These amazing keto chocolate cookies are made with nut butter and cocoa powder.
They're wonderfully soft and chewy, and they keep well for several days (but you'll probably polish them off way sooner!)
I've always loved chewy cookies, like these almond flour cookies or these peanut butter cookies. If you're like me and prefer your cookies chewy, you are going to love these keto chocolate cookies!
They are delicious, and their texture is wonderful. At 120 calories and 2 grams of net carbs per cookie, they're the perfect choice for anyone on the keto diet.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make these cookies. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Natural creamy nut butter: I use tahini (sesame seed butter), but any nut butter will work as long as the only ingredient is nuts and it's fairly runny and not very thick. In the photo above, I used peanut butter.
- Eggs: I use large eggs in most of my recipes, including this one.
- Sweetener: I use stevia glycerite. You can use a granulated sweetener instead, adding a bit more water if needed.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: It's best to use natural cacao powder, not Dutched cocoa powder.
- Salt and baking soda: You can replace the baking soda with a teaspoon of baking powder (gluten-free if needed).
- Chocolate chips: As dark as you can go while still enjoying them! These are the dark chocolate chips I use.
Variations
- Add a few drops (about ¼ teaspoon) of flavor extracts such as vanilla, coconut, almond, or orange.
- Sometimes, I use chopped raw pecans or walnuts instead of chocolate chips, mixing the nuts into the batter.
- As mentioned above, you can replace the tahini with any other natural nut butter (no salt or sugar added).
Instructions
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making these cookies:
Whisk the nut butter with the eggs, sweetener, and salt, adding about ¼ cup of water to make the mixture easier to mix.
Add the cocoa powder, adding water as needed (usually about ¼ cup) to achieve a smooth batter, as shown below:
Spoon 18 mounds of the mixture onto two parchment-lined cookie sheets. Top the mounds with chocolate chips.
Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. Cool them completely in the pan before removing them.
Expert Tip
You will need to adjust the amount of water based on the consistency you get. This will largely depend on the nut butter you use since nut butters vary in their consistency.
You can use any natural, creamy nut butter you like. I like to use sesame butter (tahini) by the Joyva brand, which is quite runny, and I still need to add a total of ½ cup of water to the batter to get a smooth consistency.
I assume you will need to use a similar amount of water, but I can't know for sure. So my best advice is to adjust as you go. You want the batter to be thick and smooth. You don't want it to be sticky or dry, but you also don't want it to be thin and liquid. What you're after is thick, smooth, and easy to mix.
This is what the batter should look like:
Recipe FAQs
I recommend using natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Natural cocoa powder is acidic and will react with the baking soda, helping the cookies become nice and tender.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder will state that on the container. Sometimes, it will say "alkalized," "European style," or "Dutched."
These cookies are too soft to remove from the baking sheet when you pull them out of the oven. So, let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Then, after you transfer them to a cooling rack, give them 20 more minutes to cool completely.
Their flavor improves, too, as they cool. I tried having one when it was still warm, and it wasn't good. It was too soft, and the flavors weren't fully developed.
Yes. Once completely cool, you can freeze them in a single layer in freezer bags for up to three months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, and then warm them briefly in the microwave for just a few seconds at 50% power.
Serving Suggestions
These cookies are excellent with almond milk, iced coffee, or iced tea.
You can also use them to make a sandwich cookie by spreading peanut butter or walnut butter between two cookies.
If you're feeling adventurous, you can use them to make an ice cream sandwich using keto ice cream.
Storing Leftovers
I keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. I warm them very gently in the microwave, 5 seconds per cookie at 50% power.
As mentioned above, once completely cool, you can also freeze them in a single layer in freezer bags for up to three months.
More Keto Cookie Recipes
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Recipe Card
Keto Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup tahini - (sesame butter, no sugar or salt added)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite - (equals ½ cup sugar)
- Pinch salt
- ½ cup water - divided
- ½ cup cacao powder - not Dutch-processed
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- â…“ cup dark chocolate chips - (1.5 ounces)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets (or baking sheets) with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the nut butter with the eggs, stevia, and salt until smooth. When the mixture becomes sticky and difficult to mix, start adding water gradually, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach a smooth consistency, as shown in the photo. You will likely need to add ¼ cup of water.
- Using a rubber spatula, mix in the cocoa powder. Just as in step 2, you want a smooth, easy-to-mix batter, as shown in the photo, so add water until you reach that consistency. How much water you will need to add depends on the consistency of the nut butter you use. I usually end up using a total of ½ measuring cup of water in this recipe. So, I add about ¼ cup in step 2 and ¼ cup in this step.
- Mix in the baking soda.
- Using a 2-tablespoons measuring scoop, spoon 18 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 1.5 inches apart (they expand as they bake). Do not flatten the mounds.
- Top each cookie with 5-6 chocolate chips, gently pressing them in.
- Place the cookie sheets on the middle and bottom oven racks. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. The cookies will be very soft at this point, but they will set as they cool. Don’t try to remove them right away.
- Cool the cookies for 10 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack, then carefully transfer them directly to the rack using a cake server. Let the cookies cool completely for about 20 more minutes before serving them. Their texture and flavor dramatically improve once they cool.
Video
Notes
- A good way to vary this recipe is to add a few drops (about ¼ teaspoon) of flavor extracts such as vanilla, coconut, almond, or orange. Another good variation is to use chopped raw pecans or walnuts instead of chocolate chips.
- I keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. I warm them very gently in the microwave, 5 seconds per cookie at 50% power. Once completely cool, you can also freeze them in a single layer in freezer bags for up to three months.
Nutrition per Serving
Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 
Noelle
Would milkadamia’s macadamia nut butter work? It’s a slightly different constancy than other nut butters.
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi Noelle,
I haven't tested this recipe with Milkadamia's macadamia nut butter. I suggest watching the video or looking at the process photos to get a feel for what the batter should look like. If your batter is too thick, add water, a tablespoon at a time. If it's too thin, add more nut butter.