[simple-recipe]This low carb skillet gingerbread cookie is packed with sugar-free chocolate chips and makes for the best holiday comfort food dessert!
Turns out it rains a lot here in Portland, Oregon. Of course, I knew this going into the move so it’s not like some big surprise. And I thought I was mentally prepared for this kind of winter weather. After all, I did live in Vancouver, BC for 4 years and I never had a problem with all the oodles and oodles of precipitation. But back then I was a university student, free and unencumbered. I could always curl up with a book and a cup of coffee if the weather was dreary and the only person I had to haul to and from school was myself. Back then, I eschewed using umbrellas. I hated the way they blustered about with the wind and constantly threatened to turn inside out, and I preferred turning up for class looking like a drowned rat. I could always go home and grab a hot shower or make a hot drink if I got chilled through. I had no little ones to get increasingly stir-crazy from being inside; I had no one else to entertain but myself so it really didn’t bother me. I daresay I rather liked it.
But it’s a whole different ballgame when small children are on scene. I think we’re managing quite well, but the rain can put a bit of a damper on things. We have to be creative with our time on the rainy weekend days. Thankfully, Portland appears to be pretty well equipped for parents – there are numerous indoor play spaces and children’s events and we are determined to avail ourselves of them all. And when it is dry, I practically push my children outside as fast as possible to get them moving around. This past weekend, on a dry, sunny but chilly day, we hit the Portland Saturday Market to stroll among the stalls full of crafts and handmade items. It was quite fun and will be high on my list for dry days.
All this wet cold can get you feeling chilled through and craving some serious comfort food. And what’s more comforting than an ooey-gooey freshly baked chocolate chip cookie? But it’s a week from Christmas today (Oh My God, Christmas is only one week away???) and in light of the impending holidays, chocolate chip cookies seem ho-hum. Okay, chocolate chip cookies NEVER seem ho-hum, but surely we can shake it up a little and put a more festive spin on them?
Voila! Add some ginger and other warming spices, bake it in a skillet and you’ve got yourself a holiday comfort food treat! This low carb skillet gingerbread cookie is packed with chocolate chips and is absolutely divine with some whipped cream or ice cream. It’s bound to get you in the holiday spirit no matter what the weather is doing.

This low carb skillet gingerbread cookie is packed with sugar-free chocolate chips and makes for the best holiday comfort food dessert!
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger (more if you like it extra gingery)
- 1 1/2 tsp dark cocoa powder (optional b,ut gives it a deeper colour)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup coconut oil softened
- 1/2 cup Swerve Brown
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
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Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 10 inch oven-proof skillet (you can also do this in a glass or ceramic pie pan, although you won't get the nice crispy edge quite as much).
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, ginger, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter and coconut oil together until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until lighter and fluffy.
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Beat in egg, molasses if using and vanilla extract until well combined. Beat in almond flour mixture until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
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Spread dough in prepared skillet and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown around edges. Cookie will be puffed but not completely set. It will continue to firm up as it cools.
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Let cool at least 15 minutes, then slice and serve (when it is still warm, it won't come out in proper pieces, you need to let it fully cool for that).
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Top with low carb ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Skillet Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
DessertForTwo says
I, too, rocked the drowned rat look in college. It was not my finest moment. I’m glad you’re getting settled into Portland 🙂 Did you know Minimalist Baker lives there? They just moved there a few months ago.
Carrie says
A great place to take kids that is indoors, warm and dry is OMSI. Well worth checking out! (We took our kids there A LOT when they were younger!)
Carolyn says
Funny, but someone just gave us a gift membership to OMSI!
janet says
Oh, this sounds like another of your really fab. desserts, think I may try it tonight. I have been working on making a old family tradition, Lime Madeleines, low carb. it has taken me awhile but with help from using your recipes I think I have it perfected.
What you ( your kids) are gonna need are some bright colored raincoats (Macs) and flashy rubber boots (Wellies). They will still get wet but it just seems to be fun if the neighbors can see them coming from a block away. Yeah puddles!!
Carolyn says
We gave them rain boots and jackets as a “moving” present.
Tarryn says
I just couldn’t wait! As soon as I saw the word ‘gingerbread’, I got out my skillet; it’s baking as we speak, and smells delicious 🙂
Tarryn says
Ohhh my gosh, it tastes delicious! Thank you, this is a wonderful recipe!
Carolyn says
Wow, that was fast! Thanks for the feedback.
Amanda says
This looks wonderful! So rich and delicious!!!
janet says
Ok this recipe is the bomb! Abso delicious, ate way to much of it!!
