Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookies
A genuinely fantastic gluten-free cookies, these almond flour chocolate chip cookies are something I bake all the time (I eat gluten! They’re just so good!) and have been making for many years now. I recently retested the recipe and adjusted slightly for thicker, chewier cookies, but still without any eggs.
Not only gluten-free, these cookies are also dairy-free and egg-free. The almond butter is the trick, providing flavour, fat, and volume that would otherwise come from butter and eggs. It also means that the cookies have a strong almond flavour that works very well with the chocolate chips. If you want to use another nut butter, though, you can – see below for more on that.
Everything is mixed in one bowl here for less mess and more fun. And while I’m not averse to tossing an egg in my cookie dough, these really, truly don’t need it. I love how easy these cookies are.
I first shared this recipe in 2019. It’s been updated with improvements to the recipe instructions and a retested and improved recipe, new photos, including step-by-step photos, and more helpful information.
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One reader, Kalina, commented: “These cookies are AMAZING!! The best healthy chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. The texture is perfect! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Sue, commented: “I just made these and they turned out perfectly. I must have made them a little smaller because I got 17 cookies. Easy and would make again. ★★★★★“
Ingredients You’ll Need and Why
This is a more pantry-friendly cookie recipe, made with shelf-stable ingredients (I do recommend keeping almond flour cold, though, to avoid it spoiling). These are my notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.
- Almond meal: I live in Europe, and there’s no differentiation here between almond meal and almond flour. What’s labeled as flour in North America may or may not be more finely ground than almond meal, but they can be used interchangeably in this recipe. I have tested with both as well as homemade almond meal.
- Almond butter: this should be runny almond butter from a freshly opened jar, with no sugar or oil added. Check the ingredients. It should only list almonds, or maybe almonds and salt, but nothing else. Processed nut butters will not work for this recipe. Substitute natural peanut butter or hazelnut butter if you’d like but note that the cookies won’t taste like almonds then.
- Oat flour: adding in oat flour provides a more stable base for the cookies, so they’re less crumbly and have a more traditional chocolate chip cookie texture. Use certified gluten-free oat flour if necessary. See how to make oat flour.
- Sugar: pictured is muscovado sugar, which is fantastic in these cookies. You can use just about any type of granulated sugar with good results but note a couple of things. North American brown sugar, with molasses, will make the cookies spread just a little bit more. Plain white sugar, cane sugar, and demerara sugar will make the cookies spread a little less and they’ll be crunchier. Coconut sugar will make the cookies drier and denser but they’ll taste great.
- Oil: a little olive oil or another oil that’s liquid at room temperature improves the texture of the cookies. These were originally made with solid coconut oil but when retesting I found liquid oil preferable.
- Milk: you’ll see a splash of milk in a lot of my vegan cookie recipes, and that’s to help with spread, because I use less sugar than is typical. Reducing sugar without accounting for the lost liquid is what gives you dense, dry cookies – a little milk helps to mitigate that.
- Baking soda: using baking soda in cookies helps them to spread, unlike baking powder, which will make them puff up and have a more cake-like texture. Don’t mix them up.
How to Make Almond Flour Cookies
This is a one-bowl recipe, possible because the oil and sugar don’t need to be creamed and because gluten-free flour is almost impossible to over-mix.
Step 1: mix the almond meal, oat flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. A little arrowroot flour or corn starch helps the cookies hold together and helps with a chewier texture.
Step 2: add the almond butter and other remaining ingredients and mix into a dough. If it seems too dry, add another tablespoon or two of milk and stir it in – it’ll be due to variations in the consistency of almond butter. The dough should easily hold together when pressed and be a similar texture to whole grain cookie dough.
Step 3: divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls (or use a scoop). Each ball should weigh about 40 grams. Flatten slightly when you place them onto the baking sheet for more even baking.
Step 4: bake the cookies for about 10 minutes at 190°C (not a typo). The higher temperature means the cookies spread a little less, but they have a softer interior texture. If you want thinner cookies you can reduce the temperature to 180°C.
Expert Tips for the Best Cookies
- Use runny almond butter: the dry stuff from the bottom of a jar is going to result in dry, crumbly cookies, so be sure to use a fresh jar if needed.
- Don’t make flour substitutions: these have only been tested with oat flour as the secondary flour. Another gluten-free flour, like coconut flour, cannot be subbed 1:1, and it would require further testing.
- Keep the sugar: the sugar can’t be reduced for this recipe, or you’ll end up with dry, dense hockey pucks.
- Check the texture: add a bit more milk to the recipe if needed, especially if your dough is looking dry before forming the cookies. It should hold together when pressed and very easily form balls that don’t crumble (see step-by-step picture 2 above).
- Use thick baking sheets: please note that I use standard European baking sheets, which are typically double-thickness (there’s a pocket of air between two layers of metal) and larger than might be usual in North America. If your baking sheets are very thin, you may want to stack them to imitate this double-layer type.
More Gluten-Free Cookies
- Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies – I promise, you don’t taste the chickpea flour, and these are phenomenal.
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies – one of my all-time favourite recipes, with peanut butter, rolled oats, and chocolate chunks in a thin, crisp-edged, chewy cookie.
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies – vegan and gluten free peanut butter cookies, made with coconut flour and maple syrup.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – date-sweetened gluten-free chocolate peanut butter cookies made with dates and cocoa.
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description
Ingredients
- 60 grams (½ cup) almond meal or almond flour
- 60 grams (½ cup) oat flour
- 100 grams (½ cup) muscovado sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or corn starch
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 150 grams (½ cup) runny almond butter
- 2 to 4 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or your preferred baking oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 100 grams (⅔ cup) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) 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.60 grams (½ cup) almond meal, 60 grams (½ cup) oat flour, 100 grams (½ cup) muscovado sugar, 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Add the almond butter, 2 tablespoons of milk, oil, and vanilla to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until a dough forms. Refer to the step-by-step photos in the post to check the texture of the dough, and add another tablespoon or two of milk if needed.150 grams (½ cup) runny almond butter, 2 to 4 tablespoons non-dairy milk, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add the chocolate chips to the dough and mix to incorporate.100 grams (⅔ cup) chocolate chips
- Form 12 cookies, each about 40 grams, rolling the dough into balls and flattening slightly on the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 5 cm (2 in.) between each cookie.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until very slightly harder on the edges and still soft in the centre. The cookies will be golden in colour and have a crackled texture when they're done.
- Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving the cookies to a wire rack to cool fully. The texture is best once they've cooled and the cookies can be a little delicate when warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
I just made these and they turned out perfectly. I must have made them a little smaller because I got 17 cookies. Easy and would make again.
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.
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 baking sheet thickness. 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!
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!!
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.