Homemade Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

As a gluten-free baker, I know from first-hand experience how hard it can be to bake really good gluten-free chocolate chips cookies. My perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookies recipe has 4 simple tricks: use the right flour, chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes (I explain why below!), shape the dough cylindrically, and bake the cookies at 325°F not 350°F. Recipe yields 24 bakery-style cookies with no grittiness.

best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

There are a variety of gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, so why does recipe work so well? The best cookies have slightly crisp edges, soft, chewy middles, and smooth, sweet flavor. Unfortunately many GF recipes suffer from being overly greasy, excessive spreading or a gritty, ricey texture.

While some simply substitute gluten-free flour for a traditional recipe, this one was throughly tested by using tried and true techniques from my gluten-free cookbook and throughly researched gluten-free baking tips.

This gluten-free recipe for perfected chocolate chip cookies does use an all-purpose gluten-free flour, but it utilizes four simple tricks to make them soft and chewy without any grittiness. If you would like to use alternative flours – try these oat flour chocolate chip cookies or almond flour chocolate chip cookies for an equally delicious treat!

Below I share the four easy hacks for the home baker, turning GF chocolate chip cookies into a bakery-style treat that’s guaranteed to impress even the toughest critics. Say goodbye to overly greasy, gritty, and flat cookies forever!

Besides learning how to make homemade cookies with this throughly-tested recipe, I also share freezing and storing tips, mix-in ideas, and a dairy-free modification so all can enjoy!

Ingredients notes

Like flourless chocolate chip cookies or others in my gluten-free cookie recipe collection, only simple pantry-staple ingredients are required for the best chocolate chip cookies.

No other speciality flours are needed besides a high quality all-purpose gluten free flour. My recommended brand is Cup4Cup, which I elaborate more on in the GF flour section.

• Unsalted butter – Soften to room temperature. For dairy-free cookies, substitute vegan butter sticks, such as Earth Balance.
• Sugar – A combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar gives a caramel chewiness and structure.
• All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour- Cup4Cup chocolate chip cookies were tested with this particular flour after trying several other GF blends. However, this brand does contain milk powder, so for dairy-free cookies use King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour as an alternative.
• Chocolate Chips – Use dairy-free chocolate chips for a dairy-free recipe. See below for suggested gluten-free chocolate chip brands.

How To Make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

1. In a large bowl mix together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
2. To the mixture add the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed, or stir, until just combined.
3. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips or mix in on low speed. The dough will be slightly sticky and soft.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll into smooth cookie dough balls and then shape into cylinders with a flat bottom. This helps the cookies rise instead of flatten as they bake. Bake in a 325°F for 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway.

Trick 1: use Recommended GF Flour

While all purpose GF flours make it easy to convert recipes, there is quite a difference in how they perform. For cookies in particular, I recommend Cup4Cup brand for best texture and flavor.

Cup4Cup flour particularly assists in a GF cookie’s texture because the mix includes cornstarch. Not only does this absorb moisture, eliminating flat or greasy cookies, but it adds soft chewiness.

This flour also proved to be the best when testing in many other gluten-free flour baking experiments. However, it does contain milk powder, which doesn’t work for dairy-free gluten-free cookies. Use King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour for a DF alternative.

Trick 2: Improve gluten-free cookies’ Shape

If you suffer from flat GF cookies or would like them to rise more, there is a simple trick to make perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! Achieve beautiful bakery-style cookies, making soft ridges, instead of flat and crisp.

First, portion out the dough using a medium cookie scoop or 2 tablespoons worth. Roll them into a smooth cookie ball and then shape into a tall cylinder with a flat bottom. As the dough bakes, it melt into layers, achieving bakery-style cookies!

You can use this trick for any GF cookie recipes on the site, and it works especially well with these gluten-free pumpkin cookies as well.

If using another gluten-free cookie recipe and they are still flat, chances are the flour to fat ratio is off. GF starches do not absorb fat as well, which makes them spread excessively.

Adding 1-2 tablespoons more gluten-free flour can alleviate this. Alternatively, cut back on the butter and add an extra egg yolk for moisture and binding.

Trick 3: Chill dough

GF starches generally rely on xanthan gum to assist with binding. However, this usually doesn’t go far enough to mimic the shape and elasticity wheat flours have. Therefore, many recipes add additional flour to further assist absorbing moisture and making the dough workable.

Unfortunately, once baked, this also yields some overly dry and crumbly cookies. This cookie recipe combats in two ways.

First, using melted butter coats and saturates the starches, decreasing grittiness. But then the dough is rather soft and adding more flour isn’t an optimal option. Chilling resolidifies the dough, making it easier to work and giving the starches time to relax and soften, further improving the texture.

Trick 4: Use a Lower Oven

After witnessing the success of baking gluten-free quick breads and gluten-free bundt cake in a slightly lower oven, I decided to give it a try for cookies as well! Baking gluten-free cookies in a 325°F oven rather than 350°F improved texture with a softer chew, rather than dense and sticky.

Just like chilling dough before baking, a lower oven slightly extends bake time, giving the starches time to meld with the fats homogeneously. While baking your cookies, do the experiment yourself. Bake one tray at 325°F and one at 350°F and see what you think!

Mix-in options

Enhance this delicious cookie recipe by choosing one of these suggested adaptations! For an extra dose of chocolate, follow the recipe for gluten-free double chocolate cookies.

• Use milk chocolate, chocolate chunks, white chocolate chips or a combination to make the ultimate chip cookie!
• Replacing 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with miniature chocolate chips means gooey chocolate is evenly dispersed.
• Stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, macadamias, or pecans
• For another classic combo, follow the recipe for gluten-free white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
• Sprinkle a little sea salt on top of cookies before baking.
• For other chocolate chip cookie inspired recipes, check out this gluten-free cookie cake or gluten-free blondies.

freezing dough before baking

Have an emergency batch of cookies ready to bake whenever the fancy strikes! Drop portioned cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Once the cookies are hard, transfer to a ziplock freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, place on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake from frozen, adding an additional 1-2 minutes baking time.

storing and freezing

Gluten-free cookies have a shorter shelf than traditional cookies because they dry out and lose the soft texture after a couple days.

Therefore, if you don’t plan on eating these treats within a day or two, wrap stacks of 2-3 cookies in plastic wrap, transfer to a ziplock freezer bag, and freeze up to 3 months.

For storing at room temperature, make sure the cookies have cooled completely first before stacking and storing in an airtight container.

gluten-free chocolate chip brands

Most popular brands of chocolate chips, such as Nestle, Hershey’s, Guittard, and Enjoy Life are gluten free. Depending on your sensitivity, you may want to stay away from certain brands that are processed on shared equipment, such as Ghirardelli and Kirkland (Costco brand).

dairy-free adaptation

If you are looking for a dairy-free gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, use Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and substitute vegan butter sticks or melted coconut oil for the unsalted butter. Since dairy free, vegan butter is a little saltier, reduce the salt in the recipe by half.

The recommended gluten-free flour, Cup4Cup, does contain milk powder in the blend. Use King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour as an allergen-free alternative.

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