Keto Butter Cookies are sweet, chewy, buttery, and delicious! You can make gooey butter cookies with just 8 ingredients and 20 minutes. They are low carb, gluten-free, grain-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly too.
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Is it just me, or are cookies the best dessert ever? They are great when you need a fast snack, when you want something to take to a new neighbor, or when you want something to impress your friends at the next party you are going to. There really is no wrong time when it comes to cookies.
I had a gooey butter cake once upon a time and I've dreamed about it ever since. When I saw a recipe for Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies from Amanda at I Am Baker I just had to try to make a low carb keto version. These keto butter cookies are impressive too. Low carb butter cookies melt in your mouth, will leave you satisfied, and keep your sweet tooth in check. They are one of my favorite sugar free gluten free keto cookies.
What You Need To Make Gooey Butter Cookies
I will never grow tired of recipes that you only need a handful of ingredients for, especially when it’s COOKIES! Let’s look at what you will need:
- Softened butter - I use salted butter. The salt balances the other flavors.
- Cream cheese - use full-fat softened cream cheese.
- Sweetener - I use my homemade blend of stevia, erythritol, and xylitol but offer alternatives in the recipe carb notes.
- Egg yolk - just one egg yolk. Any more and your cookies will be cakey.
- Pure vanilla extract - to change it up add some lemon extract or almond extract instead.
- Blanched almond flour - almond flour has a mild flavor and a smooth texture great for low carb baking.
- Powdered erythritol - for the cookies and the topping.
- Baking powder - if you don't bake often make sure to check that it is fresh.
And after these delicious cookies keep the same ingredients out to make my Keto Butter Cake!
How To Make Keto Butter Cookies
Just like most cookie recipes, these are pretty low-key and don’t take a lot of prep work or steps. Here are the simple steps to make a batch:
First Step: Warm the oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet using a piece of parchment paper.
Second Step: Use an electric mixer to cream together the softened cream cheese, butter, and sweetener together. Then add in the egg yolk and pure vanilla extract and mix well.
Third Step: Pour in the almond flour, erythritol, and baking powder and combine.
Fourth Step: Use a large cookie scoop and make cookie dough balls. Roll each cookie dough ball and roll it in the powdered erythritol. Put the cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet and lightly press down, so they are about half an inch high.
Expert Tip: The dough for these keto butter cookies does not spread so flattening them before baking is a must.
Fifth Step: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they have just started to get a little golden color. They shouldn’t be wet on top. It’s important not to overbake them, or they won’t be gooey.
Sixth Step: Once they are done baking, let them cool and keep them at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also store them in the fridge and heat in the microwave for a couple of seconds before serving.
Can I Swap the Almond Flour For Coconut Flour?
Nope! While there are other recipes that you can make some adjustments to and use coconut flour in place of almond flour, this isn’t one. Using coconut flour will result in dry, unappealing cookies. To get the perfect texture and flavor combination, you really need to use almond flour.
Do I Need Salted or Unsalted Butter?
For most baking, it’s a good idea to use unsalted butter; however, with these keto butter cookies, you can use salted if you want. Both options work well and will taste great. If you use unsalted simply add a pinch of salt.
Gooey Butter Cookies Variations
As usual, I have a few suggestions to consider for variations of these keto butter cookies. You can keep them the way I have written or try out some additional flavors. Here are some fun ideas I think you may enjoy.
- Sprinkles - Roll the dough balls in your favorite low carb sprinkles instead of the powdered sweetener. They are wonderful if you are trying to make them for a certain holiday or gathering.
- Sugar-Free Chocolate - You can melt some sugar-free chocolate and drizzle it on top of the freshly baked cookies. It tastes good and makes them look gourmet too.
- Cinnamon - Add a dash or two of cinnamon to the batter. It’s a yummy way to add some spice.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice - If you love everything that tastes like pumpkin, you can certainly add in some pumpkin pie spice. Just add ½ - 1 teaspoon.
- Almond Extract - Another way to make the keto butter cookies have even more flavor is by exchanging the vanilla for almond extract instead. Give it a try and let us know what you think. I made a completely new cookie by using almond extract and rolling the balls in almond meal. Go check out my keto almond cookies for more info.
If you like these make sure to try my Keto Lemon Cookies, Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Keto Butter Cake next!
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter softened (not melted)
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup powdered erythritol
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
Topping:
- ¼ cup powdered erythritol
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sweetener with an electric mixer. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and mix.
- Add in the rest of the dough ingredients and mix until incorporated.
