Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
This gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe is naturally sweetened! These cookies are easy to make with almond meal and coconut flour.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on November 17, 2024
These cookies have a lot going for them. For starters, they are absolutely delicious and everything a chocolate chip cookie should be: chewy around the edges, soft in the middle, and full of rich chocolate and caramel-like flavors.
They’re also gluten-free, thanks to a simple combination of almond flour and coconut flour. They’re naturally sweetened with maple syrup, which lends a brown sugar-like sweetness.
These cookies are about as “healthy” as cookies can be. They’re also easy to make—no mixer required. This is a perfect baking project to make with small children. My three-year-old daughter loved helping with this one.
My friend Tessa introduced me to these cookies years ago and they’re still a favorite. I took one bite and knew I had to share the recipe with you all—mostly because they are so very tasty, but also because I know that many of you are on the hunt for gluten-free and naturally sweetened recipes. I don’t try to avoid gluten myself, but my friend Tessa has cured herself of debilitating migraines by following a gluten-free, low-sugar diet. I’m so glad she’s found what works for her.
I’ve made three batches of these cookies since that night and have some baking notes to share. Fine almond flour yields prettier cookies, but almond meal works, too.
I found Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour in the baking section at the local health food store. Coconut flour is essential to this recipe because its high fiber content soaks up the extra moisture from the liquid sweetener, ensuring that the cookies don’t spread out too much on the pan (more on that later).
The cookies taste fantastic with maple syrup, which tastes like brown sugar and yields a more traditionally flavored cookie. I also tried using coconut oil instead of butter, which, as you might expect, produced a cookie with a more pronounced coconut flavor. I’m partial to the butter version. The coconut oil cookies were thinner and seemed ever-so-slightly brittle the next day.
Lastly, use chocolate chips for more traditional chocolate chip cookies or chop a bar of chocolate for more evenly dispersed chocolate. Either way, make sure it’s good quality.
Important Tip Before You Get Started
The success of this recipe depends on your measurements. The almond flour and coconut flour must be very firmly packed into the cups. If you measure them like regular flour, the recipe won’t contain enough of these flours, so it will not turn out well.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
This gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe is naturally sweetened and made with almond meal and coconut flour. These cookies remind me of classic Tollhouse cookies, but much healthier and easier to make—only one bowl required! Recipe yields 24 small cookies.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup firmly packed almond flour or almond meal (about 100 grams)
- ¼ cup firmly packed coconut flour (about 43 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
- ½ cup unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup real maple syrup (preferably grade B) or honey
- 1 large egg*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- Optional: Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if using) until evenly combined. In a separate, smaller bowl, combine the melted butter, maple syrup, egg and vanilla extract, and whisk until blended. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Let the dough rest for 5 minutes in the refrigerator so the coconut flour can absorb some of the excess moisture (or let the dough chill in the fridge for 10+ minutes if you want fat cookies, like those shown here). Scoop dough, one tablespoon at a time, in mounds onto the baking sheet, leaving a couple inches around each cookie.
- Bake for about 11 to 13 minutes, until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then slide the parchment paper onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. The cookies will be fragile when they are warm but will firm up as they cool. Sprinkle lightly with flaky salt while they cool, if desired.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Gluten Free Fix.
Make it dairy free: Use coconut oil instead of butter.
*2024 recipe edits: This recipe originally did not call for an egg, but the cookies were quite fragile, especially after storage. Adding an egg helps a lot. I also added a cooking time range for better browning.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
These look really good Kate! How do they hold up the next day and did you have to store in the fridge or freezer?
I have been experimenting a lot with coconut flour lately and have been having mixed results with texture and storage.
Ugghh, it’s always my able to call you Kate but for the record, I know it’s Kathryn ;)
Good questions, Alyssa (and please feel free to call me by either name!). These cookis have held up great covered at room temperature. I haven’t noticed a change in texture, even a few days later.
Good to know!! I’ll have to try a batch :)
These are gorgeous, lady! Happy you and Cookie are safe and cozy – what a scare!
Oh, and cookies spread the least when chilled just before baking ;)
Thanks, Ashlae! The funny thing about these cookies is that I chilled both the second and third batch for ten minutes before baking, but the second batch spread out whereas the third did not. Maybe the third batch was extra chilled because I mixed it in my cold sunroom?
