Sugar-Free Snowball Christmas Cookies
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Sugar-Free Snowball Christmas Cookies are sugar-free and delicious. They are soft, shortbread-like cookies made with almond flour and sweetened with erythritol. Good thing you’re only 20 minutes away from curing your sweet tooth!
It’s holiday season, and I’m celebrating with a batch of my favorite almond flour shortbread cookies—only this year, they’re getting a little makeover. These are the kind of cookies that feel special enough for Christmas but are simple enough to make on a cozy afternoon at home.
They’re soft, buttery, and truly melt-in-your-mouth, just like classic shortbread. The sweetness is perfectly balanced (not too much, not too little), and since they’re sugar-free, I never feel bad reaching for an extra one… or three. The whole recipe comes together in one bowl with one spoon and a single baking tray, which is exactly how I like my holiday baking.
And can we talk about how cute they are? That little cranberry on top makes them look like tiny Christmas ornaments. Festive, easy, and delicious—these cookies are officially on repeat all season long.
These Christmas cookies are straightforward to make. But there are a few tips to ensure they turn out perfectly.
- Use well-softened 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 required amount (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 while they’re still slightly 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.
So do we! We make refined sugar-free cookies regularly. These are our favorites:
- Flourless Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chunky Monkey Paleo Banana Cookies
- Chocolate Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Coconut Macaroons
Sugar-Free Snowball Christmas Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ cup powdered erythritol (plus more for dusting)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 26 dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the almond flour, 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, ½ cup 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 and then let them cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack. Dust with a little extra powdered erythritol (a fine-mesh sieve works well for this) and top each one with a dried cranberry.26 dried cranberries
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
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. 🙂
So…I put in all the sweetener in the dough, because that’s what the recipe called for in that section as I was following the recipe. Please change it to say 1/2 a cup in that section and 1/4 a cup in the dusting process! Thanks.
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!!