My mother-in-law (aka Grandma Marylyn) is obsessed with all things crispy, crunchy, and Paleo. Like me, she has celiac disease and has followed a strict gluten-free diet for years. I created this Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe just for her. Grandma Marylyn is a huge fan of my Cranberry Chocolate Biscotti, as well as my Chocolate Orange Scones, and presents me with freshly made batches of each of these every time we have a visit.
While Grandma loves everything I make and cooks from my latest book Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry religiously, she is passionate about making my Paleo desserts for our large Jewish family.
Grandma has been asking me for years to develop a thin and crispy cookie recipe. She has no idea that I’ve created these Paleo chocolate chip cookies for her!
Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup palm shortening
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda in a food processor
- Pulse in shortening, coconut sugar, egg, and vanilla until dough forms
- Remove blade from processor and stir in chocolate chips by hand
- Scoop dough one level tablespoon at a time onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Press balls of dough down so they are very flat, wetting your hand if dough is sticky
- Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes
- Cool for 15 minutes (do not handle prior or cookies will break)
- Serve
When I made these Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies my husband and children devoured numerous batches. The boys’ friends also gobbled up my Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies so quickly that I couldn’t keep enough on the counter for them. I had one very busy week of baking gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for the hungry teenagers that fill my home. These cookies have the teenage seal of approval many times over.
In addition to inspiration from Grandma, I also enjoyed seeing that the adorable Kosher Cavegirl had come up with a Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It was her post that gave me the idea to create this new recipe which differs only slightly from my Primal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe –the changes include using coconut sugar in place of honey, and doubling the amount of shortening and adding an egg. That’s how you get to crispy cookie heaven. So if you’re tired of complex gluten-free recipes with long lists of ingredients, this is another recipe of mine that solves this vexing problem!
I have other chocolate chip cookie recipes on my website in addition to the ones above:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies -an oldie but goodie that I still make for the boys and their dairy eating friends; I created this, my first chocolate chip cookie recipe back in 2007 –it uses butter as the fat and honey or agave for the sweetener; slightly crispy around the edges, and chewy in the middle.
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies -a vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses grapeseed oil for the fat and agave as sweetener… for the vegans in my life.
- Primal Chocolate Chip Cookies -my most recent chocolate chip cookie recipe (prior to the one featured in this post for a crispy cookie) uses shortening and honey; a classic, moist, chewy chocolate chip cookie, and a great post workout snack for the CrossFit crowd.
What are your needs and desires for a classic chocolate chip cookie? Are they dietary, or flavor-based? Leave a comment and let me know which of the above recipes you plan on using and how you will customize them to your personal preferences.
Tina says
I’m also wondering what the best substitute for almond flour would be. Whenever I make a delicious treat with almond flour, I gain pounds immediately. I must have a sensitivity to it. I love the way it tastes though. :P
Elana says
Hi Tina, you may want to try my Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:
https://elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies/
They do not contain almond flour :-)
Enjoy!
Elana
Tara says
Is there something I can substitute for the almond flour. I’m allergic to gluten, dairy, and almonds. Thank you!
Elana says
Hi Tara,
Thanks for your comment! Perhaps another type of nut flour could work, but I’m not sure since I haven’t tried that myself. Since you are allergic to almonds you may want to check out my Nut-Free Recipes page:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/nut-free/
None of the recipes on my site contain any gluten or grains! And 95% of the recipes are dairy-free too. I hope you find a bunch that you like :-)
Elana
Sue says
Where do you buy palm shortening I have never heard of it.
Cheers
Sue
Lisa M. says
Can you use unsalted butter or coconut oil instead of the palm shortening?
Elana says
Hi Sue, click on the green text in the ingredients portion of the recipe for that info :-)
Mandy Greenspan says
Hi Elana. I’m loving you’re recipes for Passover!! Thank you! I couldn’t see if palm shortwning could be substituted…particularly for grapeseed oil in this recipe because in some of your recipes you have palm shortening OR grapeseed oil.
Thanks!! :)
Elana says
Mandy, I haven’t tried that so not sure.
Sharon says
You are a wizard! I am one of the few that I know that like a crispy chocolate chip cookie. This is my go to recipe. I love these cookies, maybe a little too much Ha Ha!
Elana says
Hi Sharon, thanks for letting me know that this is your go to recipe, I’m glad to hear it!
Naomi Snider says
Sharon, so am I! When I was a child, all cookies that my mother made were crispy and I thought that was how all cookies should be. So when I began seeing soft cookies for sale I thought, what’s up with that! Why aren’t people baking their cookies long enough? LOL Yes, I’m a sucker for crisp homemade cookies too. And It does appear that you and I are in a minority, sadly.
Elana says
Naomi, I like a good crispy cookie too :-)
Sissa says
I made these cookies yesterday, they are delicious, but how shall I store them? I left them in a plastic bowl (covered) but on the other day they were soft and not crispy anymore.. thanks a lot:)
Elana says
Hi Sissa, we leave them out on a plate on the counter :-)
Christine says
Hi Elana,
Do these cookies need to be refrigerated? Delicious recipe :)
Thanks,
Christine
Elana says
Hi Christine, we leave these out on a plate on the counter, no need to refrigerate.
Nicole says
We’ve made these twice now and love them! First time I used coconut oil instead of the plam shortening and second with softened butter. Also subbed with Sweve sweetener first and combo of Swerve and stevia second. Now they weren’t really crispy (I’m assuming bc of my subs), but totally yummy and my family agreed. Thanks!
Sharon says
I just made these cookies and they are wonderful. I love crispy cookies. This is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. The big plus is it’s grain free and gluten-free. For others asking I get spectrum shortening and enjoy life chocolate chips at Target. I get my Honeyville almond flour from Costco online. My store does not sell it. I found it to be the best price for me. Thanks so much for this recipe. I would have put a picture in but didn’t see a way to do that.
Kristy says
Hi Elana, I was wondering if you could substitute the coconut sugar with powdered stevia? I assume what helps the crispiness is the dry coconut sugar ingredient vs the honey used in the chewy version. I have type 1 diabetes so I try to avoid sugar as much as possible (though I use honey and rice malt syrup in some recipes) to maintain level blood sugars, and keep insulin intake down.
I will work out the carb content per serve with the coconut sugar as well, but just curious about a sugar free version.
Thanks so much!
:)
Lance says
Hi Kristy, were you able to make a go of it with the powdered stevia or powdered erythritol? if yes, how did you do it and how did it taste?
Elana says
Hi Kristy, unfortunately I don’t think that substitution will work. I haven’t tried it however so I’m not really sure. If you do experiment please let us know how it goes :-)
Jennifer says
I made these and they didn’t turn out crispy. Not sure if it was because I used red palm oil, which is all I could find in town or what. :(