The BEST Keto White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Published November 8, 2020 • Updated March 1, 2026
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These low carb white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are buttery, rich, and completely egg-free. Loaded with ChocZero chips and chunky macadamia nuts, they hold together perfectly with just butter, almond flour, and a 30-minute chill.
I grieved white chocolate macadamia nut cookies when I went keto. Like, genuinely missed them. The buttery chew, the pockets of melty white chocolate, the crunch from the nuts. I spent a solid year trying to recreate them, and this is the version that finally made me stop looking.
The big thing people notice is that there are no eggs in this recipe. That’s on purpose. Almond flour and coconut flour already have enough protein and fat to bind when you get the butter ratio right. Adding an egg made them cakey in my testing, not chewy. The 30-minute chill is non-negotiable though. Skip it and the butter spreads before the edges can set, which is how you end up with a greasy, fragile mess.
For the white chocolate chips, I use ChocZero exclusively. I’ve tried Lily’s and Bake Believe, and here’s the honest truth: ChocZero is the only one that actually tastes like white chocolate, not just sweet wax. Lily’s are fine in something like my keto almond flour chocolate chip cookies where regular chocolate carries the flavor, but in a cookie where white chocolate is the star, the chip quality matters more than anything else.
One variation I want to mention: reader Al tried swapping the monk fruit for a brown sugar substitute and reported a deeper, more toffee-like flavor. I’ve since tested this myself and it’s a legitimate upgrade if you like that bakery-style warmth. The spread stays about the same since brown sugar subs behave similarly to monk fruit granular.
Baking cue that saves every batch: pull them when the edges just start to turn golden and the center still looks underdone. I know it feels wrong, but they firm up on the pan during the 3-5 minute rest. Reader Gina overbaked her first batch and docked a star for it, so trust me on this one. If the center looks done in the oven, you’ve already gone too far.
These pair well with a batch of keto shortbread cookies if you’re building a cookie box. For something simpler on busy nights, my 3-ingredient almond flour cookies use the same base technique. And if you want the opposite end of the spectrum (no oven at all), try my keto no bake cookies. I also keep a batch of chewy keto peanut butter cookies in rotation for the weeks I want something nutty but different.
How to make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies without eggs
The technique here is simpler than most keto cookie recipes because there’s no egg to worry about. Sift the almond flour and coconut flour together first. I know sifting feels unnecessary, but it breaks up the clumps that make almond flour cookies dense and gritty. Cream your softened butter with monk fruit until it’s fluffy, not just mixed. That air incorporation is doing the work that eggs would normally do.
Fold in the ChocZero white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts by hand. Overmixing at this stage pushes the chips to the bottom. Then refrigerate for a full 30 minutes. I’ve tried 15 and it’s not enough. The dough needs to be firm enough that you can roll it without it sticking to your palms.
Press each ball flat on the sheet. These don’t spread much on their own, so what you shape is close to what you get. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. The visual cue is edges barely golden, center soft and slightly glossy. Let them sit on the hot pan for 3-5 minutes before moving them. That carryover heat finishes the bake without drying them out. If you want a single cookie fast, try my keto chocolate chip cookie for one in the microwave. And for a more structured dough, my keto sugar cookies use a similar no-egg approach with a roll-and-cut method.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup almond flour -
1/4 cup coconut flour
-
1/4 teaspoon salt
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3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
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1/2 cup monk fruit
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1 teaspoon vanilla
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1/2 cup ChocZero White Chocolate Chips
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1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Sift dry ingredients
Sift or whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Sifting the flours creates a fine, delicate texture.
Cream butter and sweetener
Cream together butter, monkfruit and vanilla extract in a medium bowl using an electric mixer.
Mix it all
Slowly add in dry ingredients while mixing. Mix until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips and macadmia nuts. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld together and prevent the butter from spreading while baking.
Roll and flatten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pinch off a tablespoon of cookie dough or use a cookie scoop and roll into a ball. Place ball on a parchment lined baking tray and press down flat to form a cookie shape. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing around an inch apart.
Bake and cool
Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to brown slightly. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking tray for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't this recipe use eggs?
I tested these with and without eggs early on, and the egg version came out cakey instead of chewy. The butter does the binding here. Almond flour and coconut flour have enough protein structure on their own when the fat ratio is right. The 30-minute chill firms everything up so the cookies hold their shape. I've been making them egg-free for years and they don't fall apart as long as you let them cool completely on the pan.
Which sugar-free white chocolate chips are best for baking?
I've baked with ChocZero, Lily's, and Bake Believe, and for these keto cookies, ChocZero wins. Lily's work fine in recipes where chocolate is a background flavor, but in a cookie where white chocolate is the whole point, ChocZero is the only one that actually reads as white chocolate. Bake Believe tends to melt flat and disappear into the dough during baking. I've landed on ChocZero as my go-to for anything white chocolate.
