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Most people who know me know that I don’t actually celebrate Christmas. But hey, that doesn’t mean I can’t make low carb Christmas cookies! What’s a more classic Christmas cookie than low carb gingerbread men, right? It should come as no surprise that I set out to make a sugar-free keto gingerbread cookies recipe.
On that subject, I have a confession to make. This was my first attempt at not only sugar-free gingerbread cookies, but actually any shaped cookies. Who knew it was so much fun to use a cookie cutter?
Don’t worry, this keto gingerbread cookies recipe is still tried and true. I made a couple different versions of it to get it just right.
I brought these low carb gingerbread cookies to a holiday get-together once already, and everyone loved them. They are lightly crispy on the outside, a little chewy on the inside, and have that classic gingerbread flavor. People seemed to like dipping them into their tea, but maybe that was just a Russian thing to do with cookies? They are really good plain, too.
How To Make Sugar-Free Gingerbread Cookies
This low carb gingerbread cookies recipe is based on my classic almond flour shortbread cookies. But don’t worry, they don’t taste like shortbread. The addition of egg and spices totally transforms them.
The basic steps are very similar, though:
- Stir together the dry ingredients.
- Beat the butter and sweetener together.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, then the dry ingredients to form cookie dough.
- Chill the dough to make it easier to work with.
- Roll out the dough, cut into cookie shapes, and bake.
See? Easy!
The only slightly challenging parts are cutting the sugar-free gingerbread cookies and frosting them. So, I’ve got tips on that for you below!
How To Cut Low Carb Gingerbread Cookies
Of course, cutting low carb gingerbread men into shapes means using a cookie cutter.
With this particular sugar-free gingerbread cookie dough, it can be a bit of a challenge to transfer the cookies from my work surface to the parchment lined baking sheet.
There are two ways around this:
Use an extra thin turner.
This was my original method when making keto gingerbread cookies. An extra thin turned like this one makes it easier to transfer the cookie shapes onto your baking sheet.
If you accidentally smush your little gingerbread men, or their arms and legs fall off during transfer), don’t worry. You can just reshape or reattach as needed once they are on the baking sheet.
Worst case, just smash the dough together, roll it out, and try again.
Cut the cookies right on the baking sheet.
This was recommended to me by a few readers, and it does work quite well!
Roll out the dough, then transfer the whole thing onto the baking sheet. Use the cookie cutter to make the shapes, then simply remove the parts around the cookies.
From there, you can make a ball out of the parts you removed, roll it out, and repeat again on a second baking sheet.
Skip the shapes altogether.
As fun as it is to frost these low carb gingerbread cookies with faces and cut out shapes, this part is totally optional. These sugar-free gingerbread men are just as delicious if you make them as plain round cookies!
So, don’t feel obligated to make the shapes if you’re in a hurry or if you really don’t care what they look like.
How To Decorate Sugar-Free Gingerbread Men
One of the best things about making sugar-free gingerbread men is they are just so darn cute! I’m no artist when it comes to frosting, but I still had fun drawing their little smiley faces and buttons down the front.
If you have little ones that are old enough to help with baking, they’ll enjoy helping you make these sugar-free gingerbread cookies. I’ll bet they’ll be a fun activity to do with my daughter when she’s older and can help me decorate. (I guess I should say daughters now – plural. Wow, I can’t believe my second little girl is already halfway to being born already!)
Frosting keto gingerbread cookies is super easy. Simply heat up some cream cheese with sweetener to taste.
Then, transfer the cream cheese mixture to a piping bag with a narrow tip. Use that to pipe faces, buttons, and whatever else you like on your low carb gingerbread men.
For a more traditional cream cheese frosting, you can use this low carb sugar-free cream cheese frosting recipe.
If frosting decorating isn’t your thing, you can just make a simple zig zag pattern – or even simply spread it on top. Either way, you’ll want to add these sugar-free gingerbread cookies to your holiday table!
