Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (2024)

Published: Apr 15, 2021 · Updated: Jan 10, 2023 by Daniela · This post may contain affiliate links

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Are you ready for the Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies? Every Pastry Chef and Baker calls their Chocolate Chip Cookie THE best and let’s be honest, none of us is wrong. I have used the same Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for years. This gluten-free cookie recipe makes cookies with a chewy center, crispy edges and the most amazing texture.

For a while, I only added one kind of chocolate but recently I started mixing things up and started adding 3 kinds of chocolate plus candied cocoa nibs to my dough. Because there is no such thing as too much chocolate. The cocoa nibs are candied but you can skip this step if you like.

Make sure to also check out my Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe which is made with melted butter and requires no chill time.

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Recipe Ingredient Notes
How to make Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to store Chocolate Chip Cookies
Why chill Gluten Free Cookie Dough?
How to get big chocolate puddles
FAQ for Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies
Note about Salt in my Recipes
Baking in grams
Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures
Substitutions and Modifications
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: I use my own Gluten Free Flour Blend in this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe. This blend already contains xanthan gum. If you use a store-bought blend, I recommend checking out my "The Four Flours – One Recipe Project" where I used four different widely available gluten-free flour blends and made this cookie recipe. Any gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour will work great in this recipe - if you are looking for a cookie closest to the classic chocolate chip cookie, I would recommend Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 or Better Batter. For a thin cookie, I would recommend Cup4Cup and if you are looking for a cookie with a lot of substance, I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure. This recipe will not work with oat flour or almond flour.

Chocolate: I use a mix of Valrhona Manjari 64%, Opalys 33%, Tanariva 33%, and candied cocoa nibs in my recipe.The candied cocoa nib recipe can be found here. You can use only one kind of chocolate but believe me when I say you should try changing things up and mixing chocolates up.

Butter:I recommend using unsalted butter in this recipe. I prefer my butter soft, but cool and should not appear shiny or greasy. Especially during the summer month I only allow for it to sit out for 5 minutes before using it. The ideal temperature for butter is actually 65F which is a lot colder than many of us consider room temperature. To test if your butter is at room temperature nudge it with your finger. You should see an indent but the butter should not feel like you can poke right through it.

I have NOT tested this recipe with any butter/fat substitutes, sugar replacements, or egg replacements.

How to make Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you have never baked gluten-free chocolate chip cookies before you will be surprised to learn that they are made the exact same way as "regular" chocolate chip cookies. The most important part is to allow the gluten-free cookie dough to rest in the fridge to give the gluten-free flour time to hydrate.

Step 1: In a medium bowl sift together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or large mixing bowl combine the room temperature butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. Cream the ingredients at a medium speed for 4-5 minutes until fluffy and pale. Halfway through, pause to scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula.

Step 3: With the mixer running on low, add the egg, letting it fully incorporate. Pause your mixer to scrape down the sides.

Step 4: With the mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.

Step 5: Add your chopped-up chocolate and cocoa nibs at a low speed just to combine. You don’t want to overmix and break up all the chocolate. Place the dough in a Tupperware container and let the dough rest in your refrigerator. Chilling is mandatory. For the best results, I recommend chilling it for at least 4hrs - better even if you can let it sit for 12hrs or longer. During this process the flour hydrates and develops flavor.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.

Step 2: Use a 2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop (I refer to this as the #20 - yellow scoop) and portion the cookie dough. This recipe should give you 10-12 cookies, depending on how much cookie dough you snack on. If you would like, you can top each portion with an additional piece of chocolate which will give you those big chocolate puddles.

Step 3: Arrange 6 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. Make sure you leave some room for spreading. Place the remainder of the cookie dough in the fridge (or freezer for future use)

Step 4: Bake the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for 8 minutes and rotate the cookie tray. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden and beginning to set. The baking time depends on personal preference (and your oven).

Step 5: Remove from the oven, and if desired, use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to scoot them into a perfectly round shape. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking pan before moving to a cooling rack.

Repeat with the remaining dough if you would like.

How to store Chocolate Chip Cookies

Clearly, those gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are the best straight from the oven. They have crisp edges and a chewy center. But sometimes even the biggest cookie monster can't eat all the cookies at once. To store them, place them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. The cookies are good for 4-5 days but will start to become crispier the longer they sit.

Why chill Gluten Free Cookie Dough?

Chilling the cookie dough for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies prevents cookies from spreading out too quickly once they’re in the oven. It allows the fat in your dough to solidify (harden back up). If you skip the chilling step, you’re more likely to wind up with very sad, thin, unhappy-looking gluten-free cookies instead of flavorful, thick, chewy cookies.

Also during chilling your dough will develop flavors (kinda like marinating). The liquids in your dough (eggs) get a chance to hydrate the starches found in your flour. This hydration makes the dough less wet, concentrating the flavors and you will be rewarded with an even bake and golden brown cookies.

How to get big chocolate puddles

It's no secret but I love those giant chocolate puddles on top of my chocolate chip cookies. The best way to achieve those puddles is to use chopped-up chocolate bars or high-end chocolate (like the mix of feves I use from Valrhona). Regular Chocolate Chips like Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips have been designed to stay in shape while baking and won't produce nice big puddles.

Top each cookie dough with a few pieces of chocolate and roll it back into a ball. The chocolate chunks will melt while baking and turn into those beautiful puddles.

FAQ for Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies

How to get perfectly round cookies

To get perfectly round cookies, I like to use around cutteror bowl that’s slightly larger than my cookies and “scoot them” into a perfectly round shape when they come from the oven. This is not a must but people sure are impressed with perfect round cookies.

Can I freeze the baked gluten-free cookies?

Yes! Place the fully cooled cookies on a baking sheet and freeze them. Once frozen place them in a ziplock bag in your freezer. When you are ready to eat a cookie, allow it to thaw at room temperature. You can always warm it up in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to give it that fresh-baked cookie taste.

How do you make gluten-free cookies not gritty?

There are two factors that can cause gluten free cookies to be gritty: one is the kind of flour or flour blend used and the other is not allowing the dough to chill at an appropriate time to hydrate the flour. As mentioned many times before, I highly recommend a high-quality flour blend such as Bob's Red Mill 1-1 or my own gluten-free flour blend. If you use my flour blend, make sure to use fine-ground flours and starches. Certain brown rice flour blends are stone ground and will cause the end products to be gritty. A gluten-free cookie will always be as good as the ingredients used. Mediocre ingredients equal mediocre cookies. Especially when it comes to gluten-free baking.

Note about Salt in my Recipes

I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazonfor less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Be also prepared that the convection oven can cause your baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Be aware that it takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 12