Chewy, chocolatey, sweet, easy to make, buttery but completely gluten free chocolate chip cookies! This is the perfect recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth and I promise you’d never know they’re gluten free!
When I first started this blog, I was all about making healthier recipes of timeless classics.
We have my paleo brownies and healthier chocolate chip cookies, but sometimes you just need a very classic (gluten free) chocolate chip cookie recipe filled with butter, refined sugar and all that good stuff.
Everyone needs a tried and tested chocolate chip cookie in their repertoire, and this is mine! It just happens to be both dairy free and gluten free. But trust me, if you did a blind taste test, you would NEVER know the difference. Kind of like my M&M cookies!
They’re buttery, sweet, chewy and everything a cookie should be. Plus, they’re totally freezer friendly, nut free and require BASIC pantry staple ingredients. Try my white chocolate macadamia cookies next!
Instructions
First, add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Unless it was already at room temperature, add it to the microwave for about 20 seconds. You want it to be soft, but not melted.
If you press your finger on the top slightly, it should leave an indent, but not completely fall apart. If your butter had previously been in the fridge, about 20 seconds in the microwave should soften it to this point.
Once the butter is softened, add both the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl with the butter and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and creamy.
Beat in the egg and the vanilla. At this point, beat just until everything is well incorporated, you don’t want to force too much air into the batter. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours. I know chilling cookie dough is annoying, but I promise it will be well worth it!
When there is about 20 minutes left of chilling, preheat the oven to 350. Bake for 10-14 minutes. If you want them to stay chewy, take them out of the oven when they still look a little raw in the middle (for my oven it’s 12 minutes, but all ovens are different).
As soon as the cookies come out, I like to sprinkle on some finely chopped chocolate from a chocolate bar, but you can also just sprinkle on the chocolate chips. They’ll melt quickly if the cookies are still hot (which is good)!
Be sure to only place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time, and leave enough space between each cookie for them to spread. The cookies will continue to harden as they cool.
Once cool, transfer to a wire rack and then an air tight container for 5 days.
Oil vs. Butter for cookies
For this recipe, I don’t recommend using oil. Butter generally works best for cookies, especially chocolate chip. Not only will you miss out on all of the delicious buttery flavor (even with dairy free butter), but it will change the way the cookies bake.
If you must use oil instead of butter, I suggest refined coconut oil which has the most similar flavor and baking characteristics as butter.
Why do they spread so much?
Several things can cause cookies to spread too much while baking, making them flat and probably crispier than you would like.
The first is that there is too much baking soda in the recipe. Baking soda causes things to spread, whereas baking powder causes things to rise.
This recipe uses only 1/2 tsp baking soda to prevent the cookings from spreading too much. They will be thin, but still very chewy. If you prefer thicker cookies, use 1/4 tsp baking soda instead of 1/2.
The second issue is that the dough was too wet or hadn’t been chilled before baking. You MUST chill the dough before baking! At least two hours is ideal for both flavor and texture.
A final issue is the thickness of your baking sheet. A thicker baking sheet is going to heat the cookies differently than a thinner one. I suggest one somewhere in the middle, but make sure it is not too thin unless you want thin cookies!
Frequently asked questions
Do they keep? Once prepared, these gluten free chocolate chip cookies will store in an air tight container for about 5 days. Allow them to cool completely and then put a lit on a container so they don’t dry out prematurely.
If you want them to taste like they’re fresh from the oven, pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds and they’ll be good as new.
Can you freeze the dough? Yes! You’ll still want to chill the dough for the 2 hours in the fridge, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and store for up to 2 months. To bake, decrease the oven temperature to 325 and bake for a few extra minutes to account for the frozen dough.
Can I make them vegan? You can likely sub the egg for apple sauce or a flax egg, but for best results, I suggest following the recipe as written. I have tons of vegan and gluten free cookie recipes on the blog, including these classic chocolate chip!
You’ll also love…
- Almond Flour Blondies
- Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chewy Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Gluten Free Cookie Roundup
Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below so I can see your creation!
