Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

chocolate chip cookies recipe

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This gluten-free, naturally-sweetened chocolate chip cookies recipe has just 7 ingredients. Go ahead, try one.

This is one of the first chocolate chip cookie recipes that I created. Two subsequent recipes for gluten free chocolate chip cookies that I think are even better than this one include my Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, here on this website, and my all time favorite gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe in The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

For those of you that were wondering, I use this website as a journal for the recipes that I write. I love all of my recipes, I test them all numerous times, however, it is only the most special and unique recipes that make it into my cookbooks. And, by the way, every recipe that goes into my cookbooks is tested by numerous people, including professional recipe testers. Sometimes recipes are tested upwards of 50 times before they make it into my books.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Serves: 24 cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
  2. Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
  3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
  4. Form 1-inch balls and press onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  5. Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
  6. Cool and serve

* Please note: Bob’s Red Mill almond flour does not yield successful results when used in this and my other recipes. For more information regarding this matter please see my FAQs.

Comments

  1. Just made these tonight. Absolutely wonderful!! My husband and I have been eating grain free for 3 months now and he was begging for chocolate chip cookies. I found that if you put the dough in the freezer 5 minutes before you start baking and then again in between cooking batches that it’s much easier to roll into 1 in balls and flatten on the cookie sheet. Thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply

  2. I have used Elana’s blog as my “go to” site for baking with alternative ingredients for about 6 1/2 years now. I have enjoyed so many tasty recipes from her, and I am grateful for someone like her to help me take the guess work out of my favorite activity, baking! I just wanted to share a little surprise I found with these coockies over the holidays. My local commissary (grocery store) had Bob’s Red Mill Hazelnut flour as a special for the holidays. I bought some and made these chocolate chip cookies with it. They tasted like Nutella! Amazing yumminess

    Reply

  3. Dear Elana, this is a great website. However I recommend you to provide the recipes in SI units as well (mL, g), because your recipes are really great, but the conversion bit can take the fun out of it… Thank you!

    Reply

  4. This is my most favoritest cookie recipe ever!! I like to use hazelnut meal instead if almond flour, and coconut oil instead of butter. This combo with the chocolate chips is to.die.for! Dangerously delicious!!!

    Reply

  5. Hi Elana,
    I just wanted to let you and your followers know that you can use Bob’s red mill in this recipe, here’s how: do not use parchment paper, lower the temp to 325 and cook 10-15. ?

    Reply

    • I just made these with Bobs Red Mill but I also used 1/4 cup tapioca flour and used 1/2 c cocao nibs and 1/2 c chocolate chips. Yum! I also put the dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes,before baking and flattened them before cooking.

      Reply

  6. Hi Elana, this is the 2nd recipe of yours I have tried and so happy that I found this recipe as have been craving a good cookie especially after buying an expensive gluten free one on the weekend! Here are my modifications if your readers are interested in another butter substitute:

    1 for 1 substitution with homemade apple sauce + a little more and less honey (almost 1 cup apple sauce)
    1/4 cup honey vs 1/2 cup (wanted less sugar)
    1 cup chopped quality chocolate
    approx 1/2 to 1 cup walnuts

    I forgot I was using almond flour so these cookies are really nutty … altho with the apple sauce, I needed more dry stuff as the flour was really wet so they turned out great, and I was able to bake 16 small cookies and freeze 32 for 48 total!!

    Thanks again for the yummy recipe :)

    Reply

  7. Elana, I have made your almond-sesame cookies several times (adding chocolate chips sometimes) and those turn out perfectly. However, the recipe here resulted in a flat puddle, and I used such good ingredients :( I couldnt even scrape them off the foil. So… I froze them and they taste lovely, but this recipe just did not work out for me. I don’t understand why. Do you mean baking powder instead of baking soda? xxx

    Reply

  9. I tried the recipe with almond flour from Honeyville, and almost the same recipe was on the package in fact, except the grapeseed oil. I used sesame seed oil instead, which was what I had at home and craisins instead of chocolate chips. I reduced the agave to 3/8 cups. The cookies hold its shape really well without an egg, which was great. I try to eat egg free since I have hard time to digest. I hope you have more baking recipes without eggs in the future. I’ve found the cookies a little greasy though. Almond is really high on fat I guess. Next time I’ll skip the oil and use apple sauce.
    Thank for the great recipes.

    Reply

  10. Hi Elana, I’m looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I thought was from your site that had arrowroot flour and cashew (butter) as ingredients (no almond flour at all). I can’t find it anywhere…does that sound familiar? I had substituted cashew meal from TJ’s for the cashews and it was so good… hoping to make them again. Thanks in advance!

    Reply

  11. Darn! I just made these with bobs almond flour. When they didn’t turn out I went back to the recipe, and there’s the little note at the bottom:(

    Reply

  12. Hi, i have been looking for a recipe like yours, i have insulin resistance and currently on a very special diet but i have sweet tooth and can help it to crave any kind of pastry, so my question is, can i omit the baking soda? (i can’t eat this on my diet) or is there any other ingredient that i can substitute for? thank you so much!

    Reply

  13. I leave a response each time I appreciate a article on a site or if I have something to valuable
    to contribute to the conversation. Usually it is caused by the sincerness
    displayed in the post I looked at. And on this article Chocolate Chip
    Cookies Recipe | Gluten Free Cookies. I was actually excited enough to
    post a thought :-) I actually do have some questions for you if you do not mind.
    Is it only me or do a few of these comments look as if they are left by brain
    dead visitors? :-P And, if you are posting on other social sites,
    I would like to follow you. Would you list every one of your communal sites like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?