Why are my cookies falling apart?
I've had readers ask me this a few times, and it almost always comes down to cooling. These need to rest on the hot baking sheet for a full 3-5 minutes, then cool completely to room temperature before you pick them up. The butter re-solidifies as they cool, which is what holds them together. If yours still crumble after full cooling, try reducing the butter by a tablespoon. My batches have always held together, but overly soft butter can throw off the ratio.
Can I use a brown sugar substitute instead of monk fruit?
Yes, and I actually recommend trying it. Reader Al tipped me off to this swap, and when I tested it myself, the cookies had a deeper, almost toffee-like warmth that regular monk fruit doesn't give you. The spread and texture stayed about the same. Use a 1:1 brown sugar substitute (I like Lakanto Golden). It doesn't change the bake time.
Can I freeze the cookie dough before baking?
I freeze these all the time. Roll the dough into balls, flatten them, and freeze on a sheet pan until solid. Then transfer to a freezer bag. They bake straight from frozen with no thaw needed. Just add 1-2 minutes to the bake time. I keep a stash in my freezer so I can bake 3-4 at a time instead of a full batch. The dough keeps for about 3 months.
How do different keto sweeteners affect cookie spread?
I've noticed this firsthand. Erythritol-based sweeteners (like Swerve) produce less spread and a slightly crisper texture. Allulose makes cookies spread more and stay softer, almost gooey. Monk fruit granular lands in the middle, which is why I use it here. If your cookies are spreading too thin, your sweetener choice might be the reason. I'd stick with monk fruit or erythritol for this particular recipe.
How should I store leftover cookies?
I keep mine in an airtight container at room temperature and they stay good for about a week. The texture holds up better at room temp than in the fridge, where they can get a little too firm. If I'm storing them longer than a few days, I put a small piece of parchment between layers so they don't stick. For longer storage, I freeze baked cookies wrapped individually. They thaw in about 20 minutes on the counter.
A fun twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie. The buttery texture comes from almond flour and macadamia nuts. Soft with a delicate crumb, lightly crisp edges, and packed with white chocolate chips and macadamias.
I've made probably six different keto white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipes over the past two years and most of them have this dry, crumbly thing going on where they fall apart the second you pick them up. This one doesn't. Coconut flour mixed with almond flour does something different to the texture. And the 30-minute chill is not optional. I skipped it once, they spread completely flat. With the chill they held their shape and stayed dense in the middle, buttery in a way almond flour-only versions just can't pull off. ChocZero chips held up in the oven too, didn't seize or turn grainy like some other sugar-free chips I've tried. Knocking one star because mine took closer to 9-10 minutes at my oven's temp, so watch them at the end. But this is the version I'm keeping.
Nine to ten minutes is right for a lot of ovens. I go by edge color, not the timer.
I toasted them in a dry pan first and the difference was immediate (more depth, that roasty-buttery thing). Five extra minutes, worth it.
Wasn't sure what would hold them together without eggs. The 30-minute fridge chill is apparently the answer. Not quite the same as a regular cookie, but the closest I've gotten on keto.
Not identical, no. But the butter-to-flour ratio in these gives a richness most egg-based cookies don't have. Different, not worse.
Toasted the macadamia nuts in a dry pan for 3 minutes before folding them in and can't go back to untoasted. The nuttiness cuts through the white chocolate in a way that makes these taste way more layered than the ingredient list would suggest. Also found that chilling the dough closer to a full hour instead of 30 minutes made a real difference in how well they held their shape coming off the pan. Worth the extra wait.
Three minutes in a dry pan and you're ruined for regular. Keeps making me think I should just build that step into the recipe.
I've made these probably eight or nine times now. The chill time matters way more than I expected. First time I skimped on the 30 minutes, they spread out flat and I had no idea why. Once I started doing the full chill (sometimes 45 minutes if I'm not rushing), they come out thick, crispy edges, soft center. The ChocZero chips don't melt out the way regular chips do, so you get actual pockets of white chocolate in every bite instead of just a hint of flavor. Started keeping them in the freezer around batch three and that's become a thing. They firm up almost like shortbread and I find myself eating them straight from the freezer more often than not.
The shortbread thing surprised me too the first time. They're almost a different cookie frozen. And yeah, ChocZero is the only chip that actually stays put in these instead of bleeding into the dough.
Made these last weekend and they looked way too soft at 8 minutes, so I left them a couple extra. Bottoms got pretty brown. Should I just pull them early and trust they'll firm up?
Pull them at 8 even if they look underdone. They need the cooling time to firm up. Once the bottoms brown, they've gone too long.
