These tender low carb shortbread thumbprints are filled with creamy sugar-free caramel and drizzled with chocolate. Better than a Twix candy bar and healthier too! What a fabulous keto treat.
Wow, do you realize that this is the first low carb cookie recipe of 2016? The first low carb cookie recipe from me, I mean. Not sure why that is, given that we are almost one quarter through the year already. I appear to have been focusing much more on cakes so far this year. And cauliflower. And, strangely, chicken. But no cookies. That just doesn’t seem right, does it? Cookies should be a mainstay in everyone’s life. So I am correcting this grave mistake as best I can, with a seriously good low carb cookie recipe that everyone will love.
I could easily have called these chocolate caramel thumbprints. Or caramel shortbread thumbprints. Or caramel chocolate shortbread thumbprints. But I figured the reference to Twix chocolate bars would get the point across in fewer words. A soft shortbread-like base filled with caramel and drizzled with chocolate…sounds like a Twix to me!
So here it is, friends. My low carb cookie comeback. And what a cookie it is! These were so fun to make and I think it goes without saying that they were a huge hit. They were gone within two days and my kids have been clamouring for me to make them again. I am more than happy to oblige.
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Half a recipe of Low Carb Caramel Sauce feel free to make a whole recipe and save the rest for another use! It's delicious over ice cream
- 1 1/2 ounces Lily's Sugar-Free Milk Chocolate can use dark if you prefer
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Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour and baking powder.
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In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until well combined and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Beat in almond flour mixture until well incorporated.
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Form dough into scant 1 inch balls and place two inches apart on prepared baking sheet. You will get 24 to 28 cookies. Press each ball down to about 1/2 inch high. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each cookie.
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Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until just barely browning around the edges (They will still be very soft but will continue to firm up as they cool). Gently reform center well with your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon while cookies are still warm. Let cool completely.
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Once cool, make caramel sauce. Let cool a few minutes so that it's not too liquidy, then spoon into the well of each cookie until full. Let set a few minutes.
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For the chocolate drizzle, place chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cook on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
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Spoon chocolate into a small ziploc bag and snip off the very tip of one corner. Drizzle over cookies and let set 20 minutes.
Recipe Video
Serves 12. Each serving has 3.54 g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 236kcal
Total fat: 21.68g
Calories from fat: 195
Cholesterol: 47mg
Carbohydrate: 6.60g
Total dietary fiber: 3.06g
Protein: 4.60g
Carolyn says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. My son has severe nut allergies. I wonder if you might have a suggestion for a replacement for the almond flour.
Carolyn says
You can try sunflower seed flour but it will have a very different taste.
Lynn says
Can’t wait to try TODAY! I am so grateful for the well written directions you give for your recipes.
Becky Gardiner says
Today is my birthday and this is a wonderful present! Twix bars were my “go to” late-night study snack in college way back when. Can’t wait to make these! I’m typing this as I enjoy a piece of your chocolate zucchini bundt cake. Thank you for these fabulous recipes. You have made having to eat low carb a pleasure instead of a burden!
Carolyn says
You are most welcome and happy birthday!
Mrs Babyhead says
My six year old is demanding we make these. She’s my sous chef in the kitchen. Everyone at our house are huge fans of your recipes. 🙂
Sara Joy says
Oh lord. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
Pam says
Oh, I have to make these. Waiting for the xanthan gum to come in the mail. Can’t wait to make your Low Carb Carmel Sauce. I love how you present your recipes! You make me smile when I read your presentation. You are amazing!! Thank you!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Pam!
Deidre says
Great recipe! I thought it was a winner once I saw that it used your LC caramel sauce – I’ve made and used that before and it was loved by all. I made these cookies this afternoon and my family LOVED them! Great cookie to bring to Easter!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them!
Tina says
Can you use the THM baking blend?
Kittie says
Help! These look fantastic and I’d like to make them BUT…These are suppose to be LOW CARB right? But the macro says 47 carbs with just under 7 fiber. I’m obviously missing something…is that for the whole recipe or???? I’m confused.
Kittie says
Oh I read that wrong….sheez brain dead I am! Thanks gonna make these…..
Elle says
These cookies look awesome and my daughter and I are making a batch right now. I was wondering though, do you know what they would be considered on a Trim Healthy Mama plan? We are new to the plan and not sure how everything works yet. Thanks.
Carolyn says
They would be an S. Almost everything I made is an S 🙂
Kay says
My favorite was always the PB Twix. Wondering how these would be with a PB filling instead of the carmel…..?
Becky says
Where did you find low carb caramel? also how many gram sugar?
Carolyn says
I didn’t find it, I made it. Click through to my recipe and you will have all the info you need!
Becky says
Ok thank you, I’m new to your site.
Ash says
Making now, why is my dough so crumbly? I can’t form the balls 🙁
Carolyn says
What brand of almond flour are you using?
Stephanie Deal says
Oh my gosh — these are absolutely wonderful cookies and really quite easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly!! I am amazed at how delicious these are and even my non-low carb friends loved them!!! Thanks for sharing and keep all these fabulous recipes coming!!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Jenna says
DELICIOUS!!! I have made these several times and they are amazing! I melted Lily’s Seasalt Almond Milk chocolate bar and instead of drizzling, I mound some over the caramel part, just enough to cover caramel and then let harden. Not only do you get that nice crunch of a chocolate bar (with the softer caramel inside), but they hold up well in transport amd freezing!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You are a miracle worker! ? ?
