Soft sugar free keto coconut macaroons are perfect mini treats. Drizzle these low carb gluten free cookies with chocolate for more decadence.
I’ve been in the mood for some soft baked low carb cookies like my basic coconut flour cookies. But I wanted to try something new and didn’t want to use coconut flour.
I thought I’d try to make cookies using out of unsweetened shredded coconut. There was a bag I found in my pantry with a “use by” date in a month so it needed to be used. So I decided to bake up some sugar free macaroons.
Carbs in Coconut
The carb count in coconut is very low. One cup of shredded raw coconut meat has about 12 grams total carbs of which 7 grams is fiber. Therefore, the net carbs in a cup of fresh coconut is about 5 grams. (data source)
In comparison, unsweetened dried coconut has about 20 grams of total carbs of which 14 grams are fiber. This makes it a keto friendly ingredient with only 6 grams net carbs per cup. (source)
And my gluten free keto coconut macaroons recipe contains no flour or added sugar. This makes these coconut cookies a perfect low carb treat.
Each one of these gluten free cookies has about 1 gram net carb. With a typical serving size at two or three, this makes makes each serving well under 5 grams net carbs.
How to Make Keto Macaroons
I’ve been making my low carb coconut macaroons for over a decade. The recipe was published in August 2010, only a month after this blog was started. So you can be assured that this is a tried and true recipe.
However, the original posted recipe contained a mistake. I accidentally typed in 1 egg instead of two. So those who tried to make the cookies following the recipe had trouble getting the cookie dough balls to stay together.
I recently made a couple batches of these macaroons to verify the accuracy and they held together much better with the additional egg. There were some suggestions in the comments. But the real problem was that the egg amount wasn’t right in the original recipe.
So let’s see how these simple gluten free coconut macaroons are made…
Making a simple syrup
I start out by making a simple syrup. This is done by boiling a mixture of water, low carb sweetener, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
After the liquid reaches a boil, it’s removed from the heat. At this point, vanilla extract is added in.
Forming the gluten free coconut macaroon dough
I like to use a food processor to form the dough for the keto coconut macaroons. But mixing by hand should work as well.
First, the eggs and unsweetened dried coconut are combined. Next, the simple syrup is mixed in to form the dough.
Then, a cookie scoop is used to form evenly-sized dough mounds that are then placed on a lined cookie sheet. I like to use a silicone baking mat, but parchment paper works too. You can also grease the pan if desired.
Baking and finishing the low carb coconut macaroons
The cookies are baked for an initial 8 minutes and then the pan is rotated and baked for another 4 minutes. I have a convection oven and I find the items in back closest to the fan will brown up first. That’s why I like to rotate the pan, especially for coconut cookies which can brown up quickly.
After the macaroons cooled down on a rack, I drizzled a small amount of melted low carb chocolate chips on each cookie. It added flavor and made them look prettier. I find a chocolate melter does the best job in melting chocolate at the right temperature.
Thoughts on the Recipe
These sugar free low carb coconut macaroons cookies are not overly sweet. If you have just recently cut out sugar, you may want to add more sweetener or use Splenda for a sweeter taste. However, if you’ve been on a low carb diet for a while, you may choose to reduce the sweetener amount.
Overall, I was please with the way these cookies came out. If the cookie dough isn’t holding together well, you can try lowering the amount of coconut from 4 cups to 3 cups.
Want a few more yummy coconut treats? Try the coconut chocolate chip cookies or chocolate chip coconut bars.
Low Carb Keto Coconut Macaroons Recipe
Enjoy these easy and delicious sugar free macaroons. And be sure to let me know what you think of the recipe if you do give it a try by filling out the comment form below.
Low Carb Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup water
- 3/4 cup low carb sweetener or less to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar-free vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3-4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut start with 3 cups, add more as needed
- sugar-free chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray baking sheet with non-stick spray.
- Combine water, low carb sweetener, salt, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir resulting syrup and remove from heat.
- Combine the egg and coconut flakes in food processor. Add the syrup and process to form dough. Using cookie scoop, place mounds about an inch apart on baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes then rotate baking pan in oven. Bake for an additional 4 minutes or until light brown. Cool on rack. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:Post updated in December 2018. Originally published August 2010.
Leslie says
What size should the macaroons be? I tried this recipe tonight, and they just crumbled once I baked them. They did not stay together at all. I was so disappointed. As I balled them up they seemed to form nicely…. Suggestions? By the way, I did eat them in a bowl with drizzled chocolate and that was delish.
Lisa MarcAurele says
I used a regular cookie scoop, about 1 tablespoon size.
Martha Overby says
Just made your Coconut Macaroons and they are quite Yummy! BUT — down in the NOTES after the recipe—and just before the Nutrition box, you mention coconut FLOUR! That threw me be cause “flour” was not in the ingredient list. I contacted a friend who makes these and she indicated no flour is required. You should clean that up so as not to confuse anyone else. Otherwise, great recipe!!!!!
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks for catching that typo!
Jeanie says
Hi could you give me an equivalency in monk fruit powdered for sweetener.
I bought a kilo to try out because it’s apparently a nicer taste.
Thanks Jeanie
Lisa MarcAurele says
It depends on the monk fruit powder you are using. Is it a pure extract? If so what’s the percentage of pure monkfruit? Is it a bulk sweetener? It’s best to just use the sugar conversion with your product as the sweetener I used is a one-for-one sugar replacer.