    Reply

  14. Hi,

    This is my first post and attempt to bake a cookies from the recipes you have posted. The chocolate chip cookies turned out wonderfully. I have been attempting your recipes for a while now and it felt really great to have all of the ingredients on hand! I have a whole new outlook on cooking and eating.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  17. I made these cookies work with bobs red mill almond flour.I aded about 1/4 c. sorghum flour and 1/4 tsp. xanthm gum. I also creamed the butter instead of melting and added about 4 drops liquid vanilla stevia. yum! i did cook them until they were golden brown.

    Reply

  18. Just made these cookies for my niece who is gluten free. She said they taste just like “regular” cookies, my 14 year old daughter also ate them and loved them! Thank you so much for this and all of your other recipes:-)

    Reply

  19. I adapted these as I don’t use agave. I only sweeten with Stevia.
    I followed the recipe exactly, same brand almond flour, etc.
    They turn out perfect every time. Can I share my adaptation with you?
    I simply use 1/2 cup no sugar added apple cider and add stevia to it until it tastes really sweet. Then I add that to the cookies instead of the agave syrup.
    If it winds up a bit too “wet”, I add just a tad more almond flour.

    Additionally, I use Lilly’s brand Stevia sweetened chocolate chips. Fantastic!
    No sugar, no agave, no flour, THANK YOU Elena! Even my children love these. The way that I make them, they are a doughy cookie, not a crisp cookie. If you are looking for a crisp cookie, this won’t work for you. This is a chewy, satisfying, melty and delicious cookie.

    Reply

    • interesting, I just noticed that this recipe calls for melted butter. I follow the one that has your name on it, on the back of the Honeyville bag. No butter, grapeseed oil instead. Just fyi. I will need to try it with butter just to see if my adaptation still works! Plus…I uh, love butter.

      Reply

  20. I added half cup of coconut oil instead of butter and baked for additional couple minutes. My cookies turned out great.
    Thank you for this amazing recipe :)

    Reply

  21. Wow.. since finding your site I have been a baking machine. I cant eat it all fast enough but Im just so intrigued and inspired with baking with almond flour! Id never done it before.
    Ive baked your paleo bread, your cinnamon muffins and now the cookies. Delish! THANK YOU.

    Reply

  22. Has anyone tried to make this recipe lower in sugar? I find the 1/2 cup honey or agave with the chocolate chips to be way too sweet. I tried using a bit more oil and just less honey overall, but the cookies wouldn’t hold together…tasted good though. Would adding an egg help? I’m a bit new to baking…especially GF baking.

    Reply

  27. I’ve made these two times so far and they are delicious! I’m not sure of the brand of almond flour, as I buy it in bulk from our local Winco store in Visalia California. I also add an egg to the recipe, which helps fluff them up I believe, and I use mediterranean style olive oil and butter rather than butter alone. I’ve used olive oil by itself instead of butter as well, and they come out just fine too. My two year old daughter loves these cookies too, which is great because they are a healthier alternative to store bought cookies that are made with preservatives and other unwanted ingredients. Next time I make them, I will try substituting raisins for chocolate chips.

    Reply

  28. I have just recently switched to a starch free lifestyle due to health reasons and I LOVE these cookies. They turned out perfect. Thank you so much:)

    Reply

    • Coconut flour is not interchangeable with almond flour, you would need a recipe that’s written specifically for it.

      Reply

  30. I just made both the Pecan Shortbread and the Double Chocolate Mocha – ingredients are delicious but they’re falling apart like sand. Why not use eggs?

    Reply

    • I had the same problem with the cookies turning out very fragile. I added one egg to the last batch I made of these and they turned out perfect. Still soft, but not crumbly.

      Reply

  31. I made these with hazelnut flour since I cannot tolerate almonds — they looked nothing like the picture, but were certainly tasty!!! The first batch was a little fragile, so we added 2 Tablespoons of Chia seed with 6 Tablespoons water and they firmed up a bit. After not being able to find or create a baked good that I can eat due to food allergies, these cookies were a great treat! Thank you!!!

    Reply

  32. Just wanted to say thank you for posting this recipe! We have four kids and one has to have a GFCF diet. This means, that largely, our entire family is GFCF. These cookies are absolutely awesome!! I made them with ghee in order to have them be casein free. So good! Thanks!!!!

    Reply

  34. Hi! I’m. New to your website and your recipes look amazing. I made the chocolate chip cookies and they were wonderful, but I had bathroom issues the next morning. :) it happened both time I made them using JK blanched almond flour.

    Should I be soaking the flour first? If so, how should I make that conversion in almond flour recipes? I’m afraid to ruin the flour trying to soak it and then lose most of it in the liquid.

    One last question. What are your thoughts on the safety of almond/nut flours in baking and consuming so may nuts at once? I found information sating that nut flours are high in Omega 6 and PUFA, especially when heated. Would you please comment on this?

    I love cooking with blanched almond flour, so any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I do nor want to worry about free radicals floating around my body every time i bake with it. ;)

    Thank you!

    Reply

  35. I substituted 1 egg & 5TBS of melted coconut oil. They turned out perfect! Thank you so much. I recommend you to everyone I know who is going gluten free. <3

    Reply

  36. First of all – thanks a lot!
    The cookies did turn out super yummy

    I am not sure if you are aware- but agave syrup is really not that great for ya :)
    Agave nectar is highly refined, and contains more concentrated fructose than high fructose corn syrup. I know your diet is very clean, so just thought i’d share that

    http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/

    Have you ever experimented with liquid stevia?
    i substituted agave for maple syrup in the recepie, but would love to try it with stevia

    Thanks again!

