These gluten free chocolate chip cookies have a gooey soft center with slightly crisp, buttery edges. They are easy to make, require no chill time and best of all are full of sweet chocolate chips!
For these gluten free chocolate chip cookies, I wanted them to be just as simple and delicious as my regular chocolate chip cookies but entirely gluten free! That meant they needed to be soft and chewy, full of chocolate chips and have slightly crisp edges. My daughter’s friend was visiting and she cannot eat anything with gluten, I wanted to make her a special treat and she absolutely actually we all loved these cookies!
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These cookies are all of that and they don’t even require any special flours or xanthan gum! They are made with almond flour, which is a common ingredient in many Italian baking recipes, like these Italian almond cookies.
You will love how quickly they come together in one bowl just like my one bowl chocolate chip cookies. These are truly the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies!Â
Why You’ll Love This Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Simple ingredients: No gluten-free flour blend, additional binders or gums are needed. These gluten free chocolate chip cookies use only almond flour!
- Quick and easy: These cookies are ready in 30 minutes which is great to satisfy any cookie craving that hits.Â
- Stores well: These almond flour chocolate chip cookies store well before baking and after baking! Almond flour keeps them moist for days plus you can freeze and bake them later, too.Â
Ingredients Needed
- Almond flour: I use blanched almond flour that is finely ground.Â
- Baking powder: This gives the cookies lift and rise, do not substitute for baking soda.
- Salt: Just a pinch to enhance the flavor.Â
- Butter: Unsalted butter is best in these cookies. Remember to soften your butter to room temperature!Â
- Brown sugar: This adds sweetness and moisture to the cookies.
- Milk: Use your milk of choice, dairy or non dairy. This adds some additional moisture to the cookie dough.Â
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: Save a few extra chocolate chips to garnish the cookies fresh out of the oven!
Substitutions and Variations
- Chopped chocolate: For a truly gooey cookie, use a high quality chocolate bar that has been chopped into ½ inch pieces.Â
- Nuts: Toasted walnuts would add additional flavor and texture to the cookies!
- Coconut sugar: Instead of brown sugar, try coconut sugar.
- Type of chocolate chips: Instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, try dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips!
- Non-dairy butter: You can use non-dairy butter in these cookies. The texture may change and they may be slightly different but will still be delicious.Â
- Sandwich cookies: Add some peanut butter filling or hazelnut cream between two cookies like I do with my chocolate chip sandwich cookies!Â
How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
To start, in a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients including flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar to remove any lumps.
Add butter, vanilla and milk and beat everything together until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Form around 20 golf-sized balls, place them on top of the prepared baking sheets and flatten them lightly with a fork.
Bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet approximately until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet.
baking tips
- Add a little cornstarch: Just one Tablespoon can help prevent spreading and give them that classic cookie texture.Â
- Sea salt: Add some flakey sea salt on top of the cookies before baking.
- Chill the dough: While this isn’t necessary, if you like a thicker cookie that doesn’t spread, chill the dough for 30 minutes up to 2 hours.Â
- Don’t reduce the sugar: Whether you want to reduce it for healthy reasons or just because, the sugar in this recipe is there to help the cookies spread correctly, add moisture and color.Â
- Size of cookies: These cookies are large cookies like my thick peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. For smaller cookies, use a Tablespoon cookie scoop and reduce baking time.
More Gluten-Free Cookies to Try
Can I use gluten free flour?Â
This recipe has only been tested with almond flour! I would not recommend using a gluten-free all-purpose flour or gluten-free measure for measuring flour.Â
Can I make these paleo?
You will need to use coconut oil for the butter and coconut sugar for the brown sugar. Because you are skipping butter, the cookie texture will be softer and may crumble slightly.
Why did my cookies turn out puffy?Â
The most likely reason is that you didn’t measure your ingredients properly! If flour is packed too much into the measuring cup or if you added too much sugar, the cookie may not turn out as intended. Adding too much baking powder can cause more rise to the cookies as well!Â
If you have a kitchen scale, try measuring your ingredients or at the least ensure you use the scoop and level method when measuring.Â
Why did my gluten free chocolate chip cookies fall apart?
Gluten free cookies, whether made with almond flour or other gluten free flours, more easily fall apart because there is no gluten in the ingredients that help bind them together! If this is happening to you, try adding an egg or cornstarch to the dough to help bind them.Â
If you are looking for a gluten free cookie then I hope you give these Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies a try! Enjoy.
- 4 cups almond flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter – softened
- ¼ cup brown sugar – packed
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
*I prefer blanched almond flour in this recipe but you could try almond meal for a more nutty taste in the cookie.Â
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Pre-heat the oven to 350℉ (180℃) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Add butter, vanilla and milk and beat everything together until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.
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Form around 20 golf-sized balls, place them on top of the prepared baking sheets and flatten them lightly with a fork.
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Bake approximately 12-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet. Enjoy!
Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing
Store:Â These cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to three days.Â
Make ahead:Â You can make the cookie dough up to a few days in advance of baking them! Just store the dough covered in the refrigerator.
Freeze unbaked cookie dough: To freeze unbaked cookie dough, flash freeze cookie dough balls then store in a ziplock bag. Thaw slightly and bake as directed.Â
Freeze baked cookies:Â Cool completely then freeze in a freezer safe storage container for up to two months. Thaw in the refrigerator and rewarm in the microwave or oven.Â
Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 149IU | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg