For those following a ketogenic lifestyle, finding satisfying desserts can be a challenge. Keto Sugar Cookie Bars offer a delightful twist on traditional sugar cookies, providing all the classic flavors and textures in a convenient bar form, without the carb overload. These bars are the perfect solution for satisfying sweet cravings while staying within your dietary guidelines.
Why Choose Keto Sugar Cookie Bars?
What's better than one dessert? Two, of course! Tender almond flour crust meets creamy sugar-free cheesecake in these delicious Keto Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars.
Low-Carb and Gluten-Free
Crafted with almond flour and sweetened with allulose or erythritol-based sweeteners, these cookie bars maintain a low-carb profile. The use of almond flour ensures a moist and tender crumb, while the sugar-free buttercream adds a creamy sweetness that perfectly complements the bars. They are also gluten-free, making them suitable for those with gluten sensitivities.
Easy to Make
Pressing the dough into a pan makes them so easy, you can whip up a pan in less than an hour. These bars have all the tenderness and flavor of your favorite cookie in an easy-to-make bar form.
Customizable
You can also adjust this recipe to suit your tastes. You could switch out the extract and add some almond or lemon. Or even peppermint for the holidays. You could make the frosting in fun colors or you could add my rich keto chocolate frosting. So many delicious possibilities.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Ingredients You'll Need
Here's a breakdown of the key ingredients for Keto Sugar Cookie Bars:
For the Bars:
- Almond flour: As always, I recommend a good finely ground almond flour for the best texture. If you need to be nut-free, you can try sunflower seed flour. But you will need to add a tablespoon of acid, such as lemon juice, to offset the green reaction.
- Butter: Make sure your butter is properly softened so that the sweetener combines well. If your house is on the chilly side, heat the butter for 10 seconds or so in the microwave.
- Sweetener: I recommend Swerve Granular for the bars themselves, and Swerve Confectioners for the frosting.
- Eggs: You will need one whole egg and one egg yolk. Make sure they are room temperature before adding to the dough.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
For the Frosting:
- Butter: Softened
- Cream cheese: The frosting has a little cream cheese in it to make it whiter. Perfect for holiday sugar cookie bars! Softened to room temperature.
- Swerve Confectioners or other powdered sweetener: For the smoothest texture, I like to use Swerve confectioners sugar substitute. However, if you only have granulated sweetener, that’s no problem! Just toss it in a blender and pulse until you have a fine powder.
- Vanilla extract
- Optional: Sugar-free sprinkles: Keto sprinkles make baking so much more fun. I like the great colours and mixes from The Sprinkle Company on Etsy.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make these delectable Keto Sugar Cookie Bars:
Sugar Cookie Dough
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC) and grease a 9-inch square pan well. Spray an 8 x 8" pan with coconut oil (or butter it), and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla.
- All at once, add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until the dough comes together. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and erythritol until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, and then add in almond flour mixture, beating until the dough comes together.
- By hand, gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Press dough firmly into prepared pan. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the center is puffed and the edges are golden brown. It will still be very soft. Press about half the dough into the prepared baking pan and bake 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Then remove from the oven and let cool (it will not be fully baked at this point). Bake 30 minutes, until just golden brown around the edges and slightly more firm to the touch. Remove and let cool in pan. The texture should still be quite soft.
Cheesecake Filling (Optional)
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sweetener and beat until well combined.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, then add the heavy cream, beating until smooth
- Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Take the remaining cookie crust mixture and crumble over the top of the filling, pressing lightly to adhere.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the top crust is turning golden and the cheesecake filling is mostly set, with a little jiggle in the center.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
- Beat in the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat together butter and powdered erythritol. Add cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved. Add in the allulose and vanilla, then beat again until well combined.
- Optionally add in sugar-free sprinkles of choice.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled bars and sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Once the bars have cooled, spread the frosting over the top and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes to set.
Final Steps
- Let cool completely on the counter and then chill for at least one hour to set the cheesecake center. Remove and let cool in the pan.
- Remove the bars from the baking pan and cut into slices.
Tips for Success
- Cream the butter: Make sure your butter is nice and soft but not melted, and beat with the granulated sweetener until nice and fluffy. Beat the butter and sweetener thoroughly before adding any other ingredients. This process makes the butter really creamy so that the other ingredients combine better.
- Use room temperature eggs: There’s no sense in adding cold eggs to nicely creamed, softened butter. It will clump up all over again! And make sure to use room temperature eggs, as cold eggs will make the butter clump up.
- Chill the dough: Once you’ve made the dough, I strongly recommend allowing it to chill in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, but preferably up to an hour. Don’t skip the chill time. This helps keep the cookies from overspreading.
- Gently fold in the sprinkles: Gently fold in the sprinkles rather than beating them in, as they are small and breakable.
- Don’t overbake the cookies: They continue to firm up as they cool.
- Adjust sweetness to taste: Taste the frosting and adjust the amount of sweetener to your liking.
- Let cool completely: Allow the bars to cool completely before frosting to prevent the frosting from melting.
Variations and Substitutions
- Nut-free: You could try sunflower seed flour, but it has a grey tinge and you will need to add some lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
- Dairy-free: That’s definitely possible! Try coconut oil in the sugar cookie dough, and dairy-free cream cheese like Kite Hill plus 2 tablespoons of coconut cream, for the filling.
- Extracts: You could switch out the extract and add some almond or lemon. Or even peppermint for the holidays.
- Sweeteners: I really think that erythritol based sweeteners such as Swerve will give you the best results in both the bars and the frosting. Allulose or BochaSweet will make the bars very soft and more cake-y. Allulose also has a tendency to brown baked goods too much. Very possibly but you need to understand how this will affect your results. Please read my Guide to Keto Sweeteners. I will say that allulose has a tendency to brown baked goods much faster and I don’t recommend it here.
Serving and Storage
- Serving: This makes a total of 12 servings of Keto Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars. This decadent creation is perfect for special occasions, or just to enjoy with friends and family.
- Storage: Store the bars in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Store them in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper to keep the frosting and sprinkles looking fresh. You can also freeze these bars in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Keto-Friendly Sprinkles
Great question! I usually order mine online from brands like Good Dees, People’s Keto, or Keto Factory. If you don’t have time to wait for delivery and don’t know of any local stores that sell keto-friendly sprinkles, that’s okay. You can always omit them from the recipe if necessary. You can purchase pre-made sprinkles on Etsy (The Sprinkle Company) or on Amazon from Good Dee’s. You can also make your own and I link to my homemade version right in the recipe below.
Can you make keto sugar cookie bars in advance?
You can make these bars ahead and refrigerate or freeze them until ready to serve.
Are sugar free cookies OK on keto?
The term “sugar free” doesn’t always mean that something is keto friendly. Many cookies don’t have any added sugar but contain other sources of carbs such as starches and grains. Make sure you read the nutritional labels and ingredients list to identify the total and net carb count per serving.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Nutritional Information
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.
How many carbs are in keto cookie bars?
These delicious Keto Sugar Cookie Bars have 3.9g of carbs and 1.8g of fiber. So they have a net carb count of 2.1g per bar. At 2.1g net carbs, these festive treats fit in perfectly with the keto diet!
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