Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
By popular request, I’m sharing my tried and true recipe for the best chewy gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! If you’re looking for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that have crispy edges, are chewy with a bit of a gooey center, and full of chocolate, then these are the cookies for you!
I don’t like to throw the term “Best Recipe” around casually. But when I want to really get across that I’ve tested and tried and adapted a recipe a bunch until I got it PERFECT, then I feel justified in calling it the Best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies ever!
I have notes and slips of paper from over 3 dozen attempts at making really good, chewy gluten-free chocolate chip cookies over the past 5 years of baking gluten-free before coming up with this perfect version!
That’s a whole lot of gluten-free cookies eaten for testing purposes so that I could share the best gluten-free cookies!
Back when I used to be able to eat gluten, I worked for years to find a homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe that I loved that reminded me of my favorite mall cookies.
I grew up loving the old Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookies. My favorite thing to get at the mall was one of the huge cookies that they sold back in the 1980s. They were the perfect chewy cookie and were about as big as my head as a child! Over the years, the cookie size and quality has gone down, but I did still love those cookies.
I also liked the famed New York Times cookie recipe that was going around about 8-10 years ago pretty well. Just when I finally had a recipe for cookies that I loved, I got diagnosed with celiac and had to start all over with my recipe testing.
Ugh, how am I going to make gf chocolate chip cookies? I had to get trying!
Here’s what I wanted in a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie:
- Crispy edged, chewy cookies with a bit of a gooey center.
- Lots of chocolate – no chance of having a bite without chocolate in it.
- No gritty texture or weird feeling in mouth from too many starches or gums.
- No odd smells from alternative flours.
- Ability to make the dough ahead and bake a few cookies daily, or to freeze the dough balls to bake later.
#3 and #4 were by far the biggest challenge and the reason it took over 3 dozen attempts to get a perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe.
The rice flour in gluten-free flour mixes adds some grittiness that is unnoticeable in most gluten-free baked goods, but tends to be more noticeable in gluten-free cookies.
For some reason, that rice flour grittiness was most noticeable in my chocolate chip cookie attempts.
I also tried using different proportions of a bunch of different flours and starches so that I could avoid rice flour or use less of it, but would end up with odd/off smells from the alternative flours or a weird mouth feel from the different starches.
I didn’t want any of that. I wanted people to LOVE this cookie, not just think it was good for a gluten-free cookie.
I’ve finally made one that gluten eaters and gluten-free eaters will all enjoy! It is as close as I can get to the Mrs. Field’s style/New York Times famed cookie combination that I used to make before my celiac diagnosis. I’ve succeeded!
There are 5 keys to this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe being free of gritty texture or a weird mouth feel, and being perfectly chewy:
- First is the addition of cream cheese. I found this tip in this recipe from Just a Taste and thought it was worth a try. That small 2 ounces of cream cheese is just enough to cover any grit that would have been in these cookies otherwise. I wish I had thought of this many years ago!
- Melting the butter is another key to this perfect cookie, as it adds to the chewiness and overall flavor profile. My friend Celeste says she likes to brown the butter and use browned butter to make these even more amazing.
- Using just egg yolks, no egg whites to help with the chewiness of the cookie. This is an old trick I learned from Alton Brown. I like to use an egg separator so that I don’t end up with any stray shells or break the yolks in the process. This is the egg separator I have and like because it sits flat over a small bowl.
- Using a good quality all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. See my notes below in the ingredients section.
- Chill the dough at least 4 hours before baking any cookies. These will not come out like my photos or with best texture if you bake these without chilling thoroughly. You can also chill for up to 3 days. After chilling the dough, allow it to come closer to room temperature so you can scoop the cookies easily before baking.
If you don’t have the time for chilling dough but still want your chocolate chip cookie fix, I suggest you head over to my gluten-free chocolate chip cookie bars recipe instead! I’ve altered the recipe a bit for those and you just mix and bake!
Depending on how much cookie dough you eat, you’ll have about 20-22 cookies from this recipe!
I have had many ask if you can freeze this dough. Yes you can freeze this cookie dough! I suggest that after you finish mixing ingredients, then scoop immediately and freeze the balls of dough to bake later.
When you are ready to bake, pull out the desired number of cookie dough balls you want to bake, let them sit on parchment paper lined sheet while you pre-heat your oven, then bake them from their still frozen state. Your cooking time will be longer than I have listed in my recipe, so keep an eye on them!
Here’s a look at the ingredients for this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe:
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Gluten-free Flour Blend: I’ve had best results making this with Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour or BakeGood Almond Flour Blend or Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Blend. I tried with Cup4Cup gluten-free flour with good results. (Note, usually gfJules is one of my go-to blends, but it is a little too starchy to get the right chewy texture with gooey center in this recipe. It still makes a very good cookie, just won’t be as chewy or gooey.) These were good but not great with King Arthur Measure for Measure or Bob’s Red Mill. I do not recommend using Maninis, Namaste or Pillsbury gluten-free flour for these. I will update this as I try it with other flour blends as well. Stay away from the blends that have any bean flours.
