Keto Candy Cane Cookies! I absolutely love these. When I was younger, I always thought these were by far some of the most impressive Christmas cookies.
My Mom used to make them for us though every year.. though she's stopped now because she says they require “too much work”. Lol.
They really aren't hard cookies to make. The batter itself is extremely easy to whip together, it's just the process of braiding them that takes time. But if you have patience and make these on a chill winter day with some holiday music in the background and a cup of hot chocolate, I promise it's not so bad, and really quite enjoyable.
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Like This Recipe? I now have a Keto Christmas Desserts Recipe Ebook available for purchase that includes over 50 of my best Christmas recipes along with sauces, frostings, glazes and more!
I was searching the internet earlier today to see if anyone had ever made a keto version of these candy cane cookies before and I was shocked to see no recipes listed!
I'm sure there's probably one somewhere but the only recipe I could fine was my own version of these I made a loooong while back. Back when my baking skills and photography skills weren't quite on point yet.
If you want to check out my first version for a good laugh, you can see the recipe HERE. They weren't terrible by any means but I realllly over-did the red food colouring and ended up getting it all in the white dough as well. The candy canes in the photo were the best of the bunch, the rest looked like a big mess.
I also remember taking the photo outside thinking I was being so creative, meanwhile I was freezing in my t-shirt in the snow, lol.
Anywayysss, let's just say I learned from the experience. Years later, it's amazing how far I've come. I look back at old recipes now and just wonder what I was thinking.
But I was learning and we all have to start somewhere right?!
Trial and error is the key to mastering your craft. And let me tell you, I have made a lot of errors along the way.
But now here we are with these amazing Keto Candy Cane Sugar Cookies that not only look adorable but also taste AMAZING. You really won't miss traditional sugar cookies when you have these around. 
The dough for this Keto Candy Cane Cookie Recipe is actually based off of one of my original Keto Shortbread Cookie Recipes and then is altered slightly by adding an egg and a touch more xanthan gum to make it more pliable and easy to roll out.
This really is the only difference between shortbread cookies and sugar cookies in general!
This sugar cookie dough uses some common keto ingredients including ; almond flour, coconut flour and xanthan gum.
The Almond flour provides our base for the cookies and gives them sub substance and richness with its higher fat content while coconut flourhelps the dough to be more absorbent of liquid and slightly lighter than if we were to use almond flour alone.
The xanthan gum is used to bind all of the ingredients together and provide a small amount of elasticity as gluten would in regular sugar cookie recipes. This helps the cookies to not be crumbly and to have a smoother overall texture.
Another ingredient this recipe contains that's slightly less common in keto baking (but my absolute FAVOURITE) is arrowroot starch.
Arrowroot starch is used in these Keto Sandwich Sugar Cookies to provide a lightness and almost melt-in-your-mouth quality to the dough.
Cornstarch is often found in traditional melt-away shortbread cookies and is also a great substitute for arrowroot starch if you don't have it. We use a small amount in our recipe to keep the cookies low carb.
In terms of sweetener in these Keto Sugar Cookies, I used my favourite powdered monkfruit/erythritol blend from Lakanto. They recently changed the packaging on this and it now says “2x as sweet as sugar” when originally it said 1:1.
I'm not sure if they changed their blend or just re-named it because I always found it sweetener than sugar initially anyways so just be careful when adding this, maybe start with less and see if they need more.
(3/4 cup is generally a perfect amount for any sweetener though. You can use granulated monkfruit/erythritol sweetener or any other sweetener you prefer).
Ingredients In Keto Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Arrowroot Starch
- Xanthan Gum
- Powdered Monkfruit/Erythritol Sweetener
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
Tools I Used To Make Keto Candy Cane Cookies
- Spatula
- Cookie Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowls
- Hand Mixer
- Low Carb Substitution Guide – This is totally optional but if you like my recipes, I now have a $5 guide available with all of the substitutions I use to create every recipe on my site. You can use this to convert old traditional recipes and create new keto recipes! You can purchase it here and/or read more if you are interested.
I appreciate your support so much guys! - Nutritional Food Scale – AKA my best friend. This little buddy has been with me for over 4 years and never fails. Perfect measurements and only needs the batteries replaced maybe once a year!
- Like This Recipe? I now have a Keto Christmas Desserts Recipe Ebook available for purchase that includes over 50 of my best Christmas recipes along with sauces, frostings, glazes and more!
Tips For Making Keto Candy Cane Cookies
- When rolling out your candy cane strands, you can experiment with what works best for you. I typically don't refrigerate my dough because I'm just an impatient person, haha. But you can refrigerate it as needed if you find it makes rolling it out easier. Just try to make the candy canes the day you make your dough because you'll find it becomes more dry and less pliable if it stays in the fridge too long.
- I always recommend rolling out the “white” strands of dough first so you don't end up transferring the red colour to them accidentally.
- I've found the best way to roll your candy cane strands is to grab a small portion of dough, begin rolling it into a thick strand in your hands, then place it on the parchment and continue rolling it on the parchment paper (not in your hands) to get it thinner. This prevents ends from getting too small then breaking off and makes the strands look more uniform.
- These cookies do take some practice so don't be frustrated if your first few don't look perfect. They will still taste great! If your strands tear while you are folding them over each other, simply pinch the section of dough back together and keep going.
How To Store Keto Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
- Store these in an airtight container between layers of wax paper at room temperature for up to 5 days OR freeze the same way for a later snack!
