Keto Thumbprint Cookies with Icing

These keto thumbprint cookies are the perfect sweet treat for the holiday season. No one will know that these cookies are low carb and gluten free and they have a delicious sugar free icing! Best of all they are only 0.9g net carbs per cookie!

You might also like these low carb spice tea cookies!

I love cookies. Lately every time I go by a certain bakery I stop in for a couple thumbprint cookies with icing. I don’t know if it’s because my mom used to make these or if it’s the nuts and buttercream icing that I love so much.

Finally I said enough is enough and I made these delicious keto thumbprint cookies and I am so happy with the result.

Each cookie has only 0.9g net carbs and they are delicious! My husband raved about them and he doesn’t even like sweets so much. 

My search for the best buttercream icing recipe.

I love buttercream icing and have been on a mission to find the best one. Our local bakery (Barton’s) has the best in my opinion and I have been trying to figure out how them make theirs.

I finally came upon a recipe from my friend Veena and it was spot on. If you love buttercream icing, I have to recommend her recipe and her video is especially helpful.

However I wanted a sugar free recipe so I made my own and it was delicious too. (But if you want the real deal and you don’t care about carbs go check out Veena’s)

Recipe ingredients I used.

All you need for these keto cookies are almond flour, butter, Swerve confectioners sweetener, eggs, walnuts, heavy cream, salt and vanilla extract.

If you want to color the buttercream icing you can use a little food coloring. I used a little to make these more colorful for the holiday season.

How to make keto thumbprint cookies with icing.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Chop the walnuts either by hand or in the food processor. You want them to be pretty fine so the food processor is probably the way to go. Add them to a shallow bowl.

Step 2: Separate eggs and place the whites in one bowl and the yolks in a mixing bowl. Add softened butter to the yolks along with the Swerve confectioners sweetener, vanilla and salt. Cream the mixture then add the almond flour and mix well until it forms your cookie dough.

Step 3: Roll the cookie dough into balls using a cookie scoop if you have one. Then dip a cookie dough ball into the egg whites and then roll it in the crushed walnuts. Continue with all of the dough. Place them on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Step 4: Place the cookies into the oven and cook for 5 minutes. Pull them out and press your thumb print into the center of the dough then place them back into the oven. Bake for 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely before icing them. Note cooking times may vary depending on the size of your cookies.

Step 5: While the baked cookies are cooling, make the keto icing by placing the softened butter, Swerve confectioners sweetener and vanilla into a standing mixer if you have one. Beat together until well combined. Then slowly add the heavy cream, mix a bit and then let it beat for 5 minutes until nice and creamy. Add a few drops of food dye at this point if using and mix well.

Step 6: Once the cookies have completely cooled down, pipe or spoon the icing into the center of the cookies. You might have some extra icing but you can store it in  an air tight container in the refrigerator for quite awhile. (Please scroll down to vie and print the recipe card.)

Recipe notes and tips.

• The buttercream is really sweet and the secret is to beat it for a long time- 5 to 10 minutes. Start out with less sugar and add more if you think it needs it. I used Swerve confectioner’s sweetener so it would mimic powdered sugar however I found that you don’t need to use as much as powdered sugar.
• Some people fill their thumbprint cookies with fruit jam. I have not done this as I much prefer the flavor of icing but if you can find a good low carb jam, give it a try.
• These are very soft to work with and they seem pretty fragile at first but once they cooled, they were perfect. The nuts keep the dough together so don’t skimp on the walnuts. 
• You may have extra icing by you can just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Other keto cookies to try.

I have a few keto cookie recipes on this blog because I love them! Here are few to give a try.

• mint meringues
• pumpkin spice cookies
• the best keto chocolate chip cookies
• brownie cookies

These buttery keto thumbprint cookies were delicious to me and I hope you like these as much as I did. Not only are they sugar free and low carb, but they are gluten free too. So no guilt!

I froze them so I could have 1 or two every once in awhile. I will be making these again and again I assure you!

The nutrition for 1 cookie is: 176 cals / 17.9g fat / 22.3g carbs / 21.4g fiber / 2.9g protein = 0.9g net carbs 

Check out my friend Kasey’s keto chocolate snowball cookies for another delicious cookie recipe for the holidays!

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Low Carb Thumbprint Cookies

Yield: 30

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

These keto thumbprint cookies are the perfect sweet treat for the holiday season. No one will know that they are sugar free and gluten free and best of all they are only 0.9g net carbs per cookie!

Print

Ingredients

Cookies

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup butter softened 2 sticks
• ½ cup Swerve sweetener
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 ½ cup walnuts finely chopped

Butter Cream Icing

• 1 stick of butter softened
• ¼ cup of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups Swerve confectioners sweetener

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Chop nuts and add to a shallow bowl.
3. Separate eggs and put the whites in a shallow bowl and the yolks in with the butter.
4. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, ½ cup Swerve sweetener, vanilla, salt and egg yolks.
5. Add in the flour and mix until a dough forms.
6. Roll the dough into balls and then dip in the egg whites and then roll in the walnuts.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
8. Pull out of the oven and gently push your thumb into the cookies to make a print.
9. Place back into the oven for 7-10 minutes until lightly browned.
10. Let cool completely before icing.
11. To make the icing, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla using a standing mixer.
12. Slowly add the cream and then mix on high for 5-10 minutes until nice and creamy.
13. When cookies are cooled, pipe the icing onto the cookies.

Notes

Recipe Tips and Notes

• If you prefer you could fill your cookies with sugar free jam. Personally I prefer the icing.
• These are very soft to work with and they seem pretty fragile at first but once they cooled, they were perfect. The nuts keep the dough together so don't skimp on the walnuts.
• The buttercream is really sweet and the secret is to beat it for a long time (5-7 minutes) and use room temperature butter. Also start out with less sugar and add more if you think it needs it. I used Swerve confectioner's sweetener so it would mimic powdered sugar however I found that you don't need to use as much as powdered sugar.
• You may have extra icing by you can just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 171Unsaturated Fat: 0g