The Best Chewy 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
Plan ahead so the dough can chill prior to baking for the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (~282 grams) good all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum* (see note)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 ounces cream cheese, room temp
- 3/4 cups (12 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 cups (12 oz.) 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°.
- 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
*omit xanthan gum if your gluten-free flour blend has xanthan or guar gum already
Please note that these brown faster/more if the flour blend you are using has any almond flour in it. Your cookies might be done a minute sooner.
Please see blog post for information on ingredients used and substitution options.
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!
Absolutely fabulous recipe! I am blown away. Thank you for bringing cookies back into my life! My pants do not thank you. But I do! The first time I made these, I used Bobs Red Mill All-Purpose. While it isn’t the best choice, if that is all you have, I still found them to be yummy. The second time I used Bobs 1 to 1. I was distracted due to my children and accidentally added two eggs instead of two egg yolks. They still turned out lovely and fluffy. I highly recommend Bobs 1 to 1. It’s a more affordable GF flour option.
Oh Lyndsey, your comment cracked me up!! I totally blame these cookies for me needing to go up a pants size! 🙂
I used the Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour blend too and the cookies are as good as my gluten ones were! Weighed 282 grams of the flour blend, sifted it with the baking soda and salt and then followed the rest of the recipe to a T. These cookies come out just like a homemade chocolate chip cookie should. Everyone who has tried them can’t tell the difference and my neighbor kids (not gluten free) ate all but 3 and only because my newly celiac neighbor chased them off and claimed them. Seriously, if you are gluten free and want a chocolate chip cookie, make these – they deserve to be sold in a bakery, they are so yummy. Oh, and they freeze beautifully.
Oh, and I used half semi sweet and half milk chocolate chips.
I accidentally used the entire stick of cream cheese (8 oz) but decided to bake any way and they are delicious. Are they ok to keep in Tupperware on the counter this week or do I need to keep in the fridge because of all the cream cheese?
They’ll be fine at room temperature in a sealed container. If you have a bunch of them and want them to last a long time, put them in a freezer bag in the freezer and just pull out a few at a time to thaw and eat. Perfect!
Will these work if you freeze the dough amd then bake the cookies directly from the freezer???
Michelle,
Yes, I’ve done that. In that case, I bake them at 300 for at least 20 minutes, just keep watching them until they are done. Enjoy!
I made these today with the Pillsbury GF flour blend…big mistake. Dough is hard as a rock and cookies baked in a big mound. Flavor is good though! I’ll be ordering some Cup 4 Cup and trying again 🙂
Yes, that isn’t a quality blend. Definitely give it a try with Gluten Free Mama’s almond blend or Cup4Cup. Hope you enjoy them!
Tried recipe again with Bobs Red Mill 1to1 and it was much better. I will be ordering some flour from Amazon though and trying to perfect this recipe! ????
I had the same experience using Cloud Nine gf flour. I must try a better flour mix. So disappointing and a waste of other good ingredients. Lesson learned ????
These are amazing! Since we discovered eleven years ago that my eldest daughter could not have gluten, we have not found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that tasted like the ones my husband and I grew up with. We now have four children who cannot have gluten and this morning, they tried your cookies… warm from the oven. They are perfect! I cannot begin to tell you how much I love them! Today some of them are becoming part of my cookie birthday cake and I am sure the others will be eaten before the day is over! (I used Compliments gluten free flour; available at Safeway and Sobeys in Canada). Thank you!!
I’m so glad you made these and everyone loved them! I would love to see the cookie birthday cake! Fun idea!
Thanks for listing the blend you use in Canada. Very helpful!
My boyfriend (and his mother) are gluten intolerant. I am always trying new recipes and perfecting the ones I have…because let’s face it – gluten free baking is hard!
These are THE BEST gluten free cookies I have ever made. The cream cheese made all the difference in giving them a nice smooth texture. I cooked them for 11 minutes and they came out very soft with semi-crisp edges. I could talk about these FOR DAYS. They didn’t last long and I am making more tonight. Thank You so much.
Lauren, thank you for the great comment! I’m so glad you loved them too. I’m getting ready to make another batch myself!
These are the BEST GF cookies I have made. It is a keeper. THANK YOU!
Sanna,
So glad you love them too! Hope you get to enjoy them many times in the future too! ~Michelle
I made these cookies tonight and they are amazing! They are definitely going to be my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. The texture and flavor are perfect. I used authentic foods classical blend and they baked up beautifully. Thanks for sharing this great recipe! Yum!!!
Thank you for your comment Ana. It is so helpful to others that you included the blend you used successfully. Hope you get to enjoy these often!
Could I add toffee bits instead of chocolate chips and add dried fruit like cherries?
That sounds amazing to me! Let me know if you do!!
Just baked these and are they amazing!! I have tried many gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes. Although they were (mostly) all delicious, this is definitely the best I’ve tried! They don’t even taste gluten-free!
I ended up dropping 1 cup of brown sugar on the floor. I only had less than a 1/4 cup left, so I used mostly coconut sugar and they still turned out great! The dough tasted weird with the coconut sugar, but the baked cookies were still delicious.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made a few changes. I used a combination of oat flour and coconut flour. Also, I used butter and coconut oil (melted the butter, but kept the coconut oil solid). I used brown sugar and replaced the white sugar with coconut sugar. Lastly, I chilled the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes and they turned out soft and chewy and delicious! My favorite cookie recipe I have found!
