I don’t bake but I can bake this keto chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses almond flour, coconut flour and monkfruit, thanks to Kelley Herring’s Keto Desserts.
Kelley Herring’s Keto Desserts has become my go-to cookbook for all keto desserts for my family even when I am not on a ketogenic diet.
This recipe was heavily adapted from her Keto Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe on page 52-53. This is mostly her healthier version of everyone’s best-loved cookie.
My Modifications To The Recipe
The original recipe from the cookbook uses stevia and erythritol but I have chosen to use erythritol with 1% monkfruit extract instead. I just prefer the taste of it and it is easier to switch out regular caster sugar for erythritol with 1% monkfruit extract powder because it is close to a 1:1 swap ratio.
As monkfruit powder is suppose to taste sweeter than regular sugar, be sure to taste test the monkfruit so you can choose to reduce or increase the monkfruit amount once you find the sweetness level you are looking for.
If you need to be strict with your macro intake then do be aware that it might affect your macronutrient ratio intake for the day.
The cookbook is very focused around high nutrient ingredients such as grass-fed butter, grass-fed beef gelatin, pastured eggs and dark chocolate.
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe With Almond Flour
Yield: 14 cookies
Tools and Equipment
- Unbleached parchment paper or baking paper
- 1 small mixing bowl
- 1 medium size mixing bowl
- Hand mixer or wooden spatula
- Silicone or rubber spatula
- Microwave
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄4 cups blanched almond flour (125 g)
- 1 1⁄2 tbsp. coconut flour (10 g)
- 1 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
- 1⁄4 tsp. sea salt
- 1⁄2 cup erythritol with 1% monkfruit extract (100 g)
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted grass-fed butter or palm shortening
- 1 large egg (60g)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 ounces of chocolate chips (The recipe recommended Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips)
Method
This is the recipe for chewy keto chocolate chip cookies.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (approx. 180 C)
- Line a baking tray or sheet with some parchment paper.
- Bring refrigerated butter to room temperature. If you have used a microwave or other quick warming methods, you will need to allow the butter to cool off a little before you combine the eggs in as you don’t want to cook the eggs ahead of the baking phase.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the finely blanched almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, sea salt and beef gelatin. Give it a nice mix with your hand mixer or wooden spoon to make sure there are no clumps.
- Next, use the medium size bowl to put the butter and monk fruit. Cream them using the hand mixer or by hand with a wooden spatula. (How to cream butter and sugar)
- Combine eggs and vanilla extract and mix them up again.
- Combine in the dry ingredients of flour from Step 3 and mix. Set a timer for 10 minutes and transfer to the freezer to chill.
- Scoop tablespoon size mixtures onto the lined baking tray, ensuring to leave about 2 inches in between. Feel free to flatten the dough slightly as well with the back of your spoon.
- Put into the oven and bake for about 14-16 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the cookies to cool on a wire rack until they firm up.
Keep in mind that I’m an amateur baker trying this recipe for the first time as you can see the clear differences between my results and what’s depicted in the Insta-worthy food shot from the cookbook.
What I Learned From Keto Desserts Cookbook
These are a few of my baking mistakes that I will be sure to rectify in my following attempts;
- I did forget to flatten the dough slightly when each cookie before putting them into the oven.
- I even skipped the chilling process on purpose on my second attempt with this recipe, simply because I didn’t think the cookies needed it. (Yes, I got impatient!) They turned out to be a melted mess when they came out of the oven, this explains what happened and why.
- I melted my butter too much until it was half oil and half butter and did not thoroughly turn my butter and sugar into cream. Therefore, the structure of the cookies were not achieved to satisfaction. They were more crumbly and only a tad bit chewy.
- Using unsalted butter helps to control the level of salt when it comes to baking. You can add the sea salt later in the recipe to get the right amount of saltiness you would like.
This is why it is really important to follow the recipe and it’s instructions carefully there are reasons behind the process as I have discovered here.
I treated this recipe too much like the quick bread keto banana recipe that I attempted not so long ago.
Despite my futile attempts at being “clever” with the recipe, the cookies still turn out to be really good in terms of taste. They don’t look pretty but they tasted delicious.
FAQs About The Recipe’s Methods
I did have some questions regarding some of the steps in the recipe and why you should not skim over them. Here’s what I found out.
How to soften refrigerated butter with a microwave
Normally it takes about an hour for refrigerated butter to soften at room temperature so we’ll need to speed things up here if we didn’t prepare beforehand.
Put the measured butter in a bowl and cut the butter into cubes by putting it in the microwave on high heat using 5 secs intervals to start you off with. Check to see if it is ready as it shouldn’t turn into an oily mess. We just want it softened, not melted.
How to cream butter and sugar by hand or with a hand mixer
With Hand Mixer;
- Place the soften butter and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl and turn it on a medium speed of about 1-2 minutes.
- Some of the mixture will be tossed to the sides of the bowl.
- Use a silicone or rubber spatula to scrap them back into the mixture and continue mixing.
You should get a pale yellow, light and fluffy consistency.
By Hand;
- Using a wooden spoon will help make the butter and sugar really melt into each other creating a nice cream that will be an important base for your cookie. It is a bit more elbow grease and will take about 5 minutes to produce the nice looking yellow cream.
Why do we need to chill our cookie dough before baking?
If you want a chewy, firmer cookie then this is the step you would not want to miss.
That extra 10-30 minutes chill time will stop your dough from spreading during the baking process which will result in a firmer texture and loftier cookies.
The chilling process gives your dough time to hydrate which gives it that chewy texture that we are looking for in this recipe.
Why do cookies need to cool down right out of the oven?
Cookies that are taken straight out of the oven are still essentially baking so they will be piping hot and are normally still too crumbly and moist to the touch.
As the starch, fats and proteins continue cooking, water is being released as the cookies cool down.
Resting the cookies on a wire rack will allow air to cool them down faster and they will firm up in the process, producing that chewy texture that we all love and crave.
The sugars will crystallise and will contribute to the structure and crispiness of the cookies.
This normally takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how thick your cookie is.
Will I try this recipe again?
Yes, I will because it was easy enough that even a 5-year-old can help you which was what actually happened. My young son helped with the scooping of the cookie dough. As you can see, the cookie dough looked more handmade and rustic.
Of course, for the next time stick to the instructions more religiously.
If you are a more seasoned baker, then this recipe will be a cinch and so will most of the other recipes in Keto desserts by Kelley Herring.
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