Buttery, crisp and intensely chocolatey! These totally flakey gluten free and keto chocolate shortbread cookies are the real deal… at1g net carb a pop!
Keto Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Totally Buttery ‘N Intensely Chocolatey!
Shortbread, the Scottish cookies par excellence, are nothing more than one parts sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour. And these beauties, based on our classic shortbread cookies, simply take me back to my university yearsScotland (ahem, a lifetime ago!).
You can indulge in these guys solo, studded with chocolate chunks (!!), or simplydipped in a little dark chocolate. Flaky sea salt optional, but highly suggested.
Honestly to-die-for, and you probably know already I don’t take these statements lightly.
The Deets
The one indispensable thing, is that the dough be thoroughly chilled before baking. Why? The butter in the dough has to have solidified once again before you can roll it out and cut it up. That way, it won’t stick and the shapes will come just right.
The dough is fragile (and extremely buttery!), so it helps to lightly pat the cookie dough with the rolling pin to soften it and make it more malleable; press down any crumbly bits back into the dough until you roll it out to your desired thickness (both thin and thick cookies work well)
The Chocolate
Cocoa or cacao? Both work great, just know that quality really mattershere. My favorite will forever be the Dutch-processed alkaline cocoaValrhona,known to be one of (if not the) best cocoas in the world. But feel free to use a raw cacao powder (arguably more nutritional perks here), though keep in mind that your cookies will be lighter in color and more reddish in hue.Both are well and good, as long as they’re unsweetened and you like the taste.
And call me weird, but I don’t like chocolate chips in my cookies. What I like, is an actual chocolate bar broken up into bits. You see, chocolate chips were designed to not melt completely. And I’m all about those chocolate bits melting throughout the cookies.
You can either use Lily’s (completely sugar free and you can even play around with their flavors) or a dark chocolate (say 70-90%).
The Flours
I found here that super fine almond flourdid a killer job (solo!). Add a touch of xanthan gum, and we’re golden.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’sor WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds.
The Sweetener
This recipe works best with erythritol, without a doubt. Not only is it roughly 1-to-1 in sweetness to sugar (and the volume is important here), but it lends a very similar crunch and chew. No other sweetener does that.
I did find that powdering it prevents unpleasant minty crystals from forming post bake. But the great news is that I found the cooling effect to pretty much disappear overnight #magic.
So get your blender out, make sure it’s completely dry, and process your sweetener of choiceuntil powdered. Just make sure you wait a few moments for the dust to settle before opening the blender or food processor.
Or you can always grab a bag of Powdered Swerve (i.e. confectioner’s).
Gluten Free & Keto Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Buttery, crisp and intensely chocolatey! These totally flakey gluten free and keto chocolate shortbread cookies are the real deal... at just 1g net carb a pop!
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
5 from 10 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Chilling Time 1 hour hr
Total Time 35 minutes mins
Course Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American, European
Servings 15 cookies
Calories 90 kcal
Ingredients
- 120 g almond flour
- 30 g cocoa powder or cacao*
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder optional
- 84 g unsalted grass-fed butter at room temperature
- 90 g powdered erythritol **
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional add-ins
- 70-140 g dark chocolate such as Lily's, in chunks
- flakey sea salt to garnish
Instructions
Whisk together in a medium bowl the almond flour, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, kosher salt and espresso powder (optional).
Cream butter and sweetener in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 8-10 minutes. Be sure to scrape it down with a spatula as needed to avoid streaky butter! Add in vanilla extract and beat until just combined.
With your mixer on low, add in half of your flour mixture- mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the rest. Fold in chocolate chunks or chips (optional).
Wrap cookie dough with cling film (saran wrap) and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and have a baking tray handy.
Roll out dough between parchment paper, dusting with cocoa as needed, and either simply slice with a knife or do cutouts. The dough is fragile (and extremely buttery!), so it helps to lightly pat the cookie dough with the rolling pin to soften it and make it more malleable; press down any crumbly bits back into the dough until you roll it out to your desired thickness (both thin and thick cookies work well). Place shaped cookies with parchment paper on the prepared baking tray and place in the freezer for 15 minutes prior to baking.
Bake for 10-16 minutes (I did 15 for 2 1/2" cookies that were 1/4" thick). Baking times will vary widely depending on size of cookies and oven, but think 8-13 minutes for the small ones or 15-18 minutes for the larger ones.
Allow to cool on pan for 20 minutes, as they'll be very fragile when warm. Transfer to a rack to cool completely and crisp up (can take a few hours with sugar alcohols!). Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
*Note that the cocoa (or cacao) you use will determine the flavor (and hue!) of your cookies. I love Valrhona (Dutch-processed), which gives an intense dark chocolate kick. For a more 'milk chocolate' version you can reduce the cocoa to 2-3 TBSP (and increase the almond flour by the same amount).
**I find that using powdered erythritol in cookies with delicate texture helps to prevent crunchy minty crystals post-bake. Simply run it in your (very dry!) blender or bullet until powdered.
The shaped dough can be frozen for up to 3 months, and they can be baked straight from the freezer (adding 2-3 minutes more to the baking time).
Please note that nutrition facts were estimated for 15 cookies, but you can yield a lot more (even 2 dozen if they're nice 'n thin).
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 117mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 140IU | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.6mg
Keyword gluten free, keto, low carb
Whip up this recipe?Comment below or drop me a line @gnomgnom._ and tag #gnomgnomyum!
