A healthy Keto Macaroon made with a dark chocolate drizzle. These healthier, low carb coconut macaroons are full of healthy fats and make a great snack or dessert.
How to Make Keto Coconut Macaroons
I definitely could never stick to a diet that didn’t include coconut. It’s one of my favorite things, ever. I love it sprinkled on top of yogurt, in cookies, I add it to the top of my keto waffles, and even in savory dishes, like coconut shrimp or coconut crusted chicken.
Luckily for us low carb and keto dieters, coconut is a fantastic low carb ingredient, that actually is a very healthy addition to a low carb diet. It has naturally occuring electrolytes (the dehydration gets real on a keto diet!), and also medium chain triglycerides, known as MCTs. MCTs are relatively newly known to the nutrition community (which is why coconut used to be deemed “junk food”). Research is showing that our bodies process this type of saturated fat differently than other types. It is more quickly metabolized, meaning it is quickly used as energy rather than being store as fat.
Plus, coconut is a high in fiber. A quarter cup serving of shredded coconut has 3 grams of total carbs, but take into account the nearly 2 grams of fiber, it only has 1.5 grams of net carbs. This is why coconut flour is such a great baking staple on a low carb diet.
Ingredients in Keto Macaroons
- Shredded coconut – It really helps to have finely shredded coconut. I love Bob’s Red Mill coconut for Keto Macaroons. They also carry a macaroon shred coconut, but I am not sure it’s necessary!
- Almond flour – it’s not that expensive if you purchase it in bulk. It’s a super handy ingredient to have around on a keto diet, and it’s available in 3 pound bags on Amazon for about the same price as a 1 pounder at a regular grocery store.
- Coconut Milk
- Coconut Oil
- Monk Fruit Sweetener – My favorite keto sweetener is the Monk Fruit Sweetener from ZenSweet. It has the most natural taste of all the low carb sweeteners I’ve tried.
- Agar Agar – This is an ingredient I use often in keto baking, because it gives baked goods a slightly “chewy” texture and helps hold things together, given that sugar is not an ingredient used. You can substitute 1 teaspoon of grass fed gelatin in place of the agar agar if you have that on hand. Agar agar is fairly cheap, given how little you use in each recipe. A bottle will last a long, long time.
- Unsweetened Baking Chocolate – I use pure dark chocolate, unsweetened, in a lot of keto baking. It gives you all the benefits of dark chocolate without having to rely on more sweetener. When added to a sweet cookie, you won’t notice how dark it is. Trust me! If you prefer a sweeter chocolate, try Lily’s stevia sweetened chocolate chips.
The Process of Making Keto Macaroons
These cookies couldn’t be easier to make! I process all the ingredients in my food processor, scoop them onto a baking tray, and then bake them. Once they are baked, dip or drizzle in dark chocolate and then allow them to cool.
- Add coconut, almond flour, monk fruit sweetener, and agar agar powder to a food processor bowl, and process for about 10 seconds to fully mix.
- Add the coconut oil and coconut milk, and process for about 30-45 seconds to fully mix.
- Scoop the coconut dough onto a baking tray. I press the coconut mixture into a rounded tablespoon and compact it, and then place it on a baking tray. This mixture makes 16 tablespoon sized cookies.
- Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
- While the cookies are cooling, melt unsweetened dark chocolate or stevia sweetened chocolate.
- Dip each cooled cookie into the dark chocolate. I like to dip the base of each cookie, then place it back on the tray, and then drizzle the tops with the remaining chocolate.
Variations for Keto Coconut Macaroon Recipe
My favorite way to enjoy these cookies is to make them plain, or with a dark chocolate drizzle. Call me a purist!
- Dark Chocolate Peppermint Macaroons: Add 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extra to the dark chocolate before dipping the cookies.
- Dark Chocolate Orange Macaroons: Add 2 tablespoons of orange zest to the dark chocolate before dipping the cookies.
- Coconut Almond Macaroons: Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the macaroon batter. I also like to add 1/2 cup of toasted, sliced almonds to the batter to give them a bit of extra texture. Decide whether or not you’d like to add the chocolate drizzle as well!
Keto Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups coconut
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons monk fruit sweetener
- 1/4 teaspoon agar agar
- 1/4 cup coconut milk full fat, canned, or coconut cream
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 ounces unsweetened dark baking chocolate or stevia sweetened chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper or parchment, and set aside.
- To a food processor bowl, add coconut, almond flour, monk fruit sweetener, and agar agar. Process for 10-15 seconds to mix well.
- Add the coconut milk and melted coconut oil, and process for 30-45 seconds until the mixture is thick and sticky and holds together well.
- Use a rounded tablespoon or cookie scoop to scoop and compact dough into tablespoon sized rounds. Place on a cookie tray. This recipe makes 16 cookies.
- Bake macaroons for 10-12 minutes, beginning to watch at 10 minutes to ensure they don't over brown. The cookies should be lightly golden brown. Coconut burns fast once it starts browning.
- Allow cookies to fully cool before handling. I like to freeze them so I can finish the chocolate layer faster.
- Melt unsweetened baking chocolate. Dip each cookie into the dark chocolate, and then place back onto the parchment lined baking tray to set. I like to put them back into the freezer, and then when they are set, I put them into a container and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Video
Nutrition
More Keto Cookie Recipes
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Blissfully Low Carb
- Keto Almond Joys, by Blissfully Low Carb
- Keto Chocolate Cookies, by Spruce Eats
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