Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Learn how to make the best, soft, and chewy Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies with this quick and easy recipe. A simple list of ingredients mixes together in minutes with no chilling required! 

How to Make Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe rivals any old fashioned soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe out there! No one will suspect they are enjoying a gluten free cookie when they bite into these bakery-style cookies exploding with chocolate. 

If you love chewy cookies, this recipe pulls out all stops for the best, soft cookies ever! Using extra egg yolk, increasing the amount of brown sugar, and adding a small amount of almond butter guarantees ultimate chewiness. 

1. In a large bowl beat together butter, almond butter, brown sugar, and sugar for about 3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.
2. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
3. Slowly mix in almond flour, baking soda, and salt until no flour pockets remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Use a medium cookie scoop to drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. If you don’t have a cookie scoop either chill the dough for 1 hour and roll into 1 ½ balls or use 2 teaspoons to scrape dough onto cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle sea salt on top the dough balls before baking.
5. Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and set, but middle is still soft and slightly undercooked. 

Ingredients

The only speciality ingredient required for this recipe is almond flour. Luckily, with the popularity of keto diet and low carb counts, it is easy to find at local grocery stores.

If you do a lot of baking with almond flour, like in almond flour muffins, brownies, peanut butter almond flour cookies, or breads, you can make your own almond flour. Alternatively, buy larger, more economical amounts from Costco or on sites like Amazon or Vitacost. 

• butter – unsalted and softened
• almond butter
• light brown sugar
• sugar
• whole egg + egg yolk
• vanilla extract
• almond flour
• baking soda
• chocolate chips – semisweet or milk chocolate 

Can I Substitute Peanut Butter for Almond Butter?

Almond flour chocolate cookies calls for creamy almond butter, which is basically ground up almonds. 

Almond butter can be purchased at major grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s, or on Amazon. You can even make your own almond butter at home!

If you don’t have almond butter on hand, or prefer using something else, any nut butter will do, such as peanut butter, cashew butter, or sunflower butter. 

For ultimate peanut butter fans, check out almond flour peanut butter cookie recipe! 

Are these Cookies Gluten Free?

Yes! All the ingredients in this cookie recipe are gluten free and grain free, similar to Italian Almond Cookies!

Baking with almond flour, as opposed to gluten free flour, usually has a higher percentage of success, as long as the recipe is well researched and written. Store bought gluten free flours contain a huge variance of flour combinations, so they don’t all perform equally.

Almond flour, on the other hand, is simply ground almonds so the results are more predictable. 

For a more traditional chocolate chip cookie, that is also gluten free, try the best gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Can I Use Almond Flour Instead of Regular Flour in Chocolate Chip Cookies?

If you are sold on grain free, low carb almond flour, you may want to start substituting it in all your recipes. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as that.

Almond flour weighs less than traditional flour, so a one to one conversion isn’t always possible. It also contains more moisture, which changes the chemistry of baked goods. 

It takes a little trial and error substituting almond flour for all-purpose flour, but here are some general tricks to try. Also find more of my favorite almond flour recipes here!

• Increase the amount of almond flour by 25%, so for every 1 cup flour, use 1 1/4 cup almond flour.
• Add extra leavening to offset the density of almond flour. 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, baking soda, or combination of both will help.
• Use less liquid in the recipe since almond flour adds more moisture. Using an egg yolk instead of the whole add egg or cutting back on moisture containing ingredients, such as milk, bananas, applesauce, or sour cream. 

Should Almond Flour Cookie Dough be Refrigerated? 

I tested the recipe both ways. It did not have an affect on how much the cookies spread or texture, so it does not have to be refrigerated.

However, the dough could be a little easier to handle when refrigerated. I used a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough so it was easy regardless. 

If you don’t have a cookie scoop, I recommend refrigerating the dough for 1 hour or freezing it for 30 minutes to chill the dough before rolling into 1 1/2 inch balls.

If perfectly round cookies is of no importance to you, use two teaspoons to scoop and scrape dough onto the baking sheet. No need to chill!

Are Gluten Free Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies Low Carb / Keto? 

Yes and no. One cookie contains 17 grams of carbs. This is significantly lower than traditional chocolate chip cookies, which contain around 29 carbs.

To make low carb almond flour cookies you would have to replace the sugar with monk fruit or use a sugar free substitute, such as erythritol. 

I haven’t tested a keto, low carb almond flour chocolate cookies recipe, but here are helpful baking tips for using sugar-free sweeteners.

Since the sweetener will contain less bulk than the sugar / brown sugar blend, you will have to replace it with something else. Try adding a couple additional tablespoons of almond flour.

What is the Difference Between Almond Flour and Almond Meal?

Both almond flour and almond meal are made from ground almonds, so they can be used interchangeably in most gluten free baking and cooking recipes.

Almond flour is more finely ground than almond meal with a uniform consistency. It works better in more delicate baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, and french macarons. 

Almond meal can be blanched (ground with skins removed) or unblanched (ground with skins on), so there might be a difference in color. Almond meal is good for more rustic recipes, such as breads or breading meats. 

Additions / Substitutions for Chocolate Chip Cookies with Almond Flour

Versatile almond flour cookie dough morphs into so many different cookie possibilities! Use this basic recipe and try out these different versions.

• White Chocolate Macadamia Nut –  Substitute 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts for the chocolate chips. 
• Almond Flour M&M cookies – Instead of chocolate chips add 1 1/2 cups M&Ms to the cookie dough to the dough at the end.
• Almond Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Mix in 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup nutmeg with dry ingredients. Add 1 1/2 cups raisins to the dough at the end. 
• Coconut Chip Cookies – Add 1 cup shredded coconut and use 1 cup chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.
• Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies – Sprinkle on sea salt or fleur de sel before baking. 
• Almond Flour Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Instead of almond butter use Nutella for chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

How to Freeze Store and Freeze Almond Flour Cookies

Since almond flour has higher moisture and fat these soft and chewy almond flour chocolate cookies store for a longer period of time than other cookies. 

After the cookies have cooled completely, stack and store in an airtight container up to 3 days. If storing longer than that, wrapping a couple cookies together in plastic wrap before placing in an airtight container will extend longevity up to a week. 

Almond flour cookies can also be frozen a couple different ways.

Freezing unbaked cookies: Portion out cookie dough into balls and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Freeze baking sheet. Once dough becomes solid, transfer balls to an airtight freezer container. Freeze up to 3 months.

Place frozen cookie balls on ungreased baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake as directed for 14 minutes. 

Freezing baked cookies: Bake and cool cookies completely. Stack in groups of 2 or 3 and wrap in plastic wrap. Transfer stacks to an airtight freezer container. Freeze up to 3 months and thaw on counter when ready to eat. 

Tips for Making the Best Almond Flour Cookies

• Room temperature ingredients are always best when baking. Separate the egg yolk from the white while cold, and then let it sit for 1 hour.
• To soften butter quickly use 20% power on the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute.
• Slightly underbake cookies to make sure they stay soft, even after cooling. 
• Chilling isn’t necessary, but is helpful if you don’t have a cookie scoop and want perfectly round cookies. Chill dough for 1 hour and roll into balls.
• For extra chocolate flavor use chocolate chunks or a mixture of semi-sweet, milk, and white chocolate chips.

More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes 

• Flourless Chocolate Cookies
• Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
• Kitchen Sink Cookies
• Nutella Cookies

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