Soft, chewy, and golden crisp on the outside, these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are the BEST! And oh yeah - they don't skimp on the chocolate chips!
Okay, first thing's first: yes, I'm a dietitian. Yes, this blog is about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. So what's a chocolate chip cookie recipe with butter and sugar doing here?
First - it's not because these chocolate chip cookies being gluten-free makes them inherently a more nutritious choice. It doesn't.
It's because a healthy lifestyle is one that lets you live your life. And while different things work for different folks, there is certainly room for you to enjoy your favorite treats in any lifestyle! Health isn't black and white - you can eat salads, roasted vegetables, crunchy chickpeas, and quinoa pilafs to your heart's content AND you can enjoy occasional cookies, french fries, adult beverages (21+ please!), and other treats, too.
Okay, now that that's settled. 😉
Why are these the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies ever?
I've tried a LOT of gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes in the five years I've been eating gluten-free. And y'all...there are a lot of not-so-great ones. Here's why I love this recipe and think it's the best:
- They're soft and chewy, and get slightly crisp on the outside.
- If crisper cookies are your thing, just leave them in the oven a couple minutes longer.
- It's full of chocolate chips.
- You don't need to buy fifty different flours and gums and starches. Just get one bag of gluten-free cup-for-cup/ measure-for-measure flour. I use King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour.
- It uses regular sugar and brown sugar - no expensive coconut sugars or other fancy "healthy" sugars (that really aren't "healthy" and still are treated as sugar by your body).
- There are no gritty textures.
- No weird flavors or aftertastes from specialty flours.
- They're freaking delicious!
How to Make the BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
For ingredients, you need:
- gluten-free measure for measure flour
- baking soda
- butter
- cane sugar
- light brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- egg
- chocolate chips or chunks
While you could just use a whisk to cream together your butter and sugars, I really prefer a mixer. I always use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer (mine's in cobalt blue, I love it!), but an inexpensive hand mixer works well, too.
Then you follow the same process you do for most any cookie recipe!
Cream together softened butter with the sugars for a few minutes until soft, smooth, and creamy. Add in a room temperature egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and briefly mix until just combined. Then stir in the chocolate chips.
When it comes to baking, you can use any baking sheet - I love using half sheet baking sheets lined with these silicone baking mats.
To portion out the cookie dough, I use a small cookie scoop. It helps create a uniform cookie, which is great for even baking. Plus it's really quick to scoop out and on to the pan!
Then bake your cookies, let cool a few minutes, and they're ready to be enjoyed!
Know Your Oven
One of my biggest tips when it comes to baking of any kind is to know your oven. If you feel like you have a hard time baking or often overcook or burn things in the oven, check what temperature your oven actually runs at compared to what you're setting it at. Just get an oven thermometer to check!
The Biggest Mistake People Make When Baking
If you feel like your cookies (or muffins, cakes, etc.) never turn out like the pictures do or taste too dry, usually it's because you aren't measuring flour correctly.
Do you do any of these things?
- Use your measuring cup to scoop into the flour?
- Pat the flour down, pack the measuring cup, or scoop into packed flour?
- Not use a flat spatula or knife to level off the top?
If you do any of the above, your baked goods likely are ending up with more flour than called for by the recipe.
The most accurate way to measure flour is per grams. But honestly, I didn't even list gram measurements here because I know the majority of my United States-based readers (where most of y'all reside!) don't have or use a kitchen scale.
So to try to measure as accurate as possible, try the following:
- Make sure your flour isn't packed.
- Carefully spoon flour into your measuring cup (again - don't pack it or use packed flour!).
- Use a flat edge, like the flat side of a knife or a spatula to gently scrape across the top of the measuring cup to remove excess flour (without accidentally pressing more flour in, like you may if you use a finger or spoon).
Also for best accuracy in measuring dry ingredients like flour, be sure to use measuring cups, not glass liquid measuring cups.
Does it matter what type of chocolate is used?
Nope, as long as you use what you like! I've tested this recipe dozens of times over the past few months, and have had multiple taste testers and recipe testers! Ultimately when it comes to the chocolate - use what you like! My husband loves these cookies with mini chocolate chips whereas I enjoy them most with either just semi-sweet chocolate chips or a blend of semi-sweet chocolate chips and bittersweet or dark chocolate chunks. I've also just chopped a chocolate bar, before, too - chocolate is chocolate, still works great!
What type of gluten-free flour is best?
