Its Monday, its winter and naturally quite cold, the skies are grey. Those are all good reasons to make chocolate chunk cookies to brighten the day.
This morning I decided I wanted some cookies so I wandered into the kitchen and threw some ingredients into a bowl. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect these cookies to be the BEST chocolate chip cookie I have EVER had. Literally. They are crisp and chewy but also perfectly gooey on the inside. Best part? They will take you no more than 25 minutes start to finish.
My husband who doesn’t typically like sweets popped home for lunch and snuck out with a bag of every last cookie from my batch to take back to the office to eat with his coffee. I was stunned.. its a sure sign that the cookies are indeed as amazing as I thought they were.
This recipe is EASY- its flexible enough to adapt to meet your various dietary needs. Please use the following substitutions as needed:
- Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour. If your cookies turn green- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for.
- To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.)
- Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe.
- The 1/2 cup of granulated sugar can be ANY variety. Cane, Sucanat, Coconut Palm Sugar. To make this recipe SUGAR FREE use xylitol or erythritol. Just make sure whichever sugar you use is granulated not liquid.
- For the Milk: you can use any variety: Cows Milk, Goats Milk, Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, Soy Milk or Rice milk. Use what you have on hand. If you have none- you can just use water instead.
- For the Chocolate: I used a bar of Simply Light sugar free/ dairy free dark chocolate. It can be found at Trader Joes or Whole foods. Any bar of chocolate can be used in this recipe.. additionally you can always just use allergen free chocolate chips or chunks from Enjoy Life. In the recipe I recommend using 1-2 bars of chocolate. I used 1 bar, if you like your cookies loaded with chocolate go ahead and use up to 2 bars.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- 2 packed cups blanched almond flour (for subsustutions see note above)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used Erithritol see note above for other options)
- 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp. Salt
- 3 Tbs room temperature Butter (Earth Balance, Goats Butter, Shortening or Coconut Oil will also work).
- 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbs Milk (dairy or nondairy)
- 1-2 Bars of dairy free chocolate chopped into chunks (see note above for sugar free brand)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a large cookie sheet with either parchment paper or a baking mat to prevent sticking.
- Chop your bar(s) of chocolate into chunks (as big or as small as you want them).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (by hand should work as well) combine all of the ingredients stirring in the chopped chocolate last.
- Form 12 cookies with your hands into round / flat patties (I made mine 3/4 inch thick and about 3 inches wide). Note: This dough may be a little crumbly- don’t fret is thats the case!
- Bake 16-17 minutes until the bottom and the edges start to look lightly golden brown. (Note: this baking time may vary pending the type of sugar that you use. I have noticed that when using Xyltiol and Erithritol that my baking time ends up needing to be a few minutes longer- so the best advice I can give is to keep an eye on your cookies after the ten minute mark.)
I like to store my cookies in a sealed bag in the fridge as this makes them crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I think they taste best the next day. Though I know some people love these best hot, straight out of the oven!
Recipe Update: I made these again and toyed with the flavor a little and LOVED the results so I had to share:
Instead of using 1 full TBS of vanilla extract I split it up and used 1/2 Tsp of Almond Extract + 2 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla. The flavor was to die for!! If you want to take the recipe to the next level try adding some dried cherries (or maybe even some fresh chopped) to the batter as well. (Cherries + Almond are a match made in heaven!).
Make these, you will thank me for telling you to do so.
-Brittany-
Ps. I have now heard from over 200 people that have made and loved these cookies on my facebook page! Many have told me that they loved the recipe so much, that they made multiple batches within a matter of days. These cookies are highly highly addictive- I know we have made 6 batches in the last week.
Some of the comments I have received:
Mary Anne: ” They are delicious I made them last week I have 2 left I am saving them. You got me hooked on chocolate chip cookies now and I even didn’t like them before now, but I love them now. “
Gia : “We’ve made 3 double batches over the last week. Everyone is obsessed!”
