Keto and Diabetic Friendly, Awesome Almond and Sultana Butter Cookies

Introduction

These cookies are Keto friendly as they don't use ingredients like wheat flour or oats, so are low in carbohydrates. They are also very simple and quick to make. Assuming you make 20 cookies from the batch, each cookie will be approximately 115 calories and 2.5g carbs only. That means people on a Keto diet or for that matter diabetics, can enjoy these tasty cookies in moderation. My wife is a diabetic and needed to take swift action to reduce her blood sugar levels as they were starting to get out of control, she can have these cookies as a treat without a spike in her blood glucose levels, which was the aim I was after. She can happily have 4 of these for desert, only 10g carbs in total, however best not more than this amount as 4 cookies are about 460 calories which is about 1/4 of a daily calorie intake for a woman; so a nice treat. I have no such issues, however can confirm that to both of us, these cookies taste just like "normal" cookies, if you didn't know they were not made with regular basic ingredients, you would not know otherwise. I have tweaked the recipe a few times to get to this final one. As you see in the photos, they look like proper cookies, as they are, and also are firm to hold. If you prefer a sweeter cookie just add a little more of the powdered Erythritol in the mix or if you prefer a bit of a crunch, use granulated Erythritol to sprinkle on the cookies when they are out of the oven. Erythritol is a good sugar substitute, no calories or carbs as the body cannot digest this natural product so it means it is ideal for diabetics, also unlike other sweeteners seems to have no side effects in normal doses. The texture of these are quite soft, a bit like a cross between cake and biscuit (ie like a softer cookie).

Supplies

Equipment needed

Large baking tray

Baking/greaseproof paper

Plastic tube/bottle (optional)
Cooling rack(s)

Sieve (any size will be fine)

Mixing bowl

Spatula (or spoon)

Clingfilm or similar plastic food covering

Step 1: Ingredients

50g Sultanas or Raisins

Either 30ml of Rum or 30ml of Brandy or 30ml Water

200g Almond Flour (if you can't get Almond Flour then Ground Almonds are fine however will not be as fine a texture in the end product)

1 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

100g Melted Unsalted Butter (if using Salted Butter, don't add the pinch of salt above)

50g Powdered Erythritol, sifted (this ingredient is easily bought on ebay)

1 Large Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Essence (or Vanilla Paste if you prefer)

Step 2: Method

In a mug, add the raisins/sultanas and cover with either the water/rum/brandy. Cover with clingfilm or alternative plastic covering and put a small hole in it so the steam can escape. Microwave for about 45 seconds so the sultanas and liquid are quite warm, then remove from microwave and let cool for several minutes. This process plumps up the raisins/sultanas and makes them moist. This process is optional but it stops them drying out when cooking the cookies.

Microwave the butter in a small bowl until it is melted

In a mixing bowl or similar, combine the almond flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt (about 0.5g, just a pinch) as that helps to bring out the flavour.

In another mixing bowl, sift the Erythritol so it doesn't have any lumps, add the butter and combine with a spatula. Add the egg and vanilla extract, combine. Add the sultanas and liquid to this mix and combine.

You now have 2 bowls, one with the dry ingredients and the other with the wet ingredients. Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture at a time and combine until all dry ingredients have been used.

Step 3: Prepare the Dough and Bake the Cookies

I like the cookies to be nice and round so I used a plastic bottle which wasn't too wide, cut off the top and then cut down the side so the dough can go in easily and be removed easily.

Turn out the dough onto a piece of clingfilm (or similar) and cover the dough loosely into a rough cylinder shape. Put the dough into the plastic container and press it down so it fills the cavity. Put a little sticky tape on the part of the container that was cut so it retains its shape.

Put in the freezer for about 2 hours.

After about 1.5 hours, preheat your oven to 165 Celcius (330 Farenheit) as your oven will need a while to get to temperature. Also, line a large baking tray with a layer of greaseproof or baking paper so the cookies don't stick to the baking tray.

Remove dough from freezer, then remove the dough from the plastic. Use a sharp non-serrated knife and cut in light sawing motion through the dough in thin slices, aim for 20 slices. Put each slice onto the lined baking tray so they are not touching, about 6mm (1/4") apart. The idea of the freezing is it makes the butter go solid so when the cookies are baking they don't spread out; 2 hours in the freezer not only makes it easy to cut the dough but also stops the cookies spreading, it is a good trick.

Bake in the oven for about 18-23 minutes. I suggest you set your timer for 17 minutes then look at the cookies in the oven, what you want is the middle to be a little brown and the sides browning but not too much. Almond flour when cooking will go from brown to burnt in a matter of minutes so supervise for the last few minutes and remove them from the oven when they look right.

Leave the cookies for 12-14 minutes and then move the cookies to a baking cooling rack so the air can get under the cookies nicely. If you try and do this too early the cookies will break apart, about 12 minutes is fine, the cookies are still warm but strong enough to transfer - I use a butter knife to do this.

When the cookies are cooled, they are rigid and ready to eat.

They should keep fine for about 3 days in an airtight container.