    Reply

  37. Just wanted to say these cookies are AMAZING! and I did use Bob’s almond flour–it was the only almond flour available and was worth taking the risk. I also subbed coconut oil for the butter and added chopped/crushed walnuts and shredded coconut and they turned out FABULOUS!

    Reply

  38. Hi Elana,

    I have recently found your web site as our family strives to eat better. I made your chocolate chip cookies today for my kiddos. Needless to say they were gone within 2 hours of coming out of the oven. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes I absolutely love to bake and have been experimenting with almond and coconut flours. It’s so much fun coming up with new recipes. Quite different than all purpose flour and white sugar. any pointers you might offer would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  39. i try the recipe but i use safflower oil y taste great
    2 cup rice flour
    1 cup tapioca
    1 cup flaxseed flour
    3/4 T arizona honey sugar
    1/4 T brown sugar
    3/4 T milk
    1 tsp sea salt
    1 egg
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla
    12 oz chocolate chips
    o1/2ptional (rainsis,almond,walnuts,pumkin seed,)
    1/2 T safflower oil
    1 Tsp baking soda
    2 bananas
    my family loved the cookies

    Reply

  40. Elana,
    I’ve made these cookies probably 4x this week! I loove them and the dough is quite forgiving because I started to experiment with other flavors & measurements. Even my family cant even tell they are gluten free or even vegan!!! I feel so good baking these knowing they arent harmful nutritionally! THankyou so much for this recipe!

    @Asianmakeupdiaries, coconut flour is highly absorptive & would probably not be the best substitute for this recipe~~~

    Reply

  41. Hi Elana,

    I tried this recipe with coconut flour and the batter turned out very very dry. It actually just looked crumbly. Anything I can do to get the right texture while using coconut flour?

    Reply

  42. If I only wanted to bake part of the batch, would the dough store alright in the refrigerator or freezer?

    Reply

  43. Made these cookies yesterday and they are so delicious! I went gluten free just over a month ago so I was a little skeptical as to how they would taste. Wow was I surprised! They are better than my mom’s homemade cookies (which I thought were the best). Everyone loved them. This will definitely be my go-to recipe for cookies from now on!

    Reply

  44. For those of us who are allergic to almonds, is there another flour that would work in place of the almond flour?

    Reply

  45. I made a half of batter of these tonight using, Earth Balance Vegan Spread, Natural Unsweetened applesauce (instead of Agave), two pinches of Stevia powder, and
    86% Black and Green chocolate. The had to cook a little longer but came out pretty good. Always like trying different things. Happy to have found your site.

    Reply

  46. Hi Elana,
    I made this cookie recipe today. I did do a few small changes. Such as I replaced the butter with coconut oil and the agava nectar with coconut sugar. I also made them up into balls, flattened them out a bit and then put them in the freezer for about 15 mins. just to make sure they kept their shape( which they did). They came out nice and soft, just how I like them. Thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply

  47. The first time my Bob’s Red Mill almond flour was straight from the refrigerator and they were flat and runny. I just made them again with the same flour at room temperature and they are perfect. I did have to let them bake for about 3 extra minutes.

    Thanks for all the great gluten free recipes and for saving us all from wasting a lot of expensive ingredients on flops. My 12 year old daughter is an expert at making cupcakes from your cookbook! Yum!

    Reply

  49. I just finished making a batch of these chocolate chip cookies, and they taste delicious! I’ve been baking recipes from your website for the past month and just ordered The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Thank you for your work!

    Reply

  50. Every Christmas my family has a “Nutcracker and Cookies Night”. 4 of the 7 of us have food allergies/intolerances, but we have never had too much trouble working around them…until this year, when we couldn’t use any grains (on top of the lactose and egg restrictions we have).

    I went looking for an alternative, hoping just to make something “passable” for this special night. I thought it would be hard, but I didn’t have to look far…Elana, you are the BEST!! Not only were the cookies we made “passable”, they were DELICIOUS. We had the best “Nutcracker and Cookies Night” ever. Thank you SO much for you awesome recipes!

    Reply

  51. Elana! I’m so excited I cannot believe my cookies turned out!! I’ve failed more than succeeded at baking… And I was nervous about using bobs redmill almond flour but that’s all they sell in the stores unfortunately and im out of town visiting family so didnt have my blanched flour with me. I sifted the flour thinking this would help and I also used coconut nectar instead of agave. I cooked them on stoneware and they took about 12-13 minutes but look like a perfect chocolate chip cookie!! And everyone loved them even non GF eaters!!

    Reply

  52. Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah!!! These are wonderful – I LOVE your website and recipes :^) After reading some of the comments about pancake and one big pancake I got a little concerned as my “dough” didn’t look like it was going to roll into balls so I added 2 TB of coconut flour – I also subbed in coconut oil…and threw everything into my processor except for the chips which I stirred in with the added coconut flour – next time it will be everything but the chips and including the coconut flour. I just dropped by the teaspoon onto the cookie sheet and I have wonderful delicious chewy cookies. THANK YOU!