Brittany: ”These truly are the world’s best! I’m on batch number four tonight since last week. I honestly can’t say I’ve tasted a better cookie.”
Katharine: ” batch number four over here, too! Every time I start by just eating one. Who am I kidding? I always go back for more.”
Katerina: “ They’re soooooo good….but I’ve banned myself from making them after scoffing the whole dozen.”
Jess : ”We made these last week and they disappeared within two hours!! Love them!”
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Again, your generosity is so touching, and your creativity with healthy and allergen free food is inspiring!! Ever since I found out I'm GF back in 2008, and since have encountered other food-based health issues, playing around in the kitchen and finding new, healthy, and delicious ways to create comfort foods is fun ... but at times challenging. Your recipes, and especially your story, encourages me to keep going
So very glad you are feeling better, dear.
xx
Katie
Beautiful ! Can't wait to make these,thank you Brittany !
Can almond meal be used if I don't have blanched almond flour? Thanks so much! I love this website and have told many about it!!
Dionne
Just found you this week and am so grateful. Been GF for 14 years and now like yourself and many others have encountered multiple other food sensitivities. Grain-free is perfect. Thank you so much for your time and creativity in coming up with these wonderful recipes and sharing them.
Can't wait to try the cookies.
I thought I was DONE making sweet treats but apparently not.
Those look quick, simple and delicious. I can't wait to make them!! I even have the flour, must be a sign...
I just made these!! The texture is seriously the best almond flour choc chip cookie I have made! I was worried the dough was too crumbly but I'm glad I didn't change it before baking. I used butter, cream, and erythritol. And 1 bar of 85% dark chocolate because that's all I had on hand. I wish I could lose the cooling effect of the erythritol, but honestly I quit noticing after the first bite. You are correct that these are wonderful!!!! Thank you SO much!! You're so generous.
Oh yeah!! Thanks for bringing that up- the dough is a bit crumbly. Ill add that to the directions. I'm like you and am quick to alter a recipe if it doesn't seem right
OK Ms. Brittany, I'm having a love/hate relationship with you in my head.
I've made these TWICE in less than a week and only have 1 cookie left!! Ooooh, they are too hard to resist!!! I have been storing them in the refrigerator then warming them up in the microwave to recreate the fresh-from-the-oven yumminess. I'm going to have to dig deep and find some discipline when it comes to these amazing cookies!
I'm having the same struggle.. Except I've got you beat.. I've made and finished off a batch every day since I posted the recipe. It's not good..
I might have to join a gym!
I think you should add a warning like they do on all the pharmaceutical ads - WARNING: These cookies may cause extreme cookie obsession and compulsive baking behaviors and consumption in some.
These look great! I am going to pin the recipe for later use - after too much holiday indulgence, I'm trying to stay away from treats for a while
Thanks so much for your words of encouragement and your generosity of recipes. My 15 year old had to go gluten free 2 years ago and it was a struggle at first, but she did really well following the diet and her health improved. Now she is suffering again so we are beginning to eliminate more grains and soy from her diet. My gut tells me sugar needs to go next but she has a huge sweet tooth. Is there somewhere you go over these different kinds of sweeteners that are healthier? Do they replace granulated sugar equally? Thanks so much for being an inspiration and for your hard work making these recipes. The products are all so expensive it makes trial and error of creating recipes beyond my means.
With my daughter we have zeroed in on corn being the main problem and corn is worse then gluten to work around...corn starch is used in all medications etc Good Luck!
Great recipe, Brittany... and the best in the world? I dig it, especially if the husband grabbed a couple and he doesn't even like cookies! There must be something to them
You're right, cold wintery days are best enjoyed with a plate of cookies.
Exactly.. I could not believe my husband ran off with the last 8 cookies in a bag for work!! That's when I decided to call them " worlds best". Haha.
Glad you guys liked them too!
Our house is the exact opposite. If there's something I've baked, even if I've hid it from Kevin, he'll find it and eat it. It's insanity! If I really, really don't want him to have what I've made, I just throw raisins in it. He hates the things!
