Keto/Low Carb Italian Butter Cookies

I figured out keto thumbprint cookies and wanted another cookie to add to the video and I really wanted to do a traditional Italian Christmas cookie. I really wanted to make Italian cucidati cookies but they have a bunch of ingredients not good for keto but maybe when I get pregnant and do more low carb I will attempt a recipe for next Christmas!! I saw pictures of chocolate dipped Italian butter cookies and thought they looked amazing so I got to work. Crispy on the outside, soft and buttery in the middle so yummy!!!

This is a pretty simple straight forward recipe, I researched a few different recipes and came up with a delicious keto version. The one blog I read said that the butter really matters in the flavor of the cookie so I went out and bought some kerrygold butter, I do love kerrygold and I wish I could use it in every recipe but I go through sometimes 3 lbs. of butter a week so it's not very cost effective for me. I always say the best ingredients make the best tasting products but let's be honest we don't always have the money.

I tried a combination of granular and powdered sweetener but decided to just go with classic granular monkfruit/erythritol blend. It's a smaller amount than other cookie recipes because you really want to taste the butter in these butter cookies. Allulose would give them too soft of a texture for this particular cookie recipe. But swerve would work because it is a 1:1 with sugar. Can use another sweetener blend just make sure they are a 1:1 ratio with sugar. If it is sweeter than regular sugar just cut back the amount according to what it says on the package.

I used my usual flour blend but because I wanted a crispier outside I added some egg white protein powder which works to crisp the edges of the cookie and only a little whey protein isolate to give a soft texture inside. Then the usual xanthan gum to make sure it is nice and sturdy so you can fill and dip them.

You can freeze these cookies in the shapes you want, once frozen store in a ziplock bag. Take them out of the freezer and place them flat on a cookie sheet to defrost in the fridge for a few hours before baking them normally (may need a few extra minutes). Can also freeze baked cookies for a month in a airtight freezer bag, but the texture may not be as good. I wouldn't refrigerate the dough before piping, otherwise you have let it completely come up to room temperature before piping.

Now onto the piping, there are a few tips you can use, certain ones are better for certain shapes. The straight finger cookies and the star burst looking ones are best with the large open star tip (I used Ateco 867 but there are many, Ateco 868 or Wilton 8B will work also). For the round flower cookie and the S cookie I liked the wilton 1M or the large closed star tip 2D. But you can use the large open star for all of them, using that tip will yield less cookies because it makes fatter cookies! I also recommend using a strong piping bag because the dough is pretty stiff. I tried using a piping bag that had stretch to it and my tip popped out while trying to pipe. So a plastic or cloth piping bag or a ziplock freezer bag are best.

You can decorate these cookies however you like. I just tempered some Lily's dark chocolate with some coconut oil and dipped half of the cookie and sprinkled with chopped pistachios and keto sprinkles. (tempering chocolate guide- https://www.ketoupgrade.info/post/keto-hot-cocoa-bombs-4-flavors ) You can also make a keto ganache to make sandwich cookies, you only need a few ounces of ganache (Ganache Recipe - https://www.ketoupgrade.info/post/keto-moist-chocolate-fudge-cake ) Any flavor of chocolate can be used also. Keto chocolate and chocolate in general can be finicky so definitely watch the video if you are going to make ganache - https://youtu.be/SpGCjUchUKM

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Ateco tip #867 (the one I own) - https://amzn.to/3mq6Tvt

Ateco tip #868 (a little bigger) - https://amzn.to/33Ec3xo

Wilton open star tip #8 B - https://amzn.to/3EirKXT

Wilton 1 M open star tip (makes roses on cupcake) - https://amzn.to/3ml4zWv

Wilton 2 D Flower tip - https://amzn.to/3Egy1mP

Witon Disposable Piping bags 50CT. - https://amzn.to/3H8YODD

Wilton Disposable Piping bags 12 CT. - https://amzn.to/3peebV4

Mixing bowls- https://amzn.to/32ZZclx

Silicon spatulas- https://amzn.to/3u8rQNw

Silicon whisks- https://amzn.to/3ujOMtn

Scale - https://amzn.to/339tsKN

Kitchen Aide 5 qt. Mixer - https://amzn.to/3CxAd8K

Granular monkfruit- https://amzn.to/3u7ebGd

Isopure Unflavored whey protein isolate- https://amzn.to/2Saz1q9

Coconut Flour - https://amzn.to/3shHjuu

Xanthan Gum - https://amzn.to/3yPfpbw

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Italian Butter Cookie Recipe

1 Stick Butter (112g) (High quality is best-softened)

66 g Granular Sweetener of choice (1/3 Cup)

2 Egg Yolks

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

23 g Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate (Isopur is my preferred brand)(approximately 4 1/2 Tbs.)

7 g Coconut Flour (1 Tbs.)

16 g Egg White Powder (2 Tbs. packed)

1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

Instructions:

1. Pull out the eggs and place in warm tap water, in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat the butter and sweetener for 8 minutes, scraping down a few times

2. While that beats if using a stand mixer, weight, sift and mix dry ingredients together

3. Once butter and sweetener are super fluffy, add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and beat to combine scraping down a few times to make sure the egg is all incorporated

4. When everything is combined well, add all the dry ingredients at once and beat until it looks like a thick buttercream frosting, scraping down a few time to make sure you get everything at the bottom

5. Place into a sturdy piping bag or ziplock freezer bag fitted with a large hole tip and pipe batter into different shaped cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet about an inch apart, if you use a half sheet try you should be able to fit all 18 cookies onto the tray

6. Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 1 hour, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 11-14 minutes spinning halfway through for even coloring

7. Once the cookies are golden brown around the edges they can be pulled, if you want a harder, crispier cookie can bake a few minutes longer

8. Let cool completely on the parchment and soak up all the butter, they will be soft until completely cool

9. Can decorate after about an hour or so, store on the counter for up to a week, can freeze too but the texture may not be as good once thawed at room temperature, I always suggest freezing the dough and baking fresh

Macros: Whole Batch with no extras

1114 Calories

104 g Fat

5 g Total Carbs

2 g Fiber

3 g Net Carbs

40 g Protein

For 1 of 18 (That's the number I got most often)

62 Calorie

6 g Fat

.27 g Total Carbs

.11 g Fiber

.16 g Net Carbs

2.2 g Protein