How To Store Keto Gingerbread Cookies
You can store these sugar-free gingerbread cookies in an airtight container on the counter for a few days. Just make sure not to frost them until right before eating if you are keeping them out on the counter.
They’ll last even longer – about a week – in the fridge. This is also a good option if you want to frost them upfront.
If you think they’ll last a really long time, you can freeze low carb gingerbread cookies, too. Do this on a parchment lined baking sheet first, then you can transfer them to a freezer bag once they are solid.
Low Carb Sugar-free Gingerbread Cookies Recipe:
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The recipe card is below! Readers also made these similar recipes after making this one.
Tools To Make Low Carb Gingerbread Cookies:
Click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.
- Hand mixer – This one is really powerful and I love the convenient storage. A hand mixer is a must for the best texture in these keto cookies!
- Stand mixer – Another great option for making keto cream cheese cookies.
- Rolling pin – For rolling out the cookie dough.
- Cookie cutter – If you like your low carb gingerbread cookies to be in fun shapes, just use cookie cutters like these.
- Frosting bag with tips – Use this to draw faces and buttons your sugar-free gingerbread men!
- Medium cookie scoop – You can use this to make regular round cookies, if you won’t be using a cookie cutter.
- Sheet pan – This one is sturdy and will last a long time.
RECIPE CARD
Sugar-free Low Carb Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (Keto)
Recipe Video
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PrintIngredients
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Instructions
RECIPE TIPS + VIDEO in the post above, nutrition info + recipe notes below!
Click on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the almond flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, nutmeg, and baking powder.
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the butter and erythritol for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Beat in the almond flour mixture until a dough forms.
Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to bake.
Preheat the to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (you may need to do this twice for all the cookies).
Place the ball of dough between two large pieces of parchment paper. Roll out to 1/4 in (.6 cm) thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes and transfer them to the parchment paper. (Transferring can be tricky because the dough is very soft. You can use a thin turner or flat spatula to help transfer each one.) When you've cut out all the shapes you can, re-form the remaining dough into a ball, roll it out again, and repeat, until you've used up all the dough.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden on the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet before handling.
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Recipe Notes
- These are BIG cookies - 4 1/2 inches tall! You could easily halve the serving size by using a much smaller cookie mold.
- If you'd like frosting on your gingerbread cookies, just heat some plain cream cheese until it's very soft and stir in powdered sweetener to taste. Pipe onto the cookies.
Serving size: 1 large cookie
Video Showing How To Make Low Carb Gingerbread Cookies:
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Nutrition Information Per Serving
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database. You can find individual ingredient carb counts we use in the Low Carb & Keto Food List. Net carb count excludes fiber, erythritol, and allulose, because these do not affect blood sugar in most people. (Learn about net carbs here.) We try to be accurate, but feel free to make your own calculations.
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56 Comments
Megan
I wish they were sweeter. It was a lot of flavor but very little sweetness, so if you aren’t making the icing, add some extra sweetener, especially if you’re baking kids who are used to sweet cookies.
However, I am not much of a baker, and the recipe was very easy to follow. My kids were able to help a lot! I will make them again, but add more sweetener.
Michelle
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I’m featuring some holiday favorites on my blog and have linked to this post (and a few others).
I’ve been keto since the summer and have dropped 40 pounds. I’m struggling with the holidays though. Thank you for providing alternatives!
Deana
Can you use dairy free vegan butter and egg replacer in this recipe?
Wholesome Yum M
Hi Deana, I have not tested this with vegan butter or egg replacer. The recipe should still work fine, as long as the properties of the subs are the same as the original foods.
Marilyn
There was no way I was getting the gingerbread cut out off the mat where I rolled it out so I just made balls and I’m cooking hope they are tasty. Yes they are tasty will definitely make again.
Regano
I’ve enjoyed your recipes for a while. Love making these cookies. I am diabetic and tend to split hairs on portion sizes, etc. So, when I roll out my special bakes, I use parchment and two plastic dishwasher safe school rulers. Pat the chilled dough into a log shape almost the length of the baking sheet. Place rulers on each long side and roll along the length with the pin resting on both rulers. I get a uniform thickness appropriate for a bakery style cookie with no high or low places. When finished baking, I lift the parchment, with cookies still on it to the cooling area, no breaks!