World's Best is dead on! I could not believe how great these came out! Mine only took 9 minutes to cook. I'm addicted! Thanks so much!
We haven't tried these yet but because there is a nut allergy, do you think quinoa flour would hold up all right?
I don't have any dietary restrictions, but these look and sound amazing! Great job Brittany
Brittany, Brittany, oh Brittany...WHAT did I do wrong?? I was SO looking forward to these--big treat, as I rarely bake lately. I followed it to the letter~~or so I thought. Burned, lumpy, awful flavor. I did use almond meal instead (so much cheaper, from Trader Joe's) and ghee instead of butter. Used erythritol, let it bake about 16 minutes. They totally died. ;-(
It was the almond meal- it tastes bitter for one and secondly it does not absorb moisture in the same way as almond flour. They work entirely different!
Typically in recipes that call for blanched almond flour it's the only thing that's going to work.
Ps. The skins of the almonds is what burned and gave it the icky flavor.
That's interesting because I have used the almond meal mega-successfully in your other recipes. In fact I made the layered brownie chocolate chip cookie bars today, which I've made often before with the meal, and have absolutely loved the raspberry streusel every time I have made it. I've made both recipes with meal and flour. While the flour gives a finer product, it's never impacted the flavor nor burned nor been tasteless like that before. So I guess it depends on the recipe. Live and learn. Thanks for the reply! I can see where the flour would absorb moisture differently.
Interesting! I usually don't recommend using it as I have had other people have problems with that same bitter flavor issue! I had a few people use it in my sugar cookie recipe last month and report the same exact bitter taste. Perhaps it is baked goods that are baked directly on a pan.. both my sugar cookies and these are done when they get "golden" on the edges.. so I'm guessing for both cookies that that amount of time cooking burns the almond meal.
Hmm, my reply from the last night dissppeared. Anyway, thanks again for all the great work.
How much is a "bar" oz wise? so many i see in the stores are 4 oz 8 oz, 6 oz?!
I'm not sure.. And honestly it doesn't matter- because these cookies are flexible and you can get away with using any of those amounts.
I made these last night and they are delish. I can only eat one at a time because they are filling!
I can't wait to try these!
so no honey or maple syrup substitutes?
Substitute at your own risk!
Your recipes look great and I am looking forward to trying them. A suggestion: when you note teaspoon it is lowercase (tsp) and tablespoon is capital (Tbl):)
Yep. I am aware. I've always used Tbs instead and never have had anyone have a problem understanding.
brittany you are amazing!!!! oh my golly these cookies are GOOD. straight from the oven to my bocca. i made my soy-free, grain-free, cane-sugar free and vegan with soy free earth balance, coconut palm sugar, almond milk and raw walnut flour (which was closer to 'meal' texture). they spread a lot and taste FANTASTIC!!! they are very oily, so if using a high-oil nut like walnuts, i'd cut back on the oil/margarine. mine are dark brown (probably because of the sugar and walnuts). oh my they are delicious! very thin and cripsy and did i say DELICIOUS. i love recipes where you can substitute to your hearts content! i'd love more flexible recipes like this one
. xoxoxo
Removed these from the oven about an hour ago and this will definitely become a keeper in my house. Who needs Toll House when you have these!? Although the recipe will have to be doubled or tripled to make them last more than one day. lol Thanks for coming up with new recipes for those of us that love to bake but don't have the time to experiment.
I was hungry for chocolate cookies, so took my regular choc chip recipe with almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup and added 1/4-1/3 cup cocoa. I separated my dry ingredients and wet ones and mixed and baked and fell in love! They turned out so moist and light! Hope I can duplicate!! Thanks for all the inspiration.
These cookies are AWESOME! I made them today and really was swooning with the first bite - incredible! I didn't have bleached almond flour but had plan raw almonds (with skin) so I just ground them up in the food processor. Sincerely they are amazing!