    Reply

  55. Elana,
    Gluten Free Girl put me on to you. I love Almond Flour, but lived in Portland where Bob’s Red Mill is, and only have frozen finely ground from blanched almonds flour from the very company you do not recommend. All my other gluten-free flours are also from Bob’s Red Mill. What am I to do? Can I add extra sorghum flour to tighten up the spreadability of the almond flour? The amount of experimentation needed floors me right now as I just moved from Portland to Seattle.

    Secondly, my dear naturopath discovered that my liver no longer processes any potato of any kind, red, white, yam, or sweet. So several of my old family recipes that call for potatoes I now make for everyone but me. ARRGH. It seems to get harder every year!

    I love almond flour’s taste and also prefer quinoa to all bean and most rice flours. And I have just started to use coconut flour. But I have not experimented with it much yet. If you have already experimented with any gluten and potato-free recipes, let me know. Thank you!

    Reply

  56. I just made this recipe with 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 1 cup dessicated coconut and 9 tbsp virgin coconut oil instead of the butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar as I had no agave. It was a little dry so I added a splash of coconut milk. To my suprise it turned out amazing! I am experimenting with coconut and almond to replace traditional ingrediants so its always a nice suprise to have a recipe turn out so well. Definately a keeper….

    Reply

  58. I love this recipe but I do make a couple substitutions: I use coconut oil rather than grapeseed and honey instead of agave. Absolutely delicious!

    Reply

  59. I just made these with coconut oil instead of butter, and they tasted like almond joy bars, they are wonderful, my husband even loved them.
    Thanks Elana.

    Reply

  60. I have used a cup of almond butter for this recipe and omitted the butter . It comes out great . Has anyone tried this method ?

    Reply

  61. Elana,

    I’ve been playing around with your recipes recently to try to tailor-fit my crazy anti-candida/dairy-free/gluten-free diet. Unfortunately, agave doesn’t work for me because it still ends in -ose and that’s a no-no for me unless it’s fruit.

    For the chocolate chips I made my own with cocoa powder, coconut oil, and stevia. For the cookies I substituted 1/2 cup applesauce and 15-20 drops of liquid stevia and it worked out pretty well. Thanks for being one of the few websites out there that has recipes I can work with!

    -Annie

    Reply

  62. Thanks for the great recipe! I made these and ground my own almonds in a coffee grinder (whole, natural, with skins still on) and they turned out very well. I noticed that they were very popular with a lot of people. I think they might be more like a typical chocolate chip cookie with almond flour made with blanched almonds, though. If I get some I will try that.

    Reply

  63. Something went very wrong when we made cookies with this recipe, still trying to figure it out!! BUT the good news is the dough made great clay for our dough snow man:)

    Reply

  64. Hi Elana! Can you use any other type of flour besides almond flour because I’m having a hard time finding almond flour other then the Bob’s Red Mill brand. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Christina, I have only used Bob’s Red Mill and we love this cookies. I have no idea how they could be better with the different types of Almond Flour that Elana uses…and I mean no disrespect to her as the professional, but I am thrilled with these cookies using the Red Mill flour.

      Reply

  65. These are by far THE BEST Gluten free chocolate chip cookie I have made. They are the only ones I have made that don’t get hard after they cool. My kids love them! We used them along with non-dairy ice cream, to make GF/CF ice cream sandwich, they held up great and retained a bit of softness even when frozen.

    Reply

  66. Elena,
    The chocolate chip cookies are amazing! I haven’t ate a cookie in 8 months since finding out I am a celiac. My 3 year old daughter made these cookies with me which was fun because the recipe is so easy to follow and clean up – important with a busy toddler and 2 other kids :) I savored every chewy bite of this cookie! The texture of flavor of these are perfect and kid approved! This whole site is such a lifeline..I feel like I still celebrate and enjoy the occasional treats or holiday goodies now. I just got your cupcake book yesterday and will be baking some for a birthday party this weekend! Cupcakes are my hobby too, but became something I do for everyone else – not us anymore! So this weekend also will be the first in a long time I will actually get to eat what I bake! Now..I am just rambling or whining, but nonetheless, I wanted to say thank you for me and my little family!

    Alisha

    Reply

  67. I feel so fortunate to have found this website (per the recommendation of my sister’s Doctor). My first recipe was the above chocolate chip cookies and there was nothing stopping me from making these cookies! Not even the fact that I bought Bob’s Almond Flour. Realizing my mistake, i upped the flour to 2 3/4 and reduced the butter to 8 tablespoons. Also added 1/2 cup walnuts and a few tablespoons flaxseed (why not?). I followed the recipe above however, fitted parchment paper into a 7×10 pan and made chocolate chip brownies. They were incredibly good and provided the incentive to buy the right almond flour online this evening.

    Thank you Elana!!

    Reply

  68. I’ve made these cokies, and they taste great, but the consistency is off. They are very, very soft – so soft they break when I pick them up. The recipe states that they should be formed into a ball – no way. Mine bloop off the spoon onto the cookie tray. I am using almond flour purchased from Nuts Online. Am I doing something wrong?

    Reply

    • I wish someone had told me this earlier (i finally found it online), but for me, the problem was that the flour needed to be “packed” when measured. Mine were floppy until I packed it down, ie adding more flour. Hope that helps you, too.

      Reply

  69. Just made these for the first time. Amazing! I only had the Bob’s almond flour but they still were excellent. I can’t wait to try them with other brands of almond flour and I can’t wait to get Elana’s cookbook! Since I started trying to eat “paleo” 2 weeks ago, I can really tell a difference in the way I feel, but I knew I would miss my treats, so I am thrilled to have this recipe. I am wondering if anyone who has made this has tried coconut/palm sugar. I thought it might result in a crispier cookie. Next I will try the brownies!
    Thanks so much for a fantastic web site!