- If the gluten-free flour blend you choose to use already has xanthan or guar gum already in it, then omit the xanthan gum called for in my recipe.
- Sugar and Brown Sugar: I don’t recommend swapping these out, but some people prefer to use coconut sugar for some of the sugar called for in the recipe, just know that it will affect the texture.
- Butter: You can use a non-dairy butter alternative like Melt or Earth Balance if you would prefer. I would still melt it to use in the recipe. Results will vary and will not likely look the same as my cookies, because mine are made with real butter.
- Cream cheese: I have used Kite Hill plain cream cheese alternative and it worked very well. Use equivalent amount.
- Baking soda: This is NOT the same as baking powder. DO not substitute the baking soda with anything else.
- Chocolate: These are loaded with chocolate so choose your favorite chocolate! Sometimes I do semi-sweet chocolate chips like you see here (usually Guittard or Trader Joe’s), sometimes I do a mix of semi-sweet chunks and mini chips. If you prefer milk chocolate, then use milk chocolate chips in yours.
- Vanilla: I always recommend using pure vanilla extract, not an imitation vanilla extract. I usually buy this Nielsen-Massey pure vanilla extract or these large bottles sold at Costco.
There have been a few people out of the hundreds that have tried this recipe that felt there was too much chocolate in these cookies. I can’t fathom that, since in my opinion you can never have too much chocolate. But if you want more cookie and less chocolate, feel free to cut back the amount of chocolate chips you add.
Also, if you would like to use chunks, you can chop up semi-sweet chocolate bars or use Trader Joe’s chocolate chunks.
How to make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies:
My recipe card below and also the video will show you step by step how to make these cookies. The important thing to remember is that you need to let the dough chill for at least 4 hours. Then let it come to a scoop-able temperature before you proceed.
For successful results, make sure you use room temperature ingredients, measure properly (the only ingredient you ever pack in is brown sugar), use a large #20 cookie scoop to make cookies all the same size, use a preheated oven that you have checked temperature on, and use parchment paper or silicone liners for your baking pans.
I also like to give my cookies plenty of space around them so the edges can get a little crisp and no cookies spread into each other. This is what my they look like on my cookie sheet usually, using that large cookie scoop and spacing out on the parchment paper:
When they come out of the oven, I sprinkle the hot gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with more of the chocolate chips so that my cookies will have that melty chocolate chip look to the top. This step is totally optional though!
Can you make these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies dairy-free?
I’m working on that! I have tried dairy-free cream cheese from Kite Hill and it worked perfectly as a replacement for the cream cheese in this recipe. So I know you can make that dairy-free swap and have the same results.
I have not found the perfect swap for the butter yet but get good results with swapping with Melt or Earth Balance sticks. Feel free to make some adaptations to suit you though, and come back and let me know how they work!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Well that depends on the size and how much cookie dough you eat! This recipe makes about 20-22 large cookies. I use a #20 size cookie scoop for those and those are the cookies you see in most all the photos on this post.
But I know some of you want to make smaller cookies. So recently, I grabbed my other size scoops and did some testing and made notes along the way!
I used my large #20 scoop for the biggest ones. I used a medium scoop which is a #40 scoop for medium sized cookies. For the smallest, bite size cookies, I used a small #60 scoop. Yes, if you didn’t know, as the numbers get bigger, the scoops get smaller.
Here’s a look at making these various sizes:
You can always use other sized scoops, I just went with the three sizes I have on hand.
Here’s a look at them after baking and I’ve included the approximate baking times for each as well.
Factors like pan thickness and quality, temperature of your dough, accurate temperature of your oven, whether you use parchment or not, and the type of flour blend you use all will influence when your cookies are done.
From my testing, cookies made using a #20 scoop will take about 11-12 minutes to be baked perfectly, and you’ll get 20-22 cookies. Cookies made using a #40 scoop will take anywhere from 7-9 minutes to be perfect. And cookies made using a #60 scoop will take about 6-7 minutes to be perfect.
Using the #60 scoop yields dozens and dozens of cookies – I lost count of how many little cookies! You can see here:
Note: You CAN double this recipe as long as you’re using a good stand mixer that can mix that amount of dough.
After you make these, the next thing you should make is my recipe for the best gluten-free peanut butter cookies! I know you’ll love them too!
I make this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe a couple times a month, and have been for many years now! I hope these become a family favorite for you too!
I hope you’ll try and love these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies just as much as I do!