I just made these and they are baking as we speak! I ate half of the cookie dough before baking them and they are AMAZING!!!!!! <3 you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!
I was so excited to make these tonight! I literally followed the recipe exactly and they came our gross
None were as colored as yours, they weren't sweet, and they came out of the oven extremely crumbly. I tried adding a little more sugar and a little more milk to the second half of the bath and it did not get any better 
Can you walk me through the exact ingredients that you used? This recipe has been made literally hundreds of times by others with great success so I want to figure out what went wrong for you.
Ps. You have to let them cool before removing them from the tray or else they will crumble.
bet she used subpar almond flour. your tip about ordering almond flour from nuts.com or honeyville made such a HUGE difference in the recipes.
Hello again! So I am actually making these cookies now.. but i was wondering do you know how much 1-2 bars of chocolate equates out to? I haveto use baker's Choco.. Well perhaps I will use 2 chunks of that and i can try it out.. i will let you know!
I don't.
But I can safely say that you can add as much chocolate as you want and it shouldn't mess with the recipe!
Chop and dump into the bowl as much as you want!
i made it with the baking chocolate and it was really good! i did just that i just chopped and kept adding until it looked good. the baked chocolate was a tad bitter but i liked it!
Thanks for the recipe! I missed choco. chip cookies.. and tomorrow night i am going to a game night with friends and i will bring this so that i have a goodie to snack on as well. 
thanks again!
How many comments can I add to this recipe?? I keep having more good things to say! Today I ate a big cookie (I made a batch that yielded 11 big ones) and my sweetener was swerve (erythritol) and my chocolate was 85% dark. Anyway, my main health issue is prediabetes and today I tested my blood sugar 2 hours after eating a big cookie. It was 10 points LOWER 2 hours after eating this cookie than it was before I ate it! Do you know how awesome this is??!! I can officially "indulge" worry-free! (I'd been indulging already, but hadn't verified the impact on my blood sugar).:) HOORAY!
That is awesome!!! And makes me so happy!!
These sound great! I made chocolate chunk cookies a while ago with almond meal, perhaps I'll try your recipe this time.
Hi Brittany,
I am so excited to make these today! Is there an easy way to print off your recipes? I don't see a little printer icon anywhere. Thanks!
Love love love these cookies! Hubby and I went to Whole Foods last night for ingredients as I have been trying to eat clean and I really needed a cookie/sweet fix. Two questions.....at Whole Foods the almond flour was over 7.00 bucks -anywhere to find it cheaper? Also- do you have nutritional values like carbs, fat, calories approximately for each cookie? thanks so much for the recipe I will definitely pass on!
If you order In bulk from nuts.com or honeyville you will save money!
just made these!! wow, yummers!!! thanks so much for all your great recipes, i'll definitely will be checking out more.
cheers
well...that didnt take long. i'm making these again LOL
again, thanks for the recipe brittany.
Would these be freezable after they are baked? I'm having a baby soon and want to make some snacks and treats to have in the freezer that I can take to the hospital and that hubby and my son can have while I'm away - and that I can feel good about what is in them.
For sure!!! They taste great straight out of the freezer too
These are fantastic! I am new to GF baking and cooking, as I am pretty sure I have thyroid issues and adrenal fatigue. My kids had one, too, and had no idea these are healthy!
Thank you for the recipes. (I made these with vanilla and almond extracts. Delicious!)
I wish I could hug you through the email, Brittany, because I finally got around to making these cookies and they are SO SUPER YUMMY! Thank you a million times over for sharing the recipe! I can honestly say, gluten free baking is now fun and delicious....I never thought I would utter those words.
This recipe was my first attempt at gluten free and they came out perfect! I used xylitol for the sugar and almond flour (have no idea if it was blanched, got it from bulk section at whole foods). I also used the Enjoy Life brand chocolate bars. The cookies taste amazing and you can't even tell they are gluten/sugar free!