I use and love King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. I know one recipe tester used Bob's Red Mill measure for measure gluten-free flour with success. Some different brands of gluten-free flour can have slight variations, but the most important thing is to be careful with accuracy of measuring like I detailed above (you don't want hockey puck cookies!).
If you test with another brand of gluten-free flour (or even whole wheat or regular all purpose flour), leave a comment with how your cookies turned out!
Do you need to chill the dough?
No. I found chilling the dough beforehand made the cookies slightly puffier, but in a comparison, my husband and I both actually preferred the cookies where the dough went straight from being mixed to the oven. Which is great! A no chilling cookie dough recipe is the perfect low maintenance chocolate chip cookie recipe I want!
Freezing Instructions
You can freeze these cookies two ways. The first, is by freezing the baked cookies once they're cool. A little secret of mine is that I actually love cold cookies just a few minutes out of the freezer. 🙂
The second method of freezing is my personal favorite. Scoop the cookie dough onto a silicone mat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet (or cutting board, or whatever flat surface will fit in your freezer). Make sure the cookie dough balls are not touching. Freeze in the open air for a couple hours. Once cookie dough balls are frozen solid, transfer to a ziplock bag or airtight container. These can be frozen up to three months.
When you're ready to bake your frozen cookie dough balls, just place them on a silicone mat or parchment-paper lined baking sheet as you're waiting for your oven to preheat. Bake as normal (350 degrees, 10-12 minutes), possibly adding just one extra minute if your oven preheats quickly.
And there you have it - fresh baked gluten-free cookies basically on demand. 😉 Because truly, what is better than a fresh baked cookie?
All in all, these are the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I ever wanted. And for the record, my taste testers were primarily folks who don't eat gluten-free, so it's a cookie recipe to be loved by all - not just gluten-free folk!
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes
If you want to try more of my favorite gluten-free dessert recipes, try these!
- Pumpkin Pie Crumble Bars
- Chocolate Avocado Truffles
- Healthy Buckeyes
- Skillet Brownies with Raspberries (grain and gluten-free!)
If you love this recipe, I'd love if you shared on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest! Thank you!
The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup white cane sugar
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups gluten-free measure-for-measure flour (217 grams)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ cups chocolate chips (one 12 oz bag)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Using a stand mixer (or a hand mixer with a large bowl), cream softened butter, white sugar, and packed light brown sugar for 3-4 minutes on medium speed, or until soft, smooth, creamy, and evenly incorporated.
- Add the room temperature egg and vanilla extract. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and cream together another minute.
- Add the carefully measured dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto silicone baking mat lined baking sheets. (If you don't have a cookie scoop, each cookie dough ball contains about 2 tablespoons cookie dough and has a diameter of about 1.6 inches.) Don't overcrowd cookie sheet as cookies will spread. Place cookies a couple inches apart, 12 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until desired crispness.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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How many grams of flour do you use? My cookies spread too much!
Oh no! I'm out of town this weekend, but I'll test these again on Monday and add the grams measurement to the instructions/ make any necessary adjustments. So sorry!
Hey Renee! I've tested the recipe a couple more times and have updated the measurement/ grams for the flour. I hope this gives you a better result! Merry Christmas!
Perfect! Thank you so much! Merry Christmas to you too!!
I'd like to use coconut flour in this recipe. Will I run into any issues if I substitute?
Yes. This recipe will not work with coconut flour. Coconut flour is incredibly absorbent and works completely different than all purpose/ measure-for-measure gluten-free flour. I would suggest googling a coconut flour chocolate chip cookie recipe. Good luck!
I have not tried this recipe yet but I’m wondering why it does not call for eggs. I am thinking that if I try this recipe I will add two eggs. This recipe is very similar to Toll House cookie bars, which recipe calls for two eggs.
4th ingredient down the list = 1 egg
These were delicious! Made them with mini chocolate chips and (leftover from Christmas haha) mini m&Ms. Very quick and easy to make as well. Will definitely be making them again. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed them!
I have made them twice over the past week for my teenage son who hasn’t had a good chocolate chip cookie since he went gluten free a few years back due to health reasons. I saw tears in his eyes and he asked me multiple times if I was sure they were gluten free! He said they were sinful. Also everyone else in the family can’t stay away from them-they can’t believe it’s gluten free❤️
Awww, Tai, thank you so much for sharing this sweet comment! I'm SO happy for your son and your whole family, that you guys can all enjoy these cookies together. Thank you!
