Finally, a soft and chewy low carb and Keto molasses ginger cookie! And one with only 3g net carbs.
Cheerio!
Today I’m going to share a low carb recipe for soft and chewy molasses cookies. And since it is an English recipe, I thought I’d start out by sharing a funny short from the BBC.
This short is from a British sketch comedy series called Big Train that aired in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. (video below)
You will likely recognize one of the actors as Simon Pegg, of Star Trek fame. The episode was about how English tourists are treated abroad. The locals pretend not to understand you when you know that they secretly do. This sketch is a lovely bit of absurdism. Enjoy.
And I hope you enjoy these chewy low carb molasses cookies too.
I’ve been scouring the Internet, trying to find a soft, chewy and spicy molasses cookie recipe that is also low carb. I found some decent low carb gingerbread cookies but they were cakey, rather than chewy. So no dice. But then I stumbled upon a Paleo version of the cookie on Gourmande in the Kitchen. And it was just perfect! It took short work to make the recipe low carb and sugar free too. Now each cookie has just 1.5g net carbs.
So make yourself a cuppa, and tuck into these lovely low carb cookies.
Chewy Low Carb Keto Molasses Cookies
Finally, a soft and chewy low carb molasses ginger cookie!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 8
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 38 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 cup almond butter*
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
¾ cup Swerve or equivalent granulated sweetener
¼ cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon gingerbread spice
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together almond butter, eggs, molasses and fresh ginger with an electric mixer until smooth.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together sweetener, coconut flour, baking soda, gingerbread spice and salt.
4. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet.
5. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. You should have enough dough to fill 3 cookie sheets, so bake the first 2 cookie sheets, and then reuse one of the cookie sheets for the remaining cookies.
6. Bake cookies, until firm around the edges and starting to crack in the center, 8-9 minutes. The cookies will looked slightly puffed but will flatten and crinkle as they cool. If they haven't flattened in the oven, then use the bottom of a glass to gently press them down.
7. Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
*If you take thesecookies to a party, make sure to clearly mark that they contain nuts. Most people don’t expect cookies to use almond butter, so people with nut allergies might inadvertently eat one.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 102
- Fat: 8
- Carbohydrates: 5
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 4
Keywords: Low Carb Molasses Cookie, Keto Molasses Cookie, Sugar Free Molasses Cookie
If you like low carb cookies like this one, then you might like my Compost, Gingerbread, or Shortbread Cookies.
Zelma says
These sound great, but would liquid Stevia work instead of granular sugar? If so, what amount would be equivalent?
EmilyKrill says
I actually use Swerve, which is a zero carb, zero calorie granular sweetener. I am not sure what the equivalent amount of Stevia would be.
Brenda says
Do you have to use almond butter thats like 10.00 dollars a jar the recipe calls for one cup Can you use butter instead (peanut butter will ruin the flavour
EmilyKrill says
No, you need to use some kind of nut butter.
Jrose says
Peanut butter did not ruin the flavor. That's what I used and they were good.
Sara says
I grew up with a molasses cookie called Cry Baby. I had tears of joy when I saw this recipe. I challenge you to make this frosting: 250g powdered Lakanto, 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 4-5 tbsp concentrated hibiscus tea (or raspberry juice), 1/2 cup dried red rose petals. In a mixing bowl combine the liquids and rose petals. Use an immersion blender to cut the petals into very fine bits IN THE LIQUID, may take 3-4 minutes. Then add the powdered sweetener until you get a thick icing you can use to paint your cookies. The icing will be soft pink with dark red dots from the roses.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Wow, that does sound like an interesting frosting. Where did you get a hold of dried rose petals?
Denise says
These are delicious! They didn’t spread much for me, or seem to collapse into a nice flat cookie. I pressed them down with a fork after taking them out of the oven and that seemed to do the trick. I also sprinkled the tops with Lakanto granulated sweetener. Looks so festive!
★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thanks!
EmilyKrill says
Drat, sorry, it is almond butter. I spaced and wrote almond flour in the comment instead of almond butter. Sorry for the confusion!
Marilyn Current says
FYI:
1 T molasses + 1 c sugar (or equivalent) = 1 c brown sugar (or equivalent). So, if a person substituted 3/4 c brown Swerve into this recipe. they would still need to add 2 T + 1 t molasses to have the same good flavor and texture of the molasses cookie.
I do have a question. I don't have almond butter. If I have trouble locating it, is there anything I can use to replace this in the recipe?
EmilyKrill says
Thanks for doing the math on the molasses replacement. I haven't tried substituting a brown sugar substitute, so I can't be positive that it will work well. So when you make the recipe, taste it each step of the way. Meaning, use the brown sugar replacement alone and see how it tastes. Then add more molasses a little at a time until it tastes good to you. So you may not need as much molasses, if it tastes ok. Please check back in and let me know how it goes!
And you can use peanut butter instead of almond flour in a pinch, but it's actually very easy to make your own almond butter, if you have almonds available and a blender or food processor. Here's the recipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX3oMbPQMzU
Jason says
Do you know the weight of a serving off hand,
I use a food scale for tracking.
EmilyKrill says
Each small cookie is about .5 oz, so a two cookie serving is about 1oz.
Missy Buchanan says
Am I really the first to point out that molasses is sugar and isn't actually keto?
EmilyKrill says
Yea, I was surprised the first time I saw blackstrap molasses in a Keto recipe too. But it’s actually considered a low glycemic sugar with a high amount of nutritional value. Here’s some more info on using molasses on the Keto diet from Perfect Keto https://perfectketo.com/low-carb-brown-sugar-substitutes/
Shona says
Made these tonight. Prolly my fav keto cookie and ive made a lot! Just delicious. Will be making many more times. Honestly taste like traditional molasses and im keto for a year but picky on sweets. Kudos to you for a great recipe! Thank u so much.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Yay! Thanks so much for letting me know that you liked the cookies.
Julia Mcclatchie says
Very good cookie love the ginger spice taste. I used trivia brown sugar so just a little more carbs but so good. I won’t have to miss out on cookies again on my low carb diet.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Yay! Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ve never tried Truvia Brown before, so I’m glad you told me about it. You might want to try Swerve Brown, which has zero net carbs and zero calories. I may just try the recipe with a brown sugar substitute now. Real brown sugar is just sugar plus molasses after all. Thanks again for the tip!
Lisa says
These are Yum! We used pumpkin spice cuz we couldn’t find gingerbread spice. And we ended up adding a bit more ground ginger cuz we like em spicy. We also added a little vanilla (isn’t vanilla always good?) :). Made a double batch and glad cuz we love them. Couldn’t stop eating the dough!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Those sound like great improvements. Good to know that vanilla is good in the recipe too. Did you use 1 teaspoon?
Theresa C says
Just made and wow!! Been craving these for a few weeks and finally had all the ingredients. Too funny, I only managed 22 cookies total (2.8c, 6.5f, 3p, 87 calories for ONE) but today I don't care! Delicious!! Will attempt smaller "teaspoons" next time. Oh, I did lightly dampen my hands to press them flat, but not too flat. The DO look and taste close to the old "Archway" - if I got the brand right - Molasses cookies... only healthy! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Sure! So glad you liked them. Good tip about wetting your hands.
Natalie says
I love molasses cookies! These look delicious and perfect for Christmas ♥
★★★★★
Calleigh - the Fork Bite says
This will be the first time in re-creating this recipe. I'm so excited because I and my husband just started our keto journey. Thanks for posting.
Emily says
Sure thing! Good luck with the diet. You'll find low carb versions of most things.
Valentina says
Molasses cookies are the best! I especially love them during the holiday season, and low-carb or not, I'm in! (Santa might like them too!) 😉
★★★★★
Nancy says
These look fab! 3g net carbs for the win! Can't wait to try these.
★★★★★
Adrianne says
Oh these are awesome! I am so into low carb right now. I will have to give these a whirl. Cheers!!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Cheers!
Darlene says
Could I sub brown Swerve for the molasses or wold the texture be different?
EmilyKrill says
I'm not sure of the answer because I haven't tried it, but I think you could get away with using Swerve Brown in place of the molasses. It won't have that full molasses flavor, but it should still work for you. I would actually try increasing the Swerve Brown and decreasing the regular Swerve. So something like 1/4 cup Swerve and 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Swerve Brown. So- no promises- but I think you can probably get away with it.
Darlene says
Thank you so much.
Ruth says
I am making these for the first time. While mixing, it looks like there are short hairs or fibers in the dough. Is that from the coconut flour perhaps?
EmilyKrill says
I'm guessing it's the ginger?
Lori says
Hello, can I substitute ginger powder for fresh ginger?
EmilyKrill says
I think so, just skip the extra spice altogether.
Lori says
I tried these today using powder ginger and the cookies are so delicious, thank you so much. I had a little trouble with the dough being too sticky though. A lot stuck to my hands while trying to drop the dough in the parchment. Will a cookie scoop help make dropping the dough on the parchment easier? Or is there a different fix for too sticky dough?
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Try dipping your hands in water before you work with the dough.
Denise says
The hairs are definitely the ginger!
Janice says
I'm not sure if molasses are strictly keto, but these cookies are so good, I don't care. Thanks for posting.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Molasses are a hotly contested issue. These cookies still only have 3g net carbs, so I don't think they are doing too bad.
B says
No food is "not keto" as long as you stay under your daily carb limit.
EmilyKrill says
You say that, but you haven't been chided by the keto police like I have. I posted this recipe on a Facebook keto group and there was quite a bit of debate over it. They ended up deleting the recipe because it wasn't keto enough for everybody. The keto police are real! (But I agree with you about it. Molasses is not a big deal if you don't eat too much of it.)