Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies (Video)

Chocolate cookies are always a hit, and these Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are flourless, sugar-free, and gluten-free. And these tasty shortbread cookies have only 2 net carbs per cookie, and they’re great any time of year!

PIN the Chocolate Shortbread Cookies cookies to try them later!

If you’ve followed my blog for a while it’s probably obvious that I’m definitely more of a savory cook than a baker, but I do have a few sugar-free cookie recipes that I like to make. And for those who are baking for the holidays, these Chocolate Shortbread Cookies are flourless and sugar-free. And this is a tasty cookie that’s easy to make so I’m reminding you about them for my Friday Favorites pick this week.

When I tested these cookies with my niece Kara, I put some in the freezer to have later. And then I’d enjoy grabbing one of the low-carb chocolate shortbread cookies occasionally to enjoy with my coffee in the morning. If you like the idea of a sugar-free almond flour cookie that’s loaded with chocolate flavor, I hope you’ll try this recipe.

What ingredients do you need?

(This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• butter
• Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or other sweetener of your choice
• salt
• Vanilla (affiliate link)
• Cocoa Powder (affiliate link)
• Almond Flour (affiliate link)

What sweeteners could you use?

I first made these sugar-free chocolate shortbread cookies with Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) which I’m liking for a sugar-free sweetener with brown sugar flavor. But now that I’ve become a huge fan of Monkfruit Sweetener I’m realizing that classic Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) will dissolve a bit better in recipes where there’s not much liquid. But if there’s one thing I know about sweeteners, it’s that they don’t taste the same to everyone, so if you have a preferred no-calorie sweetener, go ahead and use that in these cookies!

Can you make the chocolate shortbread cookies with almond meal?

I first used the coarser-ground almond meal for these cookies, but now I’d prefer the finer-ground blanched almond flour.

Want more flourless sugar-free cookie recipes?

Check out My Favorite Flourless Sugar-Free Cookies to see more ideas for cookies to bake during the holidays! Or take a look at 20 Low-Carb Chocolate Desserts for a round-up of sugar-free chocolate desserts from blogs around the web. 

How to Make Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies:

(This is ONLY a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Put butter in a plastic bowl and let it soften for a while before you start the cookies.
2. Preheat the oven to 300F/150C. We used parchment paper sheets (affiliate link) to bake these on.
3. You can make these cookies with a hand mixer (affiliate link) but we used a KitchenAid Stand Mixer (affiliate link) to combine the softened butter, Monkfruit Sweetener, salt, and vanilla.
4. Then add cocoa powder and almond flour and continue to mix until they’re well combined with the other ingredients.
5. We scooped out the dough with a metal tablespoon measuring spoon, which made 20 cookies. 
6. Use a fork to mash down the balls and make the cookies the same size.
7. Bake Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies 30-35 minutes, or until the cookies feel slightly firm to the touch when you press with a finger. 
8. Cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the parchment paper off onto a cooling rack and let them cool longer, about 30 minutes total cooling time. They will be somewhat soft until they cool.
9. You can keep these in the freezer like I do if you want to keep from eating them all right away!

Want more sugar-free desserts?

• Low-Carb Cheesecake with Cherry Topping
• Flourless Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies
• Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies
• Almond Flour Brownies
• Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Continue to Content

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Yield: 20 small cookies

Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies just might become your favorite Christmas cookie! And WAAAY back in my early days of blogging, these cookies were featured on Oprah.com!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (one stick) softened butter
• 1/2 cup + 2 T Monkfruit sweetener (see notes)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 T dark cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

Instructions

1. Put the butter in a plastic bowl on the counter and let it soften for a while before you start the cookies.
2. Preheat the oven to 300F/150C. Put parchment paper sheets (affiliate link) on to a large baking sheet.
3. Use a stand mixer (affiliate link) or a hand mixer (affiliate link) to combine the softened butter, Monkfruit Sweetener or sweeteners of your choice, salt, and vanilla.
4. Then add the cocoa powder  and almond flour and continue to mix until all ingredients are well combined.
5. Scoop out the dough with a metal tablespoon measuring spoon and roll with your hands to make 20 balls.
6. Use a fork to mash down the balls and make the cookies the same size.
7. Bake cookies for 30-35 minutes, or until the cookies feel lightly firm to the touch when you press with a finger. They will be somewhat soft until they cool.
8. Cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the parchment paper off onto a cooling rack and let them cool longer, about 30 minutes total cooling time.

Notes

I have made this with Golden Monkfruit Sweetener and Classic Monkfruit Sweetener. I feel like Classic Monkfruit will dissolve a bit better in a recipe without much liquid, but either will work.

Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies were adapted from a cookie recipe from 500 More Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 88Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 32mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations. Sweetener is calculated as zero net carbs for nutritional information.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The updated version of Flourless Sugar-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with almond flour and Monkfruit Sweetener should be suitable for all low-carb diets. Cookies made with butter aren’t really approved for the original South Beach Diet (and almond flour is only for phases two or three) but I bet you could get a good result making these with an approved margarine if you’re strictly following South Beach. (Even if you use butter I don’t think this is that much of a splurge compared to other holiday cookies!)

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Desserts and Baking to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
A version of this chocolate shortbread cookie was posted in 2009! Since then the cookies have been update and improved several times when I discovered new sweeteners or switched from almond meal to almond flour. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

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