If you make these and love them, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
The Best Chewy Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (280 g) good all-purpose gluten-free flour
- ½ tsp. xanthan gum, see note
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 ounces cream cheese, room temp
- 12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (218 g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 (50 g) egg yolks
- 2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour, xanthan (unless flour blend already has xanthan or guar gum), baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the cream cheese, then pour melted butter over it. Add brown sugar and sugar and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. (I use the paddle attachment on my mixer.)
- Add vanilla extract and egg yolks (one at a time) mixing on low-medium speed until well mixed.
- Add the flour mixture that you set aside earlier, beating on low until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix on low or by hand, just until mixed thoroughly.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours and up to 4 days.
- When you are ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and allow it to come closer to room temperature so you can scoop the cookies easily before baking.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Line cookie sheets with sheets of parchment paper or silicone liners. Do not spray!
- Use a #20 cookie scoop to scoop even mounds of cookie dough spaced several inches apart. I can get 12 per cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes at 375°. Remove when edges are set and just browning. The centers will look undercooked, but will continue cooking as they cool. To ensure you don’t over bake, I suggest you bake a few test cookies so you can determine the right baking time for your oven. If you like gooey centers, cook less, if you like crunchier cookies, cook longer.
- If you’d like, you can sprinkle more chocolate chips on them once you remove from oven.
- Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for just 2-3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!Pin these to your gluten-free cookies Pinterest board:
gluten-free chocolate chip cookie bars (no chilling required!)
Gluten-free Monster Cookies (uses chocolate chips and M&Ms!)
Enjoy!
This looks great! How big do the cookies turn out?
Congratulations, you did it! In the last three days, I’ve made three batches of these, testing out different GF flours. (Just ordered the Mama’s Almond blend you mentioned) My go to GF flour is Authentic Foods, “Multi Blend” version. This is a 3/4 to 1cup ratio as opposed to cup to cup like many GF flours. I baked this recipe first off for a bake sale at my school. There are a few staff who are GF and there are usually NO GF submissions so we are out of luck! First batch was with my usual Authentic Foods, but instead of the reccomended 3/4 : 1 cup ratio, I made it cup to cup. Though the cookies did not flatten as much as I’d hoped, they were the best tasing chocolate chip cookies I’d ever had. And the non GF eaters greedily gobbled them at our fundraiser(50 cents each). Went out and got the Cup4Cup flour yesterday and made two batches; One Cup4Cup and one with the Authentic Foods Multi Blend only using their proportion recommendation. My husband and I did a direct comparison. Both flattened properly, not too flat, just right. The Cup4Cup was good, texture good but the Authentic Foods cookie was better flavored. The flour seemed to pick up all the subtle flavors of the butter, cream cheese, chocolate and a hint of salt! Just outstandingly!! I look forward to trying with the Mama’s Almond Blend when it comes (I now know this recipe by heart!) But try the Authentic Foods Multi Blend in this recipe and you will see what I mean!
@Eileen, THANK YOU Sooo much for this review. I bought the suggested Authenic foods mylti blend. BUT was unsure which measurment to use. The one via pkg OR 1 one listed here. I did post a questiin about that. BUT so far no answer.
Hi,
This is a big ask, but is there any chance you might be able to convert your recipe to grams please? Cooking with cups is pretty alien for us Europeans and I don’t want to risk messing it up with unreliable online converters.
Thank you!
Lakeland Ltd has the right sort of measuring cups to use with American recipes.
There are many place to do conversions on-line.
Amazing! Best does not do this cookie justice. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Amazing! Best does not do this cookie justice. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Dear Michelle Palin,
Can I use just almond flour with the xanthan gum and the rest of the ingredients as stated?
No, almond flour isn’t a straight substitute for all-purpose flour and wouldn’t turn out well. Use a good quality all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
You said almond flour is not a straight substitute, but I have to use nut flours with occasional addition of coconut flour for various family members with allergies and one who cannot eat any rice products at the present time. How can the recipe be adjusted to use only nut flours … Use one less egg yolk and omit zanthan gum?
I found that Bob’s Red Mill Paleo flour works beautifully as well! So excited as I cannot eat grains . Dairy is fine for me so this recipe with the Paleo flour is divine!!! Thank you!
Thanks so much for letting us know Charity! So glad you get to enjoy these!
I’m not sure how everyone got a good result. I’m a chef, followed your instructions. They all fell apart. Turns out the Xyntham gum ratio is wrong. It’s suppised to be 1 tsp per cup of flour, not half.
Please refer to the directions on the package.
This type of thing is very frustrating as it wastes time and money .
Hi Angela,
The directions on the package for xanthan gum are a guideline but definitely doesn’t work as a firm substitution in all recipes. If you used that much xanthan gum in this recipe, these would have a nasty mouth feel and texture. It’s simply not needed. I understand you’re a chef, but maybe not a baker. It’s important to make sure you’re measuring exactly, something chefs often don’t do. It’s also possible that the flour blend you used absorbed too much liquid. There are a number of variables involved in baking. I’m sorry you weren’t able to successfully make these. Part of baking gluten-free does involve some trial and error. I worked for many months on this recipe, tweaking it over 3 dozen times until perfect, and the over 250 positive reviews attests to it working. Feel free to use your own time and money to develop your own recipe as a chef.
