Every year, the Christmas spirit takes me back to think about the past a little. I sometimes take the time to think about the year which is about to finish. Yet, the oldest, childhood memories, remain the strongest. Being home for the holidays or taking a stroll through a Christmas market in a charming European town, I tend to blend my inner child with my childhood grandma figure somehow. I do that by baking keto gingerbread cookies!
The child inside wants to dwell on the Christmas scent forever, and the grandma inside wants to bake cookies. Keto Gingerbread cookies, honey cookies, or any cookies that include lots and lots of spices which will bring out the Christmas scent my inner child wants to bathe in. And so the circle goes: I bake the keto gingerbread cookies, I immerse in the smell of the cookies, and I eat the cookies. Not alone of course, the whole family adores them. Very much so. In the last two weeks of December, I stop counting the batches I bake.
Gingerbread and low-carb
Deciding on what kind of cookies to bake, I usually go for a version of traditional European gingerbread cookies that contain lots of honey. Because I want to make them low-carb, I give up honey and take the best replacement I've found so far: Sukring gold syrup. To me, it tastes like a mix of honey, caramel, and maple syrup, and does a great job of keeping the dough dense and willing to be rolled out without falling apart. Because the fiber count is high, which makes total carbs high, I call the cookies either Keto Gingerbread Cookies or Low-Carb gingerbread Cookies, and I hope the readers don't get too confused.
Keto Gingerbread Cookies spice blend
The spices I put in are a blend of gingerbread spices that you can combine on your own or get an already blended mix. Lately, I've been doing the latter. I've stopped complicating with making my own spice blends because it takes half the time of making a recipe! And time is just too precious. If I could wish for anything in the world as a Christmas present, I would wish for having more time.
On the other hand, taking the time to create your ingredients is a precious thing to do. So if you do want to make homemade gingerbread spice mix, I suggest you combine the following components:
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon,
- 2 tablespoon ground ginger,
- 2 tablespoon ground allspice,
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg,
- ½ tablespoon ground cloves,
- and a pinch of ground black pepper (optional, but I do love its twist!)
Making the Keto Gingerbread Cookies ...
... is unbelievably quick, simple, and fun! But before some of you come forward with questions about replacing or leaving out individual ingredients, I'll take the first word and explain a couple of things.
I've already told you about the spice blend that I wouldn't want to replace with any individual spice. For example, I wouldn't use cinnamon alone because I wouldn't want to lose the beauty of the whole Christmas spirit that the rich blend of spices brings. Next, I wouldn't try to replace the gold IMO syrup with anything else (unless you are willing to use honey or molasses) because it plays a vital role in binding the dough and adding the right flavor.
You could, in theory, use plain IMO syrup, but you'd lose the flavor. In the end, yes, xanthan gum is also an important ingredient, because it makes the dough willing to roll out without falling apart. But don't panic; If you leave the xanthan gum out, just be prepared for tender dough that needs to be handled more carefully.
Do I have to use the gold IMO syrup to bake keto gingerbread cookies?
If you are paleo, I suggest just using honey instead of the gold IMO syrup. However, I don't have strong advice for those who want to avoid the syrup altogether and keep the keto gingerbread cookies keto-friendly. I'd suggest trying to melt 3 oz. of low-carb sweetener with butter and vanilla. The honey-like flavor will not be there, though, and your dough might end up on the dry side. In this case, try adding a tad more melted butter.
I'm not telling you to make perfect gingerbread cookies. If I lacked some of the above ingredients, I'd improvise and risk making crumbly cookies. After all, the taste is what matters (if you don't own a Michelin star restaurant). When the dough tastes good when raw, it should taste good when baked.
After all, it is Christmas time when everything should be about being together with the loved ones above anything else. If cookies don't hold together because you choose not to use the binders, good family connections will. Being and doing perfect does not have much to do with that. Being good enough can sometimes be the best and more than enough.
Looking for more cookie recipes?
MySweetKeto has come up with plenty of keto cookies recipes for you. In winter, especially during holidays, Fragrant Keto Cookies are amongst my favorites. Plus, when I or somebody else in our household craves Keto Shortbread Cookies, there's a quick recipe for those, too. In the end, all the cookies are just too good! Marzipan Cookies are a great choice as well. And last but certainly not least, the simplest possible way of keto cookie baking, are the Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy!
If you try the recipe, leave a comment below let me know how you like it!
Recipe
Low-Carb Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 tablespoon gingerbread spice blend
- ½ cup coconut flour - sifted
- 2 cups almond flour - sifted
- ½ cups erythritol
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 dash salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 3.5 oz butter
- 4 oz Sukrin gold IMO syrup - approx. ½ cup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- ½ large egg white
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ cup powdered erythritol - sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Line the bottom of a baking pan with parchment paper.
Prepare the dry ingredients: Sift the two flours in a large bowl, add gingerbread spice blend, and the rest of the dry ingredients. Combine well.
