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.
Melanie says
If You wish to make the recipe vegan, you can also use the same amount (grams) of butter of ripe avocados instead… it’s super good and the cookies tend to spread less (flatten less).
Sarah Nevins says
Oooh -love that idea! I’m going to need to try that! Thanks Melanie!
LaTonya says
I used Stevia and substituted the butter with Ghee. I doubled all the ingredients except for the almond butter because I added 2 cups of oats. So I made Oatmeal chocolate chip with walnuts. They were amazing
Sarah Nevins says
Love it! Thanks for sharing what you did – it’s always super helpful to know what does/doesn’t work!
Kris says
Thanks for the recipe – Can’t stop making them. These taste way better than traditional chocolate chip cookies, and are easier to make. They bake evenly if made smaller.
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear – thanks Kris!
Ali says
Hi can I use baking powder instead of baking soda? If yes, how much?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Ali! As a rule of thumb, when replacing baking soda with baking powder you usually need to triple the amount of baking powder to get the same effect. I don’t want to suggest that here though because you’ll likely end up with a metallic after taste to the cookies with all that extra baking powder. If you can’t use baking soda here just replace it with an equal amount of baking powder. You might not get the same exact lift but I don’t think it will make too much difference over all. Hope that helps!
Morgan says
I’ve done it bc we were out of baking soda, no aftertaste and they were delicious 🙂
Sarah Nevins says
Excellent!
Melanie says
I baked these wonderful cookies but took out 1/3 of the butter and replaced with almond butter. And they were Absolutely delicious!!
Thank you
Sarah Nevins says
Ooh! I really like that idea – even more almond! Thanks Melanie!
Deborah Siman-tov says
Hi
I just made your almond flour chocolate chip cookies today.
They are delicious!!!
I substituted canola oil for the butter and they came out delicious!!!
Thanks!
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Deborah! That’s really helpful to know about the canola oil for anyone with dairy intolerances!
Angela says
Thank you – this made a great skillet cookie. Added pecans with the chocholate chips…
Sarah Nevins says
Ooh I love that idea! Glad you liked it – thanks Angela!
Danielle Gallo says
Hi Sarah, I’m new to your Saucy Kitchen site. But I loooove these cookies. I made them with cocunut sugar as one of the substitutes and they came out delicious. How would I measure a half batch? I’m low on ingredients. I know I should have the answer to this question but I’m having a block.🙊
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Danielle! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
In order to make a half batch you’d need:
1/3 cup butter, salted or unsalted, softened to room temperature
6 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons of a whisked egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 6 tablespoons almond flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chocolate chips
Robin says
So, I kinda took away some of the healthy of these cookies and added chopped candied bacon and some chopped pecans. I also added about / tbsp of almond butter and used half butter and half coconut oil. They were incredible. My grandsons and their 2 friends ate the entire plate in one day. Next time I’m going to use M&M’s.
Sarah Nevins says
That sound amazing! So glad you guys enjoyed these! I love that you’re free styling with the recipe!
Tara says
My boyfriend only eats chocolate chip cookies so I found this so I could actually enjoy some too. I made them for his birthday today and he loved them. Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Aww! Happy birthday to your boyfriend! So happy you’ve found something you can both enjoy!
E says
Yummm! I used almond meal mixed with hazelnut meal. Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Ooh that sounds lovely! Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Kierstan says
I just made these, and followed the recipe verbatim, and they never spread out, they stayed in ball form! What in the heck could I have done?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Kierstan! If you followed the directions exactly without making any substitutions the only thing I think it might be is maybe you add a little bit too much almond flour. If you measured using measuring cups instead of weigh everything out with a scale it’s possible you might have packed in the almond flour a little too tightly which could have been enough to keep these cookies from spreading
Kierstan says
Okay that makes sense since I don’t have a scale! I’ll try it again weighing it, thank you!!
Stacey says
How do I store these cookies? Do I have to freeze them or can I just put it in a Tupperware and keep in the fridge?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Stacey! You can absolutely just keep them in a Tupperware in the fridge. Room temperature also works!