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.
Hi! Is there anything I could substitute the coconut flour for? More almond flour or oats perhaps?
No, I’m sorry, coconut flour has very unique properties.
Hi. I’m new to this group. I’ve used a very similar recipe that did not include coconut flour. I added shredded coconut to the recipe and I love the results. A chocchip grain free macaroon.
I would not call these cookies. They are flavorless and don’t cook right, and i had to add extra flour so they weren’t so soppy. Didn’t taste right. 1/10
I made these with honey and to me they are sickeningly sweet. And I’m a sweet tooth. I’d suggest halving to quartering the quantity if you use honey. Also they have gone very floppy a couple of hours after baking. Maybe the honey again…?
hi, I use kate’s recipe.but I use 1/4 cup of maple syrup n 1/4 cup of coconut oil n I added extra 1/4 cup of almond meal bcos the dough is very soggy, maybe it is d brand of coconut oil n coconut flour I used (i live in asia country)and I bake 30 mins for small size cookies so it will be crunchy n not chewy. I love it n my friends love it. thanks kate for willing to share d recipe, now I can enjoy cookies without feeling guilty. :-)
I’m glad it turned out well for you, Amira!
These are delicious! I used grass-fed butter instead of coconut oil and 1/4 cup of honey to sweeten instead of the maple syrup. I took them out around 9 minutes and they were perfect!
Wow. Made these today. Super fast, super easy and absolutely delicious. Big hit with the kids too. I put in slightly less maple syrup (about 1/3cup as I run out) and the cookies were still sweet enough, even with 90% chocolate chips. They stayed quite thick and did not spread out too much when baking, which was great as we like chunky cookies.
Definitely will make these again. As soon as I buy some more syrup. Possibly tomorrow as there are only 2 pieces left ;-)
Haha, love it! I’m so glad these cookies worked well for you, Zuzana.
Just tried to make these. Put the dough in the fridge to firm up before putting them on the baking sheet. Baked for 10 minutes at 350F and they completely melted out onto the baking sheet. It’s like on big square cookie. What did I do wrong?
Same result for me – used correct ingredients, correct measurements and left in fridge for about 20 minutes to insure a good result. A shame!
Same for me. One big crumbly pancake. Could also taste the baking soda. Not a great outcome sadly!
Just made these and same result. Also I used abut 1/2 of the suggested maple syrup and the cookies are overwhelmingly sweet. It satisfied my sugar craving but I won’t be making these again.
Has anyone been successful using Gluten Free Flour by Namaste or Red Mills. I would like to make these cookies but I want need read some success on this before baking. I am making these for a friend for a charity event and need to make 3dozen.
Hi Jane, these cookies won’t turn out well with an all-purpose gluten-free blend. They need to be made with almond meal and coconut flour as specified.
Thank you! I’ve finally found the holy grail of GF cookies!
I like to just freeze them in balls and then either eat them frozen, or bake one at a time in my toaster oven!
Hi Kate,
Thanks for this recipe:) For some reason my batch came out really oily and was only enough for 16 small cookies… I followed the recipe to a T except put half the honey… any suggestion? On estimate, how big should the batter look like?
Thanks!!
Hi Nicole, I’m sorry they didn’t turn out quite right! Since this recipe uses coconut flour, which absorbs liquid, I wonder if your honey adjustment (which is a reduction in liquid) caused problems. Did you make your cookies my size? If yours were bigger, that would explain the lower yield.
I made these tonight and they are divine. My partner is very fussy and he gave them a 10/10!!
Hooray!
Fabulous cookies! I added chopped pecans because i love them. My only complaint: there weren’t enough! Well, maybe if i hadn’t been such a pig and eaten most of them……Anyway, thanks! They were just what i was looking for…delicious and so easy. I used choc. chips, but next time i will chop the chocolate, because the chips didn’t all melt. Not a complaint!
Thanks, Tisa! And I snack while I put recipes together, too! I try to get more than I need to make up for it. ;)
hey! i was wondering if it would be possible to substitute the almond and rice flours with another kind like rice or plain gluten free flour? or is there a specific reason as to the use of those two flours :) Thanks!
Kate, I made a rendition of these last night! I doubled the batch and added two flax eggs. My husband said they’re the best baked good I’ve made :) THANK YOU!