- Put Sukrin gold IMO syrup, vanilla extract, and butter into a medium-size pot. While stirring, heat on medium-high just until melted. Do not bring to boil! Set aside and let cool down.
- Using a spatula, combine scrambled eggs and flour until well incorporated. Add the Sukrin gold IMO syrup in butter mixture, and knead with your hands until you get a uniform dough.
- You will probably want to distribute the dough into 3 batches. Accordingly, form 3 equal pieces. Cover with foil and refrigerate for an hour.
Take one piece of dough and place between two sheets of parchment paper or kitchen foil. Roll out until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick. Use cookie cutters to create the shapes. Place each cookie on the baking pan. Repeat these steps until you run out of dough. - Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack. The cookies will be tender and soft when hot but will get frim when cooled.
- Icing: Mix together the egg white, lemon juice and powdered erythritol in a small bowl. Using a piping bag , decorate the cookies anyway you wish.
- Once the cookies are chilled, place them into an airtight container and store for up to 10 days (if you can - I dare you!).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
MORE KETO COOKIES RECIPES TO TRY!
If you love this low-carb keto cookies recipe, I recommend you also try my other cookies:
Jean says
I haven't seen IMO syrup here in New Zealand can I use maple syrup instead. Thanks.
Tisa says
I think and hope that maple syrup should work well enough (heated up IMO is an excellent binder, though) if you are not worried about the sugar.
Gun Penhoat says
Don't you mean pain d'epices breads and cookies when you talk about honey as ingredient? I have never heard of honey in the traditional gingerbreads, either cookies or cakes. In my native Sweden honey might be added to the large, so called, breakfast gingerbreads, but they are round cookies, large as a small plate. They are split in half and eaten spread with butter and really have nothing in common with the holiday gingerbread cookies or cakes.
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Gun.
Thank you for the comment.
I do realize that "gingerbread cookies" might mean many different things to individuals coming from different parts of the world. No, I didn't mean the French pain d'epices bread. In parts of central Europe, where I know these cookies from, the two essential ingredients are spices and honey. The form and texture may vary a lot, but honey must be in there, along with the gingerbread spice mix, especially around Christmas.
I have seen those large gingerbreads around, though. Did not know they were supposed to be eaten for breakfast with butter. Thanks for letting us know! In the end, anything can be culturally dependent.
Joanne Muzzy says
What is the biggest difference in Almond and Coconut flour in baking? also main difference
in almond milk and coconut milk?? I'm new to this and doing some experimenting, so far
having good luck. Thanks Joanne
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Joanne!
You might get some useful information in our article about baking with coconut flour.
But roughly, the biggest difference is that coconut flour is way more absorptive than almond flour (and the latter being more absorptive than wheat flour), so you need to add more liquids (and/or fats) when baking with coconut flour. There is also a difference in texture, cohesion, and flavor. Coconut flour is sweeter and has some coconut flavor, while almond flour does taste a bit like almonds. We are talking about fat-reduced flours here, FYI.
As for the milk, it's mostly the matter of preference and maybe allergies. I like both, coconut and almond milk. Plain, low-fat kinds of nut milk are similar in texture but differ in flavor. I prefer using coconut milk because I find it more cohesive. At least the brand I use. But if we talk about canned coconut milk, which is usually high in fats (but fat count can range from 2g to 22g per 3 fl oz.), you can store the high-fat coconut milk in a fridge to harden up and use it as coconut cream.
Hope this helps a bit. All the best to you and Yours!
Shelly says
what can i replace the sukrin cold IMO syrup with
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Shelly. If you do strict low carb, try melting 3 oz. low carb sweetener with butter instead of the syrup. But the real thing is honey and the GOLD syrup is the closest low carb replacement.
April Wessels says
Cold butter or room temperature?
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, April.
It can be cold because you are going to melt it in the pot together with some other ingredients as written and shown in the instructions.
Bests!
Ursula says
Thank you for the recipe--I'm looking forward to trying it this season. Can I use ½ cup molasses instead of IMO syrup with good results? Also, the gingerbread mix you mention is currently not available on Amazon. Can you suggest a recipe for one?
Thanks.
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Ursula. Yeah, molasses should work, especially taste-wise. I'm not sure how well the dough will hold together since there is no gluten and no IMO syrup to bind it. But this could only be a problem when cutting the cookies. Once they're baked, they should be firm enough.
For making gingerbread mix, use:
2 tbsp ground cinnamon.
2 tbsp ground ginger.
2 tbsp ground allspice.
1 tbsp ground nutmeg.
1/2 tbsp ground cloves.
Pinch ground black pepper.
All the best!
Susan Pollard says
I noticed in most of your recipes Coconut flour is used. I am allegoric to Coconut. It there something else that could be used instead of Coconut flour.
Thank you
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Susan. You can try with some hempseed flour or just use almond instead of coconut flour in all the recipes. Almond flour is a bit less absorbent than coconut flour so you might need a tiny amount more of it comparing to coconut flour.