Ingredients You’ll Need
This gluten-free cookie recipe is made with blanched almond flour, which means the skin has been removed from the nuts before they were ground into flour. Your cookies will have a crispy, buttery texture when you use this type of grain-free flour, but you can use almond meal (made with whole ground almonds) if that’s what you have. Desserts made with almond meal tend to be denser and not quite as crisp, so just keep that in mind. Maple syrup and coconut oil help to bind this recipe without using an egg or flax egg, but if you prefer to use coconut sugar as the sweetener, check out my classic almond flour cookie recipe instead. They taste like the Tollhouse cookies, only made with almond flour! Using coconut oil keeps this recipe dairy-free, but if you’d prefer to avoid any coconut flavor, look for refined or expeller-pressed coconut oil which has zero coconut taste. You can also use your favorite vegan butter, or real butter if you don’t need a dairy-free cookie. Use dark chocolate chips to keep this recipe lower in sugar, or try adding dried fruit for another variation. I like to use mini chocolate chips to distribute the chocolate flavor even more.
How to Make the Best Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mix. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Stir well until a thick cookie dough is formed. (Because this recipe is not made with traditional flour, there’s no need to whisk the dry ingredients together before adding in the liquid ingredients.) Fold in the chocolate chips, being careful not to stir too much. Almond flour cookie dough can become oily when overmixed.
- Bake. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop the dough onto the prepared pan, about 2 inches apart from each other. You should get roughly 19 to 20 cookies from this batch. Use your hands to gently flatten each cookie mound, as they won’t spread much on their own. Sprinkle a little sea salt on top, if you’d like a sweet and salty cookie, then bake at 350ºF for 9 to 10 minutes, until the edges look lightly golden.
- Cool. Once the cookies are done baking, let them cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes. They will firm up as they cool. The finished cookies will have a crispy edge and a slightly chewy center, reminiscent of a shortbread cookie studded with chocolate chunks. Serve these paleo cookies warm or let them cool completely on a wire rack. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they do become softer and less crispy in that case. For crispier results and longer shelf life, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Looking for more paleo cookie recipes? Try Almond Butter Cookies, Almond Flour Sugar Cookies, or the Healthiest Cookies Ever. If you try this paleo chocolate chip cookies recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