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet:
- ½ cup butter regular or dairy free
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Dry:
- 1 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 Baking Flour Blue Bag
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Unless it was already at room temperature, add it to the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. You want it to be soft, but not melted. If you press your finger on the top slightly, it should leave an indent, but not completely fall apart.
- Once the butter is softened, add all sugars to the bowl with the butter and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, creamy and well combined.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients. Be sure to spoon and level the flour to measure, do not scoop from the bag.
- Beat together until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop using 2 tbsp of dough (I used the medium cookie scoop) and form into balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge to set for 2 hours. (don't skip this!) When you have about 15 minutes left, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes, depending on preferred texture. For gooey cookies, take them out when the centers still look slightly undercooked. Be sure to only place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time, with only 5-6 cookies on each sheet as these will spread.
- When they come out of the oven, take a round cookie cutter and shuffle it around each cookie to encourage a perfect circle shape. Sprinkle on a few extra chocolate chips when they're still hot.
- Once cool, transfer to a wire rack and then an air tight container for 3-5 days.
Reem says
Hello!
Can I sub butter for refined coconut oil?
Thank you 🙂
Claire Cary says
Yes, that should be fine!
Hp says
I just made these for a party and they were a hit! So delicious
Christina says
Made exactly as written. Delish.. ate as dessert 10 mins ooooooeeeeyyyy goooeeey goodness from oven. Yummy. Thanks. Kids loved. I loved. Making tomorrow for dessert at friends place tomorrow. Thanks.
Anindia (Queen of Sofa) says
I made this on last weekend
I changed granulated sugar with coconut sugar so the color turned a little bit dark brown and my husband suggested to reduce the amount of sugar so I skipped dark brown sugar, only using 1/3 cup + 1 tbs of coconut sugar and 1/3 cup of light brown sugar (my husband still taste too sweet for him but in my opinion, it just perfect sweet for me)
I baked 2 batches, the first batch at 12 minutes created a crumble, soft and too delicate final result cookies so I baked the 2nd batch at 14 minutes. The result of 2nd batch is firm, crispy on the edges but still soft on the center.
Keeping the batter in the fridge for 2 hours just perfect, the cookies not spread too wide so the result of my cookies a little bit thicker than yours but still soo delicious.
My children also loves it, thanks for the recipe
Casey says
Hi! I love that these are dairy free but I don’t need gluten free/don’t have gluten free flour. Can I substitute regular all purpose flour for the gluten free flour 1:1 ? Or is there a better conversion?
Claire Cary says
you should be able to just sub for regular AP flour 1:1!
Julie Fishman says
I made this recipe once a few months back and it was perfect. They were thin and chewy and looked just like your picture. I just made another batch today, and the cookies did not spread out as much in the oven and didn’t have the thin chewy consistently like the first time. I did everything the same as far as I can tell. Any idea why this may have happened?
Claire Cary says
The recipe hasn’t changed at all, so it’s most likely due to the way you measured the flour. You may have accidentally had more flour in the second batch. Make sure you spoon and level, and you can chill the dough for less time if you like them thinner.
Kazim says
I love this recipe! It’s so easy & delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Claire Cary says
Aww thank you for your comment! So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Arianne says
These cookies look good, but I don’t use refined sugar. I’m wondering if I can just use coconut sugar for both of the sugars needed?
Claire Cary says
I would recommend these cookies instead which are paleo and refined sugar free!
Jay says
My mistake. I guess I was going under the old idea that eggs were considered dairy.
Jay says
I’m confused 😬 This recipe is dairy free but has eggs? Will it work with an egg replacer?
Claire Cary says
Eggs are actually not dairy. Dairy comes from the milk of mammals and eggs do not 🙂
Maureen Staley says
To the person who asked about eggs: they are not dairy. They come from a chicken. Dairy comes from cows!
Derek says
Hello, Can we use King Arthur 1 to 1 flour? It has xanthum gum in the flour. Thanks!
Claire Cary says
Yes, that should work!