I know I say it all the time, but these low carb cream cheese cookies are SO GOOD!!
Soft and pillowy, every bite of these low carb cookies literally melts in your mouth. They’re perfectly sweet and are covered in a creamy frosting that’ll have you licking your fingers AND the bowl.
Oh wait, you couldn’t tell these were low carb desserts?? Me neither. I’ll take another!
What I Love About This Low Carb Cream Cheese Cookies Recipe
Aside from the creamy, velvety, totally addictive nature of these low carb cream cheese cookies, I really love that they’re:Â
- EASY to make
- Soft + fluffy
- Everyday ingredients
- Low carb
- Freezer friendly
Ingredient Notes
Baking with low carb ingredients takes some getting used to! Here are a few important tips that’ll make all the taste and textural difference:
Almond flour – You’ll want to use the finest grain available for keto cookies, as this will give you the most “flour-like” texture. My favorite products are Bob’s Red Mill or Trader Joe’s brand.
Xanthan gum – This is a unique binder that’s needed when cooking with low carb flour. (Gluten, in wheat flour, acts as a glue to bind everything together, almond flour doesn’t have this). Don’t skip!
Swerve/Lakanto – either of these keto sweeteners are great sugar dupes. Both are a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If using plain erythritol or allulose, those are 70% as sweet, so adjust the amount added.
“Sprinkles” – You can skip these, but if you’re feeling festive, or want to decorate some keto Christmas cookies, you have a few options:
- Do as I did and use lime zest, chocolate shavings, and freeze-dried berries broken into small pieces.
- Â Splurge on some keto sprinkles
- Use traditional sprinkles
Recipe Variations
As most of you know, it’s hard to switch the ingredients and ratios around when baking. BUT! There are a few ways to get creative with your low carb cream cheese cookies. Here are some ideas:
- Mix some low carb chocolate chips into the dough for suuuper creamy almond flour chocolate chip cookies.
- Add cocoa powder to the frosting
- Mix freshly sliced low carb fruits into the frosting, or even the doughhh. Strawberries would for delicious, ala strawberry shortbread cookies.
More Low Carb Cookie Recipes
Wanna make a smorgasbord of low carb cookies? Take a look at this list! There’s a cookie favorite for everyone!
- Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
- Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies
- Coconut Flour Cookies
- Breakfast Cookies
Low Carb Cream Cheese Cookies
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Cookies:
- 7 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter unsalted at room temp
- 5 Ounces Cream cheese 4 ounces at room temperature, 1 ounce frozen
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 1 Cup Swerve or Lakanto (see sweetener notes below) confectioners
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 3/4 Cups Almond Flour
Frosting (Optional! Tastes just as delicious without them, but it allows you to decorate the cookies):
- 1 Egg White
- 1 Cup Swerve or Lakanto (see sweetener notes below) confectioners
- 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
- Water as needed
"Sprinkles" (Your options include...):
- Lemon/Lime zest
- Low Carb Chocolate shavings
- Freezer dried berries (raspberries, blueberries, etc.) broken into small pieces
Instructions
- Make the dough. Place 1 ounce of cream cheese in the freezer. Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, combine the unsalted butter (7 tablespoons), vanilla (1 teaspoon), cream cheese (4 ounces), salt (1/2 teaspoon), and xanthan gum (1 teaspoon) until creamy (about 1 minute). Add erythritol (1 cup ) and almond flour (1 3/4 cups), and combine until they form a dough. Add egg yolk (1) and combine just until it's mixed in. Remove cream cheese from the freezer and cut into 1/4" cubes. Stir the cubes into the dough using a spatula. Place dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Form + bake. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1" balls, and spread out evenly on the baking sheet. Press the tops of the dough to form round discs. Bake in the oven until the tops become lightly golden (but not brown), about 18 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
- Frosting. Meanwhile, use an electric mixer to beat egg white (1) and vanilla (1/4 teaspoon) until frothy. Add erythritol (1 cup) and beat for 5-7 minutes -- you'll know it's done once glossy peaks have formed. If the icing seems too "thick" to spread, stir in 1 teaspoon of water at a time until it has reached a spreadable consistency. You don't want to add too much, or the icing won't thicken!
- Decorate. Prep your "sprinkles". Once the cookies have cooled, spread icing over the top. Before it sets, sprinkle any toppings on top of the cookies. Allow icing the harden slightly before serving, and enjoy!
Fans Also Made These Low Carb Recipes:
Lindsey's Tips
- Almond Flour. Using fine-grained almond flour will yield the most "flour-like" results. My favorite brands are Bob's Red Mill, Trader Joe's, or Costco brands.Â
- Lakanto, Swerve, or Erythritol. I stick to Lakanto and Swerve which are a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If using a different brand of Erythritol, keep in mind it's 70% as sweet as sugar, so you may need to add more to taste.Â
- Xanthan Gum is necessary for binding the ingredients of this recipe together, you CAN'T SKIP OR SUB!
- Nutritional information doesn't include "sprinkles":
Nutrition
Hi Lindsey,
Why does the cup of Erythritol confectioners say “divided”? I added the whole cup to the dough (in the fridge right now). Does the whole cup get added or does 1/2 go in the dough and the other 1/2 for the icing? And how much vanilla goes in the dough?
Thanks!
Hi Rachael! You should add the whole cup to the dough, sorry it said “divided”. And 1 teaspoon vanilla in the dough. Sorry about that, and thanks for pointing it out! Hope you enjoyed!
I did exactly that on both counts, and the cookies are DELICIOUS!!
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed. Thanks Rachael ?
The best low carb cookies ever! ???
Yahoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed Jenny!?
Love how these are low carb! The cookies pair perfectly with the vanilla frosting!
Hi Jeannette! Let me know if you give these a try!?
These low carb cookies look fabulous! I can’t wait to taste these.
Hope you enjoy Andrea!?
I have been meaning to try cream cheese cookies, and this one sounds perfect! Thank you so much for the recipe, bookmarked for later 🙂
Yay! Let me know how it goes, enjoy Cathleen!?
I believe I just found my dream recipe. Holding on to this one for sure 🙂
Hello Srikanth! Hope you enjoy!?
There’s nothing better than cream cheese cookies!! And great tip with Xanthan gum, I’ve only used almond flour a few times and looking forward to trying this next time.
I agree! this is one of my faves? Hope you like it!
I’m confused. Your ingredient list says 5 ounces of cream cheese, four at room temperature 1 ounce frozen. Your instructions say to include the 5 ounces that you mix in with the other ingredients. Later it tells you to stir quarter inch chunks of the frozen cream cheese in with a spatula. So the ingredients should have been only 4 ounces of the room temperature not five? And when you stir in with a spatula, it doesn’t say whether it should be Blended – – but I don’t know how you could blend a frozen chunk of cream cheese. Please clarify. Thank you
Hi Sandy! SO sorry about that, I see how the instructions were very confusing. I just updated to clarify them! You don’t blend the frozen cream cheese into the dough, you just want to stir them in — this will add delicious pockets of cream once the cookies bake together, trust me, it’s worth it!