Hmm, did you let the dough from the third batch rest longer? I feel like my cookies spread less when the dough is well rested and thoroughly chilled. I’m going to try them when I get out of class tonight and I’ll let ya know!
Well, if I did, I didn’t mean to! Let me know if you get a chance to try them. I’d love to hear what you think of them.
My almond-flour cookies never spread during baking either, though if eggs are included, they plump pleasantly.
I am drooling over these sweet babies! I love that different flours are used, I always like seeing how different baking ingredients turn out
These look great! I just made almond milk and was looking for ideas on what to do with the left over almond meal. I can’t wait to make this with my son tomorrow…since we will probably be snowed in :)
SO happy about this recipe. I have been looking for an almond flour chocolate chip cookie. These look fantastic. And I love that they are sweetened with maple syrup. Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome, Natasha! Hope you love the cookies.
Oh yum! Will have to give these a try for my GF buddies : )
These look so tasty! I like the idea of the almond/coconut/chocolate flavors coming together. Grade B maple syrup is where it’s at :)
Wow these look dangerously good! I made a similar cookie (no almond) last weekend and thankfully took them to a potluck so I didn’t eat them all. I chopped up the coconut caramel dark chocolate bar from Trader Joes. I highly recommend trying that for your next batch of these. A little less healthy but SO good. I’m off to find some coconut flour..
I cannot wait to make these for two reasons. One, I am in the middle of trying to figure out what my three year old is allergic thus eliminating gluten. Two, I have had too many epic failures with coconut flour but your recipes are ALWAYS spot on and therefore I will try again. To top it off, the fact that I can eat the dough (no eggs) makes me giddy with excitement!
Thank you, Ashleigh! I hope these cookies meet your expectations—I think they will!
Welp. Guess I’ll be eating a pan of cookies for breakfast tomorrow. These just shot to the top of my list, Kathryne. So great!
Thanks, Laura! Do let me know if you try them. I just polished off the last batch (three in one sitting, oops) so I’m due to make another.
Scrumptious cookies! I love that chopping the chocolate guarantees chocolate in every bite!
These look delicious! I just started experimenting with almond meal. This past weekend I made something very similar but it also included unsweetened coconut. They were yummy but have gotten much harder in the few days since I made them. :(
I’m looking forward to trying these.
Hope you’ll give these cookies a try, Chris. I’ve kept them on a plate under saran wrap for several days without any obvious change in texture. I think you’ll like them!
These chocolate chip cookies sound yummy; definitely will give this recipe a try!
I read about the gas explosion…whew! So glad your building wasn’t involved; and, my thoughts are with those who were in the restaurant that was.
Thank you, Pam. The fire was a real tragedy, I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.
That fire was crazy!!! Luckily it didn’t spread to your building. After two batches of that amazing banana bread, which I think I am going to blog about if you don’t mind, I cannot wait to try these!!!
That fire could have been much worse. So tragic, though. If you post about the bread, that’d be awesome, but if you’re baking it without significant adaption, I’d prefer for the recipe to stay on my site. I’m sorry to be a stickler! Really glad you enjoy it so much.
These look fantastic! I love healthier treats like this. I make a similar version, but I use peanut butter/almond butter as the fat source and oat flour/oats instead of coconut flour. You should try a PB version, they’re very good. I’ll have to try this recipe for sure though.
Your cookies sound so good, Taylor. I’ve been wanting to try making flourless peanut butter cookies! I think they only call for five ingredients.
Wow, you are one dedicated tester Kathryne! Gluten free isn’t a must for me, but naturally sweetened/low sugar definitely is. I’ll definitely be making this one! :)
These look fantastic, Kate. I am definitely a chopped chocolate girl, and they result in such beautiful cookies in this version. Can’t wait to try these – I always panic when baking for gluten-free friends. Glad to put these on the list!
Thanks, Jess! These cookies are GF but they sure don’t taste like it. Hope you and your friends enjoy them as much as my friends and I have!
Deliciousness!! And you know what? I am yet to bake choc chip cookies for my blog! Wowser :)
Mac and cheese coma…oh yes, I was there and did that last week!
