(The BEST!) Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy
The BEST Gluten-Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies – These classic gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are PERFECT. Golden and chewy on the outside, gooey in the center, with lots of chocolate in every bite! (Gluten-Free)
I’ve made several gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes on this blog. Most of them lean toward healthier cookies, without refined sugars, butter, etc. This recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies doesn’t have a healthy bone in its body. It’s REAL DEAL, classic, cozy chocolate chip cookies made with traditional (aka not health-ified) ingredients.
And they taste INCREDIBLE.
In my opinion (and after literally years of testing), they’re pretty much perfect. I’m talking about
- Chewy golden edges
- Soft gooey centers
- PLENTY of chocolate throughout.
These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are the real deal. They hit all the right notes, have incredible flavor, and can fool almost any gluten eater.
Here’s what you need to make my best chewy gluten-free chocolate chip cookies recipe…
HERE’S WHAT I PUT IN MY GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
- SOFTENED BUTTER (OR VEGAN BUTTER). The butter should be soft enough that your clean finger could easily poke all the way down to the bottom of the butter. If you’re dairy-free, use vegan buttery sticks like Earth Balance.
- SUGAR + BROWN SUGAR. I like a mix of brown and white sugar in my chocolate chip cookies. White and brown sugar help you get the golden color and texture you’re looking for here. (I use coconut sugar for lots of recipes, but using it here will change your results, so I don’t recommend subbing it in here.)
- EGGS + VANILLA. Pretty standard cookie ingredients. I add lots of vanilla extract to this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I love the flavor it gives.
- BAKING POWDER + BAKING SODA + SALT. More cookie basics! The blend of baking powder and baking soda keeps the cookies nice and tender, with just enough puff. Then, the salt helps balance the flavors. So good.
- GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR. To round out the dry ingredients,I use a measure-for-measure or 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend for these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. (See the FAQ for my favorite brands!)
- LOTS OF CHOCOLATE. I don’t skimp on the chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies! This recipe uses 3 full cups. I like using a blend of chocolate chips and chocolate chunks–it’s pretty and is texturally amazing. (Seriously. Try it.)
VARIATIONS & MIX-INS TO TRY!
The first time you make these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, I recommend making them as written, but when you’re ready to play with the recipe, you can try one of these tasty mix-ins or substitutions…
- TOFFEE BITS OR CHOPPED UP CANDY BARS. In our pre-dairy-free life, chopped up Heath bars or toffee bits were one of my FAVORITE mix-ins for chocolate chip cookies. They’d work perfectly here! You can use 1 cup in place of 1 cup of the chocolate chips or add some in addition to the chocolate for even more loaded cookies.
- BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS. You can give these a butterscotch twist with butterscotch chips or allergy-friendly butterscotch chips. My preference is 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/2 butterscotch chips since butterscotch chips run pretty sweet, but if you really love butterscotch, you can do these with 100% butterscotch chips instead of semi-sweet or dark chocolate.
- WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS + MACADAMIA NUTS. If you prefer, you can use this same base gluten-free cookie recipe, but swap in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts for the chocolate chips. (You can do 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips + 1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, or do a 2:1 ratio of white chips + macadamia nuts. It’s up to you!
- PECANS OR NUTS. If you like nuts in your chocolate chip cookies, feel free to mix in some nuts in addition to the chocolate chips or instead of some of the chocolate chips. About 1 cup does the trick!
TIPS FOR THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
DON’T GO ROGUE. STICK TO THE RECIPE. REALLY. I love to play with recipes, but I can only guarantee the results here if you’re following the recipe. That means not reducing sugar, switching out flours, substituting the eggs, trying to cut down on butter, skipping the chilling step, not using parchment, etc. At least the first time you make it, I suggest making it as written, without substitutions.
CONSIDER WEIGHING YOUR INGREDIENTS. Especially when you’re baking, measuring ingredients by weight with a simple kitchen scale can be a great way to guarantee accuracy. (For instance, I can measure 2 cups of flour three times and get three slightly different weights, even if I use the same sift + scoop + level method.) A kitchen scale doesn’t usually cost much, but it can really help when you want to be precise.
A MIXER HELPS. This recipe makes quite a bit of cookie dough, so a stand mixer can be helpful. This paddle attachment is my favorite for making cookies since it scrapes down the sides so well.
MY FAVORITE GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR FOR COOKIES. Lately, I’ve been favoring King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten-free flour blend. It’s got a nice balance of starches and has the most neutral flavor of any GF flour blend I’ve tried so far (which means no weird aftertaste!). My second favorite is Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour. If you use a different brand, you may get slightly different results.
DAIRY-FREE? READ THIS! This recipe can be dairy-free by using dairy-free buttery sticks (like Earth Balance) and dairy-free chocolate chips/chunks.
More Gluten-Free Baking Recipes To Try:
HELPFUL INGREDIENTS + TOOLS FOR GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
Gluten Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: About 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: About 40 (3″) cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The BEST Gluten-Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies – These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are PERFECT. Golden and chewy on the outside, gooey in the center, with lots of chocolate in every bite! (Gluten-Free)
*I recommend King Arthur Flour Measure-For-Measure gluten-free flour for this recipe. If using a substitute, be sure it contains xanthan gum and is considered a 1:1 flour blend. Also, know your results may vary based on the brand of flour you use.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227g) butter or dairy-free butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) white sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs (ideally room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 1/2 cup (300g.) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour*
- 3 cups (about 525g.) chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (I like to do a mix)
Optional: flaked sea salt, for finishing.
Instructions
- In a large stand mixer or large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well to incorporate after each addition.
- Add vanilla and stir to mix in.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine.
- Add 1/3-1/2 the flour and carefully mix.
- Add remaining flour in batches and stop mixing when there is still a little flour visible in the mixture.
- Add chocolate chips and fold them in until the remaining flour is incorporated and the chocolate chips are mixed through.
- Cover the dough and chill at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- When the dough has chilled, scoop 1 1/2 Tbsp. balls of dough (medium cookie scoop size) and place 8-12 cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and turning golden and the centers look slightly underbaked.
- Remove baked cookies from oven, sprinkle with a few flakes of salt (optional) and let cool on the baking sheet 1-2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. (The remaining heat from the pan will finish setting the cookies while keeping them soft in the middle.)
- Repeat with remaining dough, working in batches of 8-12 at a time until all the cookies are baked.
- Store leftover cookies in the freezer for best results!
Notes
IF YOUR COOKIES HAVE SPREAD MORE THAN YOU LIKE: First, be sure you have chilled the dough long enough, used parchment paper, and have your oven at the correct temperature. If all those have been taken care of, you can add 1