Hi! I used Bisquick GF flour and they were delicious! Everyone came running for them! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Leah! I love hearing what other flours/ substitutes work for folks! Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
These are Amazing 🤩. I have been gf for a few years and most recipes are dry and tasteless. These will definitely be my #1! Thank you for sharing!
These turned out surprisingly well. I say surprisingly because I'm pretty bad at baking. I didnt cream the butter and sugar enough so the dough seemed too dry to me, but I pressed on, and they turned out great. Def will make again!
Hey Travis, so glad you had success even though you're not a baker (yet!). 😉 Glad you enjoyed, have a great day!
I made these exactly to the recipe, but they spread all over the pan....scooped them off and froze them as they were in crumbles...will use them for the crust for a cheesecake perhaps, but there is definitely something wrong with the ingredient measures I think. Yummy tasting though 🙂
Hi Dana! Oh no! It sounds like you used too little flour - did you measure in grams? I've had hundreds of people make these cookies, with many excellent reviews and pictures of finished cookies shared on Pinterest, Instagram, to my email, and even texted to me from friends and family. Respectfully, I don't think it is the recipe. If you want to send me an email (lindsey @ nutritiontofit.com - remove spaces) or even send me a DM on Instagram (@nutritiontofit), I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot what went wrong. Thanks!
Wow!! These are so good!! ☺
Thank you so much, Katherine!
I used Premium Gold gluten free flour blend and a smidge of Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten free flour, both of which contain xanthan gum and my cookies turned out beautiful. Because my butter was not soft enough when I creamed it my cookie dough was very dense but I added a couple table spoons of flax seed milk and it softened up and the recipe still turned out great!
So glad to hear they turned out well!
Hi, my cookies weren’t done after 15-17 minutes and cooking for a few minutes out of the oven...any advice? I am not at a high altitude
Hi Tosha! Couple things to check: 1. how big were your cookies? The cooking time is based on a cookie of about 2 tablespoons of dough. and 2. Is your oven calibrated correctly? I ask because we recently moved and until we had the oven repaired, it wasn't holding a stable temperature and was taking nearly twice as long to bake. If you're unsure about your oven temp, you can buy a simple oven thermometer to check and see what temperature it's actually cooking at compared to where you have it set. I hope that may help!
Did everything to the T with the recipe. The dough seemed dry. Went and made the cookies anyway. They have been baking for 15 minutes and seem to not be done all the way. When I make gluten cookies everything turns out just fine and only have to bake 8-10 minutes.
Hey Sarah, I'm sorry you're having trouble with the recipe. To help troubleshoot, what specific brand and type of flour did you use? And how did you measure the flour? It's very common for many to accidentally pack in too much flour in measuring cups (hence the detailed flour measuring instructions in the post, along with the measurement of flour in grams - the most accurate method for any type of baking). And how many cookies did you get out of the recipe?
Can I just use almond flour when I make these cookies? Will they turn out ok? Thanks for your reply in advance!
I haven't tested this recipe with almond flour but I'm guessing the final product will be noticeably different. If you give them a try with almond flour, come comment back and let us know how it worked!
Maybe put butter at room temperature instead of softened.
I followed the recipe and my cookies came out great!
Thanks For This Recipe
Thanks, Bonnie, glad you enjoyed them! I hesitate to change to "room temperature" because in some environments, room temperature can actually be too warm! (Softened is considered around 68 degrees.)
So I made these cookies tonight, and let me tell you, you should follow the recipe.
I didn't have one-to-one flour, I just had regular gf flour. I didn't have enough, so I used some gf pancake mix.
Don't do that.
I made the recipe with my own "adaptations," and it immediately melted into one giant cookie. Very thin, very cakey. After ten minutes, I took them out, patted myself on the back for a job horrifically done, and scooped a bunch of them (I dare not use the word "cookies" any longer and continue to disgrace the author's recipe) into a bowl and slapped some whipped cream on top.
Are they good? Sure. For a hybrid, improperly cooked dessert. Is the texture terrible? Absolutely. I don't care, because it tastes fine, and I'm going to eat it because I've been quarantined in my house for a month and I'm going insane. But it would've been WAY better if I had followed the recipe.
I'll come back and update when I have been able to accurately make this.
Wow Amber, sounds like you had quite the baking adventure tonight! We made these cookies again today, too - wish you were one of my neighbors we shared them with, sounds like you could have used them! Hopefully you can make the recipe as written soon. 🙂
I have never baked Gluten free and this recipe was super easy to follow! I loved how they turned out!!! Thanks for making Gluten free baking easy for me😁
Yay, so glad they were easy and you enjoyed them!
