These flourless chocolate cookies take your taste buds to a whole new level. Only five ingredients stand in your way of making the gooiest, chewy no flour chocolate cookies as a naturally gluten free cookie option everyone finds hard to ignore. If you want to witness how fast a batch of cookies can disappear, than this is the recipe for you!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get affordable and easy gluten-free recipes delivered each week!
Winning Chocolate Flourless Cookies – Ooey Gooey Yumminess!
Chewy, fudgy flourless chocolate cookies recipe is a great introduction to GF baking and an essential recipe in my gluten-free cookie collection. Just like homemade chocolate no bake cookies, it’s great to not have to mess around with (expensive!) GF flour blends, and use what is right in your kitchen.
These no flour cookies only require five simple ingredients – egg whites, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and chocolate chips, but, dang, do they create some goodness. They have a crackly, crunchy exterior with a whole lot of gooey, fudgy chocolate goodness inside, just like highly-reviewed viral gluten-free brownie cookies.
Even if gluten free baking is of no concern to you, these homemade cookies do not disappoint. Many readers turn to the this recipe when they are looking for flourless cookies for holidays or to make for a friend that is gluten-free. Then they end up being surprised by how no one can resist them.
Their unique texture and structure comes from the egg whites, which essentially makes this a chocolate meringue cookie. Since they taste like light, puffs of rich chocolately heaven, be forewarned they are eaten quickly! Let’s make them and see what all the fuss is about!
Then, do me a solid? After you relish this GF win, head over to this homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies recipe to learn the easy tricks for baking with flour as well. You won’t be disappointed. 🙌
Everyone needs to have this flourless cookie recipe. Super easy to make and they taste very high end. YUM!!
—Karen
Great easy recipe! Everyone I make these for rave about these cookies!
—Olga
Free Guide! 5 easy tips for baking like a gluten-free pro!
Simple hacks for fail-proof gluten-free dishes every time!
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
Whisky whisk time
In a large bowl whisk cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. You’ll want to make sure your bowl is large enough to work in the egg whites without the powdered sugar spilling out.
Egg whites and oomph
Stir in the egg whites and vanilla extract. The batter will get very thick and require some oomph to stir. TIP: Using a silicone spoon helps immensely with being able to stir, scrape, and fold until all the ingredients are moistened.
If it seems impossible to stir, add a couple dashes of water. The size of your egg whites plays a factor in the consistency of the batter.
Once all the dry ingredients are mixed, stir in the chocolate chips or any additional add-ins. (See below for some yummy ideas.)
Scoop, wait, and bake
Scoop batter onto the prepared baking sheet. TIP: Using a small cookie scoop quickly makes evenly sized cookies. If you are a baker, this tiny little cookie scoop will change your life.
Now is when we do something a little different in this flourless cookies recipe. Allow them to rest for 30 minutes at room temp. This will result in a better shaped cookie. (See the mage below) But, truth be told, these things will be eaten either way.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tops are glossy and slightly cracked. Cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring. Try not to eat every single one of them…You’ve been warned.
Why The Rest Before Baking?
Although it’s not necessary to rest the cookies before baking, I find that it does improve the cookies structure and shape. If baking right away the cookies will spread more and be thinner. Resting at room temperature for 30 minutes yields a rounder shape, with set glossy tops.
Super Yummy Mix-Ins
- Nuts – chopped walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or peanuts. You can sprinkle a few on top before baking too.
- Peanut butter baking chips (read label for gluten-free)
- Crushed peppermint candies
- Substitute chopped dark chocolate chunks or white chocolate chips
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before baking
- Drizzle melted white chocolate over cooled cookies
- Substitute orange extract and add in orange zest
- Stir in 1 teaspoon espresso powder
Save this recipe to your pinterest board!
Let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’m always sharing great recipes!
Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Chewy, Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup (68 g) Dutch processed cocoa powder, (or substitute natural unsweetened baking cocoa)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3 large egg whites, unbeaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- optional flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and SPRAY with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together powder sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla extract until the batter is completely moistened. It will be very, very thick. Stir in the chocolate chips.3 cups powdered sugar, ⅔ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, ½ tsp. salt, 3 large egg whites, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Spoon the batter on the sprayed parchment lined sheets, about 1 tablespoon per scoop (Using a small cookie scoop makes this very easy!) You will end up with about 12 mounds per sheet. Let the cookie sheets rest for 30 minutes before baking*, meanwhile preheating oven to 350ºF.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until tops are glossy and lightly cracked. The edges will be set and the middle slightly undercooked.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before gently transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Best Tips and Troubleshooting
- Substituting a sugar alternative for the powdered sugar is not recommended.
