Well ain’t that just a most delicious oxymoron! It’s a Sugar Cookie without any sugar in it. But what else could I call a “Sugar” Cookie so you’d know what it is? I think when you taste them you’ll get over the name.
I had to enlist a bit of help with this one because I’ve never – to my knowledge – eaten a Sugar Cookie in my life, and it can be hard to make a keto version of something if you’ve never had the “something”. So my adorable Roomie volunteered – well, really it was by default since she was living at Carrie Brown HQ at the time – to taste test the first batch so she could keep me on the Sugar Cookie straight and narrow. She loved them. Repeatedly.
Then two months whipped by. An exceedingly busy and very exciting two months filled – amongst other things – with publishing a second cookbook, ripping out the existing kitchen and putting a new one in, roasting turkey, preparing for and recording a two-day CreativeLive course, excitedly taking delivery of a new range (oven) and hood, embarking on a third cookbook, making 2 kinds of sugar-free Cranberry Sauce for your holiday feasts, laundry, building a kitchen island, triumphantly recycling an awful lot of cardboard, nurturing the rambunctious pre-teen that is Mr. McHenry, oh, and working at my day job. That last bit took the most time, but I am not complaining because it enables me to earn the dosh to fund everything else.
Talking of funding – because I know some of you are curious, as I would be – no, the new Carrie Brown HQ kitchen was not funded by book sales, but by savings and sweat. Book sales have barely scratched the surface of what it has cost to run this blog with the associated recipe development required for the last 18 months. It will be lovely to break even one day. In the meantime I am *HUGELY* and most humbly grateful for all of your support, especially in the book purchasing department. Not only does it help enormously to keep this little bloglette up and running, but it makes my heart truly happy that you get value from what I do. THANK YOU! I appreciate it more than you can know.
Any who. Where was I? Ah, yes. The Great “Sugar” Cookie Delay. I finally had a moment this week to resurrect the recipe and work on getting it to you.
As I didn’t shoot the first batch that my Roomie loved so much, I made another batch yesterday. It was also a great excuse to test out the new Carrie Brown HQ double oven. I am not only elated but also relived to report that both ovens did very well in the cookie-baking stakes. So well, in fact, that Minta must have smelt them from down the street because she showed up today and promptly ate 3. She loved them. So I think they’re ready to release far and wide to every lovely reader who misses Sugar Cookies at the holidays. Or any other time of year come to think of it.
I had originally planned for cookbook #3 to be all things cookie, but after I did a little poll of Facebook it became clear that y’all wanted to know how to make veggies delicious, and how to eat a lot more of them. So veggies it is. Cookies may well be cookbook #4. In the meantime, I felt it only right that those of you who were chomping at the bit for cookies should get one for the holidays.
Here you go. And there’s some more keto cookies for you here.
Happiest Healthiest Holidays, lovely people!
“Sugar” Cookies
- 5 oz. / 140g butter, softened
- 6 oz. / 170g xylitol
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 TBSP almond milk
- 1 egg
- 8 oz. / 225g almond flour (ground almonds)
- 1 oz. / 28g coconut flour
- 1 TBSP konjac flour (glucomannan powder)
- Place the softened butter, xylitol, baking powder, xanthan gum, and sea salt in a mixing bowl and cream together with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, almond milk, and egg, and mix well until completely combined.
- In a separate bowl place the almond flour (ground almonds), coconut flour, and konjac flour and mix well.
- Add half of the flours into the butter mixture with the mixer, then add the rest of the flour with a spatula until it is completely incorporated into a dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place in a ziplock bag and put in the ‘fridge for at least two hours to become firm.
- Take the dough out of the ‘fridge and carefully roll out to 1/8′ – 1/4’ thick using a little almond flour to stop it sticking to the work surface or the rolling pin.
- Use the cutter of your choice to cut out the dough. I used a 2″ round plain cutter.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet 1″ apart.
- Bake in the center of the oven at 350F for 10 – 12 minutes – until they are barely starting to brown a little.
- Remove from the oven and leave on the tray until the cookies have firmed up enough to move without breaking or getting mis-shapen.
- Using a flat spatula, move the cookies carefully onto a cooling rack to cool completely
Questions on ingredients? Check out this info.
