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Coconut flour cookies are great for those times when you want something to satisfy your sweet tooth on the go. These simple keto cookies are a great portable snack.
It’s always a good idea to have a few low carb snacks in the house, especially when you have non-low carb goodies in the house. A few keto cookies I like to make include my cream cheese cookies and low carb peanut butter cookies.
I usually do have a stash of my favorite homemade chocolate bars as special treats, but they don’t travel well when it’s hot. That’s why I started baking keto coconut flour cookies in large batches and freeze them in single sized portions.
I have been baking with this low carb flour a lot lately because I like it a lot better than almond flour. So I decided to try making some sugar cookies. The recipe is based on a high carb recipe from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that my mother used to make.
How to use coconut flour in cookies
These keto cookies use less flour than standard cookies. That’s because the coconut based flour soaks up liquid and expands. It’s also why more eggs and liquid typically need to be used with keto coconut flour recipes.
Generally speaking, you’ll need to use about a fourth to one third the amount of regular flour. And the amount of eggs is usually around 1 and a half to 2 times what a standard recipe uses. The extra eggs are also needed for binding since there’s no gluten.
After the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet ingredients, coconut flour absorbs the liquid like a sponge. This should result in a cookie dough that can be scooped and shaped.
Baking the keto cookies
After the dough is prepared, a cookie scoop is used to make similar sized cookies. Each scoop is then flattened out as coconut flour cookies usually don’t flatten out much during baking. I just used my fingers to press down each scoop of dough onto the pan.
I like to use a silicon baking mat over my cookie sheet just to ensure that the cookies won’t stick. You can also use parchment paper or use a lightly greased baking sheet. Of course, a non-stick cookie sheet works too.
The cookies should be baked until the edges begin to brown. For me, this was about 10 minutes. Then I transferred them to a rack until they were cool enough to move, about 15 minutes.
Can you make sugar cookies with coconut flour?
Although these cookies were adapted from a sugar cookie recipe, the texture is a bit different. They are more soft and cake-like than a traditional sugar cookie.
Can they be made crispy?
If you want a crispier cookie, you’ll need to use a mix of almond and coconut flour. Or you can just bake my low carb sugar cookies instead which use a combination of the two flours.
How to make the cookies less dry and crumbly
Unfortunately, coconut flour can vary in absorbency. So the liquid or flour amount may need to be adjusted. If your dough is too thin, simply add in a little more flour until it’s workable. Or if the dough seems really thick it may need a little more almond milk.
If the dough is crumby, you may need an extra egg or more fat. However, the recipe should have plenty of fat already so this shouldn’t be an issue.
These coconut flour cookies shouldn’t be crumbly. But if they are, I find that the texture is typically better if they have been chilled in the refrigerator.
Variations of the recipe
To dress these up for a party or holiday, they can be frosted with a simple glaze made with Swerve Confectioners Powder or drizzled with some melted low carb chocolate chips. Unsweetened coconut could also be added to the dough for a more intense coconut flavor.
There really are endless possibilities with this keto coconut flour cookies recipe. Another option would be to sprinkle a little granular Swerve on top that has been colored with some food dye.
Storing the cookies
For short term storage, I keep the cookies in the refrigerator. If I want to store them long term, I’ll put them in the freezer. These are great to freeze in small batches to thaw for snacks as you need them.
Other keto coconut flour recipes
Want some other ideas for using coconut flour? You may enjoy some of these other low carb recipes:
- Coconut Flour Cranberry Orange Cookies
- Low Carb Bagels
- Coconut Flour Pancakes
- Gluten Free German Chocolate Cake
- Coconut Flour Waffles
What’s your favorite way to use coconut flour? For me, it’s definitely making pancakes. And consuming the flour has some good health benefits too!
Enjoy the cookies! And be sure to check out some of my other low carb sweets.
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Coconut Flour Cookies (Keto, Low Carb, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour sifted
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/3 cup coconut oil softened
- 3/4 cup low carb sugar substitute more or less to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Stir together coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
- In separate bowl, beat butter and coconut oil together; add sweetener and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, almond milk, and vanilla; beat well.
- Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, beating until well combined. Batter should be thick. If not, add in a bit more coconut flour being careful not to overdo it.
- Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet or silicon mat and flatten out to desired thickness.
- Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes or until edges start to brown.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.
Post updated in June 2019. Originally published in October 2014.
Lisa MarcAurele has been creating keto friendly recipes since 2010. She enjoys experimenting in the kitchen to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites!
