These Keto Sugar Cookie Bars have all the tenderness and flavor of your favorite cookie in an easy-to-make bar form. Topped with sugar-free buttercream and sprinkles, they’re a perfect treat for any occasion!
I was never that much of a sugar cookie person until I embarked on my keto journey. The real deal never held that much appeal for me, and I’d pass them over in favor of anything with chocolate.
But I’ve gained a healthy appreciation for this classic flavor over the years. It all started with my keto sugar cookies, which quickly became a family tradition and a reader favorite. We make them every year to decorate and I am always surprised by how much I like them.
But these tender Keto Sugar Cookie Bars have me weak in the knees. They are so good, and so easy to make. And you can dress them up for any holiday or special occasion.
I made a holiday version for my Keto Holiday Cookies & Bars e-book. Check it out here:
Why you need this recipe
I now readily admit that sugar cookies are pretty darn tasty. But I think I like these bars even more than the actual cookies. Pressing the dough into a pan makes them so easy, you can whip up a pan in less than an hour.
They are softer than cookies, and have a delicious chewiness. And adding a thick layer of sugar free frosting certainly doesn’t hurt.
You can also adjust this recipe to suit your tastes. You could switch out the extract and add some almond or lemon. Or even peppermint for the holidays. You could make the frosting in fun colors or you could add my rich keto chocolate frosting. So many delicious possibilities.
At 2.1g net carbs, these festive treats fit in perfectly with the keto diet!
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: As always, I recommend a good finely ground almond flour for the best texture. If you need to be nut-free, you can try sunflower seed flour. But you will need to add a tablespoon of acid, such as lemon juice, to offset the green reaction.
- Butter: Make sure your butter is properly softened so that the sweetener combines well. If your house is on the chilly side, heat the butter for 10 seconds or so in the microwave.
- Sweetener: I recommend Swerve Granular for the bars themselves, and Swerve Confectioners for the frosting.
- Eggs: You will need one whole egg and one egg yolk. Make sure they are room temperature before adding to the dough.
- Cream cheese: The frosting has a little cream cheese in it to make it whiter. Perfect for holiday sugar cookie bars!
- Sprinkles: Keto sprinkles make baking so much more fun. I like the great colours and mixes from The Sprinkle Company on Etsy.
- Baking staples: Vanilla, baking powder, salt
Step by Step Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
2. Add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until the dough comes together.
3. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the center is puffed and the edges are golden brown. It will still be very soft. Remove and let cool in the pan.
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the vanilla extract.
5. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars and sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Refrigerate 30 minutes to set the frosting before cutting into bars.
Expert tips
Beat the butter and sweetener thoroughly before adding any other ingredients. This process makes the butter really creamy so that the other ingredients combine better. And make sure to use room temperature eggs, as cold eggs will make the butter clump up.
The cream cheese in the frosting both gives it structure and makes it more white in color. So you don’t have to use ridiculous amounts of powdered sweetener to achieve a nice consistency.
Let’s discuss those sweeteners. I really think that erythritol based sweeteners such as Swerve will give you the best results in both the bars and the frosting. Allulose or BochaSweet will make the bars very soft and more cake-y. Allulose also has a tendency to brown baked goods too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
The term “sugar free” doesn’t always mean that something is keto friendly. Many cookies don’t have any added sugar but contain other sources of carbs such as starches and grains. Make sure you read the nutritional labels and ingredients list to identify the total and net carb count per serving.
These delicious Keto Sugar Cookie Bars have 3.9g of carbs and 1.8g of fiber. So they have a net carb count of 2.1g per bar.
You can make these bars ahead and refrigerate or freeze them until ready to serve. Store them in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper to keep the frosting and sprinkles looking fresh.
Keto Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Bars
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Granular
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened
- 3 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup Swerve Confectioners
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sugar-Free Sprinkles of choice
Instructions
Bars
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a 9×9 inch metal pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- All at once, add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until the dough comes together.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the center is puffed and the edges are golden brown. It will still be very soft.
- Remove and let cool in the pan.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the vanilla extract.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled bars and sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Refrigerate 30 minutes to set the frosting before cutting into bars.
Cheri says
Hi Carolyn, thank you for all your delicious recipes! I read the question where you said not to use a glass pan without adjusting the time and temp. Could you link to the pan you use? Is it aluminum? Thank you. I can’t wait to try these!
Martha says
I don’t have a metal 9×9 inch pan. Will a glass baking dish work?
Carolyn says
Metal and glass bake completely differently. So you need to lower the temp by 25 degrees but also be prepared to bake much longer to get it to cook through.
