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 coconut 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 low carb 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 low carb pancakes.
Enjoy the cookies! Be sure to let me know what you thought of them in the comments below.
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 sweetener more or less to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
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
Nutrition
Additional Info
- Net Carbs 3g
- % Carbs: 19.7%
- % Protein: 6.6%
- % Fat: 73.8%
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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.
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Post updated in June 2019. Originally published in October 2014.
Nicole says
June 26, 2019 at 4:40 pmI 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
June 26, 2019 at 11:56 amI 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
June 26, 2019 at 7:44 pmAll butter should be okay, but I find lard and coconut oil are a bit better in these cookies.
parvin roohi says
June 12, 2019 at 3:07 pmI 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
June 13, 2019 at 7:53 amThe abosorbancy of coconut flour can vary so it may have been that.
Leah says
June 9, 2019 at 8:03 amJust 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
May 31, 2019 at 4:56 pmCan 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
May 31, 2019 at 9:48 pmIf 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
May 30, 2019 at 2:24 pmPlease,can I use soya milk?
Lisa MarcAurele says
May 31, 2019 at 6:14 amAny low carb milk is fine to use in the recipe.
Iva says
May 29, 2019 at 2:21 amThese 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
May 21, 2019 at 11:23 pmI 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
May 22, 2019 at 5:40 amThanks for sharing you experience with these coconut flour cookies!
Viviane Poirier says
May 19, 2019 at 12:51 pmYummy ! 🙂 But they were a bit falling appart
Lisa MarcAurele says
May 19, 2019 at 1:30 pmTry putting them in the fridge. I find they stick together better after being chilled for several hours.
gg says
May 18, 2019 at 9:50 pmTried 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
May 18, 2019 at 10:59 amThese were ok but very dry
Lisa MarcAurele says
May 19, 2019 at 6:23 amCoconut flour can vary in absorption so you may want to try using less coconut flour.
Jasmin says
March 21, 2019 at 5:24 pmJust 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
March 22, 2019 at 8:54 amI 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
March 12, 2019 at 1:05 pmOMG 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
February 26, 2019 at 7:37 pmI used organic cane sugar, cocoa and peanut butter chips – so definitely NOT low carb. But delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Angela Noack says
February 17, 2019 at 7:06 pmCame out amazing. I used coconut milk, and mint extract!
Gail says
February 12, 2019 at 4:28 pmGreat 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
February 13, 2019 at 7:27 amThanks 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
February 10, 2019 at 2:43 pmThese 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
February 11, 2019 at 9:02 amAgree. These are more like cake cookies.
Law says
February 10, 2019 at 1:36 pmLisa, 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
February 11, 2019 at 9:08 amThat 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.