Alicia Gaytan says
Pretty good! I wanted to make keto desserts and tried this out. This works really well, although I only used THREE eggs instead of four and used 1/2 cup of coconut flour plus maybe one more tbsp depending on if i could grab the dough with my hands. I used PYURE keto sugar and a brown swerve mix which was the WORST IDEA. The cookies formed nicely and baked nicely but it was my fault that the cookies tasted nasty. The cookie is more of a dense shortbread but if its sweet it could help resolve a sweet tooth. I need to try this recipe again, but just with a different type of sweetener because swerve leaves a crazy after taste and I only used 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup of the pyure sugar. ANYONE have any recommendations for keto sugar that does not leave a cooling or nasty taste in your mouth?
Lisa MarcAurele says
You can try a sweetener that doesn’t have erythritol in it like BochaSweet.
Bec says
I just made these for my keto boyfriend, using the exact recipe with no extras, with monkfruit sweetener (the full amount as I didn’t read the part about adding half first until it was too late) and they came out perfect! He likes them, and is giving some to his friend to try. They remind me of coconut macaroons. Only difference was that I had to cook them on gas mark 6 for 20 minutes!
Anna says
I know this is an older post, but I just found and made these.
I am not keto, but a friend is. I used Stevia, honestly bc it’s cheaper. LOL. I was afraid to make them too sweet, so I stuck with the half of the 3/4 cup. It was barely sweet to me, so I figured it would be sweeter to her. They were far less sweet after baking.
They taste like cornbread to us, which is not necessarily bad, but not a “cookie” to us. I’ll have to see if my friend thinks they are sweet at all. I wouldn’t mind trying these again and using either more stevia or more of a different sweetener.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Originally, I use Splenda which is very sweet compared to natural sweeteners. But sweetness does vary by preference so it’s good to adjust it to taste.
gregory d harris says
Can you add almond butter to these? I will try.
Lisa MarcAurele says
You can, but it would need some experimenting.
gregory d harris says
Tried these cookies, I used half everything for half batch. Had to add a little bit of coconut flour as expected, and baked for 12 minutes. All ovens are different.
These are fantastic! I have lots of ingredients left over so I’ll be making them again soon. A great and very easy way to quench my sweet tooth urges. I’m just getting into baking but this is my gateway recipe into low carb baking. I highly recommend beginning with this! You may end up making them a lot.
Dina Kytt says
Thank you for the recipe. Just made my first batch. Ever. As in first ever low carb bake. I am very pleased. True, not crunchy, but never the less, tasty. And good help to my sweet tooth problem.i made some little corrections: first – i used ordinary milk and second – iI reduced the sweetener amount (i used less than half a cup). Next I will try crepes .
Folasade says
I tried out the recipe today and it was so great though I had to add about 1/3 cup of coconut flour to get the desired consistency and a little more coconut milk in place of almond milk. My cookies came out well and so yummy. It was so much I had to freeze some.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Coconut flour can vary in absorbency so slight adjustments may be needed. So glad the cookies worked out!
tabby says
coconut cokies recepie wad awfull. i followed it precise. too much butter . no need for almond milk was too runny even after adding another3/4 flour. it wasnt cookies it spread out n became cake. lots of ingredient git wasted. too many eggs for the ammount if flour. thanks i m working on crwating my own recepie
Lisa MarcAurele says
Unfortunately, coconut flour can vary by absorbency so liquid/eggs may need to vary or amount of coconut flour used may need to be adjusted. Sorry it didn’t work out with the coconut flour you had.
Charlie says
I’m not sure why the others are having so much trouble with this recipe. I decided to give it a try because I have a coworker that is allergic to nuts so I wanted to bring something she can eat. It was very easy to follow. The dough was very cookie like following the instructions exactly. I did use the metric measurements because I believe in baking exact measurements are so important. They turned out great. Thank you for the recipe. It will be a keeper. I do think the cookie is sweet enough as is. No frosting necessary.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks Charlie! I think it’s because coconut flour can vary in absorbency.
Mari Cook says
If I use gee flavored coconut oil how much oil do I use?
Lisa MarcAurele says
It’s the same amount as butter or coconut oil.
Russ says
I think these are better than the almond flour cookies I usually make. I can’t wait to try adding some cocoa nibs!
I think the quality of coconut flour is key, as my texture came out perfectly.
My small mods:
6 tbs butter, 2 tbs coconut oil – microwave 30 secs
1/2 cup gran splenda
3-4 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
mix the above, then add:
2/3 cup coconut flour
4-5 shakes cinnamon
pinch baking soda
1-2 tbsp psyllium fiber (my own preference)
I enjoy them dunked in unsweetened almond milk!
Nicola says
First time using coconut flour pretty impressed with the results, I did a few with added dark choc chips
Tasty 🙂 thank you
Ravika says
I made these today and they were horrible. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with really dry, grainy cookies, that tasted like I dumped a little sugar in a bowl of warm coconut flour. I didn’t like them at all.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Unfortunately, coconut flour can vary in absorbency. It sounds like you likely needed to use a reduced amount of the flour. I can add a note to the recipe.
