Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The ingredients in this recipe result in the BEST chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies ever - even better than the OG wheat version!

When developing this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for Beyond Flour: A Fresh Approach to Gluten-Free Cooking & Baking, I ran into a unique cookbook issue:

They tasted SO good as raw batter, they almost didn't get baked into actual cookies!

These cookies are a stellar example of what can happen with you really hit the right combination of alternative flours, to come up with something even tastier than the original, full-gluten version.

Hit the right combination, in the right proportions... And WOW.

This might just be my favorite recipe yet; I may never make wheat-flour, regular chocolate chip cookies ever again ... even for non-gluten-free friends! These aren’t just a good chocolate chip cookie, they really are the best cookies.

(Note: All of the recipes in each of my gluten-free cookbooks were tested almost exclusively on people who were NOT gluten-free, as I wanted honest views on what is actually GOOD - definitely good enough to pass as "normal", and often even better than normal!)

The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The thing is... while wheat flour is incredibly forgiving and easy to use, it doesn't actually contribute much in the way of FLAVOUR. For an ingredient that's such a large percentage of the recipe, that's a shame.

When it comes to gluten-free flours, a lot of them have distinct flavours. While many all-purpose mixes go for the most neutral tasting flours possible, I like to use the flavors together, as part of the overall cookie.

Yes - gluten-free baking can be even better than “normal” baking!

I like to think of it in terms of spices: Sure, you can have salt, pepper, and something intended to be all-purpose, like a Mrs Dash type thing. If you have a full spice rack - and use it well! - you'll have a lot more fun, and turn out better results.

It's worth the extra minute or so to measure a couple more ingredients, IMHO.

The combination of the alternate flours with brown and granulated sugar, vanilla, and a little salt to balance it all out makes for a rich, complex, and properly chewy gluten-free chocolate chip cookie.

There are none of the texture issues common to gluten free cookies here, just soft, satisfying cookies that are great fresh out of the oven AND at room temperature!

It’s definitely my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, gluten free or otherwise. The dough makes for really delicious cookies: crisp edges, chewy texture.

Not to toot my horn too much, but they really are the best chewy chocolate chip cookies.

I’m all for all kinds of fancy cookies, decorated, filled, whatever... but sometimes the most simple cookie ends up being the perfect cookie, you know?

Ok, enough of my fangirling about these cookies...

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients

While many of the ingredients for this gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe are pretty basic - butter, brown sugar, white sugar, milk, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and baking powder - there are a few ingredients you may not have worked with.

This recipe was developed using a specific mixture of gluten-free flours and starch, for the best taste and texture.

As I mentioned, I do NOT find that any gluten-free flour blend / “all purpose flour” to produce anywhere near as good for a result as custom blending flours for the recipe.

Brown rice flour
Sorghum flour
Coconut flour
Tapioca starch
Xanthan gum

While an all-purpose gf flour may work, it won’t produce the same results. As every gluten free flour blend has a different formulation, I cannot speak to whether any particular one would work well in here.

Chocolate Chips

I have a significant sweet tooth, so I like traditional milk chocolate chips in this recipe . I just find that sweet chocolate chips make the best chocolate chip cookies.

Oh, and while this calls for a decent amount of chocolate, you can definitely add extra chocolate chips if you like!

How to Make Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here’s a walk through with additional tips.

Make the Dough

In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy.

Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically, to ensure all bits of butter and sugar are fully incorporated and uniform.

Add eggs, milk, and vanilla, beat until everything is fully incorporated and smooth.

In a medium bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Slowly add this dry ingredients mix to the mixer bowl of wet ingredients, and carefully mix on low speed until well incorporated and smooth.

Chill dough for 1 hour.

Make the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375F (190 C), line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll 1" balls out of the cookie dough. You can use spoons to pick up tablespoons of dough, or even a small cookie scoop.

Arrange cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet, leaving at least 2" between cookies - they flatten out a fair amount.

Gently press the tops of each slightly - flatten JUST enough to prevent the dough from rolling.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until golden brown. Cookies will look puffy, but flatten out as they cool. Do not overbake!

Remove baking sheet (s) from the oven.

If you have cooling rack set, you can place a cookie sheet on each rack, to allow the bottom of the pan to cool faster.

Allow the baked cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before moving, as they’ll be fragile when fresh from the oven.

Be sure to cool the cookies to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container for storage.

Tips for Making the BEST Gluten Free Cookies

- Don’t substitute *anything*. Every last ingredient and proportion in this recipe has very specific purposes, both in flavour AND texture.

It really is the perfect balance, don’t upset it if you want your cookies to be the real deal!

- While you want the butter softened to room temperature for creaming it, you don’t want it too warm, and you definitely don’t want melted butter for this.

- Want to use this gluten free chocolate chip cookies recipe for raw cookie dough, either to make gluten free cookie dough ice cream, or to enjoy straight from the bowl (I don't judge!)? Use pasteurized eggs!

- The MOST important note: That dough chill step? For best results, don’t skip it. Seriously - the chilling step is important.

Not only does it firm up the dough for better performance, it gives the flours enough time to absorb the liquids - and this is KEY to a great texture.

It’s ok to let it chill longer, but I don’t recommend shortening or skipping the chilling step.

- On that note, I should mention that the dough will be sticky before you chill it. Sticky enough that it might worry you, the first time you make this.

The stickiness is not only OK, it’s *wanted*. If it wasn’t sticky, it would have too much flour.

Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Variations

While you shouldn't substitute anything for the main cookie part, the chocolate chips do have more leeway. A few ideas:

- Swap all or part of the chocolate chips out for chocolate chunks, or different flavours of chocolate chips:

Andes Mint Chips
Butterscotch Chips
Dark Chocolate Chips
Mint Chocolate Chips
Peanut Butter Chips
White Chocolate Chips

- Swap part of the chips out for nuts, or use ½ cup-⅔ cup of chopped nuts in addition to the chips. Pecans or walnuts work the best, but use whatever you like!

- Mix and Match. The cookie base of this recipe makes AMAZING gluten-free white chocolate macadamia cookies! Just swap the milk chocolate chips out for white, and add chopped macadamia nuts.

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5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The ingredients in this recipe result in the BEST chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies ever - even better than the OG wheat version!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time13 minutes mins

Resting time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 23 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: 30 Cookies

Calories: 179kcal

Equipment

• 2 Baking Sheets
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter softened
• 1 cup Dark brown sugar packed
• ½ cup Granulated sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 1 tablespoon Milk
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 cup Brown rice flour
• 1 cup Sorghum flour
• ¼ cup Coconut flour
• 2 tablespoon Tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon Xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking soda
• ½ teaspoon Baking powder
• 1 bag milk chocolate chips ~ 2 cups

Instructions

• In stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy.
• Add eggs, milk, and vanilla, beat until everything is fully incorporated and smooth.
• In a large bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Slowly add this dry mix to the mixer bowl, and carefully mix until well incorporated and smooth.
• Chill dough for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375F (190 C), line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll 1" balls out of the cookie dough.
• Arrange dough balls on baking sheets leaving at least 2" between cookies - they flatten out a fair amount.
• Gently press the tops of each slightly - flatten JUST enough to prevent the dough from rolling.
• Bake for 11-13 minutes. Cookies will look puffy, but flatten out as they cool. Do not overbake!

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 206IU | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

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