PamThese sure look deliciois! Would guar gum work in place of the xanthan gum? If it would, then I have all the ingredients I need already in my kitchen for some Sunday baking!
carrieHi Pam – guar and xanthan are not interchangeable in this recipe. You can leave the xanthan gum out but your cookies will be more fragile and the texture will be slightly different. I’d make them without this time and then get some xanthan gum in for next time! https://carriebrown.com/archives/23109
SandyWhat are they sprinkled with on top? I know it can’t be real sugar. 😉 Also, I never heard of konjac flour. Where can this be found? Thank you, I have made your Espresso Cookies and Almond cookies and loved them both.
carrieSandy it is xylitol sprinkled on top. Info on konjac flour here: https://carriebrown.com/archives/23109 Hope that helps! THANK YOU for the other cookie love 😀
GAILAt what point in process do you sprinkle more Xylitol on tops of cookies. Just before baking or just after?
carrieGail – after!
CandaceWhen you say ground almonds, do you mean grind the almonds yourself in food processor? Or, already prepared almond flour from someplace like Honeyville? I know you like xylitol, and I use nearly exclusively, but….have you used Swerve?
carrieHi Candace – I say “ground almonds” because that’s what other parts of the world – such as England and Australia – call almond flour; we don’t want our international friends to be confused. If you see two names for an ingredient, I am being bi-lingual 🙂 I used pre-prepared almond flour from Honeyville. Hope that helps! Swerve – I am hearing more and more about it and will study up to see what it’s all about. Stay tuned!
RoseWow!!! I cannot wait for my next batch of almond flour to arrive. I finished it off with your Sour Cream and Chive biscuit recipe. After I make another batch of Sour Cream and Chive biscuits this is next on the list. I really does so much to relieve my diabetically-denied carb cravings… Carrie, I just heart you. 😀
Will post an update when I run through the recipe…
carrieYour comment made my heart happy, Rose!
RoseEvery day you make our hearts — literally and figuratively — happy. *hug*
AnneThank you for developing these right in time for my hosting the family for Christmas! You are the best. BTW I love the soups cookbook. Made a half batch of the fennel leek soup and couldn’t stop eating it! Yummy yum yum. You ROCK Carrie.
carrieOh Anne, I love that fennel leek soup! SO glad you are loving the book 😀
AnneI made these cookies for a cookie exchange and they were a big hit. I did cut-outs of snowflakes and trees and iced them with icing made from Just Like Sugar confectioners and did sprinkle on some sprinkles made from real sugar (!). I found they needed more time in the oven – 3 minutes more – and then I left them outside overnight to “stale up/stiffen”. Then I decorated them. I think the icing and sprinkles added some flavor. I shared the picture and recipe on Facebook and several friends are now checking out carriebrown.com!
carrieHi Anne – they are definitely better if left for a while before eating. Thanks for sharing me with your friends – hugely appreciated!!
BarbaraCarrie,
While your recipes look tempting, your insistence on measurements in ounces/metrics
turn your readers off. Many of us don’t have a scale. We use teaspoons, tablespoons, wet and dry measures for cups. Yes, the density of the item may change the amount used, but then you would list that measure in a way that is useful to Americans.
I am rather disappointed at your rationale for making your recipes cumbersome. Why should I bother buying your cookbooks if I have to actually weigh, and then convert the measure for so many ingredients? There are easier to use books available.
LisaBarbara, try a food scale. You’ll be happy you did 🙂 Carrie’s recipes are the best!
NinaCarrie, I totally disagree with Barbara. I’m American and find your recipes much easier when you list measurements by weight. I only need one scale instead of multiple measuring utensils that give varying amounts depending on how one fills them. By using weight, the recipe is perfectly reproducible every time. I suppose you could put both weight and volume measurements, but I love the weights. I have a scale that does both ounces and grams, so there isn’t much converting that needs to be done. Keep up the great work!
DonnaI also disagree with Barbara and agree with Nina. I like that your recipes have the weight – makes sense because of the packing factor. The scales are relatively inexpensive. If you were to put both weight and volume measures on the recipes, it could be easier for those who do not own a scale. I’m American also and find your recipes are useful for me – scales are not unique to England. Thank you for your hard work and I will soon have your 3rd cookbook to add to my collection of 2! Love the recipes – they help my husband and I be and stay SANE.
Sorry, I can’t rate this recipe yet, because I haven’t made this one.
Cindy E.This is the most deliciously nutty sugar cookie I have ever eaten. Thank you.. I keep a batch of these on hand for whenever I try and explain the SANE lifestyle. People look at me as of I asked them to give up their first born until I have them taste these cookies. I just sit back and wait for their eyes to light up and THEN they proceed to ask me about the program. So far I have able to convince every one of my friends and all but 1 family member to give it a go!! Thank you Carrie for the ammo I need.
carrieGO, SANE Sugar Cookies! GO, Cindy!!!!