Laura Wall
I switched out the Swerve (erythritol), with the brown sugar Swerve, and it was fantastic! I rolled mine into balls, squished them down a bit and baked. They are perfect!
Gaye Miller
These are good. I will add a little more sweetener next time. I had no problem rolling them out or transferring to cookie sheet. I chilled the dough overnight. I only lost one head! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe!
Kathryn
These look soooo good and I really want to try them but I am actually allergic to nuts so I can’t use the almond flour. I saw that you said that you wouldn’t recommend coconut flour but since I’m doing a low carb diet I don’t know of another option. If I were to try coconut flour, do you have any recommendations on how to make it actually semi-decent? I just miss having holiday food so I’d love for this to work haha
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Kathryn, This recipe won’t work with coconut flour, sorry. It would require multiple other changes and developing a new recipe entirely. If you can’t have almond flour, I recommend replacing it with sunflower seed flour/meal instead.
Nikke
I’m trying to add this recipe to my calorie tracker and just a bit confused. This entire recipe is one serving size?? I have a large cutter too so just curious about how many cookies this made?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Nikke, The recipe makes 10 large cookies using the cutter I used (link in the post above!) and one cookie is a serving.
Rita loyd
I have nut allergy. What gluten free flour can I replace almond with? Would oat flour work?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Rita, I haven’t tried these with oat flour. That would probably work and would be gluten-free, but not low carb. Sunflower seed meal would also work and would be low carb.
Victoria
Are these cookies soft or crisp? Any tips on how to make this a soft chewy cookie?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Victoria, It depends on how thick you make them. They will be more soft and chewy if they are thicker, more crispy if they are thinner. You can also add a little bit of psyllium husk powder or gelatin powder to make them more chewy (just 1-2 tbsp for the entire batch).
Barbara
Can I use monk fruit as a sweetener? If so how much ?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Barbara, Yes, you can. Check the sweetener conversion calculator here.
Vicky Davis
What if you cut out the cookies on the parchment that you rolled them on and just remove the dough in between cutouts, instead of transferring? Just transfer the parchment sheet to a baking sheet. IDK
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Vicky, Sure, you can do that too!
Sue
Do you think this recipe would work with unrefined brown sugar instead of erythritol?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Sue, Yes, but they would not be low carb or sugar-free, if that matters to you.
Jasmine
For years I’ve been looking for a recipe just to make gingerbread cookies sugar free in general (not for the almond flour or what not) because we in the family have a diabetic and myself, an epileptic who’s seizures are triggered by sugar. When I made this I didn’t use almond flour or the listed sweetener, I went basic with plain flour and Splenda. I found adding 1/2 cup butter made the dough more rich in flavor. But all in all this was terrific and I got to finally try a gingerbread cookie for the first time! Thank you!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
I am so happy you liked them, Jasmine! Thank you!
Star
If you don’t need the cookies to be super sweet, but want them to be a bit sweet, would 1/4 cup of regular white granulated cane sugar work?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Star, They would not be sugar-free or low carb if you use cane sugar, but from a recipe standpoint it would work.
Carolyn
Rather than transferring the cutouts to a cookie sheet, roll out the dough on the cookie sheet, make your cutouts and remove the extra dough…just saying
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Sure, you can do it that way, too!
Jen
Made these this year, was looking for a no-fuss recipe that didn’t require any extra ingredients I wouldn’t use again or didn’t have. They came out perfect! the kids couldn’t even tell they were ‘mom diet food’ as they like to call anything I make low carb. Sometimes the almond flour in cookies can overwhelm the taste for us, these were spiced perfectly to counteract that taste. The dough does seem deceivingly wet, don’t worry! Let it chill and it will be cookie dough consistency soon enough. I even left it in the fridge overnight before baking and it was easy to roll out. Santa was happy to have cookies she could eat left out for her this year 🙂 Thanks again, these get my family’s seal of approval!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Thank you, Jen! It makes me happy to hear the kids couldn’t tell it was ‘mom diet food’! 🙂
Sherri
Odd question, my son’s girlfriend is allergic to cinnamon. If I left it out do you think it would still have a great “gingerbread taste”? Or it needs it? Also I have monk fruit/erythritol. Would that work? Does it dissolve or will it be crunchy when cooked?
