I’ve found my new go-to sweetener. (And if you’re not a fan of the taste of erythritol, you’ll love it too!)
For years, my low-carb sweetener of choice for baking (and other uses) has been Lakanto’s Golden monkfruit sweetener, a granulated blend of monk fruit and erythritol. It has a little bit of a caramel flavor that gives it a taste similar to brown sugar.
But it contains erythritol, a sugar alcohol that can leave a light cooling aftertaste which is more noticeable for some people than others. I’ve found that its taste is more prominent depending on how it is used, along with how much.
For some reason, I taste erythritol the most in cookie recipes. So when I set out to improve my keto chocolate chip tahini cookies, I decided to try out Lakanto’s newest product, granulated Golden Monkfruit with Allulose.
The results are amazing. Allulose has a clean taste and since it’s not as sweet as other sweeteners, the monk fruit helps out. I’ve always loved allulose but don’t use it in baking as much since you need more of it to get a sweeter flavor. Combining it with pure monk fruit (which is really sweet) achieves the perfect sweetness and consistency. There’s no weird aftertaste and it works as a 1:1 substitute for sugar.
It was great in these low-carb/keto tahini coconut chocolate chip cookies (see above!) which I just updated on the site with new images and a couple of tiny changes to the original post from years ago.
The recipe definitely deserves a revisit and if you’ve never tried them, the combination is sooooo good. I’ll share the recipe below (and it also is on the blog as well as on my Instagram).
p.s. Full disclosure, I’m a Lakanto affiliate (and Amazon affiliate) which means I earn a small amount whenever you click on any affiliate links I share. It’s not very often that I drop a product into my newsletter, but I wanted to let you know about this one since I think it’s a great alternative to an erythritol-based sweetener!
Tahini coconut chocolate chip cookies (low carb, gluten free, keto)
Yield: about 18 cookies
Ingredients:
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened (or sub melted coconut oil)
½ cup tahini, well stirred
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated Golden monk fruit sweetener (see notes)
1 egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-½ cups blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons coconut flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup shredded or flaked coconut, unsweetened
½ cup low-carb chocolate chips
sea salt flakes (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl or bowl of stand mixer, combine the softened butter, tahini, and sweetener, mixing until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt to the wet mixture. Thoroughly combine wet and dry ingredients until the cookie dough forms.
Fold in the shredded coconut and chocolate chips and stir until combined.
Using a cookie scoop, spoon out portions of cookie dough, then flatten them slightly between your palms. Place each cookie on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes (don't let them brown, they're better slightly under-done and will continue to bake a little during the cool time). Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle flaky sea salt on top (optional).
Allow the cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Notes:
I think these are best when baked about 8 minutes. They are perfect after they cool for about 20 minutes.
The cookies don’t spread when baking so make sure to gently flatten each of the cookie dough balls.
You can use your favorite sweetener as long as it’s a 1:1 sugar substitute.
For chocolate chips, I like HuKitchen or Lily’s baking chips.
More on tahini
Is Tahini Keto? Here’s a full guide, in case you’ve ever wondered.
I’m currently going deep into the blog archives to re-shoot some of my earlier posts. This chicken shawarma plate is a favorite and another way to enjoy tahini!
This Mediterranean roasted eggplant has such good flavors and a creamy tahini sauce that I can’t get enough of. The seasoning, the tahini, the roasting method…. it’s enough to sway even the toughest eggplant critics.
Enjoy the cookies- I hope they’re the perfect mid-week treat for you!
Abby