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.
- 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.