    Reply

  70. I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to thank you so much for this recipe! For some reason gluten free grain-based anything has been giving my system fits since my first trimester. It was so nice to, at 6 months now, have a small treat tonight that didn’t shock my system, and my finicky eater of a partner (he’s a meat, and potatoes, and white sugar, please and thank you, kind of guy) kept giving me sad faces for not being able to have more.

    I appreciate you keeping the recipe around!

    Reply

  72. Hi Elana,

    These cookies look AMAZING! Do you know if I can I make these cookies using coconut butter instead of cow’s butter?

    Thanks!

    Lynn

    Reply

  73. These cookies are incredible for vegans with a sweet tooth! For variety, I changed the recipe a bit.

    I substituted the chocolate chips with dried cranberries (same amount) and baked the cookies just like the recipe calls for. I then took the dark chocolate chips, melted them (needed a lot more than 1 cup – like I said, I do have a sweet tooth!) and spread the bottom of each cookie with the melted dark chocolate.

    I then placed the cookies bottom side down on waxed paper and put them in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate.

    Yummy, very yummy!

    Reply

  74. Just tried these tonight for the first time. Halved the recipe since I’m making some substitutions and didn’t want to ruin a whole batch! But they turned out great! I used ghee instead of the melted butter (really, hardly a substitution) because even though I’m sensitive to all milk proteins, I tolerate the oil of the butter just fine. Also subbed maple syrup (mine is an organic Grade B). Since I like salt with chocolate, doubled the salt (so in my half recipe, the final amount stayed the same as yours listed above). I also doubled the baking soda because I didn’t think it would make much difference and I didn’t want to use another measuring spoon (I’m lazy!) The dough looked pretty runny so I added another quarter cup or so of the almond meal. I’m using the organic version from Benefit Your Life. My cookies ended up a bit puffier than yours and not quite so dark, but I love them! Soft and chocolatey good! Thanks!

    Reply

  75. My 21 year old son is on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I stumbled across your website and decided to try these cookies. We had to leave out the chocolate chips and substitute honey for the agave nectar. These cookies are possibly the BEST thing we’ve tried since starting the diet. We literally jumped up and down saying “These taste like real COOKIES!” I’m definitely sending him back to college with plenty of these! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Reply

  76. Elana, I loved this recipe! You can see the results here: http://bit.ly/au0BdN They’re not as pretty as your cookies, but boy, were they good. Thank you for sharing this. Hubby is very happy, and I am happy that I could deliver a “guilt-free” dessert. Looking forward to more from your cookbook and your blog.

    Reply

  78. I have made these several times now. I sub the agave with maple syrup (grade B) and use almond MEAL from Trader Joe’s, but only 2C and 1/2C br. rice flour…these are SO much better then cookies I have been eating for years! I crave these constantly!

    Reply

  79. These cookies are delicious! Everyone that tried my batch of cookies just absolutely loved them. They taste better than the recipe I (and probably most of us)have been using for years using white flour and sugar. I love your site and appreciate your healthy recipes.

    Reply

  80. Elana-

    these are amazing. is there any way to make them with a sugar substitute instead of the agave? i have insulin resistance and using the almond flour is great but adding the agave nectar really limits me. what would you recommend? thank you so much!

    Reply

  82. I was wondering Elana if you could provide the gram weight or oz. weight for your 2 1/2 cups of Blanched Almond Flour for your Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not knowing if I should pack it tightly or just let it fall into the cup loosely is always a problem for me. If you could weigh the 2 1/2 cups of Almond Flour you use when making these cookies, we would all then know the correct measurement in weight. I know this would be very helpful for me as I always weigh my dry ingredients for consistency when baking. I love your book and have made many recipes from it and all are excellent. Thank You.

    Reply

  83. I just found your website this week, and had to make these chocolate chip cookies. They were SOOOO good! I used half maple syrup and half coconut sugar, a little too sweet, but my husband loved them. I also used homemade almond flour, which is not as fine as the flours you recommend, next time I will try it with the almond flour brands you suggest. I think maybe next time I will try it with stevia also. I love your website, there are so many good recipes that are actually really healthy. Thanks for all the work you do, so that everyone else can benefit from it. We really appreciate what you do! Thanks!

    Reply

  84. This is a great, great recipe. My family loves them and we all dont have sensitivities, etc.
    Anyhow, I am wondering if you have any insight how I can mimic a “Nestle Toll House Pie” along the lines of this recipe.
    Wife’s birthday is coming….

    Reply

  85. These were wonderful, my girlfriend is insulin resistant and I’m celiac, these were the perfect cookie for us! We always made cookies for one and now we can both enjoy them. We just substituted honey for agave nectar and they came out amazing!

    Reply

  86. I notice you use 78% Cocoa chocolate (I believe this has sugar in it still). I am completely sugar,soy,dairy and gluten free. I use Agave as a sweetner. Is there a chocolate out there I can use that is free of all this that would not be too bitter?

    Reply

  87. I just made these and they were so good! I did make a few alterations to suit my needs…I substituted honey instead of agave (used a little less than original amount), added 1 egg, and 1 TBSP coconut flour and they turned out very nice. Thanks for your wonderful website! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! :)

    Reply

  88. Hello,

    I made a rendition of these cookies When I taught a cooking class for 4 year olds yesterday, and they LOVED them! I omitted the chocolate chips and made little sandwich cookies with almond butter and fruit-sweetened jam and it was a total hit. Thanks so much for all of your great recipes.

