Gluten Free Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

About These Gluten Free Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

These almond flour chocolate chip cookies use all almond flour, making them 100% gluten free! Despite being gluten free, they look and taste EXACTLY like your favorite chocolate chip cookie with all-purpose flour. Think: cookies with chewy, gooey centers with crispy, lightly browned edges, complete with puddles of melted dark chocolate throughout. The best part? This recipe comes together quickly, with no chilling required!

Are these almond flour chocolate chip cookies gluten free?

Yes! They are 100% gluten free because the recipe uses almond flour (which is a gluten free product).

Are these almond flour chocolate chip cookies vegan?

No. The cookies contain both butter and eggs, which are animal products. However, if you jump to the Ingredients and Substitutions section of the post, I provide some substitutions to make the cookies vegan.

For more delicious gluten free baking recipes on Hummingbird High, check out these popular recipes: Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies, Gluten Free Pandan Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake, and Small Batch Baked Ube Mochi Donuts.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make these almond flour chocolate chip cookies, here’s everything you need for the recipe:

Shopping List for Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact ingredient quantities—hit the “Jump to The Recipe” button on the page for a quick shortcut!

• almond flour OR almond meal
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• unsalted butter
• dark OR light brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• large eggs
• pure vanilla extract
• dark chocolate (between 60% to 70% cacao), from whole fèves or a high-quality chocolate bar

Check out my post on The Best Chocolate For Chocolate Chip Cookies, which discusses why you should use dark chocolate with cacao percentages, chopped chocolate from baking bars and/or fèves, and more when making chocolate chip cookies!

All About Almond Flour

Almond Meal Versus Almond Flour

Okay, TL/DR: almond meal and almond flour are the same thing.

Some folks will argue with you and say that almond flour is made with blanched almonds. Blanching the almonds removes their skins, giving you a consistent pale yellowish white almond flour. Almond meal, on the other hand, are made with almonds that haven’t been blanched. As a result, almond meal contains almond skin and is dark brown and speckled in color.

But real talk: manufacturers don’t have any formal rules to follow when it comes to defining their labels as almond flour versus almond meal. Although there are some manufacturers—like Bob’s Red Mill—who do a great job of sticking to that definition above, there are many others who don’t. That’s why you’ll see almond flour labelled as “almond meal”, and vice versa. So don’t stress about it too much.

And what does it mean for these almond flour chocolate chip cookies? You can use either almond meal or almond flour in the recipe, no problem.

What about blanched almond meal? What is blanched almond meal anyway? And what about blanched almond flour?

Ah, yes. To make matters even more confusing, some manufacturers like to call their almond flour “blanched almond meal” or “blanched almond flour.” Both describes almond flour that’s been made with blanched almonds, resulting in the pale, yellowish white almond flour.

Where To Buy Almond Flour

Back in the day, almond flour used to be a rarity and typically only available in fancy grocery stores and hippie food co-ops. But now, most major supermarkets carry the stuff.

Looking for a brand recommendation? My favorite almond flour is from Bob’s Red Mill (who sells both almond flour and almond meal—see my essay about the differences between the two above, lol). I also like King Arthur Baking Company’s almond flour.

How To Make Almond Flour

Alright, you proved me wrong. You could not find any almond flour at any store. No worries! You can make it at home, too.

To make almond flour at home, pulse raw almonds in a food processor until finely ground. That’s it! Be careful not to overprocess the nuts—you might accidentally end up with almond butter, lol. Instead, pulse the nuts for 2 to 3 seconds at a time until you get the texture of a coarse meal.

How To Make The Recipe

Here are the basic steps to make almond flour chocolate chip cookies from scratch:

1. Prep the ingredients for the cookies. (Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes)
   The prep process for these almond flour chocolate chip cookies is easy! All you need to do is measure out the ingredients beforehand. That’s it! If you’re using whole fèves like I recommended, there’s no need to chop them up beforehand. As a result, your prep time will only be about 5 minutes. However, if you’re chopping up chocolate for the recipe, your prep time will be 10 minutes.
   
   
2. Then, make the cookie dough. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
   The dough comes together quickly. First, mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Then, beat the butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy. Then, add the egg and vanilla. Finally mix in the dry ingredients, then the chocolate. That’s it!
   
   
3. Next, assemble the cookies. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   The fastest and easiest way to make picture-perfect cookies is to invest in a cookie dough scoop. These handy tools scoop the dough into dough balls that bake into perfect cookie circles every time. In general, I use a 3-Tablespoon or 4-Tablespoon sized cookie dough scoops to make my cookie recipes. Doing so makes perfect 3- to 3.5-inch wide cookies.
   
   
4. Finally, bake the cookies. (Bake Time: 15 minutes)
   The almond flour chocolate chip cookies need 15 minutes in the oven. When done, the edges should be set. However, the centers will still look a little soft. That’s normal! In fact, that’s the secret to a perfect cookie with a chewy center.

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Help! I made these almond flour chocolate chip cookies but they don’t look like your cookies. My chocolate stayed mostly in tact. They didn’t melt and pool throughout the cookie like yours did. What did I do wrong?

First things first: did you use chocolate chips? If you did, they’re the likely culprit.

I mentioned earlier that chocolate chips are made with stabilizers like more cocoa solids and paraffin wax to ensure that they keep their shape when baked. They won’t melt and pool into puddles like chopped chocolate bars. That’s why I always recommend using chopped chocolate if you’re looking for a picture-perfect, Instagram-ready cookie!

However, if you did use chopped chocolate, it’s likely that you chopped your chocolate up too finely. You want to keep the pieces fairly big—think: ½ inch to 1 inch pieces. Bigger pieces will get more melty and molten!

Finally, if you’re using feves, note that some fèves melt better than others—milk and white chocolate doesn’t melt as well as dark chocolate, and Valrhona dark chocolate fèves melt better than Guittard wafers. If you want your cookies to look EXACTLY like mine, check out my post on The Best Chocolate For Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can find even more of my chocolate tips, tricks, and recommendations there!

Can you freeze almond flour chocolate chip cookies?

Yes! You can freeze almond flour chocolate chip cookies in the following ways:

1. Freeze the UNBAKED almond flour chocolate chip cookie dough.
   Follow the recipe instructions to make the cookie dough and scoop them out into cookie dough balls. Place the cookie dough balls in a small sheet pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour, or until the cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 1 year.
   
   To bake the frozen cookie dough balls, line sheet pans with parchment paper and position the cookie dough balls at least 3 inches apart on the sheet pans. Then, follow the recipe instructions to preheat the oven. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey.
   
   
2. Freeze the BAKED almond flour chocolate chip cookies.
   Individually wrap any leftover chocolate chip cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes before serving.