- With a large cookie scoop, scoop dough into 10 balls, and roll in the additional powdered erythritol. Place the balls of dough on the prepared baking sheet. Press down gently until they are half an inch high.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until they are barely golden and no longer look wet on top. Do not over bake or you will lose the gooey butter cookie texture.
- Store at room temperature for 2-3 days. For longer storage they can go in the refrigerate but need to be warmed before serving for the right texture.
Notes
Nutrition
Stacy says
This looks and sounds like a yummy cookie.
Ryan says
Turned out great! Going to make some frosting to try next time. One thing I learned…do NOT overbake. Takeout just prior to looking done. They finish baking in baking sheet on pan and are great. When I waited for goldwn beown they were too hard and crunchy.
Sarah L. says
This is, by far, one of the best cookies I’ve made. Thank you so much for the recipe! I keep coming back to your site because I’ve tried AND succeeded with so many of your recipes. You always seem to have exactly what I’m looking for!! 😁 This was my first attempt, but I had so much faith in you from your previous recipes that I actually did a double batch right off the bat! 😁 Wish I had tripled it! 😂 I actually used a combination of Lakanto monk fruit and erythritol and they turned out beautifully!! So tasty warm, but also so good at room temp too! Perfection!
Emily says
Tried this using powdered Lakanto. Came out fluffy, not flat, but the bottoms were very dark. Only baked for 10 mjn.
Taryn says
I use airbake baking sheets when baking all my cookies. They help prevent burned bottoms. You could also try moving it to a higher rack.
Norah says
The flavor is good, but mine also went flat, I did not space them out for spreading so they
turned out like monkey bread filling the whole baking pan. I had two balls left over and baked those separately after I saw what was happening. We actually liked the very thin cookie with golden edges way better than the thicker pieces we cut out of the pan. Next time I will add lemon zest and lemon extract as mentioned above and space them for spreading. Had I read these comments earlier, I might have tried a couple test cookies first, instead of after baking the rest.
Michele says
Looks simple enough! My mouth is drooling already! <3
Peg says
Have you made a lemon version of these? Would you have an idea how much juice & zest to use?
Taryn says
I'd use extract instead of lemon juice. You can add 1 tsp extract and 1 tsp zest.
Kath Gardner says
They look very similar to something I currently buy and would like to find a keto version of. Why do you not use the egg white? Does that affect the softness?
Taryn says
Too much egg would make them cakey.
Stephanie says
Same as comment above - I doubled the recipe the first time I made these and they were ok. Second and third times, single recipe, flat as a pancake. The butter is used from the fridge but perhaps its all overmixed or perhaps the dough should be left to in the fridge for a while before putting in the oven? Maybe the temperature is too high? I use granulated erithrytol and powdered erithrytol. Taste delicious but disheartening when they flatten.
Taryn says
Is it hot or humid where you live? This recipe seems to be a little particular. I wonder if the weather can affect it. Also, double-check the date on your baking powder.
Nicole says
Probably best to follow the recipe-erythritol behaves much differently than the blend of sweeteners listed in the ingredients.
Kay says
What's the difference between the erythritol and sweetener? Can't I just use erythritol?
Taryn says
I have not tested these with all erythritol. My sweetener is a blend of erythritol, xylitol, and stevia. I do not like pure erythritol because of the cooling effect it has. However, I think using granular erythritol in place of my sweetener could work. This specific recipe needs both a granular and powdered sweetener.
Ali says
I used Truvia for all the sugar ingredients and they came out great! I didn’t have powdered erythritol so I blended the truvia to make it powdered. These came out great! I think I’ll try some of the flavor additions you suggested next time as well
Peggy says
Yum! I made them with Splenda and the came out great!!
Sarah says
I made these today, and they completely bombed! I used Lakanto monkfruit instead of Gentle Sweet, but used a conversion calculator. They completely flattened out during baking. Any ideas?
Taryn says
I really think these won't work with other sweeteners that's why I mention this in the notes. Did you use all granular lakanto or part granular and part powdered?
Kay says
I got this right the first time but now they keep coming out flat!:(
Taryn says
Could your butter be too soft?
Melinda says
Can splenda be used instead of erythritol? Erythritol and I don't get along, because it contains sugar alcohols.
Taryn says
I'm sorry but I'm not sure. I do not test my recipes with Splenda. If you try it please let me know how they turn out.
Betsy says
You list this 2 times,
▢ ¼ cup powdered erythritol
Do we add it to the cookie mix and to the top?
Taryn says
Yes! I will make a note to avoid confusion.