    Emily

    Reply

  89. WOW! I just made these cookies (literally, the last batch is finishing up) with Earth Balance instead of butter and Bob’s All Purpose Flour w/Xanthan Gum instead of almond flour (I couldn’t get any this quickly) … these are AMAZING. I cannot stop eating them. Thank you so much for making a wonderful, healthy indulgence!

    Reply

  91. These cookies were SOOOOOOO good! I couldn’t stop eating them! We made them with the butter recipe instead of grapeseed oil, and they tasted wonderful. Thank you Elana for making a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tastes just as wonderful as the wheat version. Our family loves your website and I love telling people about it! No one ever understands what exactly we CAN eat, so I like to point them in the direction of your site, because the food on here doesn’t make our diet look like a restriction, but a blessing! :) Thank you!

    Reply

  92. Hi there,
    I am just wondering if I could use coconut flour for this recipe instead of the almond flour…Is that possible?
    Thanks!!

    Reply

  93. Amazing!

    I used honey in place of agave as I live in VT and that just makes more sense for me. I also used milk in place of the vanilla and only 7 T of butter.

    They were great! My bf gave them a 10 out of 10!

    Thanks so much Elana. I have not had a cookie in well over a year. You made my night :)

    Reply

  94. YEA!!!!!!!! Finally a Choc chip Cookie I could EAT.. I loved them… thank you…Love the Book.. I am doing the Julie and Julia..concept… making a new recipe from your book every night…super yum.. I have been struggling with all kinds of different gluten free recipes since Feb 2009..and boy it has been a challenge…so thank you..

    Reply

  95. Hi! Love the site! Am planning to attempt to make these cookies, but wanted to know if you have tried subing stevia for the agave nectar? I am a little nervous about trying it since the mass and textures of the two are so different. Is the texture of the agave pertinent to the outcome of the cookies?

    Reply

  96. Hi Elana

    You had mentioned somewhere that you previously had made your own almond flour but you used so much you couldn’t keep up.

    I am buying either a Total Blender from Blendtec or a Vita-Mix and would like to make my own flour. I would love instructions on how you make it.

    Thanks!
    Karalee

    Reply

  97. Oh my gosh! These cookies are so delicious! I’ve been making a batch of them every couple of days ever since I read the recipe a 3 weeks ago. I started adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to the mix, adds a little spice to it. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

    Reply

  98. Hi Elana, I’ve found that these cookies don’t rise well, but I’m at 600 ft above sea level and Boulder is a LOT higher than that. Have others told you that doubling the baking soda helps us low landers make puffier cookies? By the way, I love almond and coconut flours and your recipies are wonderful. These flours are so much healthier than sorghum or other alternative grain type flours!

    Reply

  99. Elana, Thank you!
    I have been looking for a recipe for Dark Choc Chip cookies that uses Agave!! This is a great recipe. However, I really don’t like the taste of almond flour, so I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour instead. They turned out wonderfully! Also, you can make a choc-choc version by adding 1T of baking choc powder. They are delicious! Thank you soo much for sharing this!!
    ps- how’d you know the perfect amount of Agave to add? I have trouble with this in some of my recipes. Thanks again!

    Reply

  100. Hi Elana,
    I am a Type 2 diabetic and cooking/baking with coconut and/or almond flour sounds great! I just received my package of almond flour and immediately made your chocolate chip cookies…simply awesome! I substituted your dark choco chips with the low carb “Simply Lite” dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s (cut up into small chunks).

    Thank you for your recipes…can’t wait for your book to come out!

    Reply

  101. Hi Elana, my sister intoduced me to this site, it’s very interesting & thanks but i don’t need gluten free so do u have a section where u have ‘normal’ recipies, cos in our country some or ur ingrediets r hard 2find.
    Thanks

    Reply

  102. Becky -Try packing your cups of almond flour when you are measuring. I’m sorry for the inconvenience of this recipe not turning out and am happy to help you! Let me know how it goes, ok?

    Reply

  103. Made these cookies today with all your recommended ingredients and I was very careful about measuring and they turned out very runny. Do you ever cool the dough first – or maybe I should use a little less butter? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    Reply

  104. Elana,

    You are the third Elana (who spells it our way) that I have met through this blog :-)

    I’m glad you found some ground, blanched almonds at the Asian shop and hope you and Vendula like these cookies.

    Thanks,
    Elana

    Reply

  105. Hi Elana,
    I am so glad to have found your website! Like you, I love 101cookbooks and have been making lots of Heidis’s recipes for several months. I am not allergic to wheat/gluten, but my best friend here is. We both love food and cooking and although she uses a special gluten free white flour in baking, I will be happy to use a healthier and higher in protein almond flour. I am in Berlin and can’t get ‘blanched almond flour’ per se, but reading the website, I found a little Asian shop that carries ground up blanched almonds. Can’t wait to bake these cookies for my friend Vendula!
    Thanks so much.
    Elana
    (yes, I also like your name :)

    Reply

  107. i substituted carob chips (since i am allergic to chocolate) and these turned out amazing! my husband has been a little cookie monster with them! lol

    Reply

  109. Elana,
    OMG!! I just made these cookies last night and I can’t belive how incredibly delicious they are! Even better than traditional butter/flour/sugar cookies!

