October 2014 Note: This is one of my first attempts to make a cookie recipe for my child on the ketogenic diet. It was better than I expected, but certainly not the same as a non-keto cookie. Coconut meal, in particular, has a very different texture than flour and some people don’t like it. Because this blog is also something of a record of our lessons learned and progress, I choose to keep it here even though it was not a perfect replica of a non-keto peanut butter cookie. You could also try the linked recipe, which was the original inspiration. The recipes developed more recently have been much more successful, so I recommend going to the 2013 or 2014 recipes that have been tried and true.
One word on Netiquette: Remember that when you are commenting on a blog, you are communicating with a real person and you should be respectful and aware of the impact of your words. Several comments on this post were not approved because they were rude or disrespectful. In all communications, be kind and thoughtful; write and speak in a way that you would like to be addressed. I’m a mom, not a professional cook. I’m doing my best.
Mmmm, cookies. What else is there to say? 
I guess I should say that these also contain 4.5 g of coconut oil, the prime MCT oil. Nora gets 5 g of coconut oil, 3 times per day. What a nice way to get it.
The cookies also have 1 gram of fiber each. Coconut meal has very low net carbs because of all of the fiber.
I have tried a few peanut butter cookie recipes. My recipes have improved by modifying the recipes from this great low-carb baker blog. She has many amazing recipes, some of which will not work for Nora because they still have too many carbs, but if you are doing low-carb or gluten-free baking, I would highly recommend her recipes.
http://tmstrevival.wordpress.com/ [link updated on 11/26/2013]
Peanut Butter Coconut Cookies
Nutrition Information for Peanut Butter Coconut Cookies from caloriecount.com
½ cup Adams Natural Peanut Butter
¼ cup butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
1/2 c Coconut Flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
Cream together PB, butter, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla.
Mix with flour, baking soda and salt.
Form balls of 1 tablespoon and press with fork on to baking sheet (makes 32 cookies).
Bake 11 minutes at 350.
The biggest downfall for anyone attempting to do the ketogenic diet (let alone for people who actually NEED to eat such a diet, I would imagine) is sweets – trust me, you do not know what a craving for sweets is until you’ve eaten only fats and proteins for a few weeks.
If you want to torture a man, put him on the ketogenic diet for a couple weeks then repeatedly walk him down a candy aisle. He’ll talk…
My poor attempt at being funny aside, if these taste as good as they look, they are amazing – 90 calories and 1 net carb per cookie? That’s bonkers. I will seriously give these a try; I just hope I can find coconut flour at my supermarket. Or even almond flour since I’m guessing that would work as well.
You can also order Bob’s Red Mill coconut meal/flour online if you can’t find it locally. It’s expensive, but it has a very light texture compared to other nut meals. Even mixing some coconut meal with another nut meal seems to lighten the dough and give a nice texture. I highly recommend it. I will also post a blueberry scone recipe soon–those knocked our socks off. I need to tweak that recipe to reduce the carbs a bit more, so next time I make them I will be posting the recipe. Stay tuned.
Hi Christy: I’m going to try these for my keto diet daughter. Did you add any sweetener to the cookies or are they okay without? Thanks.
You can add some no-carb sweetener, but I don’t think it is necessary. These passed the taste-test with non-keto kids too–my son and his friends (although they would still take the sweetened cookie in a blind taste test). The PB and coconut meal are both a little sweet, so for a keto-kid who is not accustomed to sweets they seem to be just fine.
I personally think that all of the no-carb sweeteners have a bitter or chemical edge, so I don’t prefer to use them.
Beware that they are a touch crumbly. Eat over a plate if you are making sure that every gram goes down the hatch.
And stay tuned for a superb scone recipe that I am perfecting. Next time I make them, I will post the recipe. Those passed the non-keto-kid taste test too!
Hello
Could substitute the butter for olive oil or something? If you are a dairy free person?
Regards
Farrah
I have not tried olive oil in this recipe, but I think I would suggest an oil that is more solid at room temperature, like coconut oil. Although the coconut flour does an amazing job of absorbing liquids, I’m not sure how a such a liquid fat would produce cookies with the right consistency. You could certainly try it and compare to all coconut oil!
The consistency that came to life in my kitchen was not firm enough to make a ball. It was more of a whip. They are baking in the oven and certainly look like a cookie. We will see how they taste. Thanks for this.
Mine was a sludge until I added the eggs. Maybe your eggs were too small.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but these “cookies” we’re not good. The consistency was off in that they turned to powder in your mouth after the first bite. They have almost no peanut butter flavor. Very bland. I made them last night, and I’ll spare you the details, but my stomach is NOT happy today 🙁
I ended up throwing out almost all of them, as none of us could eat them. Kinda disappointing since coconut flour is not cheap where I live.
Thanks for the feedback. This was a very early recipe and a first attempt for a keto kid cookie. Now that I have more experience, I also prefer the cookie or other baked good recipes that use other nut flours and not coconut flour, or less coconut flour. But when cooking with alternative ingredients, you also have to adjust your expectations. And coconut flour isn’t cheap anywhere!
This is my favorite of all the keto cookie recipes on the web. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Hello
I’ve just whipped up my first batch of these yummy looking cookies. I have recently started myself on a keto diet as I have wanted to eliminate sugar and processed foods from my diet. I can’t wait to see how they come out! Ill be sure to let you know. I must admit I haven’t missed sweets since being on this food plan as I had rapidly reduced sugars in my diet before I came across this way of eating. However in saying that I think it will be nice to be able at times to have a cookie with a cuppa:-)