Peta says
I just made these exactly to the recipe and OMG! They are just divine! Thank you so much for such an amazing recipe, they will be a constant treat in our house!
Lisa MarcAurele says
You’re welcome. Enjoy the keto coconut macaroons!
Kasia says
I try this and it was awesome. Thanks for another treat – low carb never was that easy 😉
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks for letting us know how well they turned out!
Alex says
This recipe was awful. It was far too dry, even after adding an additional egg, and wouldn’t hold together. Such a waste of expensive ingredients.
Lisa MarcAurele says
If the dough doesn’t hold well even after an additional egg, then the coconut was too absorbent. Unfortunately, the absorbency of dried coconut can vary so I’ll add that note to the recipe.
DMix says
You could have easily added coconut flour,almond flour, or regular flour to absorb everything. I added almond flour and they came out in one piece and they taste great. Instead of complaining about a FREE recipe, use your brain and fix your problem.
Thank you Lisa for the recipe. I appreciate it.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Thanks so much DMix!
Brenda says
These are delicious! I used Pyure(next time I will use less).Did not use stevia extract powder, used 2 eggs and 3 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut I read the reviews while I was in the process and changed the measurements as I was having a problem also.I cooked the syrup for a few minutes after it came to a boil I will make these again ( often) .Thanks for the recipe it was what I was looking for
Lisa says
Thanks for sharing your mods! I decided to change the ingredient list to 2 eggs. I believe the 1 egg was a mistake and should have been 2 eggs.
Nancy says
Where did you get sugar-free vanilla extract?
Lisa says
Just look for an extract with no sugar added.
Donna says
I agree with Leanne above, this recipe is way to dry to hold together. A better ratio would be 3 cups of coconut to 1 egg. Adding Coconut flour as you suggest would not help them it would just make them more crumbly. My batch is just to crumbly to hold together. A big dissapointment !
Lisa says
I’ll work on this recipe with better ratios. They just held together for me.
Christy Edge says
Just curious how you got less than 1 carb per cookie? My swerve has 4 carbs per teaspoon. That’s 144 carbs in the whole batch just from the swerve. Plus 64 carbs from the coconut. So you’re looking at 5-6 carbs per cookie of it only makes 36.
Lisa says
The carbs in Swerve are from erythritol which have no impact so there’s no need to count them. Also, the listed carbs are net. I’ll fix that.
Yashta says
Hi I’m from South Africa I would like to know what is swerve?
Lisa says
It’s just a one-for-one sugar replacement. You can use any sweetener you have access to.
Leanne says
“Dough was very loose. It was difficult to form a mound. I added a touch of swerve and one more small egg and it was still loose. What else can we try? The ingredients are on the more expensive side to simply throw away and start over time and time again.
Lisa says
Coconut flour may be a good add to help bind everything.
Megha says
Sounds good !!! what can 1/4 teaspoon stevia extract powder be substituted with? I have swerve and also liquid stevia .
Lisa says
It’s about 1/4 cup of Swerve or 1/2 teaspoon of liquid stevia.
Megha says
Thank you so much Lisa. Is there a reason you’ve used stevia extract powder ?
Lisa says
It’s just the sweetener so had on hand when creating the recipe.
Catintherain says
Thank you, I was looking for something like this! I always crave those Voortman’s coconut cookies, and this recipe should make a great alternative.
The syrup can be thickened with 1/4 tsp glucomannan, or more if needed.
Lisa says
Thanks for the tip on the thickener! Glucomannon is perfect!
RoseAnn Pacheco says
Hi, Just tried this coconut macaroon recipe..taste delicious..the only problem was that they are not sticking together very well..Even after being cooled..It’s like there was too much coconut to syrup to hold them together..
I think I will try less coconut next time and see if that helps..Do you have any other suggestions on what might make them stick better together??
Love, Love your recipes…Thanks, R
Lisa says
I would add an egg and maybe reduce the water.
RoseAnn Pacheco says
thanks Lisa, I will give that suggestion a try..
R
Karen rivet says
How many carbs in them?
Lisa says
I’m getting 3.6 grams carb with 2.7 grams fiber so a net carb of 0.9 grams per cookie.
Sonia Mehrotra says
Hi..am a little confused about the carb content as your write up and the nutrition facts accompanying the recipe both show 2 carbs per cookie or 4 carbs per serving of two…and here you are saying it’s 0.9 per cookie..what am I missing?
Lisa says
0.9g is the net carbs (minus fiber)
Valle says
I love these !! I’m doing keto diet so sweets are a distant memory , but these were perfect to fill the void lol. The syrup stays more of a loose liquid but the macaroons still turned out perfectly . I bought a sugar free candy bar which I melted and drizzled over them . I used Splenda instead of stevia Bc that’s what I had on hand . I will definitely make these again !
Lisa says
Thanks for trying and letting us know how they turned out!
Arlene says
How long does it take to turn to syrup? I went about 5-10 min and it’s still watery consistency?
Lisa says
It is a watery syrup. You should remove after erythritol has melted down.
Emily says
Yummy I will just add a small amount of this coconut nectar http://www.tiana-coconut.com/products/coconut-superfoods/coconut-nectar-sugar-substitute/ and let’s see if it works 🙂
Lisa says
Never tried coconut nectar, but sounds like it would be a nice addition.