    I’m 41 and just a few months ago found out that I have food allergies. The main ones being milk/casein and sesame seeds, to a lesser extent, corn, soy, wheat and peanuts. Obviously they are not severe, but they were enough to cause my overall unhealthy feeling, the symptoms I experienced were low grade depression, stomach cramps, constant headaches and hayfever. They had been getting progressively worse as I got older. It’s amazing how good I feel now that I have been eliminating dairy and limiting the other problem foods, even avoiding them altogether when I can.

    I took you’re recommendation and bought a 5# bag of almond flour from Honeyville and although I don’t have Celiac’s, I still want to avoid wheat as much as possible. I’m even going to try and make my own bread :-)

    Getting back to those cookies! What a joy to know that I can have my sweets with alternative, healthier ingredients AND have them taste good! Now I just need a really good brownie recipe. I’ve tried a few vegan ones and they’re okay, but not great. Do you know of any?

    Thank you so much for this website, I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!

    -tracey

    Reply

  110. Kathleen,

    Oh my goodness, this sounds amazing. We have used the cookies to make ice cream sandwiches, however this sounds even better! Yum and thanks for sharing.

    Elana

    Reply

  111. Hi Elana, these cookies have become a favorite of our whole family of 8, including those who have no special dietary needs. We prefer just a little less butter and use the sunspire barley malt chocolate chips as my daughter cannot have cane sugar at all. I recently made the rule that any goodie made in our house had to be edible by all family members. My 10yo son had a birthday Tuesday and he wondered what he could pick that everyone could have. I told him not to worry, that whatever he picked I would adapt for everyone. Well, he chose carrot cake and cookie dough ice cream. Carrot cake, no problem, cookie dough ice cream? That took a little more thought. My teenage daughters came up with the solution. They made homemade vanilla ice cream sweetened with agave (we can do dairy but I would use cashew cream ice cream if we didn’t) and they made your cc cookie dough and froze it raw in small blobs on a cookie sheet. Since there are no eggs we didn’t have to worry about safety concerns of raw dough. When the ice cream was frozen but still soft, we stirred in the blobs of dough and ate it up. It was OUT OF THIS WORLD! What a treat. Give it a try for a really gourmet ice cream. Thanks so much for all the work you put into this blog.

    Reply

  112. Debra,

    Thanks so much for your comment. So glad to hear that you are enjoying these cookies –they are a favorite of mine.

    Elana

    Reply

  113. Hi Elana,

    Just wanted to let you know how absolutely scrumptious these cookies are, very much a childhood comfort food.

    I used 1/2 cup melted coconut oil instead of butter or grapeseed oil and they turned out delicious. I also substituted Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. They were crun-chewy just the way I, my family, co-workers and friends like them!

    Thank you so much for your wonderful yet simple recipes. I really like how practical you are.

    Debra

    Reply

  115. Elana, thanks so much for the yummy recipe! I love chocolate chip cookies…especially when they are made with dagoba chocolate!!! And these ones are gluten-free to boot **sigh**! We are very proud to have your recipe included in this week’s FoodieView Recipe Roundup. Thanks again!

    Reply

  117. HI Elana,
    All I can say is WOW these cookies are amazing my whole family loved them, when I was diagnosed a few months ago all I wanted was just one good recipe for a good chocolate chip cookie and I have it now, I dont do sugar or dairy so this makes it even better. Thank you so much for all your time in the kitchen your a joy to create wonderful food and then bless others. your awesome! I cant wait to buy your cook book. Rhonda

    Reply

  118. Jill – Thanks so much for your kind words! You can find out more about my story in the about page, in my post The Joy of Food and also in my forthcoming cookbook (slated for publication Fall 2009).

    Jen – I’m glad you liked the cookies and appreciate your letting us know your results. So great that you took chances with the recipe and experimented to make your own special squishy cookies.

    Reply

  119. Hello Elana!
    As many others, I am so glad to have found your site. I enjoy baking, and making tasty treats for the girls at work, but I am also on a gluten free, sugar free diet… I made these cookies last night, and they turned out FABULOUS!! I used carob chips instead of chocolate chips, and used only 6 tablespoons of butter with one table spoon of olive oil. I also wasn’t sure if almond flour and ground almonds was the same thing, but I used ground almonds and it worked out perfectly. It even gave them a nice fluffy texture. A tip to anyone who loves “squishy” things as much as i do.. I left them in the oven for 7 minutes, let them sit for about 10-15 minutes, then put them in an airtight container until i brought them to work today. They were super squishy and soft. Everyone was amazed how tasty, healthy and soft they were!! Thanks for the great recipes! The banana cake will be next on my list to try!
    Jen

    Reply

  120. Hello Elana!

    I am so thrilled to have found your site! I eat almost EXACTLY like you do and it seems that we both went through the process of elimination in order to feel healthier. Along with having Celiac disease, I do not/can not eat grains, dairy, soy, anything in the nightshade family (potato, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, etc), peanuts, food additives like guar gum, garlic, and I just gave up sugar for agave nectar. I am starting to experiment with coconut flour, almond flour, and agave nectar now and have found your website to be enormously helpful! Also, I am interested in the raw food movement, but truthfully, I don’t think I can easily give up fish, turkey, eggs… Thank you so much for validating my own very strange food elimination journey and making me feel that I am not alone in this! What made you have up grains/sugar, etc? I am so interested in knowing your story! Please tell us more!! Thank you again!

    Reply

  121. Alenia,

    I’m not sure as I haven’t tried coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil.

    If you decide to experiment, feel free to share you results here or open up a topic in the forums.