Thanks,
Sherri
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Sherri, I think they could work without cinnamon, though I haven’t tried. The flavor won’t be the same, of course, but can still be good. You can use a monk fruit/erythritol blend and shouldn’t have any problems with dissolving, but the amount will depend on the blend.
Natalie
Could I use coconut flour instead of almond flour? What are your thoughts on coconut sugar?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Natalie, coconut flour and almond flour aren’t 1:1 replacements so that wouldn’t work unfortunately. Coconut sugar should be fine, here’s a link to my sweeteners guide for more info: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/natural-low-carb-sweeteners-guide-conversion-chart/
Lydia
Do you have a recipe for the icing you used? Thanks in advance!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Lydia, Yes, just heat some cream cheese until it’s soft and stir in powdered sweetener to taste.
Catherine
What do you bake the cookies at?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Catherine, The instructions are on the recipe card.
Niki
Made half the recipe. It smelled just like what I was trying to replace it with. I was so excited. It needed a little more sugar and ginger but it was amazing. Really want to turn it into a bread.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
I’m glad you enjoyed these, Niki! You can easily adjust the sweetener and ginger to taste as needed. I need to try a bread version sometime…
Marsha
Mine didn’t really form a “dough”. It was still very moist, not loose, but moist. Any suggestions? I tried adding more almond flour, but the more I added, it started to change the taste.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Marsha, An almond flour dough will have a different consistency than a traditional dough made with wheat flour. This one is a little moist, but should work fine for the end result. Refrigerating in step 3 ensures that it’s firm enough and not too sticky when you are working with it to make the cookies. It’s a little more challenging to keep it together when transferring the gingerbread men to the pan, but a large, thin spatula can help with that. I wouldn’t add additional almond flour, though. I hope you get the chance to try baking it as is. 🙂
thespeckledpalate
Umm, these little gingerbread cuties are precious! What a festive way to share the love this season, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas. Everybody lives gingerbread, and I’m definitely going to have to make this recipe for my paleo friends!
Thanks so much for participating in this year’s Sweetest Season! I hope you had a blast and enjoyed seeing all the different recipes shared. There’s so much cookie goodness going on, and it just makes me so happy.
Laura
Hey there. That seems to be the best recipe I’ve seen so far. But I don’t have erythritol. Can I sub it with anything?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Yes, you can use any sweetener you like. The amount will vary depending on which sweetener you choose (how concentrated it is). Otherwise you can buy erythritol online here (with free shipping).
Christine Pilcher
Would either confectioner’s style or granular erythritol work for this?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
I’ve only tried granular, both either one should work.
Amanda Hengel
I am currently dairy free. Do you suppose I could sub coconut oil for the butter?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
It would probably still work, but the texture will be a little different, since beating coconut oil won’t achieve that fluffiness. Softened ghee may work better than coconut oil.
Kim | Low Carb Maven
These are the cutest. My daughter went nuts when she saw these. She really likes gingerbread men. I agree, low carb cut out cookie dough can be hard to work with, but the cookies are so darn good. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
STACEY
These are really cute!
Georgina
These just look perfect for the holidays!!
Awesome Mommy
OMG Love this!
Katrin
I want the one with the bow in the hair! So cute x
Nicola
Hi, I was just wondering how long these will last and do you recommend refrigeration or not? I haven’t iced them yet. Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
Hi Nicola, They are fine at room temp without icing. If you ice them, store them in the fridge. Even if you don’t ice them, they do last longer if you refrigerate them. (Pretty much the same as any cookies.)