Gluten Free & Keto Gingerbread Cereal 🍪
Nice ‘n Crisp ⚡
Looking for a special Christmas breakfast? Look no further than this gluten free and keto gingerbread cereal! It’s nice and crisp (for real!), deeply aromatic and beautifully spiced. And, like actual gingerbread cookies, it makes for an ideal pairing with (almond) milk. 🥛
Plus: 2g net carbs per 40g serving. Doesn’t get much better than that.
So if you love our keto cinnamon toast crunch, this one’s a no brainer. Because fact is, we’re revising that recipe as these have got much more crunch. ⚡
The Gingerbread Spices 🍂
These keto gingerbread cookies are dominantly ginger and cinnamon, with highlights of cloves and nutmeg (freshly ground preferably) and a touch of freshly ground black pepper to round everything up.
The Deets 🔍
The one indispensable thing, is that the dough be thoroughly chilled before baking. Why? The butter in the dough has to have solidified once again before you can roll it out and cut it up. That way, it won’t stick and the shapes will come just right. Plus, you want to give the spices time to permeate through the dough in order to get super nice and fragrant cookies.
So, if possible, allow the dough to rest in the fridge overnight. Though 3 hours would do as well if in a pickle.
The Cut-Up 📏
This really depends how OCD you are. You can use mini gingerbread men as we did. But let’s face it, you’re probably not a food blogger and ‘pretty’ is not indispensable. It’ll taste the same whether shaped as gingerbread men or in squares (which is sooo much faster). In which case it’s all about the ruler.
Wash up a ruler and use one of its edges to press down on the dough and cut it up. Then take a small fork and prick down each square to avoid excessive puffing.
The Flours
Gingerbread cookies are traditionally a wheat cookie. To make them gluten free and keto, we found that super fine almond flour did a killer job (solo!). Add a touch of xanthan gum, and we’re golden.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds.
Note also that we add a bit more baking soda than is customary (1/2 teaspoon rather than 1/4 or even nil). Reason being, that the slight bigger rise helps aerate the almond flour and get a better texture.
The Sweetener 🍯
This recipe works best with erythritol, without a doubt. Not only is it roughly 1-to-1 in sweetness to sugar (and the volume is important here), but it lends a very similar crunch and chew. No other sweetener does that.
Also note that adding a teaspoon or two of blackstrap molasses adds a tonne of umami and improves browning.
Keep in mind that blackstrap molasses is considered a low glycemic sugar. One teaspoon (7g) adds 5g net carbs, so just 0.2g net carbs a cookie (i.e. 1/4th the sugar of a strawberry!). But carbs aside, it’s also known to be a nutritional powerhouse rich in vital vitamins and minerals; such as iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium.
Fun fact: Molasses contain high amounts of chromium, which has been studied to increase glucose tolerance levels.
But if it’s still not your thing, just do a brown sugar sub (such as Lakanto Golden!)!
Gluten Free & Keto Gingerbread Cereal
Ingredients
- 192 g almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 80 g grass-fed butter at room temperature
- 96 g Swerve or Sukrin gold* (8TBS if not doing any topping)
- 18 g blackstrap molasses optional
- 1 egg
For the ginger-cinnamon topping:
- 28 g grass-fed butter melted
- 2 tablespoons xylitol or Swerve
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Add almond flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, and spices to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined and set aside.
- Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer, 2-3 minutes. Add in sweetener and molasses (optional), and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed and much of the sweetener has dissolved.
- Add in egg, mixing until just incorporated. The mixture will appear slightly 'broken' (i.e. not thoroughly smooth).
- With your mixer on low, add in half of your flour mixture- mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the rest.
- Wrap cookie dough with cling film (saran wrap) and refrigerate overnight (much preferred). But if in a pickle, 3 hours will do.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until nice and thin. You can then either cutout gingerbread men shapes. Or, using a ruler, cut dough lengthwise and then crosswise into squares. Prick each piece with a small fork.
