It might not yet be the right time for frequent keto cookie baking, but it is coming. I can smell it at work, where co-workers munch on cookies when we return from lunch. The summer is drawing to an end and tea breaks are soon returning to our schedules.
Obviously, keto shortbread cookies are the tea’s best friends. And while everybody can enjoy them, why should you or I be the only observer in the room? Take this recipe and bake yourself a nice batch of the simplest shortbread cookies. If you can hold yourself back and not eat too many of them, these are perfectly keto friendly.
Nuts about keto cookies
I love macadamia. It is the best keto choice among nuts if you ask me. Whatsoever, you can freely choose any other type of nuts available. The cookies should still be excellent. Maybe just a little bit less healthy (because of Omega 6) and more carby. Make sure you don’t over-stress about the latter, for desserts are to be enjoyed, not stressed over. That would be even less healthy than a bit of extra Omega 6 fatty acids or carbs in your guts, I guess.
The nuts should stay roughly ground, so do not attempt to turn them into butter. If that happens, you can still make the cookies, but all the charm of biting into the little pieces of nuts will be gone. Just a piece of advice, of course.
Besides, there is no real need to dip the cookies into chocolate. Sometimes some of us simply prefer to enjoy the full vanilla flavor inside, which does get camouflaged by chocolate if you choose to use it.
Go ahead and use the cookies as a base for other recipes. For example, I’m going to use them to make some chocolate coconut balls soon. And I’ve already used them as a cookie crumble in Cream from Heaven recipe.
And you? Do let me know what other uses you find for the keto cookies!
Ingredients
- 4 oz. butter
- 2/3 cup ground macadamia
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup erythritol
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tbsp. powdered erythritol
- 5 oz. dark chocolate (Optional. Not included in the above nutrition info.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, mix softened butter and erythritol. Add in vanilla extract and mix.
- Using an S-blade food processor, ground the macadamia nuts. Make sure you leave it roughly ground, not turning it into flour or even butter.
- Put the ground macadamia into a medium bowl. Sift together both flours and salt, adding them to the ground macadamia.
- Add the flour mixture and macadamia to the butter-erythritol mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together.
- The dough now is probably crumbly and does not hold together very well, but do not worry.
Shape it into a flat disk, wrap it in a plastic foil, and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough on the baking pan 1/2 inch thick. It still acts crumbly at this point but will hold together once baked and cooled down. Try shaping a square.
Cut out 12 or more rectangle-shaped cookies.
- Take an egg and separate the white from the yolk. Keep the yolk for later use or discard it.
Mix the white lightly with 1 tablespoon powdered erythritol, and spread it over the cookies.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure not to burn the cookies. Take them out of the oven and let them cool down completely. They will get firm when cooled.
- Optional:
Take the chocolate and melt it in the microwave. Dip each cookie in the chocolate and place it on a plate, lined with parchment paper. Let the cookies cool down in the fridge.
Not that the chocolate in this final and optional step is not included in the above nutritional info calculations.
- Enjoy to the fullest and try to stop after a couple of cookies.
Nutrition
These look like the shortbread my friend’s great aunt made for us in Scottland! The best ever! I can’t wait to make these. Thanks so very much for sharing with us.
Could I substitute hazelnuts for the macadamia nuts?
Sure. But count for a bit less fat and a tiny bit more carbs.
Im allergic to macadamia nut. What can i use as a substitute?
I’m sorry to hear about the allergy! It should be OK to use almonds in any of the recipes calling for macadamia. If making butter, make sure to add some coconut oil (or any oil you prefer) to the almonds to get closer to the fat count of macadamia butter.
I don’t want to use Erythritol can I just omit it and will the recipe work?
It should work. You might want to either use a bit less butter (minus a Tbsp or so) or make some other dry ingredient count higher for 1/4 cup or so. In the end, what matters is that the dough sticks together. You can always add wet or dry ingredients accordingly while mixing. Let us know!
Love it!