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.
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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
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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
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Awesome cookies! I always use this recipe if I want something sweet. I can’t do regular sugar so I replaced it with coconut sugar. I also can’t do anything corn like corn starch so I did arrowroot and they turned out great! I use ChocZero (keto) chocolate chips and caramel chips. Sooo yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe
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Perfect, love the caramel chips!
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The best gluten free cookie recipe! This was my first time making them and they were a hit. I actually used dairy free butter instead of regular because I’m dairy free and it worked great. This will be my go-to cookie recipe for sure!
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I made these but didn’t have butter so subbed all-natural peanut butter (which makes them healthier) and halved the brown sugar but added a tablespoon of Pure Maple Syrup for healthy sweetness. If you sub all natural peanut butter, flatten the cookies. They turned out tasty and of course the best part is the chocolate chips so I added more than the recipe called for.
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You don’t mention what temp to bake at!!
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I do! It’s step 8 in the recipe card 🙂
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I’m not sure what happened in my case, but the cookies spread too thinly in the oven although I cooled in fridge fro 30. minutes. The flavor of the cookies were great, but they were also very crumbly and fell apart. I followed the recipe exactly, so not sure what went wrong. Happy for any suggestions :).
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Surprised to hear that! I’d make sure you’re measuring everything well, using a large enough egg and maybe try chilling the dough for over an hour. These shouldn’t be crumbly at all!
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Read the update…. don’t use the coconut oil!
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These were delicious. Family loved them!
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I simply love this recipe. These are the best Paleo cookies I’ve made. I used Hu dark chocolate gems and added some chopped pecans. The coconut sugar made them a little dark. I used Ghee for the fat and it worked out fine. Thank you for this lovely recipe.
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Love the addition of pecans!
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Hi! Would I be able to switch out the almond flour for GF flour?
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No, I’d recommend just making my classic GF chocolate chip cookies instead!
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Made one Bach and LOVED and decided to double it using the 2x feature and the salt was SO salty. If you make this, I recommend doing half of the salt.
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This is an EXCELLENT receipt. I followed the directions completely, which is highly unusual for me (lol). I did use EV Coconut Oil instead of butter and didn’t salt the tops except for about 6 since my husband doesn’t like that. I baked the first dozen 15 mins (we live at 7k feet). They were very brown, in a good way, nice and chewy. The 2nd dozen, I backed 14 minutes, they are a bit less brown. My husband loves them! This is a keeper receipt!
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Thank you Melanie!
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Can I use vegan margarine? I cannot eat dairy . Can’t find dairy free butter where I am
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That should work!
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For people that can’t have dairy, country crock has plant butter which is dairy free.
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I am wondering if cocoa butter would work well in place of regular butter. Any thoughts?
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I do not recommend that here! I only suggest butter or refined coconut oil.
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Absolutely delicious! I cut the recipe in half and baked in a small round glass dish. First time was all almond flour and second time I did half almond flour and half AP flour. The second time I forgot to chill the dough. It’s in the oven and even though it might not rise as much, I know it will still taste delicious!
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Love that idea! Thanks Alyssa!
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Just made these today and it was a life-changing recipe – my girlfriend loves almond flour and I could not believe how amazing these cookies were. Sensational is an understatement. I love how they were crispy on the outside but still warm and chewy in the middle (very impressive considering the flatness of the cookie). I added an extra tablespoon of butter and baked for 15 min in my oven. God bless you for sharing this recipe!!
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The extra tablespoon of butter is probably why the flattened more, but so glad you enjoyed these!
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