• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Resolution Eats logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • The Keto Diet
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • The Keto Diet
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Desserts

    Author: Emily Krill | Published: Sep 12, 2018 | Modified: Nov 26, 2021

    Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies

    Jump to Recipe
    Low Carb Keto Molasses Cookies Pinterest Pin

    Finally, a recipe for soft and chewy Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies! And one with only 93 calories and 2g net carbs to boot.

    a stack of Keto Gingerbread Molasses Cookies
    Jump to:
    • 💭 Slow as molasses
    • 💬 But are molasses Keto?
    • 💬 Is molasses good for you?
    • Ingredients 🥣
    • About the ingredients 🥄
    • Instructions 🧾
    • 💬 Tips and tricks
    • 📋 Recipe
    • Where to buy Specialty Ingredients 💰

    Greetings 👋

    Today I'm going to share my recipe for Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies. These cookies might not look like much, but they really pack a wallop! And each of these cookies has less than 100 calories and 2g net carbs.

    Big flavor, little package.

    Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

    💭 Slow as molasses

    I’m sure you’ve heard the old-timey phrase, “Slow as molasses in January”, but you might not know where it originated.

    It actually came from one of the most unlikely and surreal events in U.S. history.  It happened on a very cold January day in Boston in 1919.  A new shipment of warm blackstrap molasses had just been poured into these enormous tanks for storage.  And because the molasses was hot, it actually poured pretty fast.

    A little after 12 noon, the tanks ruptured, releasing more than 2.3 million gallons of molasses, creating a syrupy tsunami that gushed over the city, killing 21 people and injuring 150.  The sweet wave of goop traveled at 35 miles per hour, leveling buildings in its path of destruction.

    The area surrounding the tanks was turned to rubble.

    an old picture of the Boston Molasses Incident of 1919

    And the fact that it was Boston in January only made things worse. 

    That’s because the molasses hardened around the victims, making it difficult for rescuers to unstick them.  Can you even imagine being trapped in thick viscous molasses? I shiver just thinking about it. It brings to mind one of my absolute worst fears: dying stupidly, like being crushed by a vending machine or drowning in molasses.

    But yes, that is why we say, “As slow as molasses in January”.

    a hand holds a Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookie

    But Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies, let's discuss.

    These gingerbread cookies make very tasty low carb treats.  They are packed with vitamins, minerals, and protein, so you can feel good about eating them. And they are actually chewy. So many cookies made with almond or coconut flour fall fat, but these beauties have a great chew to them.

    A chewy low carb cookie is truly a thing of beauty.

    Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

    💬 But are molasses Keto?

    Well, it’s complicated.  Blackstrap molasses are a byproduct of sugar, so that’s… not great. But it actually ranks very low on the glycemic index so it is unlikely to spike your blood sugar.   The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of molasses, which has 11 grams of carbohydrate.  Split that among 20 cookies and it works out to about an ⅛ of a teaspoon per cookie.  

    That translates to just 2g net carbs per cookie.

    a bottle of organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses

    💬 Is molasses good for you?

    Yes, there are a surprising number of health benefits to including molasses in your diet.  There are certain health fanatics who actually drink it straight as a supplement.  That's because molasses is packed full of vitamins and minerals like selenium, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B6.  And, somewhat ironically, this sugar byproduct contains high amounts of chromium, which is thought to increase glucose tolerance levels.

    So yes, molasses is actually quite healthy.

    a blue plate with Keto Gingerbread Molasses Cookies

    😜 Molasses is dirty and lazy.

    If you are following a strict Keto diet, then these molasses gingerbread cookies are probably not for you.  But if you are like me, and doing “Lazy” or “Dirty” Keto, then you are all good.  Lazy Keto uses the same macronutrients as the traditional Ketogenic Diet, but it doesn’t place as much emphasis on the quality of the food that you eat.  And in Dirty Keto, you just count the carbs and eat whatever the heck you want.  You can use up your daily 20 grams of carbohydrate on Ding Dongs and Hi Ho’s and still be considered a Keto dieter.

    It's like a license to party.

    Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

    Ingredients 🥣

    • sugar-free almond butter
    • eggs
    • unsulphured blackstrap molasses
    • fresh ginger
    • Swerve Brown
    • coconut flour
    • baking soda
    • cinnamon
    • ground ginger
    • ground cloves
    • salt & pepper
    Ingredients of Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies

    About the ingredients 🥄

    • Almond Butter:  This is the secret ingredient that binds the cookies together and gives them a wonderful chewiness.  Try and buy freshly ground almond butter, if you can, because it is made of just almonds with no preservatives or added sugar.  But if you have to buy it in a jar, make sure to read the label because it might contain sugar.
    • Eggs:  Use Large eggs because the recipe, like all recipes, was designed to work with that size.  So don’t be tempted to buy Extra Large or Jumbo eggs, or it will throw off the proportions of the recipe.
    • Blackstrap Molasses:  Try and find organic molasses.  If it’s not available at your local store, (and it probably won’t be) you can buy it online at Amazon.  And make sure that the label says “Unsulphured” because that means there aren’t any additives.
    • Fresh Ginger:  You’ll need to grate the ginger with the small side of a cheese grater to get it to the right consistency.  Or use a fancy style hard cheese grater like the one in the image below. Peel one bulb of a larger ginger root and hold the unpeeled part as you grate the ginger.
    a hand grates a ginger root
    • Brown Sugar Substitute:  Real brown sugar is just sugar mixed with a small amount of molasses, so using sugar-free brown sugar cuts down the amount of molasses we’ll need to use.  Swerve, and Sukrin both make good brown sugar substitutes.
    • Coconut Flour: This low carb flour is harder to find in stores than its cousin almond flour.  But you can find regular and organic coconut flour on Amazon.
    • Baking Soda:  I cannot stress enough that Baking Powder is not the same as Baking Soda.  You use powder for cakes and soda for cookies.  Many the commenter has confused the two and left me a very salty comment when the recipe didn’t work out.  Don’t be that guy.
    • Ground Cinnamon, Ginger and Cloves:  This is the classic gingerbread spice mix.  You can buy pre-mixed gingerbread spice at some stores, but not at all of them, so I broke it out to its component spices.  If you can find gingerbread spice, then use 2 ¼ teaspoons instead of the three spices.
    • Salt and Pepper:  It might sound funny to use black pepper in cookies, but gingerbread spice actually contains a few shakes of pepper.  And the salt just balances out the flavors.

    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 the remaining dry ingredients.  
    4. Use a wooden spoon to mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
    5. Scoop out heaping tablespoons or cookie scoops of dough and use your palms to roll them into balls.  Put the dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheets, 8 balls to a sheet.  You'll have enough dough to fill 2 ½ cookie sheets, so bake the first 2 cookie sheets, and then reuse the first cookie sheet for the remaining 4 cookies.
    6. Bake cookies, until firm around the edges and starting to crack in the center, 8-9 minutes.  The cookies will look slightly puffed but will flatten and crinkle as they cool.  If they haven't flattened to a thickness of your liking, then use the bottom of a glass that has been sprayed with cooking spray to gently press them down a little.
    7. Cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
    cookie dough balls on a parchment covered baking sheet

    💬 Tips and tricks

    • Be sure to keep the cookie count to 8 cookies per sheet.  You’ll need to use 3 cookie sheets for the 20 cookies the dough makes, but don’t be tempted to crowd them all into 2 sheets.
    • You don’t actually need 3 cookie sheets though.  Just fill 2 cookie sheets with cookies.  Bake the first batch and then reuse the cookie sheet for the last batch of 4 cookies.   
    • Did I mention that Baking Soda is Different than Baking Powder?  I simply cannot stress this enough.  The ingredients are expensive and it would be a shame if they went to waste.
    • After the cookies come out of the oven, they will still be pretty thick.  Spray a tall glass with cooking spray and use it to gently flatten the cookies a little bit.
    a hand presses down on the cookies with a glass
    • The cookies will crack some when you press down on them with the glass.  That’s ok.  You can press in around the outer edges if you want them to look fancier.  But they’ll taste the same either way.
    • If you like a bigger cookie, feel free to double the size of the dough balls. Just add a minute or two to the bake time.
    • These thick and chewy cookies are incredibly dunkable. Have them with a nice cup of coffee or tall glass of nut milk and you are in teatime heaven.
    • A plate of Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies can totally pass for regular sugary cookies if you bring them to a party, but be sure to make a sign that warns others that they contain nuts.  If someone had a reaction to the almond butter, it would be sure to ruin the party.
    a plate of Keto Gingerbread Molasses Cookies

    Phew! 👩‍🍳

    That was a lot, I know. But in about 15 minutes, you can make yourself a batch of Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies with only 93 calories and 2g net carbs each.  These low carb cookies are gluten-free, grain-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, and soy-free.  They are all of the best frees, so you eat them guilt-free.  

    Please just promise me one thing though…

    Don’t be as slow as molasses when you make them.

    Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
    Print

    📋 Recipe

    Keto Molasses Gingerbread Cookies

    Low Carb Keto Molasses Cookies
    Print Recipe

    ★★★★★

    4.9 from 13 reviews

    Finally, a soft and chewy low carb molasses gingerbread cookie!

