Keto Peanut Butter Blossoms will be the star of your holiday cookie tray. These soft low carb peanut butter cookies have a kiss of sugar free chocolate in the center, and taste just like the real deal!
In case you haven’t yet noticed, I am obsessed with making Keto Christmas Cookies. Every year, I look forward to the Christmas baking season with all the eagerness of a child awaiting the arrival of St. Nick.
I have recreated a lot of the classic holiday cookies, the cookies of our childhoods, the ones that bring that sense of nostalgia of Christmas Past. Things like Keto Gingerbread Men, Keto Shortbread Cookies, and the classic decorated Keto Sugar Cookies are fan favorites.
And these Keto Peanut Butter Blossoms have been on my website since 2013. But I recently gave them a little update and now they are better than ever!
Why this recipe is so awesome
Peanut Butter Blossoms were not something I grew up making and eating at Christmas. But once I moved to the US, they seemed to be on everyone’s holiday cooke tray. And seriously, what’s not to love about a big soft peanut butter cookie with a chocolate kiss in the center?
In this updated version, I’ve made the cookies even more tender and delicious. And I added a touch of peanut butter to the chocolate center. This makes it easier to melt and gives it great flavor.
As always, they are super easy and fun to make and taste just like the cookies of your childhood. Maybe even better, since you know they fit your healthy diet! With only xg net carbs per serving, you can enjoy them guilt-free.
Reader Reviews
“Just finished making these and they taste just like the ones my mom used to make every Christmas. Thank You, Carolyn for another great recipe.” — Debbie W.
“Peanut butter, you don’t have to tell me twice!! I’m right there with you Carolyn!! I made these, so good, will make the again & again.” — Alice
“Made this delicious peanut & chocolate recipe over the weekend! YUMMY!!! Thank you for a great recipe that is so easy & successful!!” — Dianna
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: One of the changes I made was to use more almond flour and less peanut flour. This results in a more tender cookie.
- Peanut flour: Adding peanut flour to cookie dough gives it more peanut flavor and the right consistency. Sometimes peanut flour is referred to as peanut butter powder. I really like the peanut flour from Hoosier Hill.
- Creamy peanut butter: Choose a sugar-free peanut butter to keep the carb count low. All natural peanut butters tend to separate, so blend it well before adding it to the cookie batter.
- Swerve Brown: A brown sugar replacement gives the cookies extra tenderness and flavor. Both the new and old formulas of Swerve Brown will work here.
- Sugar free dark chocolate: I like to use ChocZero or Lily’s.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
Step-by-step directions
1. Beat the peanut butter: In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter and butter until creamy. Beat in sweetener, and then beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients: Add the almond flour, peanut flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until the dough comes together.
3. Form the cookies: Form the dough into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Press down with the palm of your hand to about ½ inch thick.
4. Bake the cookies: Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and puffy, and just barely browned. Remove from the oven and use the back of a rounded teaspoon to form a well in the center of each cookie. Let cool completely.
5. Make the chocolate filling: In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth
6. Fill the cookies: Use a small spoon to dollop the chocolate in the wells of the cookies. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Expert tips
If your peanut butter is the kind with oil at the top, stir it well prior to measuring it out.
Don’t press the cookies down too much prior to baking. They do soften and spread a bit so just press them down to about ½ inch. And leave plenty of space between the cookie!
I tried a new approach with these Keto Peanut Butter Blossoms. Instead of making a well in each cookie prior to baking, I simply formed it after with a rounded teaspoon. Because these cookies are so soft when you take them out of the oven, it works perfectly.
For the kiss in the center, you want a thick chocolate mixture that holds its shape but doesn’t firm up to hard. I find that melting some sugar free chocolate with a few tablespoons of peanut butter has just the right consistency. I do this in the microwave but you could do it in a pan as well. Just keep the heat low and stir until melted and smooth.
