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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I made these today and I must say, they turned out perfect! They’re very close to an original Toll House cookie. I did one thing extra not mentioned in the directions and that was to sift all of the dry ingredients together. It seems to help when working with any alternative flour. The calling time in fridge is SUPER important and I almost forgot! These will spread badly unless cooled. Thanks from Oregon!
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Thank you so much, Stacey!
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Easy + better than expected! Swapped out butter for coconut oil and brown sugar for coconut sugar. With 2 minutes left on the bake, used a fork to flatten the cookies to half their height.
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Sounds perfect! So glad you enjoyed these.
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OMG, these are delicious. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding chopped walnuts. I scooped the dough first, then chilled for an hour. Mine maintained their shape throughout the baking and I even smashed them a bit after taking them out of the oven.
The outside is delicately crispy and the inside soft and gooey. I made them for someone on a gluten-free diet but they’d be good for anyone.
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Yum, love the addition of walnuts!
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I usually do not leave comments on recipe blogs as a matter of principal because I hate recipe blogs. I just want the recipe! Anyway, I am leaving this comment because they were so good. I had really low hopes because using almond flour (medical need to reduce my carbs) thus far has only produced things that taste horrible. These taste just like the ones I used to make. Oh my gosh, my hubby and I could not tell the difference between these and cookies made with regular flour. Only needed 10 minutes in my oven. Good job making this recipe and thank you!
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Thank you, Rachel! So glad you loved these. And totally get just wanting the recipe- but we need to include all the information in the post so our recipes can actually be discovered by google!
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Wow! I am truly impressed by these cookies! I’m making cookies for a bake sale and wanted to have a GF option for people.( don’t worry credit will be given to you for the recipe) I was honestly a little worried that my cookies would be pancakes from reading some of the comments but they turned out perfectly! I subbed chocolate chips with M&Ms,30mins chilled, 15mins in oven and voila! Now I have to bake another batch because I know they will be loved! Thank you!!
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Thank you for this recipe! We made them for the first time last night and even the not gluten free people in our house are enjoying them! Best gluten free chocolate chip cookies we’ve made yet. One question for you though. Mine keep spreading and not looking as pretty as the ones in your pictures. I followed all your instructions. Any idea why they might be flattening for me?
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I would suggest chilling the dough! If they do spread, just take a round cookie cutter and scoot it around the edges of the cookie right when they come out of the oven to kind of push everything back together. Hope that helps 🙂
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I wanted to make birthday cookies for a friend who eats gluten free, but I have never intentionally made anything gluten free before. My first thought was, these are never going to taste like the “real thing” but I’ll give it a shot. Let me tell you, they are absolutely amazing. I followed the recipe exactly, and I knew they were going to be delicious because I couldn’t stop eating the batter! But let me tell you, soft and gooey with just a little bit of crunch right out of the oven, they are to die for. I may never make regular chocolate chip cookies again!
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So, so happy to hear that! Thanks, Jenny!
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I followed the directions to a T and my cookies came out flat as a pancake. I did use dairy free butter and a flax egg but I did read that others have done the same. Any suggestions? I stuck my dough back in the fridge for the time being. *sigh*
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I would definitely try chilling your dough and try lowering your oven temperature to 325. They definitely shouldn’t be flat, but the dairy free butter and flax egg will change how the ingredients bind together, so you may want to add a touch more cornstarch next time or simply chill the dough for a few hours.
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I don’t usually leave reviews but these are the best chocolate chip cookies I have EVER HAD. I don’t eat eggs so I subbed once w flax egg another time w chia both times were perfect.
This will be my chocolate chip cookie recipe forever. Like blown away. Thank you ❤️🔥-
Just made my day! Thank you so much, Rose!
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These were fantastic, I used Splenda brown sugar blend to cut back the sugar. My husband said they were better than Toll house.
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Such a compliment! Thanks, Debora!
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I love these cookies!! I used coconut sugar and arrowroot cus that’s what I had and they’re so good! Even my 4 year old twins love them! Thank you 🙂
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Love a kid approved recipe! Thanks, Michelle!
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OMG! These cookies are dangerous and too tempting. Wow!!!
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So happy you love them!
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I have been baking these cookies for about 7-8 weeks now. Every weekend. We love them. They are the best almond flour chocolate chip cookies. I need to try some other recipes but these are just so addicting! 🙂
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It’s hard to branch out when you find something you love! So happy ya’ll are enjoying these.
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Where does the sea salt come in? It looks like it’s sprinkled on top as opposed to being mixed in with the dough.
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You mix the salt into the batter with the dry ingredients, the flaky salt on top is totally optional!
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It would be nice to add what temp the oven should be set at.
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It’s written in the instructions, 350 🙂
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