Keto Candy Cane Cookies Recipe
Serves: 18 cookies
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup salted butter softened, 180g
- 3/4 cup powdered monkfruit/erythritol sweetener 144g
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract or peppermint extract (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour 168g
- 1/2 cup coconut flour 56g
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch 8g (or cornstarch is OK if you don't have it)
- 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt (1/4 tsp if using unsalted butter)
- red food colouring
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350*F.
- In a large bowl, beat together your butter and sweetener until light and fluffy. Add your egg and extracts and beat once more until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients including; almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum and salt.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir well until the dough becomes thick and everything is incorporated together.
- Divide the dough in half (one half in one bowl and one half in another). I use my food scale to weigh it and make sure the halves are even but you can just estimate if you don't have one.
- Add red food colouring to one half of the dough and stir until you reach your desired colour.
- Next to make the candy canes, you can refrigerate your dough for 10-20min if you find it too soft. But I typically just go straight into making them.
- First line 2 large baking sheets or a counter with parchment paper.
- Take the “white” portion of the candy cane dough and roll it into strands about 5 1/2 inches long then place them on the parchment. Try to make them thin but thick enough that they don't break too easily (see photo). Also see above in this post for tips on the best way to roll these!
- Once you have all of the strands made for this portion of dough, you can begin rolling out red strands the same way. I tend to do one red strand at a time.
- Take the red strand you just made and pinch the top of it with one of the white strands then begin very gently folding the two strands over each other as if you were braiding. Pinch the bottom of the strands together as well and then gently bend the top to look like a candy cane. Repeat this process for the rest of the dough.
- Bake the candy canes directly on the parchment you formed them on by dragging it gently onto a baking sheet (if it isn't already on one) or VERY carefully transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10min. They will be lightly browned on the bottoms yet still very soft but will firm up much more as they cool. Cool fully before transferring to a plate or container. Enjoy your Keto Candy Cane Cookies!
Nutrition For 1/18th of recipe (1 cookie): 145 calories | 13.7g fat | 1.8g NET carbs | 2.8g protein | 2.1g fiber
Store these in an airtight container between layers of wax paper at room temperature for up to 5 days OR freeze the same way for a later snack!
Like This Recipe? I now have a Keto Christmas Desserts Recipe Ebook available for purchase that includes over 50 of my best Christmas recipes along with sauces, frostings, glazes and more!
Keto Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted butter softened 180g
- 3/4 cup powdered monkfruit/erythritol sweetener 144g
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract or peppermint extract optional
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour 168g
- 1/2 cup coconut flour 56g
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch 8g or cornstarch is OK if you don't have it
- 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 tsp if using unsalted butter
- red food colouring
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350*F.
- In a large bowl, beat together your butter and sweetener until light and fluffy. Add your egg and extracts and beat once more until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients including; almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum and salt.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir well until the dough becomes thick and everything is incorporated together.
- Divide the dough in half (one half in one bowl and one half in another). I use my food scale to weigh it and make sure the halves are even but you can just estimate if you don't have one.
- Add red food colouring to one half of the dough and stir until you reach your desired colour.
- Next to make the candy canes, you can refrigerate your dough for 10-20min if you find it too soft. But I typically just go straight into making them.
- First line 2 large baking sheets or a counter with parchment paper.
- Take the "white" portion of the candy cane dough and roll it into strands about 5 1/2 inches long then place them on the parchment. Try to make them thin but thick enough that they don't break too easily (see photo). Also see above in this post for tips on the best way to roll these!
- Once you have all of the strands made for this portion of dough, you can begin rolling out red strands the same way. I tend to do one red strand at a time.
- Take the red strand you just made and pinch the top of it with one of the white strands then begin very gently folding the two strands over each other as if you were braiding. Pinch the bottom of the strands together as well and then gently bend the top to look like a candy cane. Repeat this process for the rest of the dough.
- Bake the candy canes directly on the parchment you formed them on by dragging it gently onto a baking sheet (if it isn't already on one) or VERY carefully transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10min. They will be lightly browned on the bottoms yet still very soft but will firm up much more as they cool. Cool fully before transferring to a plate or container. Enjoy your Keto Candy Cane Cookies!
Notes
Ingredients Links
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Arrowroot Starch
- Xanthan Gum
- Powdered Monkfruit/Erythritol Sweetener
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
Tips For Making Keto Candy Cane Cookies
- When rolling out your candy cane strands, you can experiment with what works best for you. I typically don't refrigerate my dough because I'm just an impatient person, haha. But you can refrigerate it as needed if you find it makes rolling it out easier. Just try to make the candy canes the day you make your dough because you'll find it becomes more dry and less pliable if it stays in the fridge too long.
- I always recommend rolling out the "white" strands of dough first so you don't end up transferring the red colour to them accidentally.
- I've found the best way to roll your candy cane strands is to grab a small portion of dough, begin rolling it into a thick strand in your hands, then place it on the parchment and continue rolling it on the parchment paper (not in your hands) to get it thinner. This prevents ends from getting too small then breaking off and makes the strands look more uniform.
- These cookies do take some practice so don't be frustrated if your first few don't look perfect. They will still taste great! If your strands tear while you are folding them over each other, simply pinch the section of dough back together and keep going.
Nutrition
Other Similar Recipes You May Like:
Keto Linzer Cookies
Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Keto Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Best Chewy Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Keto Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
CinnaMint
Monday 11th of January 2021
Oh my gosh... I think I must have had the same recipe book! I used to make these all the time for Christmas with my mother. Except I added peppermint extract into mine... >:) I had been planning on "keto-fying" the recipe myself, but here you've gone an done it for me instead! Awesome!
Keto Candy Cane Cookies : ketorecipes – Life Recipe
Monday 23rd of November 2020
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