This recipe for Sugar Free Kentucky Butter Cookies is based upon the classic Southern-style cookie known for their exceptionally rich, buttery flavor and soft, tender texture.
Made with basic pantry ingredients, these cookies are like a cross between a sugar cookie and a shortbread cookie with a glaze frosting on top.
What you will read about in this recipe.
- What makes Kentucky Butter Cookies so good?
- What you need to make to make Kentucky butter cookies without sugar.
- How to Make Kentucky Butter Cake Cookies
- Tips for making the best Kentucky Butter Cookies from scratch.
- How to Store Southern Butter Cookies
- Print the recipe for Sugar Free Kentucky Butter Cookies
What makes Kentucky Butter Cookies so good?
Kentucky Butter Cookies deliver a rich, comforting flavor with the tender texture of a Southern butter cake in a cookie form.
I like that this recipe is made with simple ingredients that you may already have on hand.
Have you tried my recipe for Sugar Free Lemon Shortbread Cookies?
Made with lemon juice and no added sugar, those cookies are buttery, tender, and crisp. Both this recipe for Kentucky Butter Cookies and that recipe for Lemon Shortbread Cookies are buttery cookie recipe that are made with no added sugar.
This recipe is made with a granular brown sugar alternative that can also be baked with. You can find brown sugar alternatives for baking here.
What you need to make to make Kentucky butter cookies without sugar.
Cookies
- Flour. Regular all purpose flour.
- Baking Soda. Leavener used in this recipe.
- Salt Used to enhance the buttery flavor.
- Salted Butter. Softened not quite to room temperature.
- Brown Sugar Alternative. Use a granular brown sugar alternative that measures like sugar and that can also be baked with.
- Sugar Alternative. Use a granular white sugar alternative that measures like sugar and that can also be baked with.
- Eggs. Large Eggs at room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract Added for flavor balance.
Topping
- Sugar Free Powdered Sugar.
- Butter. Softened to room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract For flavor.
How to Make Kentucky Butter Cake Cookies
- Prep Time 15 minutes .
- Bake Time 11 minutes .
- Servings 18 cookies .
- How to serve : Serve with a glass of milk, cup of coffee, or as desired.
- Notes: You will need mixing bowls, whisk, baking sheet(s), cookie scoop, spatula, and frosting knife.
- Prepare. Preheat you oven to 350°F. Prep you baking sheet(s) for nonstick. Parchment paper can work in this recipe.
- Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter with the sugar alternatives on medium speed until creamy and well combined. Then add the eggs and the vanilla extract.
- Combine. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl and then set the mixer speed on low. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl to the mixing bowl and mix until just combined.
- Scoop. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies and place them on the baking sheet about an inch and a half apart.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes. They will be somewhat set in the center.
- Cool. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to fully cool.
- Topping. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine together the topping until smooth and creamy. When the cookies have fully cooled you can add the topping and serve.
Tips for making the best Kentucky Butter Cookies from scratch.
The butter for the cookie will be softened but, should still have some structure to it (You should be able to push into it with a little bit of resistance). On the other hand, the softened to room temperature butter used for the topping should be soft enough to give no resistance when pushed in.
More helpful tips for you.
- When placing your cookies on to the prepared baking sheet, leave about an inch and a half between cookies. You can use the palm of your hand to press the cookie dough down to help prevent the cookies from puffing out when baked.
- The cookie dough should be thick. If your cookie dough seems to be too soft you can refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes to prevent excess spreading.
- Make sure that your cookies have fully cooled before frosting them. If the cookies are too warm the frosting can melt or slide off of the cookies.
How to Store Southern Butter Cookies
Once the cookies have fully cooled, they can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container. When properly stored, butter cookies, should keep for up to 3 to 5 days at room temperature. I like to place bread in the container to help keep the cookies soft.
You may also be interested in these no added sugar cookie recipes.
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Print the recipe for Sugar Free Kentucky Butter Cookies
Sugar Free Kentucky Butter Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- 2½ cups Flour.
- 2 tsp Baking Soda.
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Salted Butter -- Softened not quite to room temperature.
- ½ cup Brown Sugar Alternative. --Use a granular brown sugar alternative that measures like sugar and that can also be baked with.
- ¼ cup Sugar Alternative. --Use a granular white sugar alternative that measures like sugar and that can also be baked with.
- 2 Eggs.
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Topping
- 1 cup Sugar Free Powdered Sugar
- ½ cup Butter. --Softened to room temperature.
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Cookies
- Prepare. Preheat you oven to 350°F. Prep you baking sheet(s) for nonstick. Parchment paper can work in this recipe.
- Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter with the sugar alternatives on medium speed until creamy and well combined. Then add the eggs and the vanilla extract.
- Combine. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl and then set the mixer speed on low. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl to the mixing bowl and mix until just combined.
- Scoop. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies and place them on the baking sheet about an inch and a half apart from one another.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes. They will be somewhat set in the center.
- Cool. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to fully cool.
Topping.
- In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine together the topping until smooth and creamy. When the cookies have fully cooled you can add the topping and serve.
Recipe Notes
Also, please see the actual recipe post for further details on this recipe. Nutritional Information is only an estimate and can vary especially with ingredients that are used. See thesugarfreediva.com for details on this recipe.
posted:
March 31, 2026*About Sugar Alternatives
Specific sugar alternatives are not given in the recipes presented on this site. Only suggestions are given as to the 'kind' of alternative to use. It is up to you to select the alternative to use that suits your needs best. If the recipe is heated or cooked, it is best to use an alternative that can be heated or cooked with for best results. This site does not endorse any specific ingredients,
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Nutrition
Please note: Nutritional data has been calculated using a tool that comes with this recipe card and not by me. This means that Nutritional Information is only an estimate and can vary especially with ingredients that you use. The accuracy of this tool may differ from other tools as expected. Also note that there is no instructional value to the video that may be attached to this recipe. It is only there for visual pleasure. For more information about the images in this recipe, please refer the the recipe instructions. Thank you!
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