Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
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, small batch chocolate chip cookies or chocolate chip snickerdoodles next!
How to make gluten free chocolate chip cookies
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. Try my gluten free blondies next!
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.
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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 teaspoon 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 teaspoon 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! This one is my personal favorite!
How to store and freeze
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.
To freeze, 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 from frozen, 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 can, however, use dairy free butter and chocolate chips for a dairy free option! I like Earth Balance butter sticks.
You’ll also love…
- Almond Flour Blondies
- Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chewy Snickerdoodles
- Single Serve Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 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 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry:
- 1 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 Baking Flour Blue Bag
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon 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.
Notes
Comments
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Very good! My husband loves them. I substituted white chips (my husbands preference) for the chocolate and added 1/4 cup chopped pecan. I did not have dark brown sugar so I added 1/4 teaspoon molasses. Worked out very well.
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Love those changes! Thank you, Sherri!
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This is the BEST gf cookie recipe! I have already made them about 5 times and about to make them again. SO GOOD
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Thank you, Brittany! I’m so glad you love them 🙂
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It was impossible to make your recipe. I had no idea if I had enough chocolate on hand and trying to find it in you lengthy dissertation — just haven’t got the time!
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There is a “jump to recipe” button at the top of every recipe. You can avoid the lengthy dissertation.
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Haven’t made them yet, but from the comments and ratings, I will try them.
My close friend at work has Celiac, and I’m always on the lookout for something to make for her around the holidays.Thank you for the recipe!
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Let me know how it turns out.
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These are the best GF chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! Chilling the cookies before baking them makes a big difference.
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Thank you!! Agreed – makes the flavor and texture so much better.
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This was such a great result! My kid is gluten, canola, fructose/dextrose intolerant and sweets are a real issue. And if you have ever made Gluten-free baked goods, they can be…different. I loved that this recipe was simple and baked well. Nice crisp edges and an authentic chocolate chip cookie taste and texture.
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So happy you found something that works for you! Thank you!
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What do you mean with Once cool, transfer to a wire rack and then an air tight container for 3-5 days?
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It means let the cookies cool, then place on a wire rack to finish cooling, then store for 3-5 days in a container.
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Hi! These have been my favorite cookies the past year but I am Making them for someone who isn’t gluten free. Do I substitute it on a 1:1 ratio with just regular all purpose flour?
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That should be fine!
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These are amazing. I use half milk chocolate chips and half caramel chips. There are always some in the freezer ready to go! My no -gf family beg for them.
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Oh love that idea! Thanks, Tami!
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Omg these are the best cookies I have ever made. They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
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Thank you! So glad you love them!
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First time baking anything gluten free and these turned out perfect! So excited. Thanks for sharing!
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So glad your first experience was a success!
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Great recipe! First time making GF cookies, and they came out tasting just like how my normal chocolate chip cookies taste like! Texture was perfect too.
I used a little less sugar than stated, and I only used light brown sugar (didn’t have dark). My egg also wasn’t room temp- didn’t make a difference that I noticed. Also, it was a duck egg (I can’t eat chicken eggs rn).
I had them in the fridge overnight. Let them sit out while the oven preheated. Baked 6 at a time for 12 minutes. I hate hard, crunchy cookies and this time/temp made perfectly ooey gooey cookies! YUM!
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Sounds perfect! Thanks, Hannah!
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I made a double batch of these with my daughter. We followed the recipe exactly except that we put the dough in the fridge overnight instead of just the 2 hours required, and then we baked on Convect Bake at 325 for 10 minutes. These were the best chocolate chip cookies any of us had ever tried and my husband who doesn’t even eat gluten free said these were some of his favorite chocolate chip cookies as well. Thank you so much for creating and sharing this recipe!!
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Thank you, Jen!
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Shouldn’t have to say this, but obviously the 2 hours cooling in the fridge should be included in the “prep” time. Like duh. These are not 30 minute prep cookies. Otherwise really tasty recipe, but so many food bloggers are intentionally misleading like this so they can get more engagement with their posts and it’s so annoying. Please stop.
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“Prep” time is how much time it takes to prepare the recipe. The recipe also states 2 hours of chill time, with the total time being accurate so it is not misleading to readers.
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Cooling is a passive step. You could leave the house, take a nap, bake something else, etc while they’re cooling. You’re not actively preparing anything, so why would it be included?
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Maybe don’t be so rude?
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These are the best gluten free chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. They were so puffy and I didn’t even refrigerate. In fact I needed flat cookies for an ice box recipe I was making so that’s why I didn’t refrigerate and they were still puffy and tasted delicious!!!! I will definitely be trying some of your other recipes!!
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Amazing, so glad that worked out! Thanks, Connie!
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