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and don’t forget to spray with cooking spray. I often see readers post their cookie “failures” on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Foil is a no no!
- The egg whites should be unbeatened when adding them in.
- Don’t let the batter sit too long before scooping onto the baking sheet. Once the egg whites, powdered sugar, and baking cocoa are mixed, scoop the batter onto the baking sheet.
- Many readers have asked about adding the whole egg. While some have had success with this, I have not. It added too much liquid and the cookies were extremely flat and chewy.
- If the batter is too thick to incorporate the dry ingredients, you can add a couple drops of water just till it comes together. Avoid adding too much extra liquid, though, or the cookies will spread and become thin.
This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
I only have Hershey’s cocoa powder. Will this work? I’m excited to try this recipe out
Thank you
For sure you can. They will still be absolutely delicious. Enjoy!
I made these cloudless cookies we lived them them. Next time I think I’ll try adding pecans.
These are so delicious and so easy to make! I ate 6 and I just made them a few hours ago.
I hear ya, sista. They are hard to have any willpower around! I’m glad you enjoyed them and thanks for letting me know.
Melissa
Something to consider as I was reading how some bakers got different results. As mentioned the size of egg white can impact the outcome as well as the temperature of the egg white meaning perhaps a cold egg white might not give the same result vs letting the dough “rest” for thirty minutes and allowing the dough to come more to “room temperature” as to how big an impact I can’t say
Thanks for clarifying that, Mary. Having your egg whites at room temp is a very important step in this recipe. If you’re short on time, you can always let your whole eggs set in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes, crack, and then separate the whites.
That’s wonderful about sharing the cookies. I definitely love baking much more than I should be eating!
any reason why you do not use the whole egg?
Hi Kathi, Well now you have me curious to try it and see what happens. The recipe, though, is based off a meringue cookie, which only uses egg whites. This gives it a light, airy texture.
OH, okay, thank you Melissa. I will indeed try it your way as that makes sense!
Thanks for responding so quickly!
Do you know how many calories are in each cookie?
According to the recipe analyzer on happyforks.com 113 calories / cookie
Hi.
This look delicious. Do you think it would ruin them if i substitute half of the chcolate chips for chopped walnuts?
No, not at all. I think that’s a fantastic idea!
Hi Melissa. These look great and i cant wait to try them but do you think these would taste just as good using a healthy alternative like Cacao Powder instead? Thanks. x
Hi Laura,
I don’t know much about cacao powder…it’s different than cocoa powder? Love to hear about it!
Hi, I’m a 16 year old and my 14 year old brother and I decided to make this for our swim team coach appreciation day. One of my coaches is gluten-free and one is diabetic. We decided to make something just for the gf coach. We’ve been making flourless chocolate cake for years, but we wanted to do something new. This is similar in flavour to our cake recipe, but not exactly the same. We followed the recipe exactly but when I checked them in the oven after 10 minutes they were liquid in the middle. I thought that I should leave them in for longer because we had made them too big. However, 30 minutes later, they wouldn’t cook inside, and were burned outside. Luckily I like to make things in batches of 3 in case things spread and we only wasted 9 cookies. However, I would like to ask, are they meant to be liquid in the center and then set into a more solid state when cooled? If so you should really put that in the recipe instead of having more hapless inexperienced bakers wasting expensive ingredients on burnt rusks. They were delicious when I figured it out though, thanks!
Hello! I’m sorry you had wasted ingredients and cookies. That’s always a bummer. I haven’t had that happen to me where they were liquid in the middle. Usually they are slightly more undercooked in the middle while the edges are set. I know this recipe can be a little finicky because it’s basically just the egg whites, powder sugar, and cocoa powder. Sometimes the size of the egg whites makes a difference. If they are larger, than you may need to add a little more powder sugar and cocoa powder to offset. Thanks for writing, though. I’ll make a notation in the recipe describing how the cookies should look when they are done. By the way, how kind you and your brother are to make homemade goods for your coach!
I don’t have any spray like Pam, I wonder if that will make a difference???
Dawn, Do you have parchment paper? If you have that you should be okay. Last time I made them I forgot to spray the parchment paper. They were a little tougher to get off, but I still managed and only had to quickly eat a couple that didn’t quite make it off in piece 😉 I let them cool pretty much completely on the pans, though, before I took them off.
Making them right now 🙂
But even before baking they smell delicious :)))
Thanks!!!!
Hope you enjoy them! They are a little too easy to overindulge on 🙂
Hi is this recipe in 350 F or 350 C is doesn’t specify.
thank you,
Fahrenheit. Thanks for catching that! I’ll make the change in the recipe.
Can the chocolate chips be left out or will it affect the composition too much?
I’m sure they would still turn out fine, but I would make the cookies much smaller. Maybe just 1/2 tablespoon scoop / cookie.
I made these as part of a new baby meal for a friend of mine whose husband is gluten intolerant. He can not quit talking about them! He says they are like “chocolate heaven”. My husband, who eats everything, was pretty crazy about them, too!
That’s wonderful to hear! Thanks for sharing.
I recently made them to bring to a BBQ and they sure went fast! Looks like I’ll be making them again soon to actually get to eat them.
These cookies were chewy, chocolate heaven. They are definitely for chocolate lovers! Turned out perfect when I made them. Just like the pictures. 🙂
It is an easy and amazing dish for the chocolate lovers like me. Very easy & tasty.
Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These looked delicious and since I am mostly gluten-free, I wanted to give them a try. I am also trying to follow a sugar-free life style so I baked it with powdered stevia and sugar free chocolate chips. The weirdest thing happened, they didn’t flatten out at all but stayed little round mounds. Have you ever tried the stevia baking blend before, and if so, ever had this result? Could changing the “sugar” to stevia make that much of a difference? I am new at baking with stevia (use to be a sugar-laden-baking-junkie), so I am still trying to figure this all out.
Hi Crystal, I don’t have any experience baking with stevia, but I would imagine it would definitely change the outcome of the cookie since it’s a different composition. Did they still taste okay? I’m sure other readers would love to know too…
I followed the recipe and my cookie turned out the same way! They stayed as mounds and when baking a little bit of batter leaked out from under the crust that was formed. They were still delicious, but I am curious if the leaking problem would be solved if I did not let them sit out for as long or at all before baking. However, I worry that this will eliminate the lovely glossy crust on top.
Were you baking them with regular sugar or trying the stevia? If it was the regular sugar, then I agree, it could have been from letting them sit out. Were they sitting out in the fridge or on the counter? I have skipped this step before and it doesn’t affect the taste of the cookie. I’ll be doing some of my own experiments and keep you guys posted!
I was using regular sugar and setting them out on the counter. I will try without setting them out next time! Thanks!
I tried the recipe again today and they turned out perfect! They look almost identical to the pictures included with the recipe. I didn’t do anything different, but the batter was a bit thinner this time, I am not sure if this is due to the difference in egg size or something else. Very puzzling. These cookies are a favorite of my family, thanks so much for the recipe and your replies, Melissa!
Thanks for following up and letting me know. I’m so glad they turned out! Since these cookies are basically just egg whites, they can vary from time to time when making them. Egg whites can be a little temperamental, so you are probably right about the egg size or maybe even the temperature.
What would happen if I used natural cocoa powder instead of dutched processed?
Hi Ashley, No that wouldn’t be a problem. I just prefer dutch processed over natural in recipes that use a lot of cocoa. It has a less bitter taste, but the cookies would still be fine without it!
Hi!
They came out fine. Giving as a gift to someone any idea on how they can be stored? Can they be frozen?
Hi Deb! Yes, for sure they can be frozen. I haven’t tried freezing before baking, but they most definitely can after baking. After they cool, I would release them from cookie sheet with a spatula, but leave them right on there and stick the whole pan in to freeze. After they are solid you can transfer to a bag or container to freeze.
Hi! I’m going to make these for the upcoming Passover holiday – such a great alternative to the expected flourless chocolate cake. Quick question – about how big should the spoonfuls of dough be? I know you wrote 12 per sheet but I’m afraid that many won’t fit so it would help to know how big the scoops should be and how far apart they should be placed on the sheet. Thanks!!
Hi Briana, These do spread quite a bit. I would say about a heaping tablespoon for the amount and with at least an 1 1/2 – 2 inch space between them. You are very welcome. Enjoy!
I’m really looking forward to making these. Normally when I make cookie dough, I shape them the cookies into balls and keep them in the fridge so I can bake them individually later. This dough looks a little different, so I’m thinking that might not work? Would it be best to just make them all at once and save them in the fridge or freezer or something? Thanks 🙂
Hi Heather, I think these would still be fine doing that. If you aren’t going to bake them within the day, though, I would just freeze the dough balls. Enjoy!
I was wondering if you have a suggestion in using something else in substitute for the egg whites? I’m breast feeding my son and he can’t do eggs.
I’ve never tried a substitute, but maybe you can try the Ener-G Egg replacer? It seems like people with food allergies have good results with it as an egg replacer. However, given this recipe is mostly just egg whites, chocolate, and sugar I’m curious on how well it would work…Please let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
These cookies look amazing! I am in a time crunch and want to make these now but to bring to family next week, do they freeze well and if so should you freeze the dough or bake and then freeze?
Hey Cait, Typically you could just freeze the dough and bake, but since these are mostly just egg whites, I’m not sure if that would work out in this case. You can definitely just bake the cookies, cool, freeze on the cookie sheet, and then transfer them to a ziplock bag to freeze until you’re ready to eat them.
These are exactly like the ones that I obsess over from Whole Foods! Nice that I can make them so easily myself – quick full of chocolately goodness! Thanks for sharing!
Lexi, These cookies are so light and amazing you can (almost) convince yourself you didn’t eat 6-7 of them…
I just made these and wow they are amazing. I hope they freeze well… i swapped sugar for a substitute sugar and i swapped cocoa for cacao i also put a pinch of crushed mixed seeds on top… (i didnt read all the recipe to let sit but still came up good)
Hi Bianca, I’m so glad you liked them! You’ve inspired me to come up with some different variations myself…
Hii, thank you for this amazing recipe. But when i baked them the sugar turn into a total caramel disaster, have any idea what i did wrong ?
Hi Laura, did you use powdered sugar? The only thing I can think of is you accidentally used regular granulated sugar…
A bakery in my city makes these and they are to die for! I think they add some instant coffee for a mocha flavor. Yum!
Question about the recipe… Do I need to whip the egg whites into meringue like peaks before mixing in with the dry ingredients?
No, you don’t whip the egg whites. The batter will be very thick, and frankly, kind of weird, but they will taste great! Great idea with adding the instant coffee (or espresso powder)!
Hi,
Would this still work with 1 and a half cup of sugar? I don’t have a lot of sugar in my deprived cupboard!
Hi Sasha,
I would just half the entire recipe until your cupboard is re-prived 😉 Cutting that much sugar out might make for a pretty bitter cookie with all that unsweetened cocoa…
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I was looking for something to make with cocoa powder and found this. It was easy to follow and simple ingredients.
I was curious about the nutritional info as well.
**Spoiler Alert if you do not want to know… then stop now. I’m not trying to ruin a delicious cookie, just thought I would share the info.
I made a half batch and got 13 nice size cookies out of it. Based off adding together the nutrition info from each of the ingredients and a little math… and this is what I got.
1 cookie=
125 Cal
4.25g Fat
24.5g Carbs
<1 g Protein
20g Sugar
Almost all of the fat came from the semi-sweet chips, but that is also what makes them so delicious!
Everything in moderation! 🙂
Wow, thanks so much for sharing (and doing the legwork), Audrey!
These maybe gluten-free but not glutton-free. Delicious and easy to make. Just wondering what’s the calorie count?
I’m not sure, but if I need to know the calorie count of a recipe I always use this site https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php You just plug in the ingredients and serving size and it will show you. I imagine these cookies are too terrible 😉
When you let them rest before baking is it at room temp. or refrigerator? Have a cousin and a sister-in-law that are GF. This is a great treat for them that doesn’t require several specialty ingredients.
Hi Stephanie! You just let it rest at room temperature. If you are in a hurry that step isn’t necessary, it just helps with the cookie having a nice chewy crust.
LOVE that this site is geared toward gluten-free options!!! I’ve been thinking about the chocolate cookies….a lot. 😉