Laurie says
gonna try it in a 9 inch cake pan, I don’t have a metal square 🙂
Carolyn says
It will be great! A lot like this: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-sugar-cookie-cake/
Katie Sells says
Hi,
I am trying to make these but unfortunately the website In Katrina’s Kitchen is not working. I know this is a variation to your cut out sugar cookies. I was hoping you could pot the recipe or provide me with variations.
Happy Holiday’s
Katie
Carolyn says
Oh dear! The problem is that I don’t have the recipe on this computer. But her site is up for me right now so here’s the link: http://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/2012/12/sugar-cookie-bars-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html
Jamie says
Some how, I screwed these up. I say some how, but I think the answer is: don’t cheap out and use almond meal, get almond flour. They were so thick, they didn’t bake completely. It was just a mess. Ah well. Not bad, since this was my only Christmas baking misstep (and I know it was my misstep, not your recipe)! I made the orange spritz cookies to rave reviews from everyone (and I had both types 1 and 2, gluten intolerances and corn syrup intolerances in the house!). I also made the apple caramel coffee cake for Christmas breakfast. Yum! Thank you for your hard work. Your recipes have made a great impact in my house.
Carolyn says
Oh dear, too bad about the bars. But so glad everything else worked!
Natasha says
Do you have the nutritional information for these cookie bars? Mainly I’m curious about the calories and grams of fat. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Hi Natasha…I do not, but you can easily run the ingredients through some online software like My Fitness Pal.
Natasha says
Do you have the full nutritional information for these cookie bars? Mainly I’m curious about the calories and grams of fat. Thanks!
Judith says
Made these today. Soft with a sugar cookie dough taste. I love them!
Julia says
These are a new favorite I our house!
Nancy says
You have made me laugh and that remark about getting older and not worried about making an ass of myself, I have felt the same way! And I really love the fact that it embarrasses by girls (a two fer!). And I KNOW I am going to love these bars. I get really lazy about making cookies, so just smoosh the dough into the pan, and voila! cookies/bars/whatever!!!! Thank you for sharing. Next on my list (also the fudge you just posted!)
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
I hope you had a Merry Christmas! I am such a sucker for sugar cookies–I love these!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
So cute and festive! Merry Christmas Carolyn!
Jeanette says
Very festive Carolyn! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday filled with peace and joy.
Chocolate Rose says
These sound great! I’d love a sugar cookie I don’t have to roll out. I can’t use the oat flour, though. Do you think these would work with all almond flour?
Carolyn says
YOu probably want a little coconut flour to help stiffen it and keep it together. About 2 tablespoons in place of the oat flour.
Chocolate Rose says
Awesome! Thank you! I’m going to give them a try.
Chocolate Rose says
I subbed the coconut flour for the oat flour and these turned out awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your great recipes!! I am so excited to have a bar cookie that can be thrown together pretty quickly. I’m thinking about working some chocolate into these – frosting, chocolate chips…? Mmmmmm
Julie says
I don’t see any mention of coconut flour or oat flour in the recipe. Am I missing something?
Aranna says
I really love your site! The recipes look amazing, and as soon as I get the special ingredients, I plan to start trying them out. I must say, however, that I don’t like the pop-up banner ad at the bottom that must be “x’ed” out to remove it. After learning that sometimes malware is transmitted via these pop-ups, I’ve started exiting the websites where these appear. Just saying . . . .
Carolyn says
I don’t have pop up banners on my blog at the bottom. Are you looking at it from a smart phone? Because some smartphone browsers have ads you have to opt out of. They aren’t on my blog, I don’t have any ads anywhere at the bottom. Thanks!
Aranna says
I’m so sorry! Was viewing from my iPad. I didn’t know Safari had that option. Thanks for your reply. I will continue following your excellent blog.
Carolyn says
It happens on my Android too, and I haven’t figured out how to get rid of it. Seriously annoying, I agree. I think Apple has a specific way of getting rid of them, just do a google search on it.
jo says
Offering you a little bit of my dorkiness in exchange for your’s: when mixing colours for a painting, adding a bit of a complementary colour to another colour will knock back that second colour. So, a little bit of green will knock back a bright red. And a little bit of orange will knock back a bright blue….and so on. Cool, huh?
Carolyn says
Love it! Not that I paint, but it’s helpful on the rare occasion that I try my hand at cookie decorating!
Stacey says
Thanks for making me laugh! I can so relate to the getting older and being comfy in your own skin. I love being silly and one kid rolls his eyes, the other usually laughs. Life is too short not to be happy. I’m definitely going to try these cookies – they look so yummy. Thanks for sharing! (and Merry Christmas)
RavieNomNoms says
YES!! These look amazing, I am a sugar cookie fanatic!
Leanne @ healthful pursuit says
What a fun event! It’s the first I’ve heard of it. Going over to check out your recipe now. Looks right up my alley 😉
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
Thank you so much for bringing the cookies, my friend! I am in love with them!!