Tried probably four or five keto white chocolate macadamia recipes over the last couple years. Same problem every time: gummy center that doesn't feel like a cookie. This one fixed it. Coconut flour plus almond flour gives it actual structure, and the 30-minute chill keeps them from spreading into flat discs. ChocZero chips were the right call too, no waxy aftertaste. This is the one I'm sticking with.
Yeah, the chill is what makes them a cookie instead of a puddle. Warm dough with that much butter spreads before anything can set. ChocZero's the only white chocolate chip I've tried that doesn't leave that coating.
Browned the butter instead of softened. These went from good to something I can't stop thinking about. That nuttiness against the ChocZero chips is worth the extra 5 minutes and cool-down. Still need the chill, still holds together, but they taste totally different.
Made a double batch Sunday, still perfect on day five. The almond and coconut flour combo doesn't dry out like most keto cookies do. Portion before the chill and the whole week's sorted.
The coconut flour is what extends the shelf life. Absorbs slow, releases slow. I always portion before the chill too, cold dough is way easier to handle.
Started toasting the macadamia nuts before folding them into the dough a few batches back. Seven minutes at 325, let them cool completely before mixing in. The flavor difference is real enough that I won't skip it now. The bitterness mellows and they pick up this almost caramel-adjacent quality that plays off the ChocZero chips in a way the raw nuts just don't. Also figured out that portioning the dough into balls first, then chilling them on the sheet, works better than chilling the whole bowl and scooping from cold dough. Harder to get even portions that way. Flat cookies weren't a huge issue for me before, but the portioned-first method keeps the edges from spreading unevenly.
Seven minutes at 325, cool completely. Need to try this. Raw macadamias are almost too mild in a white chocolate cookie, the caramel note would fix that.
I've tried four or five different keto white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipes and most fall into one of two camps: too crumbly or weirdly cakey. These are neither. I'm pretty sure it's the butter ratio plus the 30-minute chill. I subbed Lily's white chocolate chips once instead of ChocZero and they weren't as good (softer, didn't hold their shape). This is the one I'm keeping.
Lily's just goes soft in these. Works when chocolate is background flavor, but it doesn't hold in a white chocolate cookie. And the 30-minute chill is non-negotiable here.
Toasted the macadamia nuts for a few minutes before mixing them in and it made such a difference, that deeper nuttier flavor comes through in every bite. Also pulled mine at 6 minutes flat and let them finish on the pan (they looked underdone but they set up perfectly once cooled).
Toasting changes macadamia nuts completely. And pulling at 6 flat is exactly right, they look underdone but the carry-over on these is real.
Brought these to a spring get-together last weekend and I'm still thinking about the look on my friend Jess's face when I told her they were keto. She'd already eaten three and was reaching for a fourth, asking if I'd gotten them from a bakery because the texture was so buttery and the macadamia nuts had this crunch she couldn't place. I'm new to keto baking so I kept hovering by the oven, nearly pulled them early, but the edges started going golden right around the 7-minute mark and I just went with it. The 30-minute chill is not optional by the way, I tried skipping it on my second batch and they spread everywhere. Still ate them. But the chilled ones held together so much better, almost like a shortbread. Next time I'm making a double batch so some of them actually make it home with me.
Ha, going back for a fourth before asking is the reaction I was going for. And yeah, the chill is not optional, the dough just does not have the structure to hold without it. Shortbread is the right comparison.
White chocolate macadamia nut were the one cookie I actually grieved when I went keto. Made these last week and the ChocZero chips taste so close to the real thing it genuinely caught me off guard. Four stars only because I overbaked my first batch, so pull them earlier than you think.
The grieving is real with these. ChocZero is the only white chocolate chip I've found that actually reads as white chocolate, not just sweet wax. And yes, pull earlier than you think - edges just starting to turn, center still looks underdone. They firm up on the pan.
I made these today. I didn’t have any white chips so I used what I had which were Lilys Salted Caramel chips ( my favorite chips!). My cookies didn’t come out as nice or as perfect as yours. They were a little dry and then when they were done baking, they were a wee bit greasy. I let the cookies cool for about 3 hours ( maybe longer) because I didn’t want them to fall apart. ( They didn’t :) ) Having said all that, I finally had one and WOW are they ever good! It didn’t fall apart, they weren’t greasy, they were melt in your mouth perfect! The combination of macadamia nuts and chocolate chips is such a delicious combination. Thank you so much for a yummy recipe and FINALLY …one that doesn’t include eggs So thank you for that as well!
Lily's Salted Caramel in these sounds really good actually. The greasy/dry thing before cooling is pretty normal with almond flour cookies, they need that full rest to set up. Glad they came around!