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.)
- In a large bowl mix together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
- To the mixture add the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed, or stir, until just combined.
- Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips or mix in on low speed. The dough will be slightly sticky and soft.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- 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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step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
SAVE THIS BEST GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE TO YOUR PINTEREST BOARD!
Let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’m always sharing great recipes!
Homemade Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Listen to Recipe Audio
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour (Cup4Cup gluten-free flour highly recommended)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use 1 cup semi-sweet, ¼ cup miniature chips)
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla until well combined.8 tablespoons unsalted butter,¾ cup light brown sugar,⅓ cup granulated sugar,1 egg,1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 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 + 2 tablespoons 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 refrigerate 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 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway. Edges should be set, but middle is still soft. Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before transporting to a wire rack.
- DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?? DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE FEEDBACK AND RATE BELOW!
Equipment Needed
Recipe Notes
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.Why let the cookie dough rest before baking?
Letting gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough rest for 30 minutes before baking allows the fats and liquids to saturate the starches, getting rid of any off-putting sandy grittiness. Pull from the oven and bite into the best chocolate chip cookie ever!Dairy Free adaptations
If you are looking for a dairy free chocolate chip cookie 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. 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.Nutrition
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Elle says
Thanks for this recipe! I’m looking forward to trying them. I also love how much I learned about gluten free baking in it, because I’m always looking to understand it better. You managed to explain it in a way that is really understood – no small feat!
With other cookie recipes, I’ve seen (both reading and then trying it myself) that refrigerating the dough overnight or up to 24 or 48 hours produces better results. If you’ve tried it, so you think that’s true for these? I’m not sure if there’s a point that is too long for having the starches absorb the liquid.
Melissa Erdelac says
Hi Elle,
I’m so you learned from the post. That makes me really happy! Great question about refrigerating the dough overnight. You can refrigerate it up to 24 hours. I think 48 hours would be pushing it for GF dough and might risk making the cookies too dry. As for if it would make a difference in the outcome. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think I can plan ahead that much when I need cookies! You could bake half after chilling and the other half after 24 hours. The problem is you wouldn’t have a great side-by-side taste test because a cookie baked 24 hours before would just be worse than a freshly baked one. You would almost have to freeze the first cookie and eat them both at the same time, warmed to the same temp. Sounds like a fun experiment and if you do it, I’d love to hear the outcome!
Best,
Melissa
Tricia Nielsen-Zoromski says
I think I have an old version of this recipe. Mine calls for 2tbs milk and baking at 350. I see the recommendation to bake at 325, is the milk now omitted as well?
Melissa Erdelac says
Hi Tricia,
Yes, I reworked the recipe slightly. It won’t hurt to add the milk, but I found not adding it gives the cookies more structure so they don’t bake as flat. Also, baking at a lower oven helps prevent grittiness in GF cookies because it gives more time for the moisture to absorb in the GF starches. I’m always looking for easy ways to improve GF baked goods and in my opinion, these 2 things stepped the recipe up a notch!
Best,
Melissa
Heddy C says
These cookies came out amazing! I used King Arthur measure for measure GF flour. I also put mini chocolate chips and Trader Joe’s salted caramel chips. Perfect!!!!!
Melissa Erdelac says
Yum, Heddy! My favorite part of making cookies is mixing in all sorts of goodies. I’ll have to try the TJ’s salted caramel chips!
Best,
Melissa
Cindy says
Just made your gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for the first time and they are delicious! I only had dark brown sugar, which I am guessing is why they are a little bit deeper in color. I also found that they were not spreading, so when I rotated the pans halfway through the baking cycle, I used a spatula and did depress them somewhat. They turned out beautifully! And, no gritty aftertaste!!! I used Walmart’s Great Value GF Flour with success! Wish I could include a picture – I’m so pleased, and I thank you very much for how much expense and time and hard work you put in to help make gluten-free food visually appealing and delicious!
Melissa Erdelac says
I really appreciate this, Cindy! It makes it all worth it to read comments like this!
Best,
Melissa
Dell says
I did reduce the amount of sugar, but even so my kids and husband loved these cookies! The dough was sooo soft and sweetness was perfect! I am a mother of 4 that doesn’t buy prepackaged sweets/desserts/breads, therefore this recipe is gold to me =)
My substitutions included:
1/2 cup of brown coconut sugar (healthier alternative).
1/3 cup of monk sugar (healthier alternative).
2 tablespoons of almond milk
1 cup of “Enjoy Life” brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Melissa says
Thank you for your very helpful substitutions! I’m so glad your family loved them!
Best,
Melissa
Christin says
Sounds good, but where does the 2 tbsp milk come in? I don’t see it in your steps.
Christin says
Never mind, I’m just blind lol I see it now.
Melissa says
No worries!
Megan says
I also do not see milk in the list of ingredients
Melissa Erdelac says
Hi Megan,
That was an old addition to the recipe. I have since adjusted it. Looks like I forgot to omit it from the post itself. Thanks for pointing that out!
Best,
Melissa