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 free
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!
- 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.
Cori says
Hiya! I’m a fellow Gluten Free American living in the UK. Can’t wait to make these! Can I ask where you source your almond flour and especially chocolate chips here in England? Thanks!
Can’t WAIT to make these!
Cori
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Cori! Hello from Sheffield! I get my almond flour from Costco – they sell a Kirkland brand in a big bag which is the best value I’ve found while living in the UK. If you don’t have a costco membership you might be able to find some on Amazon, but it’s usually more expensive there. Sometimes I’ll buy a small bag of ground almonds from Sainsbury’s if I’m desperate. It’s not as ideal because almond meal/almond flour aren’t exactly the same, but it works in most situations.
As for the chocolate chips – these ones in the pictures here are actually Enjoy Life chocolate chips I bought the last time I was visiting my family in the US. I try to save all my fancy chocolate chips for when I’m taking pictures to share here – US chips just look better! In general though, I usually just use Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian dark chocolate chips.
Hope that helps and I really hope you love these!
Ronda says
I added dried blueberries and walnuts, and OH MY MY! This is definitely my new go to cookie base! Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Oooh that sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed them – thanks Ronda!
Cait says
I loved the taste of these cookies but the texture was challenging. I let them sit overnight on the cooling racks and still when I picked them up they just crumbled. They also flattened super thin after cooling. Any idea how to fix that? Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Cait! How did you measure the almond flour? If you used cups I might recommend packing them a little fuller next time. My best guess is that you might have needed a little more flour in the cookies – that’s usually the case for cookies that spread too much.
I sometimes bake a test cookie if I’m not sure how a cookie will come out. I’ll make my dough and then just bake one cookie on its own. If it’s too flat I take that as a note to add another 1-2 spoonfuls of flour and that usually helps to fix the problem.
Keri says
Hi, these are amazing. Do you know what the net carbs are if you use swerve or keto sugars versus regular?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Keri! So glad you enjoyed them! I’m not sure about the sugar subs but I highly recommend the MyFitnessPal nutritonal calculator as you can enter in the recipe using your specific brands https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Shaifali says
Hi sarah recipe looks superbbss
What can I substitute for eggs
Sarah Nevins says
Hi there! I’m afraid I haven’t tested these with an egg free alternative yet so I can’t say for sure but you might be able to use flax or chia eggs. I usually have a lot of luck using those as egg substitutes and they never spread after baking. Aside from that I imagine using an egg replacer like ener-g would work.
Aindri says
Hi, just wanted to let you know that you haven’t addedeggs on to your ingredient list….it might mislead someone who don’t follow the write up or video☺️
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Aindri! I think you might have missed it, but the egg is listed under the sugar and above the vanilla
Kim Pate says
Thanks so much for this recipe. I substituted coconut sugar and low sugar chocolate chips for my diabetic dad and they turned out great! I even melted the butter and stirred rather than creamed it with the coconut sugar. Still taste good 🙂
Sarah Nevins says
Ooh that’s great to know! Thanks so much for coming back to share – I’m sure that will be helpful to anyone else looking for lower sugar options!
Cassidy says
Hi Sarah!
These cookies are our favorite! I am wanting to make a double layered cookie birthday cake (like a giant cookie sandwich). Do you think this recipe would work for that in a round cake pan? Or would the texture of the cookie bar be better?
Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Cassidy! That sounds amazing! I think you’d be better off using the recipe for the cookie bars instead: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/almond-flour-cookie-bars/
That recipe is very similar with just a few alterations to make them less gooey in the middle after baking. While that gooeyness is great in cookie form, it kind of just falls apart when you want to enjoy it sliced.
Hope that helps!
April says
These cookies are AMAZING! You would never know they are gluten free. 1st time I made them, I ate all of them in 2 days. I made them again last night, and and in part of the batch I used my favorite trail mix instead of chocolate chips and they still turned out perfect!
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! SO happy to hear that you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how it went 🙂
April says
I made these cookies last week and they turned out amazing! I’m going to make them again today, but curious, have ever used trail mix instead of chocolate chips? I’m going to try it. I’m trying to get more in to gluten free baking and finding recipes that I like and taste the exact same is awesome!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi April! I’m so glad you liked them! I haven’t tried it with trail mix but that sounds awesome! I can’t imagine that there would be any problems using that instead of chocolate chips so go for it!
Jennifer says
I am using Truvia and wanted to know the measurements to use. Would I use the same amount stated in the recipe or the equivalent using Truvia?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jennifer! I’m not sure about truvia – I know it’s not an exact substitute for sugar so it’s hard to say. I wish I could be more help here but without having tried it myself I just don’t know