These Keto Ginger Molasses Cookies are a dream come true for cookie lovers. Thick, chewy, and with the perfect balance of sweet and spice, they always hit the spot. And they have only 2.3g net carbs per serving!
If you love gingery sweets, then these Keto Ginger Cookies are going to blow your mind. They blew my mind when I created them, and clearly others felt the same way. They continue to be a fan favorite, year after year.
They are everything you want in a ginger cookie. Soft and chewy, with a nice gingery kick and a hint of molasses. And when I say a hint, I really mean just a hint.
I put these on my platter of Keto Christmas Cookies every year and they are often the first to disappear!
Why you will love this recipe
This recipe was the first in which I added gelatin for a chewier consistency. And I was surprised and impressed at the difference it made. I use the same trick in other recipes, like keto brownies.
Keep in mind that these are not meant to be crisp like Keto Gingerbread Cookies. Gelatin works best in recipes that have a soft texture. It helps mimic the characteristics of a classic ginger molasses cookie.
One thing I love about this cookie recipe is how easy it is to make. I can whip up a big batch that serves 20 people in less than 40 minutes. They also store really well so you can make them ahead and freeze until needed.
Reader Testimonials
“Yay!! Ginger snaps/molasses cookies are my absolute favorite and I miss them being on Keto. These are amazing and hit all the notes perfectly!!” — SandyB
“I made a batch of these today for ROAD TRIP SNACKS. I’ve gotta say these are the BEST low carb/keto cookies I have EVER made, and I’ve made many. These are the closest to REAL cookies in taste and texture and I really, really thank you!” — Andrea
“I’m surprised as heck, but these cookies work! I’m so used to almond flour producing a product that crumbles very easily and these have a real chewiness.: — Becky
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: As always, finely ground almond flour will make the best cookies, without a grainy texture.
- Grassfed gelatin: The addition of gelatin is key to a chewy consistency, so I don’t recommend skipping it. You can use Knox gelatin, and about 2 envelopes is sufficient for this recipe. You can also try replacing the gelatin with 1/2 cup of collagen peptides.
- Spices: Ginger cookies always include ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and either nutmeg or cloves. You can increase the ginger as much as you like. Some people like to double it in this recipe!
- Almond butter: I use almond butter in this recipe to increase the moisture and create a good thick cookie dough. You can use other nut butters, but peanut butter has a strong flavor and may overpower the spices.
- Swerve Brown: A brown sugar replacement adds more flavor to the cookies than granular white sweetener. I recommend Swerve Brown.
- Molasses: I add 2 teaspoons of real molasses to my cookies, for added color and flavor. You can omit this if you feel strongly about it, but it only adds about 0.5g of carbs per serving.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, butter, baking soda, vanilla extract.
Step by Step Directions
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, gelatin, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and cloves.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, almond butter and sweetener until smooth. Beat in the eggs, molasses, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the almond flour mixture and continue to beat until the dough comes together.
3. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and gently press down a bit (to encourage them to spread). Return to the oven and bake another 7 minutes or so, until just barely golden brown. They will still be very soft. Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Expert tips
Don’t press the cookies down from the start, when the dough is completely raw. This tends to make the edges crack. Allow the cookies to bake for 5 minutes first, to warm up the dough. Pressing down at this point helps them spread properly without making irregular, cracked edges.
Sweetener options: For best results, I recommend erythritol-based sweeteners. BochaSweet and allulose tend to make cookies more puffy and soft, rather than chewy. Allulose also browns very quickly during baking, which may make the cookies too dark.
Gelatin substitutes: You can omit the gelatin altogether, although the cookies will be less chewy. You can also add some collagen peptides, but you will need about half a cup to get the same chewiness. I am not sure that any vegetarian substitutes, like agar agar, will have the same effect. But you’re certainly welcome to experiment!
Frequently Asked Questions
These keto ginger cookies have 4.2g of carbs and 1.9g of fiber. That comes to 2.3g net carbs per serving of 2 cookies. And yes, that includes the molasses!
Adding gelatin goes along way to making keto cookies chewier. It is hygroscopic, meaning that it attracts and holds onto moisture during baking. This characteristic helps offset the lack of gluten and sugar in keto baked goods so that they don’t dry out as much.
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 the cookies for up to 2 months. The raw dough freezes nicely as well. Thaw completely before rolling into balls and baking as directed.
More ginger recipes you will enjoy
- Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake
- Easy Gingerbread Waffles
- Sugar Free Gingerbread Latte
- Mini Keto Gingerbread Cheesecakes
- Keto Gingerbread Biscotti
Keto Ginger Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (224 g) almond flour
- 2 tbsp grassfed gelatin
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) ground cloves
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (125 g) almond butter
- 1 cup (182 g) Swerve Brown
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp molasses, (optional)
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, gelatin, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, almond butter and sweetener until smooth. Beat in the eggs, molasses, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the almond flour mixture and continue to beat until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. You should get about 40 cookies.
- Bake 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and gently press down a bit (to encourage them to spread). Return to the oven and bake another 7 minutes or so, until just barely golden brown. They will still be very soft.
- Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Notes
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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Hi Carolyn, These look amazing, but I am vegetarian so the gelatine is a no no for me, Any ideas about substitutes please? Really mising that chewy cookie texture 🙁 Any advice gratefully received thanks x
It’s worth trying some sort of vegan gelatin replacement like agar agar. I don’t really know how those work.
I can’t find the recipe for these cookies. Help!
It’s not you. My site is having issues and we are trying to get it fixed ASAP.
HI there, do you add the gelatin right out of the can or do you liquify first?
Thanks,Michelle
As stated in the directions, just right out of the can.
I pre-ordered your cookbook and was so happy when it arrived! I just made the Spinach and Mushroom Gratin and it was the bomb!! I can’t wait to make more of these recipes – thank you so much for making Keto easier!
Glad to hear it, Mimi. I called that gratin a side dish but man…it could really be the whole meal!
These are the best keto cookies I’ve tried. Even my husband loves them and he doesn’t usually like keto backed goods. Thank you for another great recipe.
Not living in the US so other ingredients here. Could I use xilitol for sweetener and if so the same amount or not. And I really dislike geletine, can I substitute for agar agar, because that’s what I have and I don’t have use for geletine.
This is not a recipe for agar agar. Xylitol should work.
I’m searching for a paleo recipe to make chewy ginger cookies for my husband, who loves the ones from our local bakery Uprising Breads. These sound perfect . except for the almond flour. I’m allergic to almonds. do you have any suggestions for a non=nut substitute for almond flour?
Yes, sunflower seed flour is the best substitute.
Wondered if the serving size is one cookie? Wanted to watch the calories..
The recipe states the serving size right at the top.
So, is a serving one cookie? Serving size isn’t stated in the nutrition box.
Serving size is 2 cookies as stated in the recipe and in the nutrition facts
I think the confusion comes from the fact that at the top of the recipe it says:
Servings: 40 cookies
Calories: 157 kcal
But then at the bottom on the nutrition box it says:
Amount Per Serving (2 cookies)
Calories 157
It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that the recipe must make 40 cookies if rolled into 1” balls, and that 2 cookies per serving would be 1/20th of the recipe, not 1/40th.
It might be a little clearer if at the top it said:
makes 40 cookies
serving size: 2 cookies
Anyhow, enough nit-picking—I love your recipes and am ever so grateful for your generosity in sharing them! And you don’t HAVE to include any nutrition information, so I’m very appreciative of the fact that you do.
Unfortunately, my recipe plug-in doesn’t allow for that and so I have to put those numbers in the specified fields. But it is something I will take up with them…
Just made these! They taste often,however the all spread out together and are super thin. Not sure what I did wrong
Guess I should do spell check before I post. Lol. They taste great, but they spread out everywhere, almost runny.
These do not come out runny so either you mismeasured something or it could be your almond flour. What brand?
Thanks! When I’m at Dad’s making these, (he loves your ginger cookies!) they’re runny every time. When I make these at home they turn out perfect. It’s been driving me crazy. Must be the difference in brands of almond flour.
Maybe. I’ve never heard of them being runny. Does he live at elevation?
I never ate ginger cookies ‘before’ so made theses not expecting much. Was I wrong! These are very good…I ate one out of the oven and thought hmmm, it’s pretty good. But then, the next day, boy did they develop their flavour and I love the crisp on the outside. Thanks!
This might be a really dumb question but can I substitute powdered collagen for the gelatin?
You can…but you won’t get the same chewy result.
Sure but you wouldn’t get the same chewy quality.
Can i use peanut butter instead of almond here?
Yes, but expect a peanut flavour a bit. PB has much stronger flavour than almond butter.
Made these today and they are DELISH! Thank you for yet another amazing recipe! ?
These sound delicious and am anxious to try them! I need to use a different sweetener than Swerve. When I use it, the baked good tastes cool and not pleasant. Any suggestions for a substitute?
What do you prefer to use?
The people on low carb friends are raving about a new sweetener called Bochasweeet. Not erithritol based so supposedly doesn’t have that cooling effect. The only downside appears to be the cost.
What does it mean when you say “taste cool”?
the “cooling” effect is from the sugar alcohol dissolving in the mouth. This can happen with any sugar alcohol but typically erythritol is a common culprit. It’s described as cooling because you can sort of feel the alcohol dissolving away, which gives this cooling effect. Not everybody experiences this, and it’s in varying degrees. There are many different no-calorie sweeteners. Find what you like. I prefer blends like swerve, truvia and pyure, all have a little stevia with a good bit of erythritol. Read the labels carefully, though-some of those sweeteners still have sugar in them and are called “baking blend”. They use sugar as the base sweetener, and add stevia or other sugar subs to reduce the calories/carbs. They can still be used in low carb baking, but watch large quantities. Many people like to use monkfruit sweetener when they can’t do the cooling effects of erythritol.
These cookies have great flavor and amazing texture! Thank you for all you hard work creating these cookie recipes!
I made these yesterday, and halved the recipe. After cooling on the pan, I left them out overnight on a rack to help them get chewier and it worked well! These are delicious; I used Swerve confectioners, but I may try allulose next time!
Carolyn,
These are amazing! I am dairy free so used room temperature Ghee instead of butter and they are perfect!
THANK YOU! (yes, I AM shouting with joy!)