Snowball Keto Christmas Cookies
Snowball Keto Christmas Cookies are sugar-free and delicious. They are soft, shortbread-like cookies made with healthy almond flour and sweetened with low-carb and calorie-free erythritol. Good thing you're only 20 minutes away from curing your sweet tooth!
It's holiday season! And we're celebrating with a batch of our favorite almond flour shortbread cookies. Only this year, we've decided to give them a healthy makeover.
Why you'll love these keto Christmas cookies
- They are soft and buttery. Think melt in your mouth shortbread cookies.
- Perfectly sweetened. Not too much, not too little. Juuust right.
- Sugar-free cookies means you can eat an extra. Or three extra.
- It's a super easy Christmas cookie recipe that requires only one bowl, one spoon, and a baking tray.
- With the little cranberry on top, we think they look like Christmas ornaments. So festive!
Tips for making these almond snowball cookies
These keto Christmas cookies are very easy to make. But there are a few tips for making sure they turn out perfect.
Use well soften butter. As soon as I start thinking about cookies, I take the butter out of the fridge. It needs several hours at room temperature to get very soft. If you're in a rush, cut the amount you need for this recipe (½ cup) into small pieces. The small pieces will soften much faster than a brick of butter.
Use fine almond flour. For the best texture, avoid almond meal. It's more coarse and will result in denser cookies.
Dust the cookies with powdered erythritol when they're still a little warm. It will stick better if they're warm.
Have patience. These cookies taste underdone when warm. They're better if you wait for them to cool.
What makes these healthy Christmas cookies?
To make this a sugar-free cookie recipe, we use erythritol as a sweetener.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is found naturally in some fermented foods. (But what you buy in the store and is used in this recipe is man-made.) While it tastes sweet and acts similar to sugar in recipes, it passes through the body without being metabolized. It has no calories, no net carbs, and does not spike insulin.
So to make healthy keto Christmas cookies, we start by using erythritol. Then we add some healthy almond flour, which is high in protein and healthy fats. And finally, we use butter – grass-fed if you want it to be. A sprinkle of sea salt and a small splash of vanilla and you've made your cookies!
And if you love keto desserts, try this keto pumpkin cheesecake!
Love sugar-free cookie recipes?
So do we! We make refined sugar-free cookies regularly. These are our favorites:
- Flourless Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies
- Keto Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chunky Monkey Paleo Banana Cookies
- Chocolate Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Coconut Macaroons
- Keto Pumpkin Creme Brulee
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Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Holiday Spiced Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Coconut Macaroons
- Cranberry and White Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
- Mom's Nanaimo Bars
Snowball Keto Christmas Cookies
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ¾ cups powdered erythritol, divided
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup butter, softened (vegan, if needed)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 26 dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the almond flour, ½ cup of the powdered erythritol, and sea salt to a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the softened butter and vanilla and mix until a soft dough forms.2 ½ cups almond flour, ¾ cups powdered erythritol, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ cup butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Using a tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough and roll it into 26 balls. Place them on 2 baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 10 minutes then let cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack. Dust with the remaining ¼ cup of powdered erythritol (a fine-mesh sieve) works well for this) and top each one with a dried cranberry.26 dried cranberries
Notes
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May I substitute coconut oil for the butter? I’m dairy free..
I haven’t tried coconut oil and I’m fairly certain that it wouldn’t work well. Your best bet would be to try a dairy-free butter alternative.
Thank you so much for this cookie recipe. I made them for my neighbors who are diabetic and realized they were also perfect for my granddaughter (wheat allergy) and grandson (egg allergy).
I used powdered Truvia instead of erythritol because none of the four grocery stores near me carry it. Also, I had read that some people had trouble with the cranberries staying on the cookie. I made a paste from the powder Truvia (about 1Tlbs) and a few drops of water. I dipped the back of each cranberry in the paste before putting it on the cookie. It worked great! Thanks again!
I could not find powder erythritol. Can I use truvia as a substitute?
As long as it’s powdered it should work!
I made these but I chopped cranberries and placed them in the center of the cookie so they didn’t fall off. The only problem I had is that the powdered erythritol didn’t stick to the cookies. They taste great though and make a nice addition to the cookie tray.
Great idea about hiding the cranberries inside!
Hi, should I store them at room temp or in the fridge? Thanks for the recipe!
At room temp!
Hi Kristen why does your cranberrie on top od your snow ball biscuits looks bigger and like jam? Can you please reply, thanks
Not sure – it’s definitely a dried cranberry. 🙂
These are delicious and very easy to make! How would you suggest storing these? Is countertop okay, and how long will they stay fresh? Looks like someone already asked about freezing but I don’t think I need them that long term 🙂
These cookies keep well for several days if stored in a sealed container on your counter. 🙂
Can these be frozen?
Yes!
I made a no cook almond flour recipe that was a hit. It was almond flour with enough corn syrup to make a nice dough marzipan consistency. I added a teaspoon of good quality almond extract. Then made them into small balls and flattened them a little. Then I melted dark chocolate chips in the microwave stirring at 30 second intervals until melted. And dipped the “marzipan “ flattened balls into the melted chocolate. Cooled them off in the fridge. I had rave reviews
I also added a bit of almond extract and loved it. I had trouble with the powdered sugar and cranberries staying put as well, but had some keto cranberry sauce on hand (boiled down cranberries w/ orange rind, sweetener and a little lime or lemon juice) and spread that on top. The cookies are good by themselves but w a keto coulis like this – heaven! Suggestions on how to make this cranberry sauce more like a donut glaze that stuck would be great.
These went over very well, and I liked it. My only issue was only being able to get ahold of powdered Monkfruit instead of erythritol, so I had to adjust accordingly because of the sweetness difference. Still, these were nice for my Christmas gathering. I did cheat with Keto just a bit that night, but nothing too drastic.
All in all, my keto journey continues.
Very impressed with this recipe. Totally cured my sugar fix
Thanks for the inspiration. Iused this as my base & translated it to my mom’s favorite Sandies cookie recipe. Then I spilt the dough & put my own spin on it (because #IdontfollowrecipestoaT); adding in cinnamon, orange zest, & chopped cranberries.
Hi there. I’m a bit confused. I’m going over the recipe and in the ingredient section it says 2 tablespoons of the sweetener but in the instructions it says ½ cup mixed in then ¼ cup dusted. Which is correct? Thank you
I don’t see where it says 2 tablespoons. I just double-checked and it says “¾ cups powdered erythritol, divided”. That’s the correct amount. 🙂
Amazing thanks so much so tasty
Hi has anyone tried with almond extract instead of vanilla and loved it?
I bet almond extract would be really nice!
I just did this & they turned out so beautifully! Btw, any tips on making the cranberries stick to the top of the cookies? Somehow I can’t get them to stick, they seem to fall off when i pick em up!
They don’t stick the best. 🙂
I find it too sweet . If I cut the swerve in half do I add same amount in almost d flour ? Thank
You
Jan
No you can simply reduce the amount of sweetener to suit your taste. 🙂
These are THE best keto treat I’ve ever made. They are so, so, so good. Thank you for the recipe!
And I didn’t have cranberries so I used raspberries instead and it was perfect!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that you love them!
Can you use regular sugar instead?
I would recommend using powdered sugar … like in this recipe here: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/holiday-spiced-almond-shortbread-cookies/
Wow! these cookies look awesome! I don’t have dried cranberries, can I use frozen cherries?
If you want the little pop of color, I would recommend thawing the cherries, making sure they are quite dry, and then cut a small piece to put on top. The cookies are delicious without the cranberries too so you could also skip them. 🙂
I made these and they were amazing. So nice to have a Keto Christmas cookie. Thanks
I’m so happy to hear you liked the recipe! Hooray!!