REAL DEAL Christmas cutout cookies with real frosting! No gluten/grains, dairy, eggs, sugar or artificial coloring! (Paleo, Vegan & Keto) Jump to Recipe
Christmas MIRACLE: Sugar-Free Sugar Cookies
Is this real life?? SUGAR Cookies (and FROSTING) that's paleo, vegan AND keto-approved?! I'm so freaking excited about these Christmas Tree Cookies! Not only are they just ADORABLE, but DELICIOUS. How is it that they're made with wholesome ingredients and NOT loaded with sugar or dyes!? It's a Christmas MIRACLE!!! 😀
To me, it doesn't even feel like Christmas until I've baked cutout cookies with my kids. It's a tradition at my house. It's basically the ONLY time my son will cook with me now, haha. So I cherish it. But I'm so happy that I can actually enjoy these cookies, too!! And as a mom, I'm freaking happy to NOT be loading my kids up with more sugar lol. They get enough of that at school and grandma's house, ha.
GOODBYE grains, sugar, dairy and eggs
These chewy "sugar" cookies are made with simple, natural ingredients: almond flour, avocado oil, maple syrup, salt and vanilla. (I love to add a little almond extract too!!)
You don't need any eggs OR any flax or chia or egg replacers! Woohoo! *but* it does result in a more fragile cookie.
So my advice is to make SMALL cookies. "2-bite" size. About 2 inches in diameter. The bigger ones tend to break if you're not super careful. (and my kids are not careful with anything lol)
Tip: bake similar sizes together to avoid the small ones burning and the large ones being undercooked.
Recipe Makeover
Recipe MakeoverThis recipe is adapted from one I came across last year on Feasting on Fruit. (Definitely check out this website for amazing gluten-free/dairy-free recipes)
But that's not all! 😀 I discovered that you can replace the maple syrup with LAKANTO maple syrup to make these sugar-free and low-carb and they STILL TASTE AMAZING!!
OH HAPPY DAY! Yes, these work whether you're low carb or not -- regular pure maple syrup OR sugar-free maple syrup.
Naturally Colored
You guys, this frosting tastes like the REAL THING. Like real bakery style, ultra smooth, perfectly sweet and colorful FROSTING.
It took me a LOT of experimenting to get the right consistency AND COLOR. You wouldn't believe the first batch. (SPINACH FROSTING ANYONE?? LOL) Well that one didn't go as planned.
I refuse to use artificial coloring because of the related health issues and such. So I had to come up with a natural alternative. I tried matcha, and that didn't give me the color I wanted either.. it looked like guacamole, haha! And also Grinch skin. It can work if you like that earthy green shade, but it wasn't what I was going for.
Some of my Instagram friends who were following along with this "saga" recommended spirulina powder. I really wanted to get some, but what I found were GIANT bags that were a little pricey.. and I only needed like a teaspoon!
But what I found after searching online was so surprising... there actually IS a natural food coloring set you can buy on Amazon, Whole Foods, and online at Target and Walmart, too! Thank you Watkins for this set of 4 colors made with VEGETABLES, plants and other good stuff! 😀 Beets, turmeric, spirulina, YAY. 
How to Make Pretty Frosting
To make the pretty frosting swirls for your trees, you'll need a set of piping tips. I used this Wilton Cupcake Decorating Icing Tips, 12-Piece Set, which you can get on Amazon or at Target.
The set comes with 4 tips. To make this exact design, use tip "IM." If you don't have a pastry bag, use a gallon size ziplock bag. Tip: to easily fill the bag with frosting, place it inside a small bowl and fold the sides of the bag down over the bowl. Don't worry, it's easy to pipe on the frosting. It took me all of 2 minutes to pipe these.
To make the "snow" on the trees, use desiccated (finely shredded) coconut (unsweetened, of course). If you don't have desiccated, you can blend some in a blender or chop it finely with a knife (that's what I did). *do not use monkfruit or sugar for snow because it WILL melt.
Want some colorful sprinkles? If you scroll back, you can see some of the red/pink sprinkles I made.. SUGAR-FREE sugar sprinkles lol! It's monkfruit with a couple drops of natural red food coloring. I added these on *after* baking, so they wouldn't melt.
How to Store
Remember, this makes a relatively small batch compared to traditional cookie recipes (enough to fill a large dinner plate) but the recipe is easily doubled.
These cookies can be left out at room temp for several days so everyone can admire their cuteness 😉 Note - if you refrigerate them, the frosting will harden, but it softens again when brought to room temp.
