I haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been dealing with a major depressive episode – more on that another day. In the meantime, I’m back with a great vegan, gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
There are a number of bits and bobs going into these cookies to make sure they taste great – almond flour, almond butter, caramel-like date sugar, and (of course) more chocolate than you probably need. This is my go-to for gluten free cookies and I think they’re just as good as my rye chocolate chip cookies.
Everything’s mixed in a single bowl – as you can see in the video – for less mess and more fun. And while I’m not averse to tossing an egg in my cookie dough, these really don’t need it. I love how easy these cookies are.
Right now is cookie baking season, I know, but chocolate chip cookies are good year round and this recipe isn’t holiday specific anyway. (But if you’re looking, here’s a collection of healthy Christmas cookies.)
Using Almond Flour in Cookies
Nuts are the secret weapon of any excellent vegan cookie – they add richness, a buttery flavour, and an improved texture. These cookies use both almond flour and almond butter for what amounts to the best gluten free and vegan cookie around.
A mix of almond flour, oat flour, and a little arrowroot form the base here, giving a subtly nutty flavour and truly excellent texture, chewy and just slightly crisp around the edges. You’re not going to get the same cookie as with a butter/eggs/sugar base, but it’s pretty damn good as is.
I’ve used the natural almond flour from Bob’s, an ultra-fine grind. I prefer the fine grind to a coarser one in cookies. I made my own oat flour in a mill, but a good food processor does the trick, or just buy oat flour. Arrowroot is a big part of what holds these cookies together, a bit like an egg normally would.
Substitutions!
While I really love the deep, dark flavour of date sugar in these cookies, coconut sugar is a great substitution. You might be able to get away with maple sugar but I haven’t tried that.
I like coconut milk for a little extra richness, but any type of milk works, so I haven’t specified in the ingredient list. You can even use water in a pinch. Coconut oil can be switched out for olive or another liquid oil (though make sure to read the recipe notes if you’re switching it).
Of course the dark chocolate bar can be changed out to chocolate chips. I would use chips but they’re so hard to find here and outlandishly expensive when I can find them, and those big melted pools of chocolate are pretty attractive.
I haven’t tested with any flour types other than oat as the accompanying flour, but I think teff might work, and rye does if you don’t need them to be gluten free. Chopped nuts are a great add-in here, and so are sliced almonds!
More great healthy-ish cookies
Honey Oatmeal Cookies
Flourless Chocolate Tahini Cookies
Maple Almond Cookies
Double Chocolate (Chickpea Flour) Cookies
Ultimate Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via email, facebook, and pinterest.
Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Vegan and gluten free chocolate chunk cookies, made with a base of almond flour, oat flour, and date (or coconut) sugar. Healthy(ish) and with plenty of chocolate to go around.
Ingredients
- 60 grams / 1/2 cup almond flour
- 60 grams / 1/2 cup oat flour
- 90 grams / 1/2 cup date sugar*
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 150 grams / 1/2 cup almond butter
- 4 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons softened coconut oil**
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 70 grams / 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped, or chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, oat flour, sugar, arrowroot powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Add the almond butter, milk, oil, and vanilla to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon or your hands to mix until a dough forms.
- Place the chocolate into the bowl and use a spoon to fold it in, making sure it's incorporated throughout.
- Form 12 cookies, rolling the dough into balls and flattening slightly on the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 5cm / 2 in. between each cookie.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until very slightly harder on the edges and still soft in the centre. It will be difficult to tell if they've browned as the dough is dark, so go by feel.
- Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving the cookies to a rack to cool fully. These keep well for a couple of days at room temperature and freeze well in an airtight container for up to a month.
Notes
* Coconut sugar can be substituted for date sugar. If you go by weight, it's 100g coconut sugar.
** Olive oil, or another liquid oil, can be used in place of coconut oil. Reduce the milk to 3 tablespoons if switching this.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 219Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 135mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 5g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
Yum says
These cookies are AMAZING!! The best healthy chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I substituted vanilla extract with vanilla bean paste and it enhanced the flavor of the cookies!
I initially made it with vanilla extract then I made it with the vanilla bean paste and definitely noticed a yummy difference! The texture is perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Sam says
Hi! I’m REALLY excited about this recipe, as I have never been able to make a date sugar cookie before. I tried it twice (weighed all the ingredients), but they didn’t spread at all, like in the photo. I used runny almond butter and coconut oil. I pressed the balls down slightly, as stated in the recipe. Instead of flattening out, they were thick, heavy, and cardboard like and pretty dry. I’d love to get the results that you got, any idea what could be different? Your photo looks like almond meal, rather than almond flour (which is hulled almonds/light/white powder), but I don’t think that would make the difference. I’d appreciate any ideas!!
Sam says
Oh, also, they burned/got very dark brown and crunchy on the bottom both times, even when cooking only 10 minutes, but I have never had an issue with my oven temp or anything before, so I don’t think it’s that.
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Sam, I want to make sure first that you’ve added the milk to the recipe – that’s key, along with the coconut oil, in making the cookies spread enough. I’ve made this recipe so many times (last week!) and have never seen the problems you’ve described. The only other thing I can think of is that the oat flour might be a finer grind than what I used (I used Bob’s Red Mill for the almond flour, as pictured, as well as the oat flour and date sugar). Are you using a fan-forced oven or is it without a fan? You can try reducing the temperature a bit and/or double stack your baking sheets if they’re cooking on the bottom too quickly. My baking sheets are the ones that come with ovens in Germany and they’re quite thick. Hope this helps!