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, rest 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.

overhead shot of chocolate chip cookies with chocolate chips next to them.
If you have been disappointed by gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes, all claiming to be “the best,” don’t take my word for it – read the raving reviews below!

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Truly, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Like You’ve Never Had

There are a variety of gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, so why does my recipe work so well? My gluten-free cookie recipe has 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, I throughly tested this version by using tried and true techniques from my best-of gluten-free cookie recipe collection.

My chewy GF chocolate chip cookies uses an all-purpose gluten-free flour, but I utilized four simple tricks to make a soft-batch bakery treat without any grittiness.

Below I share the four easy hacks to turn the best gluten-free cookies into a smashing success. Just like another community fave – fudgy gluten-free brownie cookies, these cookies impress even the toughest critics. Say goodbye to overly greasy, gritty, and flat cookies forever!

Besides learning how to make the best homemade cookies pick up some other helpful tid bits, like freezing and storing tips, mix-in ideas, and a dairy-free modification so all can enjoy!

These are sooo delicious! Got the compliment that they don’t taste gluten free. This will be a staple recipe for sure and I highly recommend it.

—Erika

Not only are these the best gluten free chocolate chip cookies, but the best chocolate chip cookies in general!! They are so good, and you cannot tell at all that they are gluten free. Perfection!

—Lacey

Ingredients Tid Bits

Fortunately, making a stellar chocolate chip cookie doesn’t require fancy ingredients, only easy techniques. No other speciality flours are needed besides a high quality all-purpose gluten free flour blend. My recommended brand is Cup4Cup, which I elaborate more on in the GF flour section.

Cup4Cup chocolate chip cookies were tested with this particular flour after trying several other GF blends. If you read through the comments below, many readers have used their preferred brand and have added their notes.

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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.)

Easy Peasy Cookie Dough

In a large bowl mix together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, optional milk and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed, or stir, until just combined. At this point the dough will be pretty soft, but that’s okay! Stir in the chocolate chips.

cookie dough mixed together in a bowl.

Rest is best

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes. This is long enough to stiffen the dough a bit, but more importantly, remove that grittiness gluten-free cookies tend to have. This works for any type of cookie dough or even to make ultra chewy, gooey GF cookie bars ridiculously good.

New update! I used to chill the dough, but lately started experimenting again with Cup4Cup’s new formula changes. I felt like the cookies were drier and didn’t spread as well since they eliminated the milk powder. Adding a splash of milk and swapping out a room temp rest versus refrigerating and we are back in business!

the dough covered with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

Best Way to Shape (and Bake)

Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. I use a medium cookie scoop to do this quickly and evenly. Roll into smooth balls and then shape into cylinders with a flat bottom. This helps the cookies rise instead of flatten as they bake.

To further help with a softer chew, without stickiness in the bite, bake in a lower oven, 325°F for 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway.

a cookie scoop dividing out the dough onto baking sheets.
cookie dough in tall cylinder shape.
a cookie split in half with melted chocolate.
Say goodbye to gritty, dry and crumbly GF cookies. These gloriously soft and chewy treats taste just like the old fashioned recipe you grew up with.

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, the older formula contains milk powder (new formula does not), so be sure to read the ingredient label on the bag. I’ve tested the recipe with the new version and made some slight adjustments in the recipe card notes below.

Trick 2: Improve Cookies’ Shape

If you suffer from flat GF cookies or would like them to rise more, there is a simple trick to make perfect chocolate chip cookies! Achieve beautiful bakery-style treats, 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!

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: Rest 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 recipe combats that 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. Resting re-solidifies the dough, making it easier to work and giving the starches time to relax and soften, further improving the texture.

Trick 4: Lower Oven Temp

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

Just like resting 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!

a whole cookie resting on a glass of milk.
This is an equal opportunity GF dessert idea. Whether you need a gluten-free cookie recipe, or not, all fall in love!

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overhead shot of chocolate chip cookies with chocolate chips next to them.
4.71 stars (74 ratings)

Seriously, THE BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Melissa Erdelac of MamaGourmand headshot in patterned dress.Melissa Erdelac
Yield: 24
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 48 minutes
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, rest the cookie dough for 30 minutes, shape the dough cylindrically, and bake the cookies at 325°F not 350°F. Recipe yields 24 bakery-style cookies with no grittiness.
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Ingredients
 

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl or stand mixer beat together the warm melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, optional milk, and vanilla until well combined.
    8 tablespoons unsalted butter, ¾ cup packed light brown sugar, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon milk or non-dairy milk
  • Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined and no flour pockets remain. Stir in chocolate chips or mix in on low speed. The dough will be slightly sticky and soft.
    1 ¾ cup gluten free all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Tip: The cookies can go on ungreased baking sheets as well, but they release better from parchment or silicone)
  • Use a medium cookie scoop  (or 2 tbsp per cookie) to drop dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Roll the cookie dough into smooth balls and then shape into a tall cylinder with flat bottom (see post for image). This helps the cookies rise instead of flatten.
  • Bake for 12-13 minutes, rotating pans halfway. Edges should be set, but middle is still soft. OPTIONAL TIP: When they come out of the oven, you can raise and drop the cookie sheet a few inches off the stove top to settle the cookies down into softer ridges. Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before transporting to a wire rack.

Notes

Update 7/26: Adding Milk and Resting At Room Temp
Since Cup4Cup has changed their formula I have find the cookies to be a little drier and not spread as well. To fix this, I made two small tweaks to the recipe. Add 1 tablespoon milk to the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temp. 
Chilling made the dough stiffer, harder to spread during baking, and gave a slight sticky, unpleasant texture. A room temp rest still allows time for the GF starches to soften and maintains a nice cookie shape and texture.
If using a flour besides C4C you can omit the milk, but still rest at room temp. 
Dairy Free adaptations
If you are looking for a dairy free recipe, use Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and substitute regular unsalted butter for vegan butter sticks. Since dairy free, vegan butter is a little saltier, reduce the salt in the recipe by half. If adding milk to the recipe, opt for non-dairy.
storing / freezing
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. 
To freeze unbaked cookies, 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. 
 
 
 
 
Calories: 151kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 139mg, Potassium: 13mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 148IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg
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