    For more info on substitutions in my recipes, please see my FAQ.

    Thanks,
    Elana

    Reply

  122. Hi! i just wanted to know if you could use coconut oil instead of the grapeseed oil, and whole wheat flour?

    Reply

      • @Stephanie, I used coconut oil in place of the grapeseed oil, but my cookies are more like pancakes — you could literally roll them up! Did you do something else to help the consistency? What’s your trick???

        Thanks!!!! :)
        AnnMarie

        Reply

  123. Lynn,

    I don’t have a solution for you currently; however if you look at my FAQ’s, you will find a link where nutrition info can be calculated online.

    Thanks,
    Elana

    Reply

  124. I recently found this site and am drooling over the recipes I’ve not tried yet. My concern is that I’m a type 1 Diabetic/Celiac on an insulin pump and keep track of ALL my carbohydrates and Calories. Is there a way for me to decipher what they are in your recipes?

    Thanks so much!

    Lynn

    Reply

  125. Hi Courtney,

    I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed the cookies. I always love your comments, and even more so now that I had the opportunity to meet you in person!

    xo Elana

    Reply

  126. Hello Elana! I am in Florida at the moment visiting my mother. My mother and I try to get away one week out of the year for a beach trip. No husbands, just us girls. I just saw my grandparents which is a very rare occasion. My nanny is so intrigued by the natural products I brought with me… almond flour, agave, sea salt, etc. Last night my nanny and I stayed up late making your chocolate chip cookies together. This was such a special moment for me. I couldn’t have made this connection with her had it not been for your website. I am sure she will not be around very much longer. Her health is fading quickly. We just laughed, tasted and had an incredible evening. As I disappeared to get ready for bed I came back into the kitchen to cover the cookies. The cookies had quickly gone from a whole pan to a plate full… My papa just sat in the recliner with a big smile on his face. Apparently he enjoyed them, too! Thanks so much. I will connect with you again soon.

    Courtney

    Reply

  127. David-
    Sounds like you are getting some experience in experimenting with recipes. This takes a lot of practice and patience. I don’t have any formulas –I just keep trying again and again until I get it right!

    Elana

    Reply

  128. I recently made ginger cookies with almond flour/meal instead of all purpose flour (swapped 1:1 in a recipe), with the result being that they tasted great, but never firmed up. In fact, each ball melted into the next one until it turned into one giant sheet of cookies. Could this be because I used almond flour instead of AP flour, or maybe because I used butter instead of shortening (again, swapped 1:1)?

    Reply

  129. Hi Reveka -Thanks for stopping by. Since I am now on a DF eating plan I would say go with the recipe calling for grapeseed oil and less chips –that’s the staple in our house these days. :-)

    Reply

    • Hi – This is my 4th recipe of yours – love it – love the book. Thanks!! My question is about butter. We aren’t a DF family and since we have our own milk and butter (from our cow) I would rather use the butter instead of buying the grapeseed oil. Is there a standard conversion that you use? Thanks!

      Reply

      • I just made these with only 2 tbl of butter and 3 of coconut oil. Then added a 1/2 c of unsweetened apple sauce. I used 1/4 c of coconut flour so I wanted extra liquid. I then added 4-5 tbl of monk fruit instead of honey. You can use as much as you want to taste. I also added one beaten egg. They turned out perfect. Held a perfect cookie shape. I arranged the choc chips on top, instead of all thru the mixture to cut down on calories. I still have a little choc with every bite!. My other half of the batch I added the powdered choc peanutbutter and they were amazing too!

        Reply

  130. hi elana – i do love the cookies and they’re so easy to make. there are two chocolate chip cookie recipes; one calls for 10tbl of butter and 1c chocolate chips and the other calls for 1/2c grapeseed oil and 1/2c chocolate chips. which do you recommend?

    Reply

  131. Hi Barbara,

    Thanks for your comment. This has actually happened to me once before with this recipe –although I have made it literally hundreds of times.

    Did you take the almond flour straight from the fridge? Was it cold? When I have done this the cookies turn out like yucky little pancakes, just the way you describe.

    Another possibility would be the type of salt you were using; I have had friends report less than good results when using kosher salt.

    Can you give me some more hints? I would like to help you out with this and want you to have cookie success.

    Elana

    Reply

  132. I made the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the Denver Post. Called for grapeseed oil, not butter. It was a flop–thin, spread out cookies that never held form, greasy on base. Used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/flour, from blanched whole almonds. Any suggestions as to what went wrong?

    Reply

    • I made my cookies with grape-seed oil, Alana’s recipe, and turned out incredible! Alana, do you know a fat or calorie count for these cookies? I made mine gluten and dairy free. Any info would be amazing. I love love love how the cookies turned out and have turned so many people to loving these recipes! Incredible! Thank you thank you thank you!

      Reply

    • I just made the recipe from he Denver Post and I’m at an altitude of 8500′. The cookies were a flop, one massive cookie on the sheet. Tastes good but not able to serve for the Holidays. Very disappointing. Any suggestions for next time Alana???

      Reply

      • Thanks for your comment, and I’m happy to help you trouble shoot. I’ve made these up in Vail where we’re at a pretty high altitude, and that does not affect the outcome of the recipe.

        What type and brand of almond flour did you use? Some brands don’t work in these recipes.

        Elana

        Reply

      • I’d try adding an egg to it. I’ve made this recipe both with and without an egg and noticed the egg makes a “fuller” cookie.

        Reply

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