Keto thumbprint cookies are tender almond flour shortbread cookies with a center of sugar-free keto raspberry jam. They are the perfect addition to your keto Christmas cookie platter, and a delicious keto dessert for any occasion.
Only 3.2g net carbs per serving!
Make no mistake, my dears, these are the original keto thumbprint cookies. I created this recipe back in 2015 for a friend’s 40th birthday party — I’ve always loved making treats for friends’ birthday.
But these cookies are fabulous for any occasion. They’re easy to make and that red raspberry center is so luscious and festive. And they’re pretty and elegant too!
And I’ve given the whole recipe an update, making it easier and even lower in carbs. How wonderful is that?
Keto Jam Thumbprints
The original recipe for the keto thumbprint cookies used my Sugar-Free Chia Seed Jam for the raspberry center. They are delicious that way and you can certainly still make them like that.
But many people don’t care for chia, either for the texture or for its estrogenic properties. It also made the filling quite dark.
When I was writing The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking, I hit upon a new way to make a sugar-free jam filling. I used a little grassfed gelatin to firm it up and give it a jam-like consistency.
So I decided to update this recipe and put my new filling to the test. It works like a charm!
Ingredients for keto jam thumbprints
This keto cookie recipe only takes a handful of basic ingredients:
- Almond flour – always use finely ground for cookies, as it gives them the best consistency.
- Butter – make sure it’s well softened so that it combines well with the sweetener.
- Sweetener – I recommend Swerve or another erythritol based sweetener for the best cookies.
- Egg – make sure it’s room temperature so your butter doesn’t clump up!
- Baking powder
- Almond or vanilla extract
- Raspberries – you can use fresh or frozen.
- Gelatin – I always recommend good grassfed gelatin like Great Lakes.
How to make keto thumbprint cookies
The process is so simple and results in deliciously tender, sweet cookies with the sweet tart tang of raspberry jam. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Line your baking sheet. I prefer silicone liners as they protect the bottom of the cookies better from over-browning.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. Break up any clumps in the almond flour.
- Beat the butter with the sweetener. The butter should be well softened, to the point where you can leave an indent easily with your finger. If it’s not, give it a few seconds in the microwave.
- Make sure your egg is room temperature. I always recommend this as it prevents the butter from clumping up again.
- Shape the cookies. You can use either your thumb or the back of a round teaspoon to make wells in the center.
- Bake until golden. You will need to reshape the wells a bit as the cookies puff up during baking.
- Prepare the keto jam. You simply need to boil the berries, add sweetener, and a bit of gelatin to help the filling thicken.
- Cool the filling. You want it thicker, so it doesn’t bleed into the cookies, but not so thick that it’s completely gelled.
- Spoon into the cookies. About half a teaspoon is perfect to fill the well of each thumbprint.
- Let them set. Give them an hour or so before digging in, so that the filling becomes the consistency of jam. But I won’t blame you for digging in early… I certainly did!
Frequently Asked Questions
No, I am afraid not. This cookie recipe would be disastrous and tasteless with coconut flour. You could try sunflower seed flour but the color will be quite different. You will also need to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the dough, to offset the funny green reaction between sunflower seeds and the baking powder.
I highly recommend an erythritol based sweetener for the cookies, for the right consistency. Allulose or BochaSweet will make the cookies very soft and more cake-like. But they should work in the raspberry jam filling well enough.
That works too! Simply swap out the butter for softened coconut oil.
You can, but Knox needs to be bloomed properly first, and you will need less of it. I suggest sprinkling 1 teaspoon (about half an envelope) over 1/4 cup of water. Once it gels, add it to the hot raspberry mixture and whisk until dissolved.
You can try other keto thickeners, although I cannot guarantee the results. I recommend using glucomannan over xanthan gum, for a better consistency. Half a teaspoon should be enough.
More delicious keto raspberry recipes
- Keto Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Sugar-Free Raspberry Sorbet
- White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Jelly Donut Bites
- Raspberry Lemonade Smoothies
Keto Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ¼ cups (252 g) almond flour
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) baking powder
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- ½ cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- ½ cup (91 g) granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) almond extract
- additional powdered Swerve, for sprinkling
Filling
- 1 cup (120 g) raspberries, (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 ½ tsp (1.5 tsp) grassfed gelatin
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy. Beat in the egg and almond extract. Beat in the almond flour mixture until the dough comes together.
- Form the dough into scant 1 inch balls and place two inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Press each ball down to about 1/2 inch high. Using your thumb or a teaspoon, press an indentation into the center of each cookie.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are just golden. Remove from the oven and let cool a few minutes, then gently redefine the well in the center of each cookie, as they will have puffed up a bit.
- Let cool completely on the pan, and then dust lightly with powdered sweetener.
Filling
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the berries and the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 5 minutes, until the berries are soft enough to mash with a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the sweetener and gelatin and let cool until thickened but not gelled, about 20 minutes. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the filling into the well of each cookie and let set 1 hour, until firm.
Video
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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I was looking for a cream cheese cookie made with almond meal instead of Carbquik. I just subbed out the 1/2 cup of butter for 4 ounces of cream cheese. Did the whole thing in the food processor. yummm
Before diabetes, baking a variety of thumbprints was one of my favorites at Christmas. With all the different jams, jellies and Hershey’s kisses, they made a beautiful cookie platter.
I made a double recipe of your thumbprints today using Smucker’s Sugar Free Apricot, Sugar Free Strawberry and Lilly’s sugar free chocolate chips – and they are wonderful – I’m back in business!
FYI – I put the chocolate chips in the depression as soon as they came out of the oven, rather than baking with the chips in place. It takes a while for them to cool, but worth it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sounds wonderful!
I decided to make these as part of my holiday baking this year because the regular version used to be my favorite. These absolutely did not disappoint! They have amazing flavor just like the original. Nobody could tell they were low carb and gluten free. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad to hear it, Sarah!
I made these this past week without the glaze. It’s the rainy season right now, and they were pretty soft after just a couple of days even in an airtight container, so I decided to ‘dehydrate’ them. I put them on a cooling rack as my pan in the oven at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes. They came out crunchy like a store bought cookie, which I really liked. And the filling (I made the chia jam) was almost candied. Yum!
Mmmmmmm, like! like! like! Very Very nice!!
I made these cookies – my husband loves them so much, I’m making a double batch today! And all my non-low carb friends loved it, too. 😛 I cheated and used sugar free raspberry jam (I am lazy) and it was just fabulous. Thank you for this recipe. Making the low carb lifestyle change is easy with recipes like this in your arsenal.
I’m not sure if I messed up something in the recipe but these did not really hold together as I had hoped. The dough was very gooey, maybe I should have added more almond flour. The cookies expanded and rose a lot and then once cool the jam fell out of the middle of some of them. Still Amazing flavor, love almond and raspberry together (I cheated and just used raspberry jelly) and will make again, just not sure about the consistency. also had to cook quite a bit longer than recommended time, more like 20 minutes, but I am high altitude (Denver).
Hmmm, I guess it could be the altitude. Also, tell me what brands of almond flour and sweetener you used? If you do make them again, try adding a tbsp or two of coconut flour. That’s better than almond, in this case, it helps stiffen the dough.
I used Anthony’s almond flour and regular confectioners sugar, I didn’t have the swerve one. Next time I will add a dash of coconut flour! Still delish none the less!
Okay, could be the real sugar, because it is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts moisture, whereas erythritol (Swerve) is non-hygroscopic. That would have a significant impact on your dough!
wow these cookies look so wonderful.. I am imagining them on an etagere for my next coffee table. Lovely!
Thumbprint cookies are just always so delicious! I love that you made these a lightened up version.. a recipe I have to try!
These cookies were so good! I didn’t make the glaze…but we still loved them. Thanks
How would you recomend storing these cookies? They became quite soft in a ziplock bag.
Covered container.
I want one right now; your photos, Carolyn, are gorgeous!!!!
I’m enjoying checking out the Healthy Aperture and Recipe Redux links! Thanks 🙂
Carolyn, I’m humbled. Seriously. Thank you and everyone who is throwing me this party today. I had no clue, and I couldn’t be more touched!! It’s been my honor to get to know you, learn from you and all your sugar-free brilliance. My holidays were even tastier this year thanks to many of your creations 🙂 Thank you!!
Happy birthday, my friend!
These cookies are so pretty and will go on my list of new treats to make. I’ve wanted to experiment more with almond flour. Do you make your own or buy it already ground? I think Trader Joe’s sells almond flour, right?
I can not judge, I too am a selfish baker and sometimes I even make a test batch because you wouldn’t want your “friend” to be disappointed right?!?!
These look delish can’t wait to try them…any fav recipes you could recommend to use up that leftover egg white? Besides that one I’ve got a container of egg whites I bought for a recipe I have since lost track of OOPS!
Hang tight! I made my husband’s birthday cake with egg whites and it should be coming out next week!
How nice of you to make these cookies for your friends virtual party! They look amazing and I’m sure she is going to love the recipe!