What a compliment! I’m so glad you both enjoyed them, and that the flax egg swap worked out so well. :)
Kate, I just discovered your site and I’m ecstatic. I made your banana pancakes for my kids cooking class, and they were a huge hit. I just made these chocolate chip cookies, and I love them. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes and of course your stories. Jacqueline
Thank you, Jacqueline!
I just made this recipe and this was the best grain free chocolate chip cookie recipe that I have tried yet. My whole family agrees.
The only thing I tweaked was the salt, I did 1/8 t. and it was perfect for us.
I used butter and coconut sugar, but this time I’m making it with coconut oil to see the difference.
I liked the combination of the almond and coconut flour.
The cookies turned out with a slight crisp, so delicious. I’m making a 2nd batch already.
I’m so glad these were such a hit, Kris! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside is all I can ask for. :) Let me now how the coconut oil swap goes!
This is my second time making this recipe! They are soooo delicious! Perfect texture, buttery, chocolatey and addictive! Thanks for the delicious cookie recipe!
Awesome! I love these, too. Thanks, Cheryl. :)
Unfortunately, the cookie spread out so much it filled the entire cookie sheet :(
Chilled for ten min.
Sorry this one didn’t work out for you, Janet.
Thank you for this amazing recipe!! I knew yours would be good as we have made other recipes of yours ( black bean sweet potato tacos are the best). These cookies were delicious and my 21 yo son was enjoying having real tasting chocolate chip cookies for the first time in over a year. He can’t eat gluten, dairy, or eggs so these are perfect! I used vegetable shortening (Spectrum brand) in lieu of the butter or coconut oil. They were fluffy and tasted more buttery. I used the maple syrup and skipped the cinnamon to keep the flavor as close to the top house recipe as possible. Big win! Will post pics on FB & instagram soon.
Awesome! I’m so glad these worked out so well for you, Bridget. I can’t imagine living without chocolate chip cookies.
Hey, my dairy and gf (11 y old) daughter has made these twice to great sucess using maple syrup. Tonight she made them with agave. Swears that was her only substitution. The poor cookies not only flattened out to cover the whole pan, but burned in 9 minutes. What could she have missed? Says she chilled dough 20 minutes. Guess I should have supervised better…… I also felt she may need to cut the coconut fat to 1/3rd cup, not 1/2. Seem a tad greasy. Any thoughts on the sweetener substitution?
This was a great start to our new egg-free diet (little one is very sensitive). Didn’t have coconut flour so we made them with almond meal, almond flour, and whole wheat flour and coconut oil. Also, added a teeny bit more sea salt. They were pretty flat and soft but really tasty.
Thank you, Lila!
Hey there, these are baking right now! Just so you know, e coli in cookie dough comes from the flour, not the eggs. Either way this is still safe, thanks for the recipe
Thanks!
I just made a batch of these to try out the recipe. They came out with a slightly salty taste to me – probably because I used salted butter – so next time I will reduce the salt a little. I’m allergic to Vanilla, so I left that out and forgot to replace with 1/2 as much Almond extract as I usually do. That may help counteract the salt. My gluten eating husband said they tasted good and he didn’t notice the saltiness, so I will definitely make these again. I’ll be trying these with cinnamon chips for sure!
Thank you, Brandy!
Oh my god. I just made these, and two things:
a.) They made my house smell AMAZING when they were baking
b.) They taste insaaaanely good!!! Like, “i don’t miss the gluten or sugar” good. My boyfriend, who only eats gluten free because of me, said that they were better than gluteny chocolate chip cookies.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
ps- As suggested, I used butter instead of coconut oil and let them chill at least 20 min before baking. They didn’t spread at all and looked so perfectly round and golden by the end. Definitely making them again, and SOON.
I love this! Thank you, Claire. :)
Just coming back to say that, due to popular demand, I make these bad boys at least twice a month. My co-workers, my family, and my friends are all obsessed! Thank you again for this amazing recipe :)
I should have tried making the regular chocolate chip cookies from this website. Today is a winter storm here in Minnesota and it’s the middle of April and I felt like home baked cookies.
