Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy & gooey center, sweet chocolate chips, *slightly* crispy edges, classic cookie texture, all without a touch of gluten! These almond flour chocolate chip cookies taste just like the real deal and can be yours in just 30 minutes!
Anyone else feel like they’ve eaten hundreds of cookies the past month or two? Especially gluten free chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t think there were so many ways to make one kind of cookie, yet here we are.
These almond flour chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite and easiest recipes yet. They can easily be made paleo with just a few substitutions (you won’t even taste the difference). They have a chewy gooey center with perfectly (but very slightly) crispy edges with a rich butter flavor. Same with my gluten free funfetti sugar cookies!
Different flours will not work in place of almond flour, but if you’re viewing this recipe, I’m sure you wanted almond flour cookies anyway, so let’s bake!
If you love this recipe, try my almond flour double chocolate cookies, almond flour pumpkin cookies or peanut butter cookies next!
Before we get started…
- I love semi-sweet chips for this recipe. Grocery stores were running low on chocolate when I first made these, so I was stuck with bittersweet chocolate, which was just not as good. Semi-sweet chocolate chips work much better here!
- Be sure you’re using blanched almond flour and not almond meal here. Almond flour has a lighter color and finer texture than almond meal.
How to make almond flour chocolate chip cookies
Soften butter. First, add the butter to a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. If it was previously in the fridge, just stick it in the microwave to soften for about 20 seconds.
Add sugar. Add in the sugar and beat with the butter until well combined, about 30 seconds.
Mix all wet ingredients. Beat in the egg and the vanilla until the egg is completely broken up.
Add dry ingredients. Next, beat in all remaining ingredients aside from the chocolate chips, making sure to spoon and level the flour into the measuring cup, don’t scoop right from the bag. Beat just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon until evenly incorporated.
Chill dough. Add the dough to the fridge for 20 minutes. This ensures the cookies don’t spread flat while baking. The temperature of the butter is really important with cookies! After 20 minutes, use a cookie scoop and scoop the dough into roughly 1 1/2 tablespoon balls.
Bake. Bake for 13-18 minutes, 15 is perfect in my oven if you want soft centers but a very slight crisp on the edge. If you want the cookies to be chewy and stay chewy, remove them from the oven when they still look slightly raw in the center.
Cool and serve. They’ll be extremely soft to the touch when they first come out of the oven, but will firm up after about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool as is for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Key ingredients
Almond flour. Almond flour makes up the base of these cookies and yields a really chewy consistency with crisp edges. The high fat content of almond flour means these cookies will stay super moist and not dry out!
Cornstarch. A little cornstarch helps absorb excess moisture to ensure the cookies don’t spread too much while baking. It also helps give them a more traditional cookie texture.
Butter. I suggest using butter for the best flavor, but you can sub for coconut oil if you prefer. To make these cookies paleo, just use coconut oil and coconut sugar in place of butter and brown sugar. You really won’t be able to taste the difference, just be sure to measure the oil as accurately as possible and use refined coconut oil to avoid a coconut flavor.
Sugar. I used light brown sugar which keeps these cookies moist. You can sub for coconut sugar but the cookies will be darker in color.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Egg. One egg helps bind all ingredients together so the cookies don’t crumble.
Baking soda. A bit of baking soda encourages the cookies to spread while baking.
Why are my cookies flat?
A few things could be going on that could result in flat cookies. I’ve specifically written this recipe to make cookies that are not flat, so just follow these tips for pillowy cookies!
Too much butter: Too much butter is usually the biggest culprit if you have cookies that are flat. I initially tested this recipe with 1/2 cup (1 stick or 8 tbsp) of butter, but the cookies were completely flat. So, I cut out just 1 tbsp of butter and it made a huge difference. To ensure proper measurements, I suggest using sticks of butter and just slice off 1 tbsp worth.
Not enough chilling: Not only can too much butter cause cookies to be flat, but butter that is too warm will do the same, which is why chilling the dough is important!
You need the butter to be soft and at room temperature to cream it well with the sugar, but you need butter cold before baking cookies if you want them chewy, so chilling the dough is an important step! It’s annoying, I know you just want to eat the damn cookies, but I promise it will be worth the wait!
Too little flour: If the butter to flour ratio is off, that can throw off how the cookies do or do not spread. This recipe requires 2 cups of almond flour. To make cookies that are nice and chewy and pillowy, I highly recommend following the recipe to a T. All of the tested substitutions have been listed, but aside from that, try not to deviate from the instructions!
Why do gluten free cookies fall apart?
Almond flour cookies can more easily fall apart than other types of cookies because you’re removing the gluten which binds them together.
Instead, we’ll be using an egg and a touch of cornstarch to bind the cookies together so they don’t fall apart. Another tip is to ensure you let the cookies cool completely before handling or eating so the texture has time to set.
How to store and freeze
Once prepared, these cookies will keep at room temperature for about 5 days. Let them cool completely and then store in an air tight container.
You can also freeze them after they bake! Just let cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat at 300 until warm through the center.
Still hungry? Try these!
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 13+ Almond Flour Recipes
- Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodles
- Gluten Free Crumbl Cookies
- Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
Be sure to follow along on on instagram and subscribe to my email list for more recipes and updates. Leave a comment and rating below if you try this recipe and let us know how it turns out!