J. Dexter Smith says
Sounds good but I tried my hand at baking all coconut flour cookies today, learned real quick that using only coconut flour is a huge mistake as a cup and a half of coconut flour soaked up over a quart of almond milk . I used 4 tbls. mayo in lieu of soft butter as I didn’t look for recipes prior to embarking. Used zero egg as the mayo is made from egg white and the oil is a fat. What a mess!! Would not stick together even in my hand trying to cookie shape them for baking, cracked and crumbled like crazy. So, I only done one cookie sheet like this; then added regular flour (about 1/3 cup) to the already mixed coconut flour, the mayo, the almond milk, some peanuts and pecan pieces along with about 3/4’s tsp. baking soda. These didn’t get done until 2 hours in a 325 degree oven. So, what I am wondering is how 2 tbls. of almond milk will work on your above recipe? If I had to use a quart of almond milk to be able to get something besides little mini balls of dough on 1.5 cups of coconut flour, how can you get any if at all dough which is even workable on 2 tbls. of almond milk. I do believe that the only way to use coconut flour is sparingly, e.g., 3 or 4 tbls. per 1 c. of almond flour or pecan meal and even then, I might add some real flour for enough stickiness to make a cookie. Just my opinion.
Lisa MarcAurele says
It’s the extra eggs and butter that makes it workable. But you can certainly cut back on the coconut flour if needed as it can vary in absorbency.
Barbara Mannle says
I do not see anywhere how many cookies are considered a serving. Is it just one?
Lisa MarcAurele says
It’s for each cookie, but a serving can be more than one if desired.
Donna says
Easy to make, easy to eat! 😉
Can I ask, there’s too many in the whole recipe, so can I freeze some for later? Have you tried, we’re they ok after defrosting?
Thanks!
D from London
Lisa MarcAurele says
These coconut flour cookies freeze very well. I’ve frozen them before.
Phil Brown says
Question: How big a cookie scoop do you use?
Lisa MarcAurele says
My scoop is about 1 tablespoon.
karen says
hi Lisa. I really want to make these cookies TODAY. any thoughts on using cream – diluted – instead of almond milk. all I have is cream, usually.
Lisa MarcAurele says
I’ve always used diluted cream in place of almond milk and it’s been fine.
DONNA HITZ says
I added the almond flour and used whole cream instead of almond milk since I didn’t have any. I also added 3/4 C of unsweetened coconut. I had to bake them about 16 minutes instead of 8-10 to get them to brown. They tasted pretty good but since I haven’t had a single baked good in almost 4 months, hey. They look lovely too. Thanks
Nicole says
I made these cookies today and they came out fantastic! The only changes I made was using Swerve sweetener, almond extract because I was out of vanilla, and I used 2/4 cup of the sweetener because I don’t like things too sweet. I know recipes can go wrong but I don’t understand all of the issues – the dough came out perfect, and the recipe specifically says to use less sugar if you don’t want it too sweet. Overall, I didn’t have an issue and the cookies came out just fine!
Trina Flynn says
I need to try making these cookies! I love coconut 🙂 Would it be possible to use all butter in place of the coconut oil? If not that’s fine I don’t wanna mess up the recipe.
Thank you for sharing your healthy option recipes
Lisa MarcAurele says
All butter should be okay, but I find lard and coconut oil are a bit better in these cookies.
parvin roohi says
I just made these cookies.i was very disappointed, I don’t know what did I do wrong? It wasn’t looking like cookie and after I scooped it and put it on tray and in oven it was flattened and after it become cold I cut it .was so soft and sticky.
Lisa MarcAurele says
The abosorbancy of coconut flour can vary so it may have been that.
Leah says
Just baked these cookies and fine that they are ok for a quick go to snack.
They took longer to cook than stated although I did make them larger so they were more normal size cookies (e.g subway ones) it made 12 of that size.
I have found that they are actually quite greasy on your hands as you eat them yet quite dry inside. The texture is also more spongy than a cookie (I don’t mind that but might try a biscuit one next time to see if it’s any better)
I also didn’t put as much sweetener in as stated because I find the stevia powder to be very very sweet.
Jessica Williams says
Can I use Stevia powder and if so how much should I use? I know it can be a lot sweeter and I feel 3/4 cup is alot!
Thanks
Lisa MarcAurele says
If it’s the concentrated powder, I’d try 3/4 teaspoon. However, you may need to make up for the lost bulk of a regular sweetener.
Oluchi says
Please,can I use soya milk?
Lisa MarcAurele says
Any low carb milk is fine to use in the recipe.
Helen says
Hi can you use Sour cream instead of the oil?
Lisa MarcAurele says
Sour cream doesn’t have the same properties as coconut oil so I’m not sure if it will work.
Iva says
These cookies are amazing.
They are a little bit too sweet for my test, so next time I will try to lower the amount of the sweetener which in my case is Erythritol.
Susan T-O says
I was pleasantly surprised by how moist these are, so soft & tasty too. I did make three minor tweaks. At your suggestion, I started with only half the sweetener and then added a bit more; by the time I finished adjusting I’d used about 2 tablespoons less than the recipe calls for. Next time I might reduce it another tablespoon as these are still plenty sweet. I was shocked to discover I had no vanilla in the house (I swear I just bought some!) so used almond extract instead. Lastly, to reduce the coconut flavor a bit I added a tablespoon of baking cocoa. My husband stole an extra one off the cooling rack when my back was turned, and we’re both ever so pleased to be able to have a little dessert in our lunch bags again.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks for sharing you experience with these coconut flour cookies!
Viviane Poirier says
Yummy ! 🙂 But they were a bit falling appart
Lisa MarcAurele says
Try putting them in the fridge. I find they stick together better after being chilled for several hours.
gg says
Tried this today and didn’t care for them much at all. I cooked them longer than suggested, but they were still kinda spongy and cake like. The taste was OK, but not great. That may be because I used coconut palm sugar.
Rachel Davis says
These were ok but very dry
Lisa MarcAurele says
Coconut flour can vary in absorption so you may want to try using less coconut flour.
Jasmin says
Just made these!! Yes they are soft and fluffy – not strictly cookies but who cares! They are delicious! These were my first low carb bakes!
I do have one question – how should they be stored? Fridge? On the side?
I always get stuck on storage!
Thank you for sharing!
Jasmin – England.
Lisa MarcAurele says
I always keep my low carb baked goods in the refrigerator. If I want to keep longer than a week, I’ll put them in the freezer.
Carmen says
OMG I had my daughter help me out with these yesterday and when I tell you they are AMAZING, I am not exaggerating!!! I have tried sooooo many ‘keto’ cookie recipes and they have been a big FAIL so my expectations weren’t that high. Boy was I wrong! these are delicious and I can eat them all day long and never know these aren’t bad for you! the consistency is like between a donut and a cookie.. Thank you for the recipe!
Sarah Jeanne says
I used organic cane sugar, cocoa and peanut butter chips – so definitely NOT low carb. But delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Angela Noack says
Came out amazing. I used coconut milk, and mint extract!
Gail says
Great recipe Lisa! It was so simple, I only had 3 tablespoons of butter on hand so I substituted more coconut oil and worked perfectly. I used a tablespoon of whole milk. I used lakanto’s monk fruit sweetener, used 1/2 cup. Tasted great!! I will keep this recipe on hand. I have been cooking Keto and low carb for about two years and it does take a little practice. So I think when people are saying it doesn’t work out, it’s because they’re used to using other flours and sweeteners. I had my share of failed recipes in the beginning but now I can correct them.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks for the thoughts Gail. I’ve had hundreds of failures myself. But I haven’t figured out why many people end up with flat cookies unless they are using ground dried coconut instead of coconut flour. The coconut flour is defatted and dried coconut isn’t so that is one possible explanation.
Kim says
These are very good. I’m not sure cookie is the right word for them. Certainly no crunch. But certainly tastes good.
I used Brandless coconut flour, Brandless coconut oil, Swerve sweetener and Almond milk for baking.
Followed the directions exactly as prescribed. I ended up with 28 cookies that are about 16g each so I think maybe my cookie scoop is larger.
Anyway I’ll certainly make these again. I love the coconut flavor. The texture reminds me of cornbread… sort of grainy but not off putting. I think adding a drizzle of sugar free chocolate would be awesome. I’ve never used Swerve before and worried that 3/4 a cup would leave them with that terrible fake sugar aftertaste. I was so surprised that it didn’t taste diety at all. Even my hubby likes them and he cannot stand artificial sweeteners.
Thanks for posting!
Lisa MarcAurele says
Agree. These are more like cake cookies.
Law says
Lisa, I’ve been dying to make these ! I finally did today and what an epic FAIL ! LoL . I wish I could show you a picture lol.. I followed the recipe to the t so I don’t know what happened. When the timer went off everything was in a sheet like a cake not cookies. It all blended in together. I don’t know if it was the cookie sheet I used or what.
– Law
Lisa MarcAurele says
That seems to be an issue with quite a few people, but it’s never happened to me. I wonder if maybe it’s the coconut flour used as it can vary in absorbency which is would cause a melt down in the oven if it’s a less absorbent one. The batter should be very thick and get thicker upon standing. If the batter isn’t thick, more coconut flour would be needed.