The BEST Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies – soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made undetectably gluten and grain free with almond flour and simple, gluten free ingredients. These cookies are tried, tested and easy to make
I think I say this every time I share new chocolate chip cookie here recipe but really, these almond flour chocolate chip cookies are without a doubt my new favourite. They’re soft, chewy and studded with little morsels of semi-sweet chocolatey goodness made entirely gluten and grain free with the use of almond flour.
Let’s bake!
Ingredient Checklist
- butter: You can sub out the butter for a dairy free/ vegan friendly butter. Coconut oil can also be used but I don’t recommend it for best results. I haven’t tried this myself but I have heard from readers that palm shortening also works as a good butter sub.
- sugars: Use a combination of white and brown sugar. White sugar will help make for cookies that are a bit crisp around the edges while the brown sugar makes for soft and chewy centres. I used light brown sugar, but you can also opt for dark brown sugar. Just keep in mind that dark brown sugar has more molasses meaning the cookies will be sweeter and softer.
- egg: One egg provides moisture and binding in these cookies. If you’re in need of an egg-free option I have heard from readers that using 1 flax egg or chia egg also works well!
- vanilla extract & salt: What’s a chocolate chip cookie without a little vanilla? Both vanilla and salt work as out flavour enhancers in this recipe.
- almond flour: Fine almond flour makes for the most undetectably grain-free cookies, but almond meal works just as well! I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure out the flour for the most accurate weight and best results.
- chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips are the usual cookie go-to but dark chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips are also good options. Use whatever you like!
How to Make: Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Altogether this recipe requires only 8 ingredients to make and can be completed in easily under an hour. The steps are simple and similar to most regular cookies.
To begin, simply beat together your butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl until you have a light and fluffy mixture using an electric or stand mixer. Continue by adding in the egg and vanilla and beat once more to fully mix it all together.
In a separate, medium bowl whisk together your dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to evenly distribute the baking soda and salt throughout the flour and remove any stubborn lumps. Once mixed, add the flour mixture in with in with the butter mixture and mix once again to combine until a soft dough forms.
At this point all that’s left to do is stir in your chocolate chips, roll and bake. Use a tablespoon to scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into little cookie dough balls. Place the dough on a greased or lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. The cookies will spread slightly as they bake so it’s important to leave a little room in between.
When you’re ready to go simply pop the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-11 minutes and that’s it! I prefer taking my cookies out at the 10 minute mark for more chewy centres. They do look slightly under baked at this point but continue cooking as they cool on the cookie sheet. If you’d prefer more crispy edges leave them in the full 11 minutes.
Once done, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling and that’s it!
In Summary
- In a large bowl: Beat together butter and sugars.
- Add the egg and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl: combine almond flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix into a thick, soft dough.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheet.
- Bake and enjoy!
Final Tips, Substitutions and other Questions:
Storage Tips
These cookies keep better than most chocolate chip cookie recipes. They stay soft and chewy for at least a week. The only real thing to keep in mind when it comes to storage is to make sure the cookies have completely cooled before you pack them away in an airtight container or cookie jar.
You can keep these stored at room temperature or packed away in the fridge. I even like keeping some cookies in the freezer to satisfy sweet cravings in the warmer summer months.
Freeze for Later
Yes! Both the dough and the baked cookies can be frozen.
- To freeze the dough: roll cookie dough into balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Once the balls have chilled and hardened place in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready for cookies simply bake from frozen – just add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time. You may also want to write down the date frozen as well as the bake temperature and time.
- To freeze baked cookies: Once fully cooled place the cookies on a baking sheet you can fit in the freezer. Place in the freezer until solid and then transfer the cookies to a bag or Tupperware container – place a small sheet of baking parchment in between each cookie to prevent cookies from freezing together. Cookies will keep at least 3 months in the freezer. You can enjoy frozen cookies straight out of the freezer or allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
What’s The Difference Between Almond Flour And Almond Meal?
