These keto magic cookies are seriously magical. Super easy to make and without any flour, you can feel good about eating way more than just one. These mounds of joy are low carb, gluten-free, and keto friendly. The taste exactly like Magic Cookie Bars without the crust. And that’s what they are. Crustless magic cookie bars.
Why are they called "Magic"?
They’re called “magic cookies” because they start with just a few simple ingredients but somehow transform into something incredible - a guilt-free treat full of sweet, chewy, and crunchy goodness. Whether you’re looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, need a healthy after-school snack for the kids, have to whip up a last-minute dessert for a gathering, or simply want a treat with your keto cold brew coffee, these cookies are always a winner.
Key Features
- Easy and Effortless: Just mix, chill, scoop, and bake! This is the perfect recipe to try if you’ve never made a cookie from scratch before. It’s so easy that even kids can make it!
- Customizable: These keto magic cookies are endlessly customizable, this is a nice base recipe to start with. Feel free to customize these keto cookies to your tastes. Don’t like walnuts? Use pecans. Don’t like coconut? Use extra nuts. The main thing is to have 1.5 cups of mix-ins for your keto magic cookies. Later on, you can experiment with your choice of mix-ins and make your treat even heartier.
- Yolk-Only Goodness: Neat that this recipe only uses egg yolks. This recipe needs egg as the binder.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp. butter, softened (Make sure neither your coconut oil or butter is melted. For added richness and helps create that soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture of the cookies)
- 3 Tbsp. granulated Swerve sweetener (For sweetness while keeping the cookies keto-friendly)
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 4 large egg yolks (You could use a small egg instead of two egg yolks if you prefer)
- 1 cup sugar-free dark chocolate chips, such as Lily's (You can use any type of chocolate you like: dark chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips. And, if you've made one of my recipes before, then you know my go-to chocolate chips are these Semi-Sweetened Baking Chips from Lily's)
- 1 cup coconut flakes (Unsweetened Coconut Flakes - these are the larger coconut chips, not the finely shredded coconut. Gives the cookies some chewiness, adding an extra layer of texture)
- 3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts (Any type of nuts is great in these! No walnuts? )
If you don't have Confectioners Swerve, another great option is monk fruit sweetener. And, as far as monk fruit sweeteners go, I recommend using Lakanto's Confectioners.
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a large bowl stir together coconut oil, butter, sweetener, salt, and egg yolks. Add your egg yolks, melted butter, and melted coconut oil to a medium-sized bowl. Add the egg yolks and melted butter to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Stir together the butter and coconut cream until smooth. Add the sweetener and egg yolks. Mix well.
- Mix in dry ingredients: Mix in chocolate chips, coconut, and walnuts. Dump in the remaining dry ingredients and stir gently until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients.
- Chill the batter: Cover the bowl and chill the batter for at least 30 minutes until the batter is firm enough to scoop. Now, once that's taken care of, let the batter set in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes.
- Scoop and bake: Drop batter by the spoonful onto prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, 15 minutes. I used a cookie scoop and got 25 cookies, or you can use a spoon to drop even amounts of dough onto baking sheet. Use a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon to make approximately 20 round balls. Scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet to form 12 cookies. Use a cookie scoop: For uniform cookies that bake evenly, use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough.
- Flatten and bake: Now, when you've added those dough balls to your baking sheet, you'll want to flatten them with the bottom of a spoon, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 °F (176°C). Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown. Bake until golden, 15 minutes.
- Cool: Remove from the sheet and place on a cooling rack to cool. Remove from the sheet and place on a cooling rack to cool.
Recipe adapted from Joy Filled Eats.
***Please note there will be some oil coming out of these as they bake because there is no flour to absorb it. Note: Don’t be disturbed if there is a little runoff from the cookies coming out of the oven. Just trim off the excess and enjoy your keto cookies. And go ahead and eat what you trimmed. It tastes like vanilla custard.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Variations and Tips
- Nuts: Don’t like walnuts? Use pecans.
- Coconut: Don’t like coconut? Use extra nuts.
- Sweetener: I like to use a blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia in my recipes. By using a combination of sugar alcohols and stevia you can use half the amount required of regular sugar.
- Crispy vs. Chewy: If you want crispy cookies rather than chewy, gently press the cookies down before baking to encourage even crisping.
- Coconut Cream: Coconut cream is the thick part of coconut milk. It either comes in small cans or you can refrigerate a can of regular coconut milk and just use the solid part. You can buy small cans of coconut cream or refrigerate a can of full-fat coconut milk until it separates.
