Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know what you're thinking.  There's no way gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are going to be any good, right?  Wrong!!  These cookies are super soft and chewy and incredibly delicious.  Since the recipe contains no flour, it's vitally important to make sure the cookie dough is well chilled before baking.  Let me show you how easy these are to make.

In a bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Next you'll need pure vanilla extract (please use the good stuff), almond butter, coconut palm sugar, liquid coconut oil, and an egg.

Combine those ingredients together well.  I've used my stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, but you can certainly mix it by hand, just be sure  to mix until any coconut sugar lumps disappear. 

Now add the almond flour mixture.

Mix to combine.

Add bittersweet chocolate chips.

Mix one last time until the chips are evenly distributed through the batter.

Transfer the batter to a quart-size zipper bag and chill for at least an hour. If you like, you can do this step a day or two in advance. 

When you're ready to portion the dough, simply rip the bag open and cut the dough into 24 even portions.

Easy!

Roll each portion into a ball and place on a sheet pan.

This step is completely optional, but I like to press a few extra chips on the top of each dough ball.  Now before we bake the cookies, it's really important to chill the dough again - I just pop them back in the fridge while my oven preheats.

When the oven is preheated, space 12 dough balls evenly on a silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for exactly 10 minutes, then allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the pan.

Enjoy!! 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• almond flour https://amzn.to/3PEP9w5

• almond butter https://amzn.to/46rPKH7

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/44lhvzl

• coconut oil https://amzn.to/3CP0dij

• coconut palm sugar https://amzn.to/3CV99mc

• BeaterBlade attachment https://amzn.to/3NTzWpG

• professional stand mixer https://amzn.to/46opldn

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3sphKYV

• silpat liners https://amzn.to/3Jc40Hz

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 24 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup finely ground almond flour (or meal), sifted

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (virgin or unrefined)

• 1 large egg

• 2 tablespoons almond butter

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (plus more for garnish)

Directions

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, combine the coconut palm sugar, coconut oil (melt gently in microwave to liquify if necessary), egg, almond butter, and pure vanilla extract on medium speed for 30 seconds.

3. Add reserved almond meal and mix on medium for 30 seconds; add chocolate chips and mix just until combined.

4. Transfer cookie dough to a quart size storage bag and seal well, pressing the dough into an even layer; chill for at least 1 hour.

5. To bake cookies, preheat oven to 350F, place rack in center of oven, and line two half sheet pans with silpat liners.

6. Divide chilled dough into 24 equal pieces and roll into balls; return to refrigerator to chill for 5 minutes or longer.

7. Place 12 chilled dough balls each on two silicone lined half sheet pans and immediately bake for 10 minutes (one pan at a time, chilling the remaining dough until ready to bake); remove from oven and allow cookies to cool completely before removing from the pan; repeat with the 2nd pan of cookie dough.

Kitchen Tip: What's The Best Surface for Baking Cookies?

Silpat vs Parchment - which is better?

What’s the Best Baking Surface for Cookies?

Tip

When I bake a new cookie recipe for the first time, I like to test various baking surfaces to see which one produces the best results.  

Example

Here's an example of two cookies that were made from the same recipe and baked side-by-side, on the same sheet pan, at the same temperature, for the same length of time.  One was baked on parchment paper and the other on a Silpat liner.

In some cases, the finished cookies bake nearly identically, but in this particular case, the cookie baked on the silpat was the clear winner.  Actually, cookies baked on silpat liners almost always win.

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Another Example

And here's another example - the differences are more subtle here than with the chocolate cookies above, but there are differences.  I'll post larger photos so you can see them better. 

Cookie tops - the ones baked on a Silpat have a much nicer appearance.   The ones baked on parchment are lumpy and seem to have developed a few air holes that broke through the surface.

Cookie bottoms - again, the ones baked on a Silpat look so much better.  The ones baked on parchment have wrinkled and unevenly browned bottoms, and you can see where those air holes started - weird.

Last Example

And here's a different cookie recipe with more dramatic results - as you can see, the cookie baked on parchment stuck so badly that it broke when I tried to pull it from the paper, but the cookie that was baked on a sipat liner released perfectly. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, most of the time I prefer the results cookies baked on silpat liners. With that said, I love parchment paper for all kinds of reasons and I always keep an ample supply on hand. Happy baking!