Keto cream cheese cookies 🤤 A silky smooth and butter dough, full of melty cream cheese puddles, baked into fluffy pillows of perfection. Ultra-soft. Ultra-velvety. If you’ve never had cream cheese cookies before, you’ll never be without them again.
Looking for more keto desserts? Check out my keto chocolate chip cookies, keto sugar cookies, or my keto peanut butter cookies.
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The Perfect Cookie Dough.
I’m the kind of gal who eats around the chocolate in chocolate chip cookies. Give me some finger-licking, soft n’ buttery dough. All. Day. But semi-sweet chocolate? I can definitely do without you. So imagine my delight in discovering a cookie made without semi-sweet chocolate. That’s super soft. And crazy buttery.
Now, first things first. Let’s talk about this cookie dough. It’s unlike any other. I’m not exaggerating when I say: Puddles of cream cheese. Velvety smooth. Fluffy pillows. Sure, you may prefer chocolate in your cookies. But this dough? Is undeniably perfect. Truly, the best cookie dough I’ve ever had.
And the frosting? It’s optional, and is a great way to decorate these cookies.
So, next time you’re in the mood to REALLY treat yourself, whip up a batch of these low carb cream cheese cookies. And enjoy ❤️ – Linds
Keto Cream Cheese Cookies Video Tutorial
Important Ingredient Notes
Low carb baking ingredients take some getting used to — keto flour doesn’t bind as flours with gluten do, they’re denser, sometimes drier. But with a few tricks, you can get the same taste and texture. Here’s what you need to know:
- Butter – at room temp — leave on the counter for 1 hour before you get started.
- Cream cheese – 4 ounces at room temperature, 1 ounce frozen. We’ll cut the 1 ounce of frozen cream cheese into small pieces, which gives these low carb cream cheese cookies little pockets of melted cream cheese in every bite.
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Xanthan gum – Gluten, in wheat flour, acts as a glue to bind ingredients together. Since almond flour is gluten free, we’ll use xanthan gum to bind everything together. Don’t skip!
- Granular Swerve or Lakanto – either of these keto sweeteners are great sugar dupes. Both are a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If using plain erythritol, know that it’s 70% as sweet, so adjust the amount you add.
- Egg yolk
- Almond flour – Fine-grain almond flour works best for baked goods, as it will give you the most flour-like texture. My favorite brands for this are Bob’s Red Mill or Trader Joe’s.
How to Make Keto Cream Cheese Cookies:
- Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, combine the unsalted butter, vanilla, cream cheese, salt, and xanthan gum until creamy.
- Add erythritol and almond flour, and combine until they form a dough. Add egg yolk 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.
- Roll the dough into 1″ balls, and spread evenly on the baking sheet.
- Press the tops of the dough to form round discs.
- Meanwhile, combine the egg white, vanilla, and erythritol together in a medium bowl. Place in the microwave, and use 15 -second intervals to slowly warm the frosting until it becomes drippy.
- Prep your “sprinkles”. Once the cookies have cooled, pour icing over the top.
- Before it sets, sprinkle any toppings on top of the cookies. Allow icing the harden slightly before serving your low carb cream cheese cookies, and enjoy!
Keto Icing + “Sprinkles”
The icing on these low carb cream cheese cookies is a simple royal icing recipe — it’s optional but allows you to decorate and add sprinkles here. You can also use my keto cream cheese frosting recipe if you don’t think there’s enough cream cheese here yet 🤪.
As far as sprinkles go, here’s how to add some pizzazz here:
- Lemon/lime zest
- Chocolate shavings
- Freeze-dried berries (broken into small pieces)
- Splurge on some keto sprinkles
More Keto Cookie Recipes
- Keto Gingerbread Cookies
- Keto Oatmeal Cookies
- Keto No Bake Cookies
- Keto Breakfast Cookies
- Coconut Flour Cookies
Keto Cream Cheese Cookies
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Cookies:
- 7 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter 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 (note 1)
- 1 Cup Granular Swerve or Lakanto (note 2)
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 3/4 Cups Almond Flour (note 3)
Frosting (Optional):
- 1 Egg White
- 1 Cup Confectioners Swerve or Lakanto (note 2)
- 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
- Water as needed
"Sprinkles" (Options include...):
- Lemon/Lime zest
- Keto Chocolate shavings
- Freezer dried berries (raspberries, blueberries, etc.) broken into small pieces
Instructions
- Wet ingredients. 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).
- Dry ingredients. 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 evenly on the baking sheet. Press the tops of the dough to form round discs. Bake in the oven until the edges become lightly golden (but not brown), about 15-18 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on a cookie sheet completely.
- Frosting. Meanwhile, combine the egg white (1), vanilla (1/4 teaspoon), and erythritol (1 cup) together in a medium bowl. Place in the microwave, and use 15 -second intervals to slowly warm the frosting until it becomes drippy.
- Decorate. Prep your "sprinkles". Once the cookies have cooled, pour 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 Healthy Recipes:
Lindsey's Tips
- Xanthan Gum is needed to bind this gluten-free flour. Guar gum and psyllium husk are not substitutes for this recipe.
- Lakanto and Swerve sweeteners. These erythritol-based sweeteners are 30% sweeter than other brands of erythritol. Keep this in mind if you swap.
- Almond Flour. For best texture results (most flour-like), you'll want fine-grain almond flour like Bob's Red Mill, Trader Joe's, or Costco brands.