Though almond flour and almond meal are made from essentially the same thing (ground almonds) there are a couple of key differenced between the two.
- Almond flour is typically made with blanched (skinless) almonds into a more fine flour.
- Almond meal is usually made with un blanched (skin on) almond into a more coarse flour.
Can I use almond meal instead of almond flour?
Yes! In many cases you cannot swap out almond meal/almond flour interchangeably but with these cookies you can.
Can I use another type of flour?
No. I tested this recipe multiple times using almond flour/meal. I can’t guarantee the same results if you use any other types of flours.
If you’re interested in making cookies with different types of flours there are plenty of other recipes on this site you might prefer instead.
- Sunflower Seed Chocolate Chip Cookies (nut free, paleo, low fodmap and vegan)
- Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (grain free/nut free)
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (used coconut, almond and tapioca flour)
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oat Cookies (vegan option and low FODMAP )
- Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (flourless, paleo)
Can I use coconut sugar?
Yes! If you wanted to make these with all coconut sugar your cookies will be more crispy and less chewy but it will still work. I prefer using a blend of brown and white sugar for the soft and chewy texture but you can swap those out and sub coconut sugar if you’d prefer!
Can I make these with coconut oil?
Yes, but it’s not recommend for best results. I’ve found that the times I’ve made these cookies or other almond flour cookies using coconut oil (like these almond flour snickerdoodles), the cookies come out less soft and chewy and are more likely to spread and make for overly flat cookies. You can combat the spread by chilling the dough for about 20 minutes before baking, but then if the dough has been chilled too long, they don’t spread at all and can come out a little dense.
If you want to make them dairy free I recommend a good vegan butter substitute like Earth Balance Butter Spread.
The end result? The BEST almond flour cookie made entirely gluten and grain free! Make sure to check out the recipe notes on how to adapt this recipe to be dairy free, egg free and low carb friendly!
I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we have these past few weeks! If you have any more questions just let me know in the comments below!
More Almond Cookies and Baked Goods You Might Enjoy:
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies with Almond Flour
- Chocolate Chip Almond Zucchini Cookies
- Almond Flour Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
- Golden Almond Cookies
- Almond Flour Cookie Bars
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies - soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made undetectably gluten and grain freeÂ
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup | 150 g butter, salted or unsalted, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup | 165 g brown sugar
- 1/4 cup | 50 g white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons | 10 ml vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups | 265 g almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup |1 25 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C. Line a couple of large cookie sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl with an electric or stand mixer. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In another small bowl whisk together the almond flour, baking soda and salt until combine. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix in on a low speed until a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon or rubber spatula.
- Scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart leaving room for spreading.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes until the edges have goldened slightly. At the 10 minute mark the cookies will still look a little under baked but will continue bake as they cool on the cookie sheet. If you prefer chewier cookies 10 minutes should be enough. If you want crispier edges bake 11 minutes
- Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray before carefully moving them to a wire cooling rack. The cookies will come out of the oven puffed up but deflate as the cool. Fresh out of the oven they will be fragile, but as they cool they will be easy to handle.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- To freeze the dough: roll cookie dough into balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Once the balls have chilled and hardened place in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you're ready for cookies simply bake from frozen - just add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time. You may also want to write down the date frozen as well as the bake temperature and time.
- To freeze baked cookies: Once fully cooled place the cookies on a baking sheet you can fit in the freezer. Place in the freezer until solid and then transfer the cookies to a bag or Tupperware container - place a small sheet of baking parchment in between each cookie to prevent cookies from freezing together. Cookies will keep up to 3 months in the freezer. You can enjoy frozen cookies straight out of the freezer or allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
- If you wanted to make these with all coconut sugar your cookies will be more crispy and less chewy but it will still work. I prefer using a blend of brown and white sugar for the soft/chewy texture but you can swap those out of you'd prefer!Â
- You can use almond meal instead of almond flour
- You can use a granulated sugar substitute like monk fruit sugar or erythritol (I've used swerve & monk fruit) in place of the white and brown sugar here for a low carb twist. The cookies won't spread as much though so make sure you flatten them out before baking.
