Homemade Low Carb Oreos | Gluten Free & Sugar Free
Homemade Low Carb Oreos – Gluten Free, Paleo & Vegan Friendly!
It seems like Oreos have their own aisle at the grocery store, doesn’t it? I mean, they’ve got the classic, double stuffed, thins, golden Oreos, and every crazy flavor imaginable! Almost like they’re trying to taunt us with their ultra processed yumminess… But, what if it didn’t have to be this way? Skip the Oreo aisle and try my homemade low carb Oreos recipe!
Maybe you’re looking for gluten free, sugar free, and/or low carb Oreos. Or, perhaps vegan- or paleo-friendly Oreos? Better yet, maybe you’re just keen on learning how to make homemade Oreos for the fun of it—healthy or not! No matter your reasons, this homemade low carb Oreos recipe is what you’ve been searching for.
Making low carb desserts and keto desserts is actually pretty simple. There are loads of low carb baking substitutions out there, and they’re often much healthier than our traditional baking ingredients! And, honestly, I never expected homemade low carb Oreos to taste so unbelievably good…
Homemade Low Carb Oreos vs. Traditional Oreos
So, one of these homemade Oreos has about the same number of calories as a traditional Oreo. BUT, the two have just about nothing else in common… Forget the stark difference in ingredients between these homemade low carb Oreos and the traditional processed cookies. For a moment, let’s just compare the nutrition, shall we?
Per 1 homemade low carb Oreo:
61 calories | 5g fat | 3g carbohydrates | 3g dietary fiber | 0g sugars | 2g protein
Per 1 traditional Oreo sandwich cookie:
54 calories | 2.5g fat | 8.5g carbs | <0.5g fiber | 4.5g sugar | <0.5g protein
*NOTE: Traditional Oreo nutrition is approximate, calculated using the nutritional information provided on the label for a serving of three cookies.
Compared to the almost five grams of sugars in a traditional Oreo cookie, each of my homemade low carb Oreos is totally sugar free! Not surprisingly, a traditional Oreo is also higher in carbs (sugar and flour), lower in fat, and has almost no protein or fiber. But, you can get less than half as many carbs, around four times as much protein, and around six times as much fiber in one of my homemade low carb Oreos! And, with 3g total carbs, 3g of fiber, and 0g sugars, each of these keto Oreos contains NO net carbs per serving.
Sugar Free AND Gluten Free Homemade Oreos?! Nonsense!
Yes, the homemade low carb Oreos do have slightly more calories than the traditional. But, that’s because low carb Oreos have to be higher in fat—which contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates! And, it’s not just the number of calories that matters for our bodies and our health. We have to consider the quality of the calories we’re putting into our bodies. And, the refined sugar, refined flour, and refined vegetable oils listed as the first 3 ingredients in traditional Oreos are NOT what we’d call quality calories…
To replace the refined sugar in my homemade low carb Oreos, I used erythritol—a natural, low calorie, low carb sugar alcohol—in my Oreo cookies, but you can also use stevia or whichever low carb granulated sweetener you prefer. And, I used a sugar free powdered/confectioners’ sugar in my crème filling, which I bought online but you can also make your own at home!
And, I’ve done away with the refined flour and kept my homemade low carb Oreos gluten free by using almond flour and coconut flour—two of the best flour alternatives for low carb desserts! They’re low in carbs, high in fiber, and rich in the kind of wholesome dietary fats needed to fuel a low carb lifestyle or keto diet.
Making Your Keto Oreos Fat-Rich and Fuel-Filled
Almond and coconut flours are denser than traditional flours, making for crispy, crave-able homemade Oreos—but they can also be a bit crumbly. So, we need the right kinds and amounts of fat to bind our ingredients together. Luckily, we have to pack in plenty of fat anyway if we want our homemade low carb Oreos to be keto friendly!
For this recipe, I chose to use grass-fed butter because of its rich, strong saturated fats. I also think that grass-fed butter adds a nice wafer-like crispness to the cookies, while also giving the creme a more authentic, Oreo-like taste. But, you can also use softened coconut oil if you prefer for vegan and/or paleo homemade Oreos!
Many people don’t realize that butter from grass-fed cows is highly nutritious. Its natural saturated fats actually promote our heart health, as well as fight inflammation. And, it’s rich in vitamin K2, which prevents calcium from leaching out of our bones clogging our arteries. It’s a form of vitamin K that is ONLY found in animal products—leafy greens contain vitamin K1. Plus, grass-fed butter is also a great source of energizing medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), just like coconut, oil!
Tips for the Best Homemade Low Carb Oreos
- After preparing your dough, wrap it in plastic and allow to rest in the fridge for around 20 minutes before rolling it out. This will help the dough to stay firm and not crumble!
- Allow your homemade Oreo cookies to cool completely before trying to add the crème filling. And, it can help to refrigerate your crème filling for a bit before spreading it onto your cookies!
- Once you’ve assembled your homemade low carb Oreos, I recommend also letting them sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the filling firm up. Don’t worry, the cookies will keep their crispness! And, they’ll be SO much more satisfying to bite into.
