Keto Shortbread Cookies

Low carb shortbread cookie flour tips

Shortbread cookies have a delicate crumb. That’s because they don’t contain egg to help bind the cookie together.

I highly recommend sifting the almond and coconut flours together.

This will allow for the perfect texture inside the cookie. Any sifter will work.

Be aware – the oils in the almond flour can sometimes clog up the sifter. Just give it a good whack and the almond flour will fall out and the sifter will start working again.

Refrigerate the dough

The second most important step in making these shortbread cookies is to refrigerate the dough before rolling, slicing or cutting the dough and before baking (if needed). Not only does refrigerating the dough helps to harden the dough so it will be easier to roll out and cut shapes from, but it also will keep your cookie from spreading when it bakes. If the butter gets too warm before baking, your shortbread cookies may spread too much on the tray as they bake.

Refrigerating cookie dough helps to meld the flavors together too giving you a buttery, tasty cookie.

Troubleshooting cookie spreading

Sometimes your cookies can still spread even if you refrigerate your cookies right before baking.

This is especially concerning if you are making cookie cutouts. However, you can easily fix this. Using a knife, you can push the edges of the cookie in and mold the cookie to return to the desired shape. You must do this step immediately when they come out of the oven since the dough will still be pliable.

Then let the cookies cool completely on the baking tray before transferring them to a wire rack.

The cookies are very delicate when they first come out of the oven so don’t try to pick them up! They will harden and become easy to handle once they are completely cooled.

Add-in’s, toppings, and flavors

The keto shortbread cookie recipe is very versatile . You can add different flavor extracts to give the cookie different flavor profiles. I like to add a combination of almond and cherry extract.

You can frost or coat these cookies with your favorite topping. Try buttercream or cream cheese frostings – like my favorite white chocolate cream cheese frosting or coat them with melted chocolate.

You can mix nuts and seeds into the dough or sprinkle them on top. Try almond slices, crushed macadamia nuts, and chia seeds.

I use this recipe to make my keto frosted animal cookies.

Freezing keto shortbread cookie dough and storage

As with most keto cookies, you can store the dough in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to roll them out and bake them.

Not only does this help the flavors meld together, it’s a great way to meal prep cookies so that you can always have some on hand for when cravings hit or for parties.

Simply store keto cookie dough wrapped in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag.

To bake your cookies from frozen, let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before slicing. Then bake as instructed above. If cookies become too soft put them back into the refrigerator. A stiff cookie will bake better and spread less.

Once baked, store your sugar free cookies in an air tight container.