- I have heard positive feedback from readers saying that flax and chia eggs work well in place of the egg.
Darlene says
These were the best almond flour chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I had almond meal so used that. I also did measure the flour with a scale as suggested. I rolled what we didn’t eat into balls and froze and they seem to come out even better than than when I baked them right away. I like a soft chewy cookie so these are amazing! My boyfriend even liked them! Thanks so much!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Darlene! I’m really glad to hear you guys enjoyed them so much! Thank you for taking the time to come back letting me know how it went 🙂
daisy says
I made these (with some alterations), and they are scrumptious! The best gf cookie I think I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing. Blessings…daisy
Sarah Nevins says
Thank you so much, Daisy <3 I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed them and blessings to you as well 🙂
Laura says
I must have done something wrong. I checked the ingrediants and there is nothing there to add any moisture, so it never forms into a dough. I rolled it into balls but they came out looking just like they went in, and were very crumbly. I took pictures but there is no way to post them here.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Laura! That’s very strange! The ingredients include eggs and butter which provide moisture and binding – did you add those to the cookies as well? It sounds like you might have seen an abridged version of the ingredient list or something
Deanna says
These are my favorite cookies of all time! I use 1/3 c Crisco and 1/3 c butter. I also use stevia instead of the white sugar and only bake 8 minutes. HEAVEN!
Sarah Nevins says
Thank you so much, Deanna! That truly makes my day 🙂 Thank you also for sharing your butter + crisco + stevia tips – that’s super helpful to know!
Tonielle Sparkes says
Have made these sooo many times they are the best. Make them you won’t regret it
Sarah Nevins says
So thrilled to hear you enjoyed these – thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
Alissa says
I’ve probably made this recipe at least 20 times over the past couple of years, these cookies are perfect! Follow the directions as written, don’t adjust the sugars or you will lose the texture. Thanks for sharing this!
Sarah Nevins says
Thank you so much for your review, Alissa! I’m so happy to hear how much you’ve enjoyed the cookies!
Sheila says
These are Amazing!!! I can’t wait to try some other recipes!!!
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks so much, Sheila! So happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies 🙂
Sam says
these cookies are not sticking together and after baking, are very crumbly…
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Sam! How long do you wait before trying to pick up the cookies. Fresh out of the oven they are quite fragile, but as they cool down they form up and become much easier to handle.
Kristina Henry says
Hi! I love these cookies and have been making them for years!!! But I do have a question….. my cookies tend to flatten out to very thin cookies, they taste amazing but they don’t come out the way yours look in the picture. I am using the same ingredients…. Should I try to add a bit more baking soda?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Kristina! I’m so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed these cookies so much!
Almond flour can be tricky sometimes because of its high fat content which usually translates to more moisture. A few things you could try if your cookies consistently turn out too thin:
1. Reduce the amount of butter from 2/3 cup to 1/2 cup (this is roughly 2 and a bit tablespoons less).
2. Increase the amount of almond flour by 1/4 cup.
3. If you don’t mind including other flours – add 1 tablespoon coconut flour or 2 tablespoons tapioca, arrowroot or cornstarch.
4. You could add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Baking powder puffs and baking soda spreads so in this case, more baking soda wouldn’t help.
I hope this helps!
Gloria says
While I am no great chef, I have made a lot of cookies and at one time I found a note to a comment on a cookie recipe that has made all the difference to my flat cookies. It said to not overstir once the egg is added. Just fold in the flour till blended. So now I remove the bowl from the mixer and hand stir in the flour mixture and my cookies seldom go flat.
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks, Gloria! That’s really helpful to know!
Diane says
Did not hold together very crumbly
Waste of my time
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Diane! Sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you!