JerryYour next book, the very next or next after, should be cookies. Why? We all Need dessert!!!! What is life for without it?
dougCarrie, This recipe seems to be a good base recipe from which to make other varieties like macaroons or chocolate cookies.
Is there some general ratio or guideline on how much moisture should be in a recipe, in order for the cookie to not be too dry? For example, if I added cocoa powder to the recipe, would I need to add more butter or something else that’s wet? thanks.
And have you seen a non-sugar version of powdered sugar?
MaureenI made these this weekend– without the coconut flour (I added a little extra almond flour) and with almond extract instead of vanilla (oops!). They were delicious. Tasted like real cookies. I see why you use xylitol now. No after taste! Previous ones I made with stevia were nasty compared to these. I used my whale cookie cutter. So, they were cute too. 😉 Thanks for the recipe!
carrieHa! Whale cookies – love it, Maureen!
ShizzaThese cookies look delicious! I had a question about almond flour. I see a lot of recipes online to make your own almond flour from slivered almonds instead of buying it (which is pretty expensive). What do you think about using homemade ground almonds instead of the almond flour sold in stores?
carrieShizza – as long as you grind them very finely (and be careful you don’t end up with almond butter!!!) I see no reason why you can’t grind your own almond flour.
Cindy E.Helpful hint to making almond flour. I haven’t needed to yet, but I read online to freeze the nuts before grinding to help with them not turning into butter. I plan on trying to leave on the outer skin for more fiber.
ShizzaThanks for the reply, Carrie, and also for dedicating so much of your time in making these lovely recipes for us. I definitely appreciate all your effort. And thank you for the tip, Cindy. Do let me know how the freezing goes.
AlvinThanks again Carrie. These were very tasty (much better cold, even better from the freezer!)
Though I must admit I rather liked just eating the batter 🙂
ChristiHi Carrie.
These look delicious! My son is allergic to nuts. Can you tell me what I can substitute for the almond flour?
carrieHi Christi – if he is allergic to all nuts then my best suggestion would be a variety of ground seeds, although without having tried it I cannot guarantee that it would work as well. When I get back to baking (soon!) I will be trialing nut alternatives. Nut allergies suck!
Julie RiderInvest in a scale! All the difference in the world!
carrieJulie – beat that drum for me!!! Scales are The Bomb! Keep fabulous results every time!
AlishaI have a huge bag of sucralose in my kitchen. Can I use that in place of the xylitol?
carrieHi Alisha – no, sucralose is not interchangeable with Xylitol. I highly recommend that you read this post: https://carriebrown.com/archives/29686 I would not recommend that anyone use sucralose at all. Sucralose is also credited with causing weight gain, not loss. Hope that helps!
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Minta HaleWhy have I not made these? I may need a shopping partner to pick up ingredients 🙂
Barb BallantineQuestion: when you say ounces (e.g. 6 ounces xylitol) in your recipes, is that “liquid” ounces or the weight of the ingredient? Thanks.
Barb
carrieBarb – ounces is the dry weight of the ingredients. Where it is a liquid it will state FL.OZ. for fluid ounces. Hope that helps!
Michele ºÜºIs there some ingredient I can use instead of Konjac? I don’t have any right now but really want to make these tomorrow. (I live 30 minutes from town, so just running to the store real quick is out of the question. 😉 )
Michele ºÜºHmmm, I wonder if psyllium husk powder would work.
Hubby is going into town today, so I’ll just wait and make it right. 😉
carrieGood choice, Michele!
JulieCarrie – I have a reaction to xylitol, is there a comparable substitute
carrieHi Julie – some folks in our Facebook Group have successfully made them using erythritol, so that’s another option. Hope that helps!
BETSIMust I use Karjac? Can not find it. ?
carrieIf you want the best result, yes. There is an easy link on the ingredients guide: https://carriebrown.com/archives/23109
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Gaile BoudreauI just started the Keto plan about 10 days ago and found your website. I had tried once before but failed because I was feeling so deprived on it for the foods I love. Your site is amazing! Stuck to my diet so far because of it. I made the sugar cookies today for my treat here and there and shaped them in a star so I could remind myself I am a star for getting this weight off and lowering my A1C (I am diabetic). The only thing I did differently was use Allulose because I didn’t have your recommended sweetener at home. I did have to cut the baking time to 9 minutes, but they were a little smaller too I think than your round ones. Thank you!
carrieYAY! Gaile – I am so glad you’re finding success! You go!
CharlotteCan I use erythritol instead of xylitol? I have powdered & granular. Also, how necessary is the glucomannan? I have ordered it but it is not supposed to come until tomorrow.
Jennifer NovickSorry if I missed it but what are the macros on these?