour.
It’s going to be a lot more fine… which might ruin the laciness of the cookies.
Hi Carolyn,
just a question: can I also use walnuts instead of pecans? (Pecans are rather rare – and expensive – here in Germany – whereas we’ve got several fine walnut trees in our garden and thus have plenty of walnuts…)
I LOVE your recipes – thanks so much for experimenting for us and sharing your amazing results!!!
Silke
I think it would work!
I think it will be very hard to keep to the serving size of 2 cookies or one sandwich!
Looks sooo yum!
They were amazing! Perfect crunch and butteriness. My chocolate seized a bit (too much moisture from simmering water I guess) so instead of dipping I spread it quickly over as many cookies as I could. Going to try the dipping sauce again to put on the almond biscotti that I am currently making. They are cooling waiting for cutting and second baking. I live in Vancouver, WA. We are practically neighbors.
We are having great baking weather. Thanks again for making baking fun again.
So glad they worked out!
Not sure that these needed leveling after 5 min. They were pretty flat already. First tray cooling, second tray baking. The second tray were a bit pouffier and flattened them. May have over baked first tray a bit, but not burned. Am going to dip in chocolate. They look and smell great. Still have some batter left. I love a crispy cookie so was anxious to try these and your “oatmeal” lace too. Thanks.
Hope they taste as good as they smell!
Can you use pecan flour?
Your recipes are awesome! Thank you for sharing them with us.
Carolyn I am a great fan of your recipes, that I make on a regular basis…however, I would appreciate if you would mention what level the grill should be in our oven when we do your recipes…this is of outmost importance to successfully realize it… Thank you and keep up your amazing work for us Keto fanatics!
When it’s not mentioned, it’s always assumed that it’s the middle rack. I specify when it’s necessary to be on a different level.
These look so delicious. I have a big bag of walnuts, tempted to try those instead of pecans. What do you think?
Sure!
Have not made these but was thinking sandwiches with the dark chocolate would make them like a keto version of Pepperidge Farm Brussels Dark Chocolate sandwich cookies, which were my absolute favorite store-bought cookie before having to ditch grains and sugar. Carolyn or anyone who has made them, is this the case?
I’m thinking of making sandwiches using your caramel sauce. I’m concerned that they won’t set up well, but they would be so delicious!!
Beautiful Job, Carolyn! I can’t wait to make these!!
Hi Carolyn , Fabulous recipe as always and thanks for sharing. If we wanted to make these dairy free, would you recommend the Nutiva Palm oil shortening for the butter or coconut oil / ghee substitute? Thank you!
I think the palm oil is probably your best bet, as coconut oil will be very greasy. You also may need a bit less of it.