Willow,
I admire your ambition to just get creative with this recipe. So glad to hear that they were still yummy after all those changes! Enjoy!
These are excellent, a perfect cookie texture!!
I only used 1 cup brown suagr, and no cane sugar to reduce the sugar content.
I made my own flour blend using 3/4 cup rice flour. 1/2 cup tapioca. 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup sweet rice, 1/4 cup superfine brown rice.
Thanks Michelle, these truly are great, just like the real deal!!
Tessa,
I’m so glad you tried these and they turned out well for you! Thanks so much for including your successful substitutions! Your comment was sweet to read!
~Michelle
I’m a very experienced baker (I bake 2-3 times a week), but this recipe was my first time baking gluten free.
I think the success or failure with this recipe is with the gluten free flour blend.
I made these cookies with Cup4Cup, Kerrygold butter, pure cane sugars, and callebaut semisweet chocolate (block chocolate that I chopped). Cookies looked good, but lacked that crisp exterior, and chewy interior that I love in a chocolate chip cookie. Worse, the cookie had a weird aftertaste. The flavor was so unpleasant I threw out the batch. My guess is the weird aftertaste is all that crappy cornstarch in Cup4Cup.
When I considered the need to replicate a gluten structure in the absence of gluten, I thought it made more sense to use a blend with more whole grain flours than starches. And too, starches don’t provide much in the way of flavor. So I made my own gluten free flour blend (60% whole grain flours; 40% white/starches) and tried it with Ashley Rodriguez’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe. Aside from substituting the flour for my gluten free blend, I slightly increased the total amount of sugars by 20g , and added 60g of cream cheese. The cookie was exceptional in both taste and texture. In fact the cookie was so good I ate the entire batch of 22 cookies. Given the marked difference in flavor and texture with the second recipe, I’m convinced it comes down to the flour blend.
I’m going to try this recipe again using my homemade blend.
Cate,
I’m so glad you kept experimenting to get these just right! Thank you for including everything you tried. Hearing that you ate 22 cookies from the second batch is great to read!
These are THE BEST. I’ve baked a lot of gf stuff since my celiac diagnosis, and I am quite successful, but these rank really high up on the list of very best things. I used the Gluten Free Mama’s Rice Almond Blend (as that’s my go to 1 to 1 flour), and they were PERFECT. Frankly, I even forgot to refrigerate them for the first batch because I didn’t see that step since my daughter helped me up until the baking part, and I thought they’d spread like crazy, but they were exactly the same as when I refrigerated the dough. That’s nearly a miracle! Thanks for all the hard work you put into developing this recipe. I’ve made two things from your site, and rave reviews have been received for both. I cannot wait to try more things.
I’m so glad that you thought these were perfect! I hope you can enjoy them again and again!
Omg! Thank you for this. I used Krusteaz gf flour blend. I can’t have dairy, so I used smart balance spread (i also have used earth balance vegan sticks in many of my recipes) and Tofutti nondairy cream cheese (the non hydrogenated kind) and it looked just like yours. In case anyone wants to know.
Chris,
I’m so glad to hear that those dairy-free substitutions worked out so well! Thanks so much for including those!
The best! I RARELY post comments on the web…for anything. These cookies are just so amazing that I felt the need to share how amazing these cookies came out. Excellent!!!! No comparison to any recipe for GF chocolate chip cookies I’ve tried! Thank you so much for sharing!!
We all LOVED this recipe!! Gluten free person and gluten eaters alike! My review is to help the dairy free crowd!! I just made these amazing cookies dairy free!! They came out great!! Fantastic texture, super yummy and addictive! I followed the recipe exactly as you wrote it and used the dairy free ingredients in substitute of the dairy, simple I know 🙂 I just used Nucoa buttery stick, which is just a dairy free margarine, it is hard to find, it doesn’t have any dairy free ingredients but isn’t certified dairy free. If you want something certified there is always Earth Balance. I used Daiya dairy free cream cheese, and then Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I made the recipe exactly how you suggested and they came out looking just like your cookies! I also used the Mama’s Almond Blend Flour. I hope that helps!
Christy, Thanks so much for sharing your dairy-free adaptations that worked well for you. That is so helpful. I’m glad to know those worked and will soon be trying them that way too!
Hello I just want to verify, for the flour am I to use two cups and than one 1/4 or two 1/4 cups?
This is my go to recipe for GF chocolate chip cookies – it’s exactly what I want! (I considered myself somewhat of a chocolate chip cookie expert before going gluten free). Since two of my four sisters & I have all discovered we are gluten sensitive, I’ve had to completely relearn how to bake. (Gluten baking was a breeze!) Also, a brother-in-law is fructose intolerant so I’ll substitute organic coconut palm sugar (an unrefined brown sugar) in place of the traditional [molasses] brown sugar and you can’t tell a difference!
Hi. Can you tell me which flour mix was used in this recipe? The picture looks so great, that I want to copy exactly what you did.
These gluten free cookies are the best! Soooooo good!