Usually I’m turned off by gluten-free cookies because they have so many weird ingredients but I actually have everything here on hand! WIN.
I couldn’t keep my eyes open after that mac and cheese! Hope you try these cookies… they’re my favorite chocolate chip cookies, period.
what is coconut flour and almond flour? Are they the same as just the ground nuts?
Great question, Marcia. Yes, the flours are just finely ground coconut and almond.
These look so delicious! I have a freiend that has to eat gluten free and I think she would love these.
These sound delicious! But my trip to the store today made me realize that if I ever have to go gluten-free, I’ll probably starve to death because everything on my shopping list to make these was sooooo expensive. Maybe some day I’ll get to try these..
I’m sorry, Katie. Honey would be less expensive than syrup, and I buy my almond meal and chocolate at Trader Joe’s at a reasonable price, if that helps anything. The coconut flour was around $7 but it’ll make more than a few batches of these cookies.
Gluten free chocolate chip cookies + Magic Mike = heaven
Gluten free and naturally sweetened, these are right up my alley!
Okay. I adore the ice cream scoop shape of these!!! Not to mention they are gluten-free and full of every baking ingredient I love. WIN. :)
Thanks, Ashley! Hope you’ll try the cookies soon.
These look awesome! I work with several vegans and these look like the perfect office treat. Thanks for posting!
Hey Kathryne! These look amazing. What do you think about using oat flour in place of almond flour/meal? My boyfriend is allergic to nuts. Of course, I could just make them with almond meal and not share with him! ;)
Hey Janet! So nice to hear from you. I haven’t tried with oat flour, but I asked about it on twitter and some people suggested that you would probably need to adjust the amount of sweetener to compensate for the difference (oat flour is more absorbent than almond flour, so it might need more liquid). I just finished off the last of this batch today and I think I’ll need to make more before I start experiencing withdrawals… I’ll try with oat flour and let you know how they turn out. Oh and I wouldn’t blame you if you kept them all to yourself (they’re that good), and please send my love to K!
Thanks so much Kathryne! I can’t wait to try them. Maybe I’ll make a “ladies batch” to share with K and the gals. ;)
I feel like GF has come a long way. My wife made awesome GF slider buns last night, and they were delicious!!
I agree, Yosef. I bet those slider buns were great. These cookies are my new favorite chocolate chip cookie, gluten free or not. They make me want to experiment more with gluten-free flours!
I live in Lawrence, KS – that explosion was all over the news!! Glad you are ok!! Also, those cookies look delicious, perfect for this crazy snow day.
It was quite a scene! I polished off three cookies on this snow day. Whoops.
I have an almond allergy. If I subbed oat flour instead of almond would it still work to use cocnut flour? Also, I was wondering if I added an egg if that would make them fluffier. Thanks!
Hi Ana, I’m sorry, I wish I knew how oat flour would work in this recipe. You would probably need to adjust the amount of sweetener to compensate for the difference (some followers on twitter suggested that oat flour is more absorbent, so it might need more liquid). I don’t think you need to add an egg just because I felt like the cookies were fluffy enough, but you could try. If you try the cookies with your substitutions, please let us know how they turn out!
these look fantastic! I have yet to pick up coconut flour but have heard great things about it. and yes, sometimes it’s absorbent nature would come in handy. I am excited to try them!
Please let me know if you try them, Sara! They’re my new favorite cookies.
this is SO great! i’ve been wanting to extend into gluten-free eating (maybe just a little) and this seems like a sweet place to start. i love all your notes and tips, they’re so helpful!
Thanks, Marissa! These cookies are definitely a great start. I actually prefer these cookies to regular chocolate chip cookies!
These look great! I’ve wanted to try using almond meal since I saw it at Trader Joe’s. I bet the almond meal gives the cookies a great flavor!
I can’t say I pick up on almond flavor in these cookies, surprisingly, but I think I’ll try baking with almond flour more often now!
Hi Kate, I’m so glad you’re OK! That’s WAY too close to home. And now snow? Good thing you have plenty of these gorgeous cookies on hand. I’m allergic to almonds, but I need to find a good substitue so I can try these. They look downright irresistible.
Thank you, Elizabeth. Please let me know if you find a good substitute. Some others have asked if oat flour would work, so I might give that a try soon. I’d hate for you to miss out on these cookies! So good.
These look delicious! My daughter is allergic to tree nuts – can I substitute coconut flour for the almond flour? And if so, what is the substitution? Thank you!
Kate, this stuff is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I’ve just started making it and I could eat the batter up without baking it!!
Already made two batches this weekend. I’m blaming the snow.
I just made these cookies but didn’t have any coconut flour so I rummaged through my cupboards and found quinoa and buckwheat flours. I first used about 1/2 cup of quinoa flour but the mixture was still rather liquidy even after sitting for ten minutes so I added about 1/3 cup buckwheat flour. (I didn’t want to use too much quinoa flour as it can be a little bitter.) It was still at the consistency I wanted so I added another 1/2 cup of buckwheat flakes. The cookies turned out great!
Sorry, that should read ‘it still wasn’t at the consistency I wanted’.
Kate, I’m so glad you made this recipe work with what you had on hand! Thank you for sharing your substitutions with us all.
Glad you and Cookie are safe! Since I had Neko, I’ve been walking to the bakery near my house nearly every day to pick up a chocolate chip cookie..probably not the healthiest approach to ‘going on a walk’ but whatevs. I’d love to try your GF version sometime! xoxo
Hey there Kate! I couldn’t find coconut flour in my town but bought “finely shredded for baking” unsweetened coconut thinking that might work. I knew almond flour was just ground almonds. It’s this exactly actually: http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Organic-Reduced-Shredded/dp/B000F4D5I0
However my cookies spread like crazy! They looked like crisps, definitely not cookies. Before I go sinking money into a bulk amount of coconut flour online, do you think that was the problem? The coconut? (I used coconut oil, not butter, if that makes any difference.)
Any guidance would be appreciated. I’m looking for a good gluten-free, lactose-free cookie to serve at my wedding so that everyone will be able to have something sweet. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this one will fit the bill! :) Thanks!
My job has me travelin from day to day, and guess what, I just found coconut flour on my lunch break! I will report back with findings!
That’s great, Claire! I bet the coconut flour will make a big difference. You might let the dough chill for a few minutes in the fridge before baking, too. That will reduce the spreading.
update! The coconut flour certainly helped with the spreading. No amount of chilling will compensate for a lack thereof. However, my cookies still didn’t look as beautiful as kate’s perfect-almost-macaroon-like-mounds. Perhaps because I used coconut oil. Nevertheless, I’m classifing the recipe a keeper!
P.S. Can I just say how totally stoked I am Kate replied to my comment? 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Thanks for the updates, Claire! I’m glad the coconut flour helped. I’m going to have to try the cookies with coconut oil again. They spread more than my butter cookies, but I thought that was because I made the cookies bigger and didn’t give them any time to soak up the moisture. Maybe it’s the oil!
My husband made these cookies this past weekend and they really are amazing. Ever since going dairy-free, desserts have been a struggle for me. These most definitely did the trick!
Thanks, Brit! I’m so glad to hear it.
Welp, this just made my day. Will be making as soon as I’m back in my kitchen. Nothing (NOTHING) beats homemade chocolate chip cookies, and I’ve yet to test my GF baking skills on the most classic of cookies.
Thanks for sharing!
These are supremely exceptional! i made them two days ago and my roommates and i have officially finished them off. I think i even dreamt about them last night haha!
thanks kate!
That’s awesome, Elise! Can’t blame you for dreaming about these cookies. I’m daydreaming about my next batch right now!
What?! INSANELY good. Complete sentence? Feh!
All of my previous attempts to bake with coconut flour left me disappointed in one way or another, but this cookie has redeemed it for me. Thank you for posting!
Hooray! Glad to hear that your cookies turned out well, Amy. Thanks for commenting.
I tried this recipe twice. The first time I thought, “how important could coconut flour be?” because I couldn’t find it at my local Whole Foods. And then I thought, “oat flour is pretty absorbent, so I added 1/2 a cup of that instead. My first batch could not be described as cookies, and just spread out to coat the bottom of my cookie sheet. So I added a lot more oat flour, and the second batch looked like cookies, but didn’t really have a cookie texture.
Today I thought I would try again, this time with coconut flour. But unable to find it again, I settled for buying shredded coconut and grinding it in my magic bullet. Upon using 1/4 of ground coconut and waiting half an hour, I knew the mixture was still too wet. So I added 1/4 more ground coconut and waited again. It looked better so I tried a couple test cookies. They were flat just like my last first batch. So I ground and added more coconut. About 2/3 of a cup more was added, and I waited and chilled the dough this time. Two more test cookies went in the oven for 5 minutes, with the same flat result.
I finally gave in and added a bunch of whole wheat pastry flour, and got normal cookies.
I can’t eat much flour or sugar, so I was excited about an almond based, naturally sweetened cookie, but I no longer think it is possible.
Sheena, I’m so sorry the recipe isn’t working for you. I’d hate for those good ingredients to go to waste. Based on your comment and some others, it sounds like coconut flour is absolutely essential to the recipe. I’m surprised that your Whole Foods doesn’t carry coconut flour, as I saw it at a regular grocery store the other day. I’ve been using Bob’s Red Mill brand with a pale yellow label, if that helps you spot it.
Hi, just to comment again since I absolutely loved these cookies and will make them again today, as I try to avoid gluten as much as possible. In my version of the recipe, I used a mix of quinoa and buckwheat flours/flakes–all of which should be obtainable–to substitute coconut flour. I saw in the pics above that the dough should be quite thick so I kept adding stuff until I got the desired consistency. To sum up what I mentioned before, instead of coconut flour, I used (approximately):
– 1/2 cup of quinoa flour
– 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
– 1/2 cup buckwheat flakes
You can probably play around with the buckwheat flour/flakes proportions but I wouldn’t add too much quinoa as it can be a bit bitter, at least in my opinion. Good luck and thanks again to the blog owner Kate for sharing the original recipe! :)
Kate, thank you so much for providing these details. I’m sure they will be helpful to other gluten-free bakers out there!
Do you think flax flour would be good in this recipe too? I am trying to find recipes to use it in.
That’s a good question, Melanie, but I’m afraid I don’t know the answer. You could maybe try replacing a bit of the almond meal with flax, but the coconut flour is essential, I know that much. Please let us know if you try.
Uhm….YUM YUM YUM! So baking these this weekend. I am always on the hunt for gluten free recipes, so this is perfect, as it seems like a lot of people wouldn’t notice the difference.
I am a bit unsure about ‘coconut flour’ though. I assume its not like the shredded bits you get in normal supermarkets. Could I just use those, but grounded in a coffee grinder?
Hi Rikke! Great question. I think another commenter tried to make coconut flour but she didn’t have any luck. I’m afraid it might turn into coconut butter in your grinder. I’m sorry! I’ve found it at regular grocery stores here, but I’m not sure about its availability in Denmark. Good luck.
Holy crap these are awesome!!!!!
I did the coconut oil, maple syrup version (let the dough fridge for a bit, didn’t spread too much) and they are so much more than a regular CCC! It has so much flavor and a great texture. All without grains or butter or eggs????
Thank you so much for this Kate! Please post more vegan/naturally sweetened/grain free recipes!
PS If you’re chopping your chocolate make sure to do it small. My cookies were like bits of dough seperated by chocolate chunks…not that that’s a bad thing :D
Thanks, Megan. I love it when comments start with “Holy crap these are awesome!!!!!” :D Glad you like them.
Hi Kate, can you confirm the butter measure – 1/2 cup butter melted, or 1/2 cup melted butter? I am not getting anything remotely like cookies after setting near 30mins in the fridge. It all flattens out to one big buttery piece of…. well, it’s tasty whatever you’d call it! I don’t know if the problem is with high altitude, butter mis-measure, or if I didnt pack the flours tight enough. Any idea what the flours would measure if weighed? That would be a great addition to the recipes. Regardless, stuff be tasty so I made a cookie roll and sliced it!
Hi Heather, I’m sorry you’re having trouble. I think 1/2 cup butter melted or 1/2 cup melted butter should be equivalent. I used 1 stick of butter, melted. I don’t have a scale to measure the flour, but the flour should really be packed in the measuring cups. You are using coconut flour, correct? You might try mixing in some more of that, as it is very absorbent.