Yes to this reply!
I’m also a chef/ baker and these turned out fantastic. Maybe weigh your flour out instead of using a measuring cup you might have a heavy hand
I used 1/3 gf flour and 1 c almond flour, 3/4 c coconut oil and 3 egg yolks in this recipe. Did not refrigerate dough and my results are chewey and crunchy on outside. Lower carb as well. Awesome recipe as my guide. Thank you!
So glad you used this as inspiration and made it work for you!
Hi Sara
Can you give your recipe, I like to use almond flour to reduce carbohydrates. Thanks
I used 1/3 gf flour and 1 c almond flour, 3/4 c coconut oil and 3 egg yolks in this recipe. Did not refrigerate dough and my results are chewey and crunchy on outside. Lower carb as well. Awesome recipe as my guide. Thank you!
Just made these for the first time for a gluten free friend and they’re very good! I followed the recipe exactly with cup4cup flour except I mixed it all by hand. Great crispy chewy texture. Really can’t tell they’re gluten free.
Thanks Dorothy for your commend and review!
I don’t know how to leave messages…hope this works! I want you to know that tears came out of my eyes when I bit into my first cookie!!! I’ve been GF for 4 terrible months and can’t find foods that taste good anywhere. These cookies were so good my kids couldn’t tell they were different. Thank you for working so hard and sharing your talent with everyone else! Now to find a good no-fail sandwich bread recipe! ????
Hi Michelle,
I do follow all your steps. I do chill the dough for a day in refrigerator and when i remove it from the refrigerator i let it sit for half an hour BUT when i bake the cookie it doesnt flat, it stay like a ball as i scoop. What did i do wrong? Please help me. Thank you
Just made these for the first time for a gluten free friend and they’re very good! I followed the recipe exactly with cup4cup flour except I mixed it all by hand. Great crispy chewy texture. Really can’t tell they’re gluten free.
I highly recommend King Arthur Flour’s gluten free flour. They have a GF baking mix for pancakes and waffles, and a measure-for-measure GF flour that you use like regular flour. I’ve been quite impressed with the taste and texture of baked goods using this brand. I can’t wait to try this recipe as my stepson is GF and loves my baking!
Surprisingly good but they were a tad too sweet and quite rich. I wonder if I could omit some of the sugar and a little butter?
Surprisingly good but they were a tad too sweet and quite rich. I wonder if I could omit some of the sugar and a little butter?
*oat flour.
*oat flour.
Hi There,
Recently had to go gluten free and thinking about all the things I “have to give up” has been difficult for me. I’ve been a professional baker so I’m used to traditional flours and methods. Finding this wonderful recipe of yours, and others like it, have opened my mind to all the possibilities with gluten free foods. It’s just a matter of adjusting, not losing. My family and I like things less sweet than the average American palette. I was wondering if you had suggestions on using less sugar? Would reducing white sugar by two tablespoons or so change chemical composition in a way that alters the texture? I subbed 3/4 cup out flour and used Pamela’s all-purpose. I thought these were better than original chocolate chip cookies. Especially after the dough was in the fridge two days. Thank you.
Hi There,
Recently had to go gluten free and thinking about all the things I “have to give up” has been difficult for me. I’ve been a professional baker so I’m used to traditional flours and methods. Finding this wonderful recipe of yours, and others like it, have opened my mind to all the possibilities with gluten free foods. It’s just a matter of adjusting, not losing. My family and I like things less sweet than the average American palette. I was wondering if you had suggestions on using less sugar? Would reducing white sugar by two tablespoons or so change chemical composition in a way that alters the texture? I subbed 3/4 cup out flour and used Pamela’s all-purpose. I thought these were better than original chocolate chip cookies. Especially after the dough was in the fridge two days. Thank you.
I recently went GF and was mourning the loss of my beloved choc chip cookie recipe. On a mission, I poured over dozens of GF recipes and landed on yours! These are amazing. Even after they have cooled. I’m so happy! I used Bob’s red mill 1 for 1 gf flour and was very happy. I bought some cup 2 cup to try next time…thank you so much!
Just found this recipe and can’t wait to bake these. I was just going to suffer and eat the regular cookie because I’ve been wanting a chocolate chip cookie. I can’t get over the gritty taste. Thank you!
These are the absolute best! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m cookie obsessed and GF and have been looking for the perfect GF chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is it. My husband who’s not GF also loved them and kept asking if they were in fact GF because he thought I tricked him. I followed the recipe exactly and just added an extra bar of chocolate to make them super chunky and add some different texture. Yummmm!