These cookies were tasty but too crumbly. The family didn’t enjoy that. My toddler couldn’t eat it either. It would fall apart when he tried holding one . Bummer!
Hi Madina, I’m so sorry to hear that. Did you pack the almond meal and coconut flour very firmly in the cups? That’s key to getting the right proportions. My “amazing” chocolate chip cookies have been super popular with readers, if you’d like to give those a try.
hi, can you use apple sauce instead of oil?
I don’t think it will hold-up as well. These two flours can be tricky. Let me know if you try it!
Would coconut sugar work instead of the maple syrup or honey?
I’m hesitant to say try it, Sarah. The syrup or honey not only provides sweetness here, it also helps with the moisture.
These cookies exceeded my expectations! I made them with coconut oil instead of butter because I love coconut. I split the batch and made half with dark chocolate and half with white chocolate. The combination of coconut + almond + white chocolate was divine. Will definitely make these again – thanks!
Hooray! I’m so happy to hear that, Mary! Thanks for sharing and letting me know what you thought.
I made these cookies last night. I measured the flour by weigh and didn’t have honey or syrup so I used brown sugar. Since the batter was a bit dry, I added an egg. Let it sit for 10 mins in the fridge and baked them. They are so soft and wonderful out of the oven. I put them in a tupperware over night and they are still soft. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Ariane!
I just made these in Mumbai with a few modifications but the cookies turned out amazing. I didn’t have coconut flour so used all almond flour & I reduced the maple syrup & chocolates just a bit. The cookies spread out in the oven I guess because of no coconut flour but the cookies taste perfect – crunchy on the edges, soft in the center, not too sweet but with a caramelish flavor coming through. Will definitely make this again. Do you think I can add some protein powder & cocoa powder to make it a double chocolate high protein version?
I’m glad you tried this! I’m not sure on the add-ins without trying it as baking can be tricky!
Made these using the vegan substitutes and 15 min in the fridge, and they flattened way too much – basically covering the entire baking sheets when I checked on them at 9 min :( I’ve read and re-read the recipe and am confident I measured everything correctly – what could have gone wrong?
I made this recipe, following it exactly. Cookies came out flat and inedible. Considering several other commenters have had this problem even when following the recipe exactly, you should probably consider revising your recipe. I will not be making anything else from this site.
Hi Sarah, I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe and that it didn’t work perfectly for you. Thanks for your feedback!
Hi, Kate. I think I may have figured out why so many people’s cookies are spreading out too thin. I made up a batch of these with coconut flour that’d been in my pantry for over two years and not stored in an air-tight manner. The batter was so thin I added an extra 10g of coconut flour. Even after the extra flour, the batter was still so thin I didn’t trust it and so just baked up two cookies which spread more than I’d like. I added another 20g of coconut flour and the dough came together like normal cookie dough and spread out when baking like normal dough.
So, I’m thinking that the people whose cookies are spreading too thin are perhaps using poorly stored or old coconut flour that has already absorbed a lot of moisture from the air and therefore can’t soak up all the maple syrup and butter. Adding in extra coconut flour until the batter is ‘normal’ is an easy enough fix if people are forewarned.
Thanks for these Tollhouse-like cookies. This recipe is so easy my toddler can whip it up with pre-weighed ingredients. So fun.
I made these cookies keto-sugar free by using my homemade monkfruit/erythritol maple syrup recipe. This kind of maple syrup is super sweet so I used a bit less half way between 1/2 cup and 1/3 cup…..
drumroll they tasted amazing. I also waited to put in my chips after the 5 minutes in the fridge as I worried they might melt with the warm ingredients. As a result they were only slightly melted and held their shape in the cookie.
I’m glad you loved them, Claudia! Thanks for your review.
Can you replace the chocolate chips with raisins?
I don’t see why not, Nina! Let me know what you think if you try them.
WOW! I’ve been GF/sugar free for 6 months now and have tried countless gf/refined sugar free cookie recipes. This is THE BEST choco chip cookie recipe!!!! I used butter and only 1/3 cup maple syrup, let the dough cool in the freezer and had no issues at all! One cookie had me doing a happy dance and singing!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
Win! I’m so happy to hear you love them, Kimmi.