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons softened butter
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar or coconut sugar I prefer light brown
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups blanched almond flour not almond meal
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the butter to a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. If it was previously in the fridge, just stick it in the microwave to soften for about 15 seconds.
- Add in the sugar and beat with the butter until well combined, about 30 seconds with an electric mixer.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla until the egg is completely broken up.
- Beat in all remaining ingredients aside from the chocolate chips, making sure to spoon and level the flour into the measuring cup, don’t scoop right from the bag.
- Beat until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon until evenly incorporated.
- Add the dough to the fridge for 20 minutes. This ensures the cookies don’t spread flat while baking. The temperature of the butter is really important with cookies!
- While you wait, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After 20 minutes, use a medium cookie scoop and scoop the dough into roughly 1 1/2 tbsp balls, but do not flatten.
- Bake for 13-18 minutes, 15 is perfect in my oven if you want soft centers but a very slight crisp on the edge.
- Remove from the oven and let cool as is for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Comments
-
I have made these three or four times and coconut oil is way better every time in this recipe. I have noticed if they bake 15 minutes they taste burned. 12 minutes is perfect. They r our favorite recipe these days. Thank you for this recipe!
-
The cookies were delicious. I followed the recipe exactly as stated. I measured the butter, I chilled for exactly 20 minutes, I literally scooped them and put them in the oven within two minutes of taking them out of the fridge, and they still came out completely flat. I also spooned and leveled the flour so I’m not sure what the issue was. They’re still good to eat.
-
Hmm, that definitely shouldn’t happen. Did you measure the butter from a stick or did you use a softer butter that was in a tub? That could be the issue!
-
-
Easy and just the perfect taste, texture, and gluten free! Thank you for the great recipe
-
Thank you!
-
-
The BEST almond flour cookie I have had! The cookie was light and airy, crispy on the edges and soft on the inside. I used slightly less than recommended coconut sugar and it was just the right amount of sweetness for my kids and I! Thank you for such an amazing recipe!
-
Thank you, Alina! So happy you love these!
-
-
Very very sweet. I cut the butter to 4 tablespoons and sugar to 100g (little over 2/3 of what the recipe says) and 5yo couldn’t finish half of one cookie since it was too sweet. Also not sure what I did wrong, but mine didn’t flatten – guessing from cutting the butter. I’d probably cut the sugar to a little less than half next time and try adding pecans or walnuts
-
Love these cookies!! Can you freeze this dough?
-
Yes!
-
-
I’ve been on the hunt for a truly good grain-free cookie for YEARS, and this is it! Even friends and family who eat goodies made with regular white flour couldn’t tell that these weren’t traditional chocolate chip cookies. For the best results, we use tapioca flour instead of cornstarch (to keep them grain-free), and brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. This recipe adapts really well too. We’ve left out the chocolate chips and added a 1/2 tsp of almond extract and sprinkles for funfetti/sugar cookies, and we’ve also turned this into a cookie cake multiple times with perfect results. I can’t recommend this recipe enough!!
-
Love those adaptations! Thank you, Katie!
-
loved these ! was also looking to turn into cookie cake. can you share how cook time changed to do this succesfully?
-
-
These are amazing! Texture, flavor, everything, delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
-
Thank you, Kimberly!
-
-
These are the best almond flour cookies I have ever eaten. They tasted like a normal chocolate chip cookie. I added pecans because I like them with chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
-
Just made a vegan version of these and turned out delicious. Substituted egg with 4oz apple sauce, vegan butter and added pecans. I have also had the non vegan version and they are both great!
-
Thank you for this recipe!! I have several people in my family who either avoid carbs or gluten and this recipe is a game changer, the addition of corn starch and the resting time really makes these special.
For me the 13 minute mark was perfect, though I let mine go too long we still loved them. We will be making these again!
-
Love it! Thanks, Elizabeth!
-
-
Hi! Can I replace the egg? I’m not able to eat eggs unfortunately, but based on the comments, I really want to try this recipe! 🙂
-
Yes! You can try a flax egg, apple sauce or store bought egg replacer!
-
-
I have tried so many gluten free cookie recipes and this is hands down the best I’ve tried. I replaced the cornstarch with tapioca and it worked great. Also froze some and heated up weeks later and it was incredible. They don’t hold so firmly like a normal cookie but the flavor is out of this world and the texture is amazing so I don’t even care. My husband wants them all to himself! He said “if these are possible…why make anything else.”
Thank you for this recipe wow!!!-
Love that! Thanks so much Madison!
-
-
I love the taste of these. I cook them for my mom who likes to eat gluten free. But I am not sure how to make them look like the picture with hills and valleys and creases. What am I doing wrong?
-
Hmm, I think swiveling the cookies with a round cookie cutter right after they bake before they cool is really helpful!
-
-
I made these today in honor of national chocolate chip cookie day! I’m diabetic so I substituted Splenda magic baker brown sugar substitute and used Lily brand sugar free chocolate chips. I also used fat-free Greek yogurt in place of butter 1-1. They came out perfect!
-
So glad yogurt worked well as a sub! Thanks, Denice!
-
leave a comment and rating