Hi -
Super excited about this recipe. My cookies required almost double the baking time at high altitude. Is this normal for baking? I am new to baking and I am baking way above sea level, so I am looking for advice and insight.
Hey there! High altitudes definitely affect baking - check out this post from Quaker that has some insights on alterations you can make. https://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/baking-101/welcome-to-baking-101/high-altitude-baking Typically high altitudes won't require a lot of extra baking time - I wonder if you used a larger scoop/ portion of cookie dough per cookie?
Just wondering what I could do to adapt this recipe for no egg? Thanks!
Hi Jen! I'd try a flax egg. Mix 1 tbsp milled flax seed with 3 tbsp warm water and let sit for at least a few minutes to let it thicken. I haven't tried a flax egg with this recipe yet (I'll make a note to try it the next time my family makes them), but I've made other cookie recipes with flax eggs successfully before. Let me know how it goes!
I changed the recipe a little and used maple syrup got the brown sugar, swerve granulated sugar replacement, and 1 cup of cacao nibs with a 1/2 a cup of nestle toll house semi sweetr chips and baked for 14 mins. Even my husband who doesn't have to stay away from anything and is really picky said they were really good!! Even the dough was FABULOUS!! I took a picture because they looked SO good! (Can't see where to post it...???🤔) Next time I am going to make them with coax a powder too...then they will be double chocolate cookies!! 😁
So glad they turned out so well! And mmm I love a good double chocolate chip cookie!
Made these last night with King Arthur gf Flour. Swapped butter for melt sticks for dairy free and swapped white sugar for xylitol. We were very happy with them. Way better than when we just made equal swaps to the toll house recipe. This is definitely a keeper for our house.
So glad you enjoyed them and made them work for your needs! 🙂
The cookies taste great! Just enough sweetness. My cookies came out crispy. So I was unhappy with that. I do a lot of baking and I have a go to GF cookie recipe, but I wanted to try something different. It may have been my oven temperature. The 1st batch I baked for 8.5 minutes and those were obviously overdone. 2nd time, I tried 7 minutes and as soon as they cooled, they were criapy.. I'm not sure what was off with this recipe, but the cookies also tasted dry. The mix was crumby. I triple checked to make sure I didn't miss anything and also weighed everything with a weight. I wouldn't mind the crunchy cookies if I didn't wear braces.
This was my first attempt at baking gluten free cookies. They are really good. My son has to eat gluten free so he will be tasting them this evening. I think he will love them.
I will be making them again.
I hope he loved them! Thanks, Gloria!
These are seriously so good and addictive. I used almond flour and instead of white cane sugar I used monkfruit sweetener because it’s 0 calories. I put them in for just about 10 min and they’re perfect on the outside and perfect gooey on the inside. I will forever be using this recipe 🙂
Sounds great - I need to try them with almond flour, too!
How much Almond flour did you use? The same amount as suggested? Wasn’t sure if it was different.
Well, first mistake was I let my husband measure ingredients. I have no doubt a little heavy on the flour. Had to add a Tbsp. of water to even get close to a dough consistency. In the oven now for 14 minutes. Look great.
haha! I'm glad you were able to salvage them and still turn out great! I showed my husband how to use our inexpensive food scale and he definitely prefers measuring the flour that way - less measuring cups to wash and far more accurate!
Hi there! That sounds like a struggle, for sure! It also sounds very different from the vast majority of other feedback I've gotten from comments, DMs, reviews - including many pictures from others. I'd love to help you troubleshoot - what type of flour did you use (flour blend, was it cup-for-cup/ measure-for-measure, what brand, etc.)? Where are you located/ could measurement or baking temperature conversions have been a factor? Feel free to comment back here, or to send me an email at lindsey@nutritiontofit.com and I'd love to see if we can figure out what the problem was! Thanks!
Trader joes gluten free flour user here!
The flavor of the cookies was perfect, and they spread out well (not too much not too little). I added phylum husk (a substitute for xantham gum) for structure, but they still turned out a little flatter than a traditional chocolate chip cookie. They were very crispy, but delicious. Thank you for the great recipe!
-A dietician in training
Hi future RD! So glad you enjoyed these cookies! And thanks for sharing which flour you used - it's always so hard to test with every different flour, I appreciate you sharing what worked! Thanks!
I have made these cookies twice now. Once with dairy and once using Melt and dairy free chocolate chips. Both times turned out great and were a hit with the whole family. Thank you.
Yay, so glad to hear they were a hit! Thank you, Jennifer!
