Are you ready for some Christmas baking? I sure have been for a while now. In fact, I’ve been having kind of a hard time deciding which of the winter Christmas-time-suiting snacks to prepare. Too many options and too little time on my hands!
But, I tell you, these Christmas Keto Marzipan Cookies, which are a tradition in Europe (especially in Germany), are unbelievably quick and easy to prepare. More so if you’ve already got some marzipan at hand.
Before you turn away just because they might not be much to look at, give them a try, and you will change your mind completely with the first bite. They taste wonderful. Besides, Christmas should not be about the looks; it’s what’s inside that counts, right?
Matcha marzipan
Obviously, I don’t intend to convince you that Japanese green tea matcha powder has much to do with Christmas. Or with the German tradition of marzipan cookies. Unless the two cultures happen to collide, there is no real pressure on using matcha in the marzipan, unless you are a matcha lover and like to play around with flavors as I do.
I made these with matcha marzipan because I had some left in the freezer. You can omit the matcha green tea powder altogether. The last time I served some matcha marzipan to some colleagues of mine, they thought they were eating pistachio. They claimed they tasted pistachio just because they saw the green color. That was an interesting finding that I might play around with some more in the future.
If you wish to make real pistachio marzipan, though, here’s a recipe for you. Marry Christmas!
Ingredients
Homemade Matcha Marzipan (optional)
- 6 oz. almonds blanched
- 6 oz. powdered erythritol
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tsp. matcha green tea powder
Christmas Marzipan Cookies
- 8 oz. marzipan
- 10 tbsp. powdered erythritol
- 12 tbsp. ground macadamia
- 5 tbsp. almond flour
- 1 large egg
- 6 tbsp. almonds blanched halves
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
Instructions
Homemade Matcha Marzipan (optional)
- Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add matcha powder and mix. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg white.
- Add a quarter of the raw egg to the powdered almonds and process until it's completely incorporated. Add a little more of the egg white and process again. Keep adding the egg white, a little at a time, until the marzipan comes together in a clump. You might not use up all of the egg white. Be careful not to add too much, so that the marzipan doesn't become too sticky.
Christmas Marzipan Cookies
- Begin with separating the egg white from the yolk and lightly beating the egg white.
- Break 8 oz. marzipan into small pieces in a medium bowl. Add powdered erythritol, ground macadamia, almond flour, almond extract, and egg white. Using your hands, combine the ingredients into a dough. It will be quite sticky.
- Wrap the dough in parchment paper and refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C) and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Using a fork, beat the egg yolk with a tsp. of water.
- Roll the dough into 30 small balls. Place them on the baking pan. Press 3 almond halves evenly around each cookie.
- Brush each cookie with the egg yolk. Bake for 20 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What’s the carb count on the marzipan you used? I tried looking on their website and no info listed.
Valerie,
As it is obvious from the recipe, I made marzipan out of blanched almonds and erythritol (plus some egg white for the “glue”). 8 oz. comes out to be around 25 g total carbs (14 g net). That counts for 30 cookies or so.
I’ve never seen sugar-free marzipan in stores. If you find one, please, do let me know!
You can make your own sugar free marzipan – it’s simply either almond flour (smooth consistency) or ground almonds (grittier result) plus a sweetener like stevia and a tiny bit of water or egg white to which you’ve added almond extract. It’s easy to overdue the liquid so add drops at a time. Make it into a paste, roll it up in plastic wrap, store in fridge. The almond base will have a mild almond flavor, the extract is needed if you want to punch it up.
Very true. I should add a separate marzipan recipe.
I do adore pistachio marzipan I make, although pistachios are high in carbs (but can’t help it). You can check the recipe here.
Thank you for the comment!