Thanks for this recipe Brittany! Can't wait to try your other goodies
These are AMAZING! Thank you so much for this recipe. Even my non-GF friends think they are the best cookies ever!
We've been making some lifestyle modifications in our family for the past month, and one of the things we missed most were cookies. I tried making these last night with Xylitol, and we were all very impressed. Even my hubby, who tends to balk at healthy substitutions, loves them. I made a double batch tonight. I think it's good to use Xylitol; the side-effects will keep me from eating too many at once! Thanks for a great recipe!
i FINALLY made these cookies again, after making the rounds tasting your other cookie recipes, and this one is my fav!! i made hemp flour for these cookies, which i wasn't sure would work, but added tons of rich chewiness and nutrition to the cookies...i think i might make 100% hemp flour cookies. yum! i used hemp hearts to make the flour...they are similar in color and texture to finely ground blanched almond flour. i had no problem using meal vs. flour.
). i used coconut oil, rice milk, and coconut palm sugar. they spread A LOT and puffed up in the oven to perfect little dark golden brown circles of yumminess. they are carmelly and crisp, and flat. they stay together and taste incredible. my family and i couldn't stop eating them...although we tried. we froze them, to preserve their 'fresh from the over crispness'.
i made 1 c almond meal, 1/2 cup walnut meal, 1/2 cup hemp meal in the food processor, and then threw in the rest of the ingredients and mixed it up in food processor too (except chocolate chips
you've hit on a goldmine, brittany. <3
These cookies are to-die-for with the dried cherries and almond extract (I even threw dark chocolate in there but they really didn't need it.) I may have to start buying almond flour in bulk now.
Definitely my favorite cookies ive made so far
- did the almond extract instead of all vanilla- - amazing
- used coconut sugar
- used kerrygold butter
- used semi sweet chocolate chips
- added trader joes coconut chips
AMAZING!
Just made this recipe moments ago and wow! I'm amazed how good this cookie is. Thank you!
I have made several batches of these and my families favorite so far has been with the almond and vanilla mix and adding 2 eggs. They spread out into flatter and softer cookies. My family loves them no matter what though!
If anyone is interested I made these just now (YUM) and figured out some of the nutritional info. The only change I made to the recipe was I used 1/4 each coconut palm sugar and stevia. I got 160 calories, 13 g fat, 11 carbs and 2.8 g fiber and 4.5 grams protein.
I want to make these for my daughters class but I can not bring nuts into school... almond flour?!?!? anything that is not a nut i can switch it for??
Yum. My husband esp loved them. What would a couple eggs do to the texture?
Made these last night and they turned out perfectly! I added chopped, dried cherries and almond extract.............HEAVEN!!!
Thank you Brittany for working so hard to create and share these recipes, you've brought a lot of joy back into my world of eating.
Made these last night and they turned out perfect! I added chopped, dried cherries and almond extract.............HEAVEN!!!
Thank you Brittany for working so hard to create and share these recipes, you've brought a lot of joy back into my world of eating.
i have made these cookies numerous times now and they are ADORED BY ALL! my gluten-eating friends beg me to bring these to parties, and i am happy to do so because they are so darn easy to make! i have made them with soy-free earth balance and also with grass-fed butter. with xylitol and also with organic sugar. with the almond extract and with just vanilla (almond extract does make them really tasty). i also like to add pecans. point being, get creative with these. the basic recipe is easy and DELISH! thank you, britney! you're an ANGEL!
I made these today for a coworker's birthday in an attempt to make them see that "healthier" can still mean taste good. (They think I eat only grass on my GF/Dairy Free/Paleo diet ... !) I made these and regular ol' slice and dice sugar cookies from the store. They loved these cookies, and even more then the sugar cookies! Thank you for the recipe, and your website - absolutely awesome!
I noticed that too! I just made the move to a new server- and basically we copy all of the content then move it over. I think you left your comment after we made this copy and it didn't make it to the new server. I lost 3 comments in the move total.
{ 8 trackbacks }