Irresistible Keto Ginger Cookies Recipe: Low-Carb, Crispy & Perfectly Spiced!

These keto ginger cookies offer the delightful flavor of traditional ginger snaps while keeping the carb count low. Extra crisp, beautifully spiced, and ideal for dunking in milk, these cookies are a perfect treat for those following a ketogenic or low-carb lifestyle. With just 1g net carbs per cookie, they won't throw you out of ketosis.

Why Keto Ginger Cookies?

Traditional gingerbread cookies are typically made with wheat flour and sugar, making them unsuitable for a keto diet. This recipe uses almond flour and erythritol to create a delicious and satisfying alternative. These little ones are gluten-free, vegetarian, low-carb, keto, and if you sub the butter with coconut oil, they are also dairy-free and paleo.

Key Ingredients and Their Roles

Almond Flour: Super fine almond flour does a killer job as a gluten-free and keto-friendly substitute for wheat flour. Either Anthony’s or WellBees work great.
Erythritol: This recipe is best with erythritol, without a doubt. Not only is it roughly 1-to-1 in sweetness to sugar (and the volume is important here), but it lends a very similar crunch and chew.
Blackstrap Molasses (Optional): Keep in mind that blackstrap molasses is considered a low glycemic sugar. One teaspoon (7g) adds 5g net carbs, so just 0.2g net carbs a cookie (i.e. 1/4th the sugar of a strawberry!).
Gingerbread Spices: Gingerbread spices can vary a bit from recipe to recipe (and you can adjust a bit to taste!). Ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are commonly used.
Baking Soda: Note also that I add a bit more baking soda than is customary (1/2 teaspoon rather than 1/4 or even nil).
Xanthan Gum: This helps to bind the ingredients together and improve the texture of the cookies.

Achieving the Perfect Texture

The texture of these cookies can be customized to your preference:

Crispy Cookies: Roll the dough out thinly and bake until deep golden. If they didn’t get quite so snappy on the first round, feel free to allow them to cool down and pop them back in the oven for 5 mins.
Soft Cookies: Make them thicker and bake until just set.

Essential Tips for Success

Chill the Dough: The one indispensable thing, is that the dough be thoroughly chilled before baking. Why? The butter in the dough has to have solidified once again before you can roll it out and cut it up. That way, it won’t stick and the shapes will come just right. So, if possible, allow the dough to rest in the fridge overnight. But if in a pickle, 3 hours will do.
Freezing Before Baking: Place shaped cookies on the prepared baking tray and place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to baking.
Baking Time: Note that I found baking time varies a lot here, depending on thickness and size of the cookies. So just keep an eye out for them, and note that if you like them crisp you'll want to push the baking time as much as possible (until deep golden).

Recipe: Keto Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup Almond flour, blanched
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
6 tablespoons Butter, unsalted
½ cup Swerve Sweetener, Brown
¼ cup Heavy Cream, liquid
2 each Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 ½ teaspoons Ginger, ground
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon Allspice, ground
1 teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ cup Maple Syrup (sugar-free)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper or a baking mat.
Combine dry ingredients: Add almond flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, and spices to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined and set aside.
Cream butter and sweetener: Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer, 1-2 minutes. Add in sweetener and molasses (optional), and continue to cream until light and fluffy (8-10 minutes).
Add egg: Add in egg, mixing until just incorporated. The mixture will appear slightly 'broken' (i.e. not thoroughly smooth).
Combine wet and dry ingredients: With your mixer on low, add in half of your flour mixture- mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the rest.
Chill the dough: Wrap cookie dough with cling film (saran wrap) and refrigerate overnight (much preferred).
Roll and cut out shapes: Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and cutout the shapes. Note that the thickness will determine much of the texture: thinner cookies will be much crispier, while a thick dough (particularly if under-baked) will yield a softer one.
Freeze: Place shaped cookies on the prepared baking tray and place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to baking.
Bake: Bake for 10-20 minutes, until fully golden. Note that I found baking time varies a lot here, depending on thickness and size of the cookies. So just keep an eye out for them, and note that if you like them crisp you'll want to push the baking time as much as possible (until deep golden).
Cool: Allow to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, as they'll continue to crunch up (can take a few hours).

Storing and Serving

Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Note that these keto gingerbread cookies are even better the next day, after the spices have had some time to mingle.
Sweetness: If you prefer your cookies on the sweeter side (and not doing any icing), feel free to up the sweetener to 1/2-2/3 cup.

Variations and Additions

Dairy-Free: Simply use coconut oil instead of the butter.
Spices: If you wish, you could even add cinnamon and cardamom to the mix.
Molasses: You can add 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses to the dough to get a more intense gingerbread flavor.
Icing: For a sugar free icing, mix ¼ cup of powdered sweetener with a splash of water. Brush over or simply dip cookies into the icing mix bowl. Then, dry them on a cookie rack.
Decorating: Use a star shaped cookie cutter or another festive shape. Then, get decorating!

Troubleshooting

Dough Too Stiff: If you find the dough too stiff, add an egg white.
Not Crispy Enough: Roll out the cookie dough as thinly as possible - that way the cookies will be more crisp. Don't touch the ginger snaps while they are hot. Almond flour cookies are very fragile straight out of the oven.