I hope you enjoy these Christmas Tree Cookies as much as we did 🙂 Now you can ENJOY without worry. Now that's a merry Christmas!
ps, if you want more festive holiday desserts, check out my Christmas Tree Pie and Low-Carb Christmas Tree Pie! And also my Top 10 Paleo/Vegan Christmas recipes from last year 🙂
Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies (Paleo, Vegan, Keto)
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 ¼ cups fine almond flour
- 2 Tbs Lakanto monkfruit maple syrup - or pure maple syrup for non-keto
- 2 Tbs avocado oil - or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1/16 teaspoon pink salt
Green Frosting
- 1 cup Spectrum palm shortening
- ⅔ cup powdered monkfruit - *see notes* or powdered sugar for non keto
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- Small pinch pink salt
- natural food coloring - or spirulina or matcha
- optional garnish - desiccated coconut shreds
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Stir together all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well to remove any lumps.
- *update* Lakanto's maple syrup formula may have changed to be slightly less sweet. Taste and adjust dough as needed. You may add a pinch of pure monkfruit or stevia extract, or monkfruit or stevia drops. Adding monkfruit granules may make the cookies crunchy, but it should work.
- Let the dough rest/absorb for a minute. If it's too dry, add a drizzle of oil. If it's too wet, add a sprinkle of almond flour.
- Roll dough between 2 pieces of parchment.
- Cut dough using 1.5"- 2" cookie cutters (I used a champagne glass for the circles) Wipe cutters clean in between use if dough sticks.
- Transfer to baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes until lightly golden.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting. Handle cookies with care.
To make the frosting:
- Add palm shortening to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix for about 10 seconds to warm/soften.
- Add remaining ingredients and beat until fully mixed and desired color is achieved. (Color will continue to develop/deepen for about 30 minute after mixing)
- Transfer to a gallon size baggie or pastry bag with a 1M piping tip.
- Add a swirl to each cookie and decorate with coconut "snow" or natural "sugar" sprinkles (see post above for how to make). Enjoy!
Notes
Featured Products
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate and Lakanto Affiliate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through referral links in this post
Lakanto Maple flavored syrup available here (Enter code PRETTYPIES for a discount)
Lakanto Classic Granulated Monkfruit available here (Enter code PRETTYPIES for a discount)
Almond flour from Amazon
Avocado oil from Aldi
Spectrum shortening from Target or Amazon
Macros
per 2" cookie not including frosting:
- calories 70
- Fat 6 g
- Carbohydrate 1.9 g
- Fiber 1.2 g
- Net Carbs 0.7
- Protein 2.2 g
Frosting has zero net carbs if monkfruit is used. 🙂
Nancy
Wow, these looks delicious! Do you think the dough could be formed into a log, chilled, sliced and then baked? Thanks.
Emily
Thanks!
Yes, I think that would work fine 🙂
If you try them, report back how it goes.
Rachel
I am very anxious to try your sugar cookie recipe! My question is...if you would add an egg to hold them better would it work? Thank you for all your great recipes!!
Emily
I don’t think that would yield the same result... the batter would be very wet, and the cookies would be more cake-like, not like a classic cut-out cookie. (eggs are a natural leavening agent)
They would also need more sweetener to compensate for the added volume.
So glad you like the recipes! If you try these, I’d love to hear what you think
Cathrine
These look amazing! I live in Norway, and we don't have palm shortening here. Can I substitute it with something else?
Cathrine
Emily
Thank you! They’re my favorite!!
You can use refined coconut oil or a light tasting butter/plant-based butter, softened at room temp (not melted— a mixer will help soften) However this does have a little different flavor and texture. To help it not taste oily, you can add a few teaspoons of tapioca starch. 🙂
I have some other frostings on the blog, too that do not use palm oil. This one is coconut cream: https://prettypies.com/grain-free-lemon-cookies
Or coconut butter frosting: Leave out the peppermint in this frosting and use vanilla + a few drops of natural red food coloring or beet juice https://prettypies.com/peppermint-mocha-cookies/
If you have any other questions, just let me know 🙂 Happy to help!
Lisa
Can I use choczero maple syrup instead of the Lakanto brand? 🙂
Emily
I haven’t tried that brand but assuming it’s the same sweetness as regular maple syrup, it should be fine! 🙂 I would be sure to taste as you go. If it needs a little extra sweetness, add something like powdered monkfruit. Hope you enjoy 🙂
Susan
Emily any substitutes for almond flour. I have a family member who is allergic to tree nuts and legume - peanut and peas - garbanzo, green peas. TY
Emily
Pumpkin seed flour or sunflower seed flour, although these alter the flavor a little. Or what about cashews if they’re not allergic?