    • Author: Emily Krill
    • Prep Time: 12
    • Cook Time: 8
    • Total Time: 20 minutes
    • Yield: 20 cookies 1x
    • Category: Dessert
    • Method: Oven
    • Cuisine: American
    • Diet: Gluten Free

    Ingredients

    Units Scale
    • 1 cup sugar-free almond butter*
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
    • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
    • ¾ cup sugar-free brown sugar substitute
    • ¼ cup coconut flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 3 shakes black pepper

    Instructions

    Step 1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

    Step 2.  In a large bowl, beat together almond butter, eggs, molasses, and fresh ginger with an electric mixer until smooth.

    Step 3.  In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.  

    Step 4.  Use a wooden spoon to mix the dry ingredients into the wet.

    Step 5.  Scoop out heaping tablespoons or cookie scoops of dough and use your palms to roll them into balls.  Put the dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheets, 8 balls to a sheet.  You'll have enough dough to fill 2 ½ cookie sheets, so bake the first 2 cookie sheets, and then reuse the first cookie sheet for the remaining 4 cookies.

    Step 6.  Bake cookies, until firm around the edges and starting to crack in the center, 8-9 minutes.  The cookies will look slightly puffed but will flatten and crinkle as they cool.  If they haven't flattened to a thickness of your liking, then use the bottom of a glass that has been sprayed with cooking spray to gently press them down a little.

    Step 7.  Cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

    Equipment

    cookie scoops

    Cookie Scoops

    Buy Now →
    cookie sheet set of 3

    Cookie Sheet Set

    Buy Now →
    Set of mixing bowls and silicone tools

    Mixing Bowl and Tool Set

    Buy Now →
    an electric hand mixer

    Electric Hand Mixer

    Buy Now →

    Notes

    *If you take these cookies 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: 1 cookie
    • Calories: 93
    • Fat: 7
    • Carbohydrates: 4
    • Fiber: 2
    • Protein: 4

    Keywords: Low Carb Molasses Cookie, Keto Molasses Cookie, Sugar Free Molasses Cookie

    Where to buy Specialty Ingredients 💰

    swerve brown

    Swerve Brown

    Buy Now →

    Swerve Bundle

    Buy Now →
    coconut flour

    Coconut Flour

    Buy Now →

    « Keto Chicken Enchiladas
    Keto Biryani with Chicken and Eggplant »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Penny says

      November 10, 2024 at 1:29 pm

      They're so soft,moist, and flavorful! I love these "spicy" cookies! I will bake these again!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Emily Krill says

        November 10, 2024 at 1:38 pm

        Thanks! I love these cookies too.

        Reply
    2. Meg says

      September 08, 2022 at 10:54 am

      Could you substitute the coconut flour with almond flour?

      Reply
      • Emily Krill says

        September 08, 2022 at 10:55 am

        No, I wouldn’t.

        Reply
    3. Ivonne says

      April 15, 2022 at 11:57 am

      Will the cookies still taste the same if I substitute the almond butter with regular butter.
      I don't eat nuts.
      Thank you

      Reply
      • Emily Krill says

        April 15, 2022 at 6:19 pm

        No, you need to use almond butter.

        Reply
    4. Carol Jackson says

      January 09, 2022 at 5:02 pm

      Thank you for the great recipe. Really this is the best ginger molasses cookies recipe i've ever made.
      Delish!

      Reply
      • Emily Krill says

        January 09, 2022 at 7:11 pm

        Better than normal molasses cookies? I hope so! Thanks for the compliment!

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    a photo of Emily with a cocktail with text that says Hello

    I'm Emily, the diabetic behind Resolution Eats. Many years ago, I made a New Year's resolution to switch to a low carb diet. It improved both my health and my outlook on life. Since then, I've come up with hundreds of Keto recipes for everything from soup to nuts. And this blog is a way for me to share the low carb love. Cheers!

    Media Outlets I've been Featured In

    Popular

    • a Keto Angel Food Cake with a slice cut out of it
      Angel Food Cake
    • a scoop of Keto Rainbow Sherbet
      Easy Rainbow Sherbet
    • a top down view of 4 Keto Waffles
      World's Greatest Keto Waffle Recipe
    • Sugar Free Keto Gummy Bears
      Sugar-Free Keto Gummy Bears
    images of Keto food products with text that says Keto Pantry

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Accessibility Statement

    What is the Keto Diet?

    • A Beginner's Guide

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Media Kit

    DISCLAIMER: I'm a home cook, not a nutritionist, so please take my advice with a grain of salt.  I calculate the nutritional information using the Lose It app, which sometimes contains errors.  You should also know that there are affiliate links on my website, so if you follow them, I'll receive a small commission. 

    Copyright © 2021 Resolution Eats