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.
Nicole says
I love this recipe. As written, it produce flat cookies for me. I am in a high altitude location which might be contributing.
Major upgrade – when I substitute 80 g of the almond flour with dutch-processed cocoa powder, the cookies hold their shape perfectly.
Sarah Nevins says
Oooh – love that change! Glad you found a fix that works for high altitude! I’ll have to try it with added cocoa myself!
Tzippi says
I’m always a little skeptical/nervous when I attempt a gluten free recipe but it’s Passover and I wanted cookies. These are AMAZING. If I hadn’t made them myself I wouldn’t believe they were gluten free. I added some peppermint extract because I love peppermint and chocolate. I can’t wait to make these for my neighbor who has celiac. They are soft and chewy with crispy edges just like a chocolate chip cookie should be. I will definitely be making more of these!
Sarah Nevins says
I’m SO happy to hear that you enjoyed them so much! Peppermint sounds like a lovely adaption – will have to try that out soon! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review!
Josephine says
Hello Sarah!
I just made these cookies over the weekend and they were delicious! I did tweak the recipe a bit and used 3/4 cups of organic cane sugar and added in a mix of dark & white chocolate chips with macadamia nuts. Everything turned out perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m definitely going to send it to my family and friends.
Sarah Nevins says
LOVE the sound of adding white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts! So glad you enjoyed them – thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
Erin says
Ok these are so freaking amazing!!!! I had to make them 2 days in a row because we ate the first batch so quickly! I opted for the 10 min cook time to get a chewier cookie. I rolled them in balls like instructions said to do and some of them didn’t flatten out as much. The second time I made them I just plopped the dough instead of rolling into balls and they came our very flat. I also live at 6,000 ft altitude so that might’ve had something to do with it. But either way the taste and texture of these is AMAZING. I had to go gluten free a year ago and most GF baked goods are dry and hard, but not these. Definitely added them my book of favorites!! Thank you!!
Sarah Nevins says
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review – I very much appreciate it!
T says
These were delicious! Instead of white and brown cane sugars I pureed Medjools dates. I used about 1 lb of dates. Removed the pits and put them in a food processor. So good! Yum!
Sarah Nevins says
Ooh that’s really good to know about that dates – love that idea! Thanks so much for coming back to share how it went!
Helen Dorothy says
These cookies did not turn out well. They are flat as pancakes and I had to freeze them to get them off the parchment paper that lined the pan. They taste very greasy. I have no choice but to throw them out I feel bad that I wasted all those wonderful ingredients. But live and learn…as they say.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Helen! Was there any point in the recipe that you could tell you might have done differently? Did you measuring out your ingredients using measuring cups or a kitchen scale? When it comes to things like almond flour and coconut flour I find that using a kitchen scale will give you the best results. Almond flour can vary quite a bit when measured using just cups. By the description of your cookies I would guess that you might have needed more flour here.
Wendy says
I added just a little cane sugar in the coconut sugar amount. Then I added a cup of paleo flour to the almond flour amount, and used Lily’s sugar free chips. These are the best textured and tastiest chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had and I am a choc chip connoisseur! Dee-lish! Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
So glad you enjoyed them! Good to know about the paleo flour – I wish I could get some paleo flour where I live!
Debbie Gertner says
Can these be made low FODMAP?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Debbie! The main problem with these cookies when it comes to FODMAPs is the almond flour. Almond flour under 1/4 cup is considered to be fairly low FODMAP but can cause issues at about 1/2 cup. Since these cookies are made up of almond flour as the base flour they can be problematic for people who need to eat a low FODMAP diet.
If you’d like a grain free chocolate chip cookie recipe – you might like my paleo chocolate chip cookies: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/paleo-chocolate-chip-cookies/ These cookies are made with a blend of tapioca, coconut and almond flour. There’s only 1/2 cup of almond flour in the entire recipe so unless you end up eating half the batch you should be alright. You can use butter in place of coconut oil and brown sugar in place of coconut sugar and they’re not too different from these cookies.
You also might prefer to make regular gluten free chocolate chip cookies like these ones here: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/ Those cookies are low FODMAP as is which should make it a little easier for you.
Hope that helps!
Michelle says
Can I shortening instead of butter?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Michelle! I haven’t tried these with shortening so I can’t say for sure but I do think that that would work. Just keep in mind that shortening has a higher melting point than butter so there’s a good chance that your cookies won’t spread quite as much. Hope that helps!
Becky says
I can’t wait to try these! We have friends coming to visit next week and she can’t eat dairy or gluten. So I’m going to make these for her. Plus, I’d like to cut down on gluten just because the almond flour is a healthier choice. Thanks!
Sarah Nevins says
Hope you guys love them as much as we do!
Brette says
I substituted a chia seed egg in this recipe bc I have an egg allergy and WOW! This is the second recipe of yours I’ve done this with and both have turned out excellent! These are 100% the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made, and they’re gluten/egg free! Yay! They were so chewy and delicious omg I love them 😍
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Brette! That’s really helpful to know as I get a lot of egg free readers! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know how it went!
Sej says
Could you please let me know how much chia seeds did you add as substitute for egg? Thank you
Holly says
I did 1 tablespoon of chia soaked in three tablespoons of water for 15 minutes,