- Coconut Flour: This is a new addition to this recipe and helps prevent the custard run off.
- Extracts - Vanilla extract and almond extract are great choices.
Serving and Storage
Serve: Enjoy keto magic cookies as a lunchbox treat, afternoon snack, or after-dinner dessert. At parties, serve them with other keto-friendly desserts as part of a dessert spread. Pair them with your favorite hot or cold drinks.
You can refrigerate them for up to a week.
Store: Store the cookies in an airtight container or a zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you want to keep them longer, freeze them for up to a month. You can also store these cookies in the freezer. Also, freezing them will ensure you always have a quick keto snack, breakfast, or dessert on hand. And the best part is you can enjoy them frozen or reheated.
Keto Magic Cookie Bars
These Keto Magic Cookies take all the flavors of my popular keto magic bars and turn them into a cookie that mixes up in only 5 minutes. These Five Minute Keto Magic Cookies take all the flavors of my popular Magic Cookie Bars and turn them into a cookie that mixes up in only 5 minutes.
These Keto Magic Cookie Bars taste just like the childhood classic, with nuts, coconut, and plenty of chocolate! With an almond flour shortbread crust and sugar-free condensed milk, they have all the sweet, gooey flavor with a fraction of the carbs.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Magic Cookie Bars were one of my favorite childhood treats. They were so easy and a perfect dessert for a kid trying to flex her newfound baking muscles. My father called them Hello Dollies, and he adored them. And I could never say no to that buttery graham cracker crust topped with chocolate, nuts, and gooey caramelized condensed milk.
When I went low carb for health concerns, I knew I had to find a way to make sugar-free condensed milk. You will be delighted to know that these are just as easy (and just as delicious!) as the high carb version. My keto pie crust makes an excellent substitute for the base. And the topping is just as gooey, sweet, and chockfull of mix-ins as the original.
Whether you call them 7 Layer Bars, Hello Dollies, or Magic Cookie Bars, you’re sure to love this low-carb, gluten-free treat. The condensed milk is useful in many other wonderful recipes, from Keto Key Lime Pie to Sugar-Free White Chocolate Fudge.
Ingredients for Keto Magic Cookie Bars
- Almond flour: Almond flour works best for this crust, for both texture and flavor. Other nut and seed flours will work but may be a bit more crumbly.
- Sweetener: The crust is best made with an erythritol based sweetener, as allulose will make it too soft.
- Sugar-free chocolate chips: Your favorite brand should work fine.
- Sugar-free peanut butter chips: No one seems to be making the butterscotch chips anymore, so I switched to keto peanut butter chips. You can also simply do more chocolate chips. Lily’s salted caramel chips would be delicious too!
Instructions for Keto Magic Cookie Bars
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and lightly grease an 8×8 inch metal baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt in the .
- Add melted butter and mix in until mixture begins to clump together.
- Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove and let cool completely.
- Increase the oven temperature to 350ºF.
- Sprinkle the cooled crust with the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, coconut and nuts.
- Pour the condensed milk evenly over top and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly and beginning to brown.
- Remove and let cool in pan before cutting into bars.
Bake the crust: Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake until the edges start to brown. Assemble the bars: Sprinkle chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, coconut, and nuts over the cooled crust. Cool. I recommend using metal pans for this recipe, as it will help the crust firm up properly. Make sure you let it cool completely before adding the toppings.
Keep in mind that erythritol based sweeteners, with no allulose, are the only ones that will produce a crisp crust. You can also use a 9×9 inch pan, but the bars will cook through faster so keep your eye on them.
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto
Where do you get sugar-free condensed milk?You don’t purchase keto condensed milk, you make it! But don’t worry, it’s very simple to do and results in a spectacular low carb baking ingredient. I’ve found that I can keep it in the fridge for 10 to 14 days without spoilage. It’s a great way to use up heavy cream that is about to expire.
Storage Information: Store the bars in a covered container on the counter for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Nutritional Information
The nutrition facts are for one cookie.
How many carbs are in Keto Magic Cookie Bars?This keto magic cookie bar recipe has 6.5g of carbs and 3.4g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.1g net carbs per bar.
And of course, if you really can't get enough of these keto dessert ideas, you'll definitely want to check out my Ultimate Low Carb Keto Cookbook - Sweet Edition. It has over 100 easy recipes that come together in just minutes.
Seriously, you can't beat 1.5 NET CARBS per cookie.
Important Considerations
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.