Keto Protein Cookies

I have been all into keto protein recipes lately. I love baking with protein powder, it’s not only tasty, but it adds protein easily to your plate.

My peanut butter protein cookies have been a huge hit, and many have requested a plain version without eggs, so here we are.

How To Make Keto Protein Cookies

If it’s your first time baking with protein powder, let me reassure you. It’s easy!

All you need is to measure the protein powder with a measuring cup for precision, pack it into the cup, scoop, and sweep the excess.

Ingredients

• Almond Flour – I highly recommend ultra-fine almond flour with a golden color and not almond meal. Almond meal usually works well in keto recipes using eggs, even if it adds grainy texture. But for these egg-free cookies, I don’t think the cookies would taste good with it.
• Vanilla Protein Powder – I used pea protein powder in this recipe and linked my favorite in the recipe card below. Since the recipe is egg-free, I also picked a plant-based protein powder instead of whey protein powder. I used pea protein.
• Coconut Oil – you can’t use melted butter in this recipe, or your cookies won’t firm up, so please don’t swap.
• Golden Erythritol – or white erythritol. I prefer the chewy you get from the brown version. This recipe won’t work as well with allulose or xylitol because both won’t crisp the cookie at room temperature after baking. Read my review of keto-friendly sweeteners for more details.
• Baking Powder
• Almond Milk – make sure your almond milk is at room temperature and not straight out of the fridge, or it can create coconut oil lumps. In fact, coconut oil solidifies when in contact with cold ingredients.
• Vanilla Extract – optional if you find your protein powder fragrant enough.

Combining Dry Ingredients

First, add almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and erythritol in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine evenly, then make a well in the center.

Adding Liquids

Add the melted coconut oil, room-temperature almond milk, and vanilla extract.

Stir to form a cookie dough that comes together easily if pressed in your hands.

Fold in the sugar-free chocolate chips at the end and stir to distribute in the cookie dough evenly.

Forming Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil the paper with coconut oil to prevent the protein cookies from sticking to the paper.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll between your hands to form a cookie dough ball

Place each cookie dough ball onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving half thumb space between each.

Finally, use your hand palm to press down the cookies and flatten them.

You should be able to form 7 even cookies with this recipe.

Baking

Bake on the center rack of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes. The time depends on the protein powder brand and thickness of your cookies.

The cookies are ready when the sides are golden brown and the top slightly golden. Their texture should be very soft, and that’s ok.

Cooling Down

Remove the sheet from the oven, and don’t touch your cookies at all. They are soft and fragile, and they need at least 30 minutes to cool down on the cookie sheet to firm up.

Be patient, wait, and after that time, you can slide a spatula under each cookie to gently transfer onto a cooling rack.

Cool again for 30 minutes or pop in the fridge for extra crispy texture

Storage Instructions

These protein cookies can be stored for up to 4 days at room temperature in a sealed cookie box. You can freeze the cookies for later and thaw at room temperature the day before.

These cookies are much crispier if cold, so I personally prefer to store mine in the fridge.

Protein Cookie Flavors

There are so many ways to make protein cookies, and below, I have listed some different options for you.

You can replace the chocolate chips with the same amount of:

• Chopped pecans
• Shredded coconut – this also adds a chewy texture to the cookie.
• Finely chopped almonds.
• Freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries.

Other flavors can be added by adding 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of:

• Ground cinnamon
• Pumpkin spice mix
• Lemon zest
• Almond extract
• Sea salt

Finally, use a chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla for chocolate protein cookies!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Whey Collagen Protein Powder?

Yes, you can use other protein powders in this recipe, including protein powder with collagen.

However, keep in mind that whey protein powder is more liquid absorbent and often dry out cookies.

Can I Make The Cookies Nut-free?

I didn’t try any other option than almond flour, but most of the time, sesame flour and sunflower seed flour work very well as a 1:1 replacement to almond flour.

Read my full article on keto flour selection for more details.

Can I Swap Almond Flour With Coconut Flour?

No, this never works in keto recipes. Both are keto-friendly flours but with so many different parameters: fiber, protein, and fat.

They don’t work with a similar ratio of dry to liquid in a keto recipe.

This is an egg-free keto cookie recipe, so coconut flour won’t work even if you decrease the ratio.

Can I Add More Protein To My Keto Diet?

Yes, I recommend eating some of these protein cookies for snacks as well as a protein shake or protein bar after a workout.

Can I Add An Egg?

Some people like to add eggs to cookies to boost their protein. However, I didn’t enjoy the texture of an egg in this recipe, so I don’t recommend swapping some of the almond milk with an egg.

Instead, try my keto peanut butter protein cookie. It has eggs and even more protein per serving.