Really want to love these because the ingredients are so great, but they are so sweet I can’t eat them and flattened out into paper thin cookies that all bled into one another. Also they were burning at 9 minutes around the edges because they had thinned out so much. I think the flour amounts and sweetener amounts both need to be adjusted and hopefully an updated recipe can be posted because like I said, the ingredients are great (hence the second star).
Hi Jenny, I’m so bummed these cookies didn’t work for you! It sounds like you didn’t have enough of the flours. Both the almond flour and coconut flour are supposed to be very firmly packed into the cups, is that how you measured it? Coconut flour absorbs tons of moisture, which makes me think that you didn’t have enough coconut flour in there.
These are sooo good. I’m trying to start eliminating gluten where I can because of hashimoto’s/hypothyroidism. Recipes like this will definitely make it easier! Thank you!
You’re welcome! There are a lot of gluten free recipes on the blog, or I typically provide substitutes.
I think I undercooked mine slightly, so they never held as a cookie…so we ate them in soft, delicious pieces. I AM IN LOVE with these cookies. Thank you so much!
I’m happy you still enjoyed them, Allison!
Unfortunately these were a total flop. They were so oily. And went totally flat and still uncooked. I did the coconut oil 1 cup (double batch) then melted it as the recipe says. I have lowered the amount of honey as we didn’t want it as sweet and I have frozen the mixture beforejand too. I have twins and a toddler and I wanted to use the time I had kid free to try and get ahead with snacks. Really dissapointed as was complete waste of ingredient and limited time. Sorry
Just made my second batch, love these. I am trying a gluten free diet but I love to have a cookie or two after meals and found this recipe. Made exactly as recipe calls for, using coconut oil and maple syrup, with dark chocolate chips. I baked for 9 mi utes. They taste great and have a nice texture. Thanks!
Your hint about giving the dough time to rest was great. I think I would have ended up with a thin slice if I hadnt taken note. Love the taste, I used honey, maybe I’ll use a little less next time, just a bit sweet for me. But will definitely cook them again, thanks.
Thank you for the feedback, Jacinta!
Kate, I made these cookies for a bridge tournament we had in our city this weekend. Anyone who tried these, whether they needed gluten free or not, loved the recipe.
I have yet to try a recipe that isn’t wonderful. Keep up the great work.
Thank you! I’m glad they were a hit, Nancy!
We love these cookies so much. Followed the recipe perfectly on the first batch last week and they came out beautifully. Made them tonight and I put the cacao nibs in when the coconut oil was still quite warm (I was in a bit of a hurry) and me cacao nibs melted – I’m such a doof. So added some more coconut flour and they were sweet as. Obviously not as amazing as the first batch. But totally my fault not the recipes. Still very much edible. Thanks so much for sharing ur amazing recipes with us ❤️
Thanks for sharing, Paula!
This is a great recipe! I also have made it with not browning the butter ( out of pure laziness) and not adding the milk and it works great! The browned butter definitely has a flavor though!! Five stars love your stuff!
Thank you, Katie!
This recipe stayed like raw dough and didn’t firm up. Curious what I did wrong
Baking a triple batch right now for the first time! The dough tastes delish so I can’t wait to enjoy the final result. Thanks for providing simple instructions/ingredients as well as a converter option for making larger quantities.
:D
What did you think, Louisa!?
They were a huge hit! I sent the majority to work with my husband and he said that everyone loved them!!
These came out delicious. I ekiminated the salt and used melted salted butter. I cut the chocolate chips by half and there were still more than enough for my liking.
Thanks for sharing, Janice!
Just made these to surprise my toddlers with tonight. I followed the directions exactly. They came out perfect … except that they have a salty taste to them for some reason. :(
I’m sorry they taste salty! Thank you for your feedback, Diane.
My cookies melted in to a big sheet of sickly sweet mess. I had to throw out :( maybe change the ingredients to grams and check quantities??
Everyone loves these cookies.
That’s great, Peggy!
These are really good…with a couple changes! I halved the maple syrup and they were plenty sweet! Also, i added an egg. I forgot the egg the second time i made them and they were very pastey. So far the closest gluten free, sugar free, dairy free chocolate chip cookie recipe ive ever found to the real thing! Kudos!!
Thanks for sharing your variation, Leann!