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Hope says
I made these yesterday for a gathering– devoured!
Donna Wolf says
Make half the sauce? LOL You are so funny! I was thinking of doubling the sauce and just eating the leftover with a spoon! Your caramel sauce is incredible and super easy to make. I will definitely make these cookies and I promise not to eat the caramel in one sitting.
Dana says
I probably shouldn’t have started my holiday baking with this recipe. These cookies will never make it to Christmas! So good! The shortbread alone is yummy, but the caramel and chocolate take it to a whole new level. Thanks for another great recipe! Happy Holidays!
Carolyn says
Glad you like them!
Debbie says
Do you know what the carb count is just for the cookies with no sauces?
Carolyn says
No, sorry, but you can enter the ingredients into my fitness pal and find out.
Low Carb with Jennifer says
Hi! I featured this recipe in my post 15 Low Carb Desserts that are Absolutely Delicious! https://jenniferbanz.com/15-low-carb-desserts
Angela Weitzel says
Hi there,
First of all let me say thank you for all the wonderful recipes you come up with to make Living low carb so easy. My question is: is the almond flour in the recipe almond meal? Ground blanched almonds are easy to come by in Germany, but that special sort of almond flour you get from dehydrated almonds is harder to get here. Thanks again for all those great recipes.
Angela Weitzel
Carolyn says
Hi Angela… In the US, it’s all technically “almond meal” because it’s not dehydrated at all. It’s just really finely ground almonds. But you want REALLY finely ground. Most of us distinguish between almond meal, which isn’t very fine, and almond flour, which is quite fine. Hope that helps!
Angela Weitzel says
Thanks so much Carolyn, this actually helped me a great deal. Now I know what to buy, I definately want to bake these. They look so tasty and would be a real treat for my hubby who has a giant sweet tooth. Have a great weekend and Thanks again for your quick reply.
Angela
Leigh says
These are delicious! Thanks for developing this recipe. It will help me to avoid hitting the vending machine at work for my favorite Twix bars!
Lisa says
So when it says as served 1 cookie is a serving right?
Carolyn says
No, if you scroll to the bottom you will see the serving size and all of the nutritional info.
Amy says
I think you just save my Christmas! Diagnosed with GD a month ago, so I’m new to all this; but I tried your orange chocolate swirl bread and was so relieved to find out… it’s good! I’d been sad about Christmas coming up and needing to avoid all our traditional sweets, and our favorite tradition is thumbprint jam cookies, and now here’s this! I’m thinking I’ll just use sugar-free jam of some sort and see what happens. Thanks so much for all of this.
Carolyn says
Sounds like a good plan. And sorry about the GD but I’ve been there so I feel for you. You CAN do this.
Amy says
Thanks, Carolyn. As you must know, that’s exactly what I need to hear right now. 🙂
Jane says
Thank you for developing this recipe!
I didn’t have swerve so my first caramel batch was 4 T equal and 4T xylitol. It was very sweet, pale in colour and tasted more like sweetened condensed milk so I went to the store, bought molasses and swerve.
Made a second batch, 1T molasses and 4T swerve and it ended up being as sweet as I like.
After, I threw both batches together and it tastes like butter tart filling. I likely will never be able to accurately replicate the Frankenstein I made, but I’ll follow yours (mostly), next time 🙂
Carolyn says
Good to know!
Donna says
Wow!!! The caramel sauce is UN BEE LIEVABLE!!!!
My chocolate got too hot in the microwave so I put the chocolate in my ninja & sprinkled over the top. These are sooooo good!!!
Suzy says
Oh my goodness! What a treat! Gonna save this to try
Lindsay Cotter says
These are EVERYTHING!! Seriously drooling over these!
Jennifer Blake says
These go down so easy! Twix is one of my very favorite candies!
Erin says
Twix is one of my favorite candy bars – I love this cookie version!
Jacinta Moran-Dunn says
Is there a coconut flour substitute?
Shannon says
Finally tried making these yesterday! They are AMAZING! However mine didn’t turn out as pretty as yours 😂. For some reason the shortbread really flattened out when I cooked it. I’m wondering if freezing it before baking or a little more almond flour would help next time? The dough was sticky but rollable. What was the consistency when you rolled yours? I am definitely making these again and want a better well for the caramel sauce next time, it’s so good. Thank you for sharing!
Carolyn says
It shouldn’t be sticky. Different brands of almond flour or your butter being TOO soft can be an issue, so do a touch more almond flour next time.
Sue Blair says
I too am allergic to nuts, my goto flours are: Nutiva Organic Superseed Mix of -Flax, Chia, hemp, and coconut, or Coconut flour, or Sunflower Seed flour.
Jennifer says
I made these last night and they turned out great. I was able to get 30 cookies with lots of caramel sauce left over. I only had Golden Monkfruit on hand and used it for the entire recipe. Great recipe and easy to make.
Verna says
Delicious! I added toasted pecan halves in the caramel middle. Will be making these very often! Thanks for an awesome recipe. (as always)!
Xenia says
Is there any substitutes for butter if I want to make it low-fat? Yogurt or oil perhaps?
Carolyn says
Um… your crust won’t be crisp at all with those subs and your caramel sauce will be… I don’t know but I don’t think it will be very good.