Rachel says
Made it, loved it! Picky boyfriend says “not a fan of chocolate mixed with gingerbread.” So I took the rest to work, where it received high praise. Do you think I could use this to make a crust for the brownie cheesecake? That sounds yum, too.
Carolyn says
Sure, it would make a great crust for cheesecake!
Daniel says
Hey there,
First off, this looked really, really good!
However, this was my first attempt at low-carb, gluten-free baking (I can bake other things just fine!), and it went awfully haha. I followed the recipe exactly as it’s written, save for molasses – I didn’t have that, so I didn’t add it. Once I mixed all of the dry ingredients with the wet ones, it was overtaken by the dry goods, creating a slightly damper 2+ cups of dry goods. I thought maybe because there wasn’t enough binding agents due to lack of molasses, so I added a second egg. Still, nothing.
I put it in the skillet anyway, packed it all down so it LOOKED like a dough, then I baked it as per instructions… and it came out looking fine (it never puffed), but after letting it cool for a good while, I went to cut it and…. dry. It was just a warmer version of the dry powder I put in the oven.
Why was it so powdery for me? Advice?
Daniel says
Scratch everything I said – I used coconut flour instead of almond flour, completely mindlessly. After doing some Googling, I find out just how terrible of a mistake I’ve made.
Carolyn says
There seem to be two of you who had this problem and you’re both writing about it…I assume you are together?
Daniel says
100% correct
Rachel says
Yes, he wrote first and I didn’t realize he had because I didn’t know there was an approval delay in posts until after I posted mine. Sorry about that!! Going to go write a good review on your tiger butter now.
Rachel says
Not sure what happened as we followed the recipe exactly, except for the molasses – but it was super crumbly and couldn’t really be cut into slices, just broke down into crumbs. We ended up eating it with a spoon because the flavor was still good. (And yes, we did let it cool.) I wonder if the molasses is more important than we thought?
Rachel says
Never mind… mystery solved. Thought we followed the recipe exactly, but accidentally used coconut flour instead of almond flour. Ooooops.
Sjanette Vd Sluijs Lodder says
Hi Carolyn, where I live (The Netherlands) we’re not familiar with the taste of gingerbread cake/cookie. Can I compare it with Speculaas / Speculoos?
Carolyn says
Yes, sort of. It’s more gingery, with a stronger “bite” than Speculoos.
Sjanette Vd Sluijs Lodder says
Thank you !!
Sarah says
At what point do you add the dry ingredients? You never mention when to add them after they’ve been whisked in step 2. :/ sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it so I hope you’re able to let us know soon! Thank you!
Carolyn says
Thanks for the heads up, I just fixed it.
Tammie says
Made this the other night. It was great! I finally killed off the rest of it this afternoon – think I may need to make it again.
Christina says
So excited to try this! Have you ever scooped the batter and made regular looking cookies? We traditionally give cookies to our neighbors every Christmas, but I have a neighbor who is diabetic. Would be awesome to make these for her….and keep some here too.
Carolyn says
You can totally do that but you want to flatten them a bit with the heel of your hand before baking.
Katerina @ diethood .com says
Oh MY!! Such a fantastic dessert!! I have to try this asap!
Taylor says
This is such a fun treat for the holidays! Love that delicious spiced flavor!
Aimee says
So yummy! I love the combination of the gingerbread with chocolate! Makes my kitchen smell all sorts of amazing!
Erin says
This is a must make for sure – LOVE the gingerbread flavor for the holidays.
Lori says
Fantastic holiday cookie recipe!
Tedi says
Has anyone tried this recipe without chocolate chips? If so, how did it turn out and what is it’s revised Nutrient Analyses? That being said, what Recipe Nutrient Analyses program do you recommend? I could figure the revised nutrients myself if I had one. 😃
Katherine says
I want to try this with the molasses, but I don’t see the amount anywhere. How much molasses should I use? Do I need to adjust any other ingredients when adding molasses?
Carolyn says
Well I changed the recipe to reflect the new Swerve Brown Sweetener but if you want to use granulated sweetener and molasses, use only about 2 tsp molasses and the regular 1/2 cup sweetener.
Renee says
My husband loves gingerbread and gave this recipe a 100%. I did make a few changes though (don’t hate me). I left out the chocolate and added extra spices to better suit our personal tastes. I also ended up not having the right size skillet/dish and took the chance of cramming it in a slightly smaller dish. It cake out more cake-like so that was fine too. I also think it’s better a little underdone as it becomes a bit crumbly otherwise.