Sweetener options
I prefer Swerve Brown in these, but you can substitute other sweeteners. Other brown sugar replacements and granular sweeteners should work nicely. You could even do a mix of granular sweetener with some stevia or monk fruit extract.
Do keep in mind that using primarily allulose may make the cookies brown a little faster so keep your eye on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not all peanut butter is created equal. Some of the commercial brands are highly processed and full of sugar and preservatives. But natural peanut butter that has no added sugar has only about 5 to 6 grams of carbs per 2 tablespoon serving. Most people find they can use it sparingly on a keto diet without issue.
This keto bagel recipe has 7.6g of carbs and 2.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 4.8g net carbs for two cookies.
This is a great make-ahead cookie recipe. You can make the cookies days or even weeks ahead. Store the finished cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days or in the freezer for several months. I recommend layering them between sheets of waxed paper.
More delicious holiday cookie recipes
Love low carb holiday cookies? Me too! Check out these fabulous recipes and consider grabbing a copy of my Holiday Cookies & Bars ebook!
- Keto Italian Ricotta Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti
- Keto Pecan Pie Cookies
- Keto Snowballs
Keto Peanut Blossoms Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup creamy natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Brown
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup peanut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Chocolate center
- 3 oz keto chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoon creamy natural peanut butter
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and line a large baking sheet with silicone liners or parchment paper. Use two sheets if your pans are smaller – you don't want to crowd the cookies.
- In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter and butter until creamy. Beat in sweetener, and then beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the almond flour, peanut flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until the dough comes together.
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Press down with the palm of your hand to about ½ inch thick.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and puffy, and just barely browned. Remove from the oven and use the back of a rounded teaspoon to form a well in the center of each cookie. Let cool completely.
Chocolate Center
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.
- Use a small spoon to dollop the chocolate in the wells of the cookies. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Amy says
HOLY SCHNIKEYS.
These are sooooo good. I followed the recipe to the letter, but only baked them for 13 minutes. I’m delighted to find a recipe that is substantially lower in carbs and sugars but tases JUST AS GOOD. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Sharon says
I made these for an intense springtime peanut butter chocolate craving. I halved the recipe as suggested for personal consumption, used half brown Swerve/half regular granulated Swerve, reduced the peanut flour to a half cup for the half batch and also reduced the cooking time by a few minutes. Just ridiculously amazing. Crave buster.
Paula says
Can you freeze the raw dough to make later? Since it’s such a big batch? If so for how long will it last and any tips before freezing?
Carolyn says
Yes you totally can! I have. Or you can do a half batch. Wrap it up tightly to freeze and then just thaw to room temp.
Melissa says
I’m so glad that I found your blog. We have absolutely loved many of your recipes and I’m sure we’ll love many more! Thank you for all you do.
That being said, like some other reviewers when I followed this recipe my cookies came out dry- like boxed pecan sandy dry. When I reduced baking time they were still dry and not very peanut buttery. Do you weigh or volume measure? Just trying to figure out what went wrong as your recipes are always great! Maybe that I had a different brand of peanut flour?
For anyone who struggled like me. I made a second batch where I weighed instead of volume measured. I added 3tsp unflavored gelatin a small amount (didn’t measure sorry) of peanut oil (wondering if my peanut butter or peanut flour was dryer) and reduced cooking time to 12 min. I also made the “kiss” gnocche with 3/4 dark Lilly’s and 1/4 milk chocolate Lilly’s. These came out like the peanut butter cookies of my youth and my household quickly became obsessed.
Carolyn says
You know, this recipe actually works as is and I have made it multiple times because my kids love it. Previous reviewers sometimes found it dry so I re-worked the recipe a few years ago and posted that. Since then, yours is the only review that has found them dry. So something is amiss on your end, although it’s very hard to say what. Can I ask what brand of peanut flour you are using?
What really strikes me as strange is that you say they weren’t very peanut buttery, but you used peanut flour, which should make them MORE so, not less. So I am stumped.
Debbie Whitley says
Just finished making these and they taste just like the ones my mom used to make every Christmas. Thank You, Carolyn for another great recipe.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Kelly says
Im curious about the chocolate… does it set up firm, similar to a Hershey kiss? And stay firm at real I’m temp? I ask, because I purchased large kiss silicone molds to use with this recipe. I could just use straight up Lilly’s chips, but feel like those would almost be too hard.
Carolyn says
It firms up quite a bit but not quite as hard as a Hershey’s kiss. It’s more like a thick chocolate glaze on a cake that firms up. They are fine at room temp unless it’s hot. I’ve given them away to friends and had no issues.
Kelly says
Awesome. Thanks for the response. I’m going to try them in the mold today and let you know how it goes! I’m in the Midwest, so heat is not an issue this time of the year ;). Your site and cook books art my go-to. Consistently reliable recipes, which is not necessarily easy to come by in the keto world. Thank you for your hard work. It is people like you that make this WOE sustainable long term — Game changer. Have a great holiday!
Carolyn says
Thank you! I actually just got those molds to try out but I am going to do my blossoms this way for right now…
Mary says
Peanut flour! I’ve never heard of it before. Will have to do some research. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find it on Amazon since we live in the boonies. My husband will be delighted if we can get it.
Carolyn says
it’s available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2R64OGK
Thelma says
Can I substitute pb2 for peanut flour ?
Carolyn says
I’ve never tried it myself but other readers say you can.
solange tremblay says
can you substitute peanut butter flour for peanut butter powder and what would be the quantity for this recipe ?
thks
Carolyn says
The same amount.
Stacy says
Can you use PB fit as the peanut flour?
Carolyn says
Readers have tried it and said it works well.
Michelle Marcotte says
Hi, Your comment that you freeze your Christmas cookies has me intrigued. I thought that because the cookies don’t have wheat flour they might not freeze well. So, I am doing a baking blitz of several of your cookies on the 23rd to have them ready. But my life would be easier if they did freeze well!. Have you tried freezing Nanaimo bars, Gingerbread cake, pecan toffee bars and butter pecan cookies??
Carolyn says
Wheat flour has nothing to do with whether or not something freezes well. The butter pecan cookies and toffee bars both freeze well. So will the Gingerbread cake except frost it AFTER you thaw it. I worry that the filing of the Nanaimo bars will change in the freezer.
Marisa says
These are best keto recipe I have made so far! Thanks for the recipe.
Carolyn says
So glad you like them!
Maria says
Hi Carolyn,
I am dying to try this recipe but I do not have peanut flour. Can I use more almond flour and also increase the amount of pb? Would this change the recipe too much?
Carolyn says
Almond flour is higher in fat and not as fine. You can try a combo of almond and coconut flour but I just can’t really guide you since I haven’t tried it myself.
Amy says
Do you think I could make my own peanut flour first by processing roasted, salted peanuts in a food processor? I have made peanut butter this way, but maybe the flour would not be fine enough?
Carolyn says
No you can’t, not just because of the fine-ness but because the flour is “defatted” which means about 50% of the fat has been removed. It’s part of what makes it so powdery and dry.
Amy says
Ok thanks!
Becky Hardin says
Peanut Butter Blossoms are the best! A must make at Christmas time.
Anna says
Loving this low-carb version of our favorite cookie! I need to make a new batch soon!
Erin says
Such a classic cookie and has been my favorite for years! Love this low carb version.
Kara says
These are a favorite cookie at my house. Thanks for coming up with a healthier version!
Sommer says
I can’t believe these are low carb… They’re SO delicious!!
Tory says
Omigod, how did I ever miss your Mincemeat Tarts????? Probably because I didn’t find you til maybe 2014? Anyway, mincemeat is one of my favorite things (along with Fig Pudding)… I used to make it from scratch (complete with suet) and eventually developed a favorite with green tomatoes!
Needless to say I’ll be starting on dried cranberries this very week in order to make this a VERY special Christmas.
Thank you, Carolyn!!
Carolyn says
Enjoy!