These turned out so well! I used half butter and half coconut oil because we were low on butter. Thanks so much for these! God bless!
They taste great but they didn't flatten :/ I've had this problem before...not sure why it happens. Also was I supposed to use 2 tsp per cookie instead of 2tbsp? Cause my batch only made 16 coolies lol so confused
Made these for my newly GF daughter and they are fantastic! I am not a good baker but I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great. Picky kids loved them. These might be be our new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
I plan on trying these. But how do you think it would work with a substitute sugar (stevia) and a substation sugar (made with splenda). Chocolate chip cookies are my vice! But im sugar free, and newly gluten free.
Living in Australia, I have never heard of the flour that you have in your recipe, I have been trying to make gluten-free choc chips cookies since being diagnosed with IBS 9 years ago and have never succeeded yet, the only flour we have available in Australia is GF self raising or GF plain flour, which would you recommend, or can you tell me the difference between the flour that you use and normal GF flour, thanks in advance
Hey Lindsey,
I just made this cookies for the first time. As I don’t live in US (and here we don’t have the mentioned flour) I had to use rice flour (1 1/4 cups). They turned out soooo delicious, just as the regular one.
Thank you sooo much for this recipe ❤️
Can oat flour be substituted?
I haven't tested with oat flour. I'm guessing the texture will be a little different, may be more crumbly, and not sure how it'll impact anything else. Let me know if you give it a try!
I recently went on a gluten-free diet and have been missing cookies SO much. I found this recipe and decided I would give them a shot and I’m so glad I did! These are probably the best tasting chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I know I’ve definitely never made cookies this good with regular flour. I will for sure be keeping this recipe in my arsenal for when I get a sweet tooth!
Oh my goodness, these are, by far, the best homemade gluten free chocolate chip cookies I have made yet! They are absolutely delicious! The only thing I did differently was to use butter flavor shortening instead of butter. I think it gives you a really nice crisp to the cookie. So good! I love them and will definitely make them again! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe with us!
Omg I just made them. They are so good. Perfect. I didn’t have the cane sugar so I added a little more brown sugar and it still came out so good. Thank you so much ☺️😋
I was looking for a gluten free recipe when we were trying to figure out what was causing my husband’s allergies.
I made the recipe using Lindsey’s exact quantities. My only substitution, chopped roasted cashews instead of chocolate chips. They baked perfectly. My husband told me they were the best biscuit he had ever tasted. He actually moaned! I have just made the fifth batch, double quantity this time 😊. He won’t eat anything else with his coffee even though he no longer needs gluten free.
For New Zealand bakers, Bakels Gluten Free Flour makes the best version of this delicious cookie.
Thank you, Lindsey.
Karen, thank you SO much for sharing which flour works best in New Zealand! Honestly, the many different types of gluten-free flours is what makes gluten-free baked good recipes so hard to consistently nail - especially internationally! Thank you so much, and so glad y'all enjoyed them!
My first time making GF cookies and they turned out great! I took out a quarter of the sugar because I like mine less sweet, and only 1 cup of chocolate chips. I flattened the cookies slightly and topped with sea salt, then baked. Turned out better than I could have expected! Will make again!
Love the sea salt addition, yum! So glad you enjoyed them, have a nice day!
Hi
Was wondering if Chickpea flour would work as a substitue ?
Thanks
Lisa Ricetto
I've never tried chickpea flour in these cookies, so I don't know how it would work as a sub, I'm sorry! But it sounds yummy (and nutritious!) - let me know if you give it a try and how it comes out!
Followed the directions exactly and they turned out so tasty. I would never know they are gf cookies! Thank you for the recipe!!
My husband and I made this recipe tonight and oh my gosh they were so good. We are definitely going to make it again. I think next time I’ll add a little less chocolate chips but other than that: perfection!
Best GF/DF cookies everrrrr! Super easy to make and they taste exactly like “regular” cookies!
YAY, so glad to hear this! Thanks for sharing!
Yes! A GF recipe that doesn’t taste like it’s been adjusted! My husband LOVED these! Subbed sugar in the Raw for brown sugar & Truvia for white sugar. Can’t even tell it’s lower slim sugar!
Thanks Lori, I'll have to try those sugar subs!
Will using a flax egg work in this recipe?
Yes!
Hello!
I want to make these for my friend who has celiac, but I want to know if you can substitute the cane sugar for plain white granulated sugar, and if so, are there any measurement changes?
Thanks!
Plain white granulated sugar is exactly what you need - no measurement changes!