Keto Chocolate Cookie Dough Recipe: A Sweet Treat Without the Guilt

Craving a sweet treat but trying to stick to a keto diet? These easy and delicious edible keto chocolate cookie dough recipes are the perfect solution. They come together quickly and are great to keep on hand when you’re craving something sweet. This article will guide you through various keto-friendly cookie dough recipes, highlighting key ingredients, substitutions, and tips for the best results.

Why Keto Cookie Dough?

Traditional cookie dough is off-limits on a ketogenic diet due to its high sugar and carbohydrate content. However, with a few clever ingredient swaps, you can enjoy the taste and texture of cookie dough without derailing your diet. Keto cookie dough recipes replace traditional flour with almond flour or coconut flour and use sugar-free sweeteners like Swerve or erythritol.

Key Ingredients and Their Substitutions

Flour Alternatives

• Almond Flour: Super-fine almond flour from blanched whole almonds is a popular choice for keto baking. It's low in carbs and adds a slightly nutty flavor. A brand that is always trustworthy is King Arthur Baking. It is safe to consume raw, unlike wheat flour, which needs to be treated prior to consuming.
• Coconut Flour: Another keto-friendly option, coconut flour is highly absorbent and requires more liquid in recipes. It cannot be substituted 1:1 with almond flour.
• Cacao Powder: Fermented raw cacao powder can act as a "flour" replacement, especially in double chocolate cookie dough recipes.

Note: Coconut flour and almond flour are completely two different flours with different water absorption levels. It makes it impossible to swap one with another without changing the rest of the recipe.

Sweeteners

• Swerve: A popular sugar replacement that comes in granular and brown sugar varieties. This recipe uses Swerve brown sugar replacement.
• Erythritol: Another keto-friendly sweetener that can be used in place of sugar.
• Lakanto: A granulated sweetener that substitutes cup for cup like sugar.
• Dietz Sweet: A DIY blend of erythritol and stevia that substitutes cup for cup like sugar.
• Sugar-Free Maple Syrup: Used to bind the dry ingredients in some recipes.

Fats

• Butter: Salted butter; softened (not melted). I prefer a higher quality butter such as Kerrygold since it’s a key ingredient.
• Coconut Oil: Adds a buttery texture and can be used in place of butter in some recipes.
• Ghee (Clarified Butter): A dairy-free alternative to butter.
• Cream Cheese/Mascarpone Cheese: Used to add creaminess and tanginess to the dough.

Chocolate

• Swerve Keto Friendly Chocolate Chips: You may opt to use your favorite brand of sugar-free chocolate chips.
• Lily's Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips: A popular keto-friendly option.
• 100% Chocolate: For a rich, dark chocolate flavor.

Other Ingredients

• Vanilla Extract: A staple in most cookie dough recipes.
• Salt: Enhances the flavor of the dough.
• Flax "Egg": A mixture of ground flax seeds and water used as an egg replacement, especially in vegan recipes.
• Espresso Powder: Enhances the chocolate flavor.

Basic Keto Chocolate Cookie Dough Recipe

Here's a basic recipe to get you started, combining elements from the provided information:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Almond Flour (super-fine, blanched)
• 2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sweetener (Swerve, Erythritol, or Lakanto)
• 2 tablespoons Sugar-Free Maple Syrup
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil (softened, not melted)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips (Lily's or Swerve)

Instructions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine blanched almond flour, coconut flour, and granulated sweetener of choice. Mix well.
2. Add your keto maple syrup and coconut oil and mix very well until fully combined. The mixture should resemble creamy cookie dough.
3. Stir through chocolate chips.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
5. Roll the dough into evenly sized balls or serve as is.

Variations and Modifications

• Double Chocolate Keto Cookie Dough: Add unsweetened cocoa powder to the basic recipe for a richer chocolate flavor.
• Vegan Keto Cookie Dough: Use a flax "egg" (1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 2 tablespoons water, mixed and set aside for a few minutes) instead of an egg.
• Peanut Butter Keto Cookie Dough: Add peanut butter or peanut butter powder to the dough for a peanut butter flavor.
• Keto Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Mix the cookie dough into keto vanilla ice cream.
• Nut-Free Keto Cookie Dough: Use sunflower seed flour or other nut-free flour alternative instead of almond flour.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Keto Chocolate Edible Cookie Dough

Here's a more detailed recipe incorporating cream cheese for a richer texture:

Read also: Easy keto fat bomb recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons Butter (softened)
• 2 tablespoons Cream Cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup Almond Flour
• 1/4 cup Keto Powdered Sugar (Swerve or Erythritol)
• 1 tablespoon Keto Brown Sugar (Swerve)
• 1 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Espresso Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Keto Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese together until creamy and combined.
2. Add almond flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, espresso powder, and salt. Beat until combined.
3. Add chocolate chips. Beat just until combined.
4. If forming the dough into balls, chill the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes before doing so.
5. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tips for Success

• Use Softened Butter and Cream Cheese: This will ensure a smooth and creamy dough.
• Sift Cocoa Powder: This will prevent lumps in the dough.
• Don't Overmix: Mix the ingredients until just combined to avoid a tough dough.
• Chill the Dough: Chilling the dough before serving helps it firm up and enhances the flavor.
• Use Finely Ground Almond Flour: Depending on the brand of almond flour you buy, you may find your dough to be slightly gritty. To avoid this, I only buy finely ground almond flour.
• Don't Melt the Coconut Oil Completely: Otherwise, the cookie dough will be oily and melt the chocolate chips.

Storing and Freezing

• Refrigerate: Store the cookie dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Freeze: Freeze the cookie dough in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.

Safety Considerations

• No Raw Eggs: These recipes are egg-free, making them safe to eat without baking.
• Safe Flour: Almond flour is completely safe to eat raw, unlike traditional wheat flour.

Keto Double Chocolate Egg-Free Cookie Dough Recipe

Here’s another recipe that is egg-free, nut-free, vegan, and flour-free:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (soft, but not melted)
• 1/4 cup Dietz Sweet or Lakanto or your favorite keto sweetener (coconut sugar for non-keto)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/3 cup Lily's stevia-sweetened chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Combine the ground flax seed and water in a small bowl and mix together. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Using your stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the coconut oil and sweetener.
3. Mix in the vanilla and salt.
4. Then, mix in the flax + water mixture until smooth.
5. Last, mix in the cacao powder and chocolate chips.
6. Eat right away. Store any leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Fair Trade and Cacao Powder

When selecting ingredients, consider Fair Trade options, especially for cacao powder and chocolate chips. Fair Trade certification ensures that the cacao was grown with fair labor practices, that farmers were paid a living wage for their work and their products, and that no child or forced labor was used.

Also, there is a difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder. (Hint: cocoa is the highly processed version.) If you’re going for antioxidant content and overall superfood-y-ness, then raw cacao powder is what you want.

Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers

Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide

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