- Transfer parchment paper with the gingerbread cereal to a baking sheet or tray, and place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to baking.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes, until fully golden (depending on size and thickness). Keep an eye out for them, and note that if you like them crisp you'll want to push the baking time as much as possible (until deep golden). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with ginger-cinnamon sugar.
- Allow to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, as they'll continue to crunch up (this may take a few hours for the sweetener to harden up again!).
- Note that these keto gingerbread cereal is even better the next day, after the spices have had time to mingle. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Could you share where you got your mini gingerbread men cutters?
Thanks,
Michelle
If you cut into squares, do you have to separate or can you leave connected and then break apart after baking?
I love that some of your little men in the picture aren’t perfect. It totally makes me feel better that my food doesn’t look perfect
Where did you get those super cute mini men cutters??? I would buy them if I knew where to get them 🙂 Thanks for all the great keto baking tips!!!
I was wondering this too!
Do you sprinkle the topping over the rolled out dough before using the mini cutouts, or after?
Thanks!
How can I keep these from burning around the edges but not getting done in the middle?
I want to try this as I do miss cereal, but I am afraid. I tried 2 different graham cracker recipes, but I just can’t get them done (crispy) before they burn.
Any advice?
Thanks!
Can Ghee or coconut butter be used for sub in the recipe for butter? Seevral questions like mine above but no repy yet.
Monk fruit is a solo purchasena Lakanto has monk and Erthy. – both. So I think CobyLyn is asking about just substititing Monk. I know you cannnot do it cup for cup- monk alone is VEWRY sweet.
Hi! These look amazing. Would these work as regular size cookies too, or would the dough not hold up to larger size cookie cutters?
Yeah def! Check out the actual gingerbread cookies 😉
So basically, it’s just a bunch of delicious cookies in a bowl w/ my almond milk disguised as ‘cereal’….ha ha
Now this would definitely start my day off beautifully….no guilt either – after all it is ‘cereal’😋
You are a brilliant person! Thank you
Or what I like to call Christmas spirit for breakfast 😉 enjoy!
Is there a substitute I can use for butter?
Hy , can I substitute cand am cum with gelato? The
Keep up we good working!
Andrea I think something went wrong with autotype and I don’t get what you’re trying to sub (with gelato?!)
I bet she means xanthan gum.
Hi Paola! Would coconut oil work instead of butter? My little one is dairy sensitive. Also, if I substitute sunflower seed flour for the almond flour is the same amount? TIA
Any recommendations for a butter substitute for someone who is lactose intolerant?
This is a life saver. I made it to take into hospital as my daughter is having heart surgery. It is crispy & delicious especially with watered down cream on top. I can’t believe how crisp it goes. I love ginger so I will add extra next time. Thanks so much. You are a genius.
Looking forward to trying this recipe and just realized I have powdered Swerve. Should I wait and get the granular Swerve?
It will work just fine Anna! Just be sure to measure by weight (or check out a swerve conversion for granular to powdered) xo!
Oh yum! I’ve been making Cinnamon Crunch cereal from a recipe I found on Pinterest. Looking forward to trying out yours!
My question is, have you tried Monkfruit sugar substitute in your recipes and how did they turn out. If not, do you think using it would work? I really find that it’s closest to a true sugar flavor and hits most of the right tastebuds 😋
Thank you!
If by monkfruit you mean Lakanto, then yes that would work.
Keep up the good work. love your recipes and print them out for future reference. FYI the -US cups link isn’t working. Tried it on several recipes today. I know it has worked in the past maybe there is just a glitch today.
Hi Tresa! We are moving hosts this week so a few things haven’t been working perfectly (hence also the lack of posts), will be back on track next week but thank you for the heads up! xo
I haven’t made the recipe yet but I want to thank you for having the option of printing the recipe in USA measurements as well as metric.
It’s my absolute pleasure Ronalyn! xo!
Can you sub Coconut flour due to nut allergies?
Hi Sheila! Coconut flour unfortunately won’t work here… for nut allergies may I suggest sunflower seed flour instead?
Thank you for such beautiful posts and creative ideas! I made the gingerbread cookies last night and they are TO DIE FOR! Particularly good the day after! Might just break up a bunch and throw in some milk…! 😂