- You can even get creative with your crème filling by using natural food dye to make these cookies a festive treat. I used natural orange dye to turn my homemade Oreos into healthy Halloween treats!
Homemade Low Carb Oreos
Ingredients
Low Carb Oreo Cookies:
Dry Ingredients:
- 1½ cups almond flour
- ⅔ cup coconut flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup grass-fed butter, softened (or coconut oil, solid but softened)
- 2 eggs
- 1½ cups granulated sweetener of choice
Low Carb Creme Filling:
- 1½ cups powdered sugar, use sugar-free powdered sugar for low carb Oreos
- ⅓ cup grass-fed butter, you could use coconut oil, but butter will give these more of an “Oreo-like” taste!
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- splash of milk of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 315°F (155°C).
- Mix dry ingredients together. Sift dry ingredient mixture.
- In a stand mixer, mix wet ingredients with sugar. Add dry ingredients gradually.
- Mix until well-integrated. Dough will be a bit crumbly, but that’s fine! Press dough together into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Between parchment, roll out dough to be ⅛ of an inch thick, or even less.
- Use 2-inch cookie cutter (or even the rim of a glass) to cut circles out of the dough.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and lightly sprayed.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. BEWARE! They will burn quickly, so keep an eye on them.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on wire baking rack. (They will crisp up as they cool, so don’t worry if they’re a bit soft at first.)
- Combine filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Beat together using a hand mixer.
- Refrigerate filling for a few minutes, or until ready to use.
- Spread filling onto cooled Oreo cookie and sandwich between another cookie.
- Repeat with remaining homemade Oreos and filling. (I recommend placing assembled Oreos in the fridge for a few hours, so the filling will firm up—don’t worry, the cookies still keep their crispness!)
- Serve and enjoy!
- *Per 1 assembled homemade low carb Oreo cookie: 0g net carbs.
8 Comments on “Homemade Low Carb Oreos | Gluten Free & Sugar Free”
qusetion instead of almond flour and coconut flour can i use gluten free flour mix and how would that make a difference in texture..
Hi, great question! Almond flour and coconut flour are both denser than a gluten-free flour blend would be, so I suspect a gluten-free flour wouldn’t work well as a 1-to-1 substitute in this recipe. But we have another homemade Oreo recipe you could try, using an all-purpose gluten-free flour instead of regular all-purpose flour! I think that would work much better 🙂
https://mindovermunch.com/recipes/homemade-oreos/
I made the cookies like your recipe but my son is diabeti he loves Oreo cookie balls for Christmas so I took the cookies and I’ Crushed them with cream cheese and I made balls and I dipped in sugar-free white chocolate perfect gift for Christmas
It came out perfect
Hi Linda, these Oreo cookie balls sound AMAZING, what a fantastic idea!! We’re so glad that these low-carb cookies could play a part in your very thoughtful treat making for your son 🙂 Thanks so much for trying out the recipe and for sharing how it went with us!
Can you roll these into a log and slice the wafer that way vs. rolling out and using a cookie cutter? Just curious.
Hi Donna, we haven’t personally tried rolling the dough into a log and slicing it in that way, so I can’t speak to whether that would work or not. This dough can be a bit delicate, so my guess is that the log-and-slice method likely wouldn’t work so well. But if you decide to experiment and see for yourself, let us know how it goes! 🙂
These are very good but extremely rich. I don’t know what exactly I did wrong but the dough was so crumbly that rolling it out to 1/8″ thickness was impossible even after leaving it in the fridge for 20 mins. The recipe is no harder to make than high carb/high sugar cookies. But just like any other cookie recipe from scratch, it’s time consuming. I had to use a 2.5″ cutter because I didn’t have a 2″ or anything else that size I could’ve used. The dough was so crumbly though that I just ended up rolling each one into balls and would flatten them with my hands. Then flatten once more after they were placed on the cookie sheet. This made them much thicker than the 1/8″ they needed to be. My family and I really liked them but it doesn’t take but half of one to take care of any sweet cravings.
Thank you so much for your feedback Lynne, and thank you for trying out the recipe! 🙂
These are indeed rich, in part because they’re low carb Oreos – the ingredients are higher dietary fats, which tend to have a richer flavor and texture. And all of your issues with this recipe are valid and we experienced them, too! The dough is a bit finnicky, and it does require some time and effort to make. (Made me realize it’d be a lot easier for me to slow down eating regular Oreos if I had to make them on my own like this!!)
Really, you’ve just given voice to the struggles we encounter trying to make low-carb baked goods in general. Without using the traditional baking ingredients (like refined flours, sugars, etc.) it’s pretty tricky to produce the same easy-to-work-with roll-out doughs. And, it’s hard to satisfy those sweet cravings when low-carb baked goods don’t contain the added sugars we’re craving!
Low-carb baking can be frustrating at times when things aren’t working out as we wanted. But, there’s also the trade-off of being able to enjoy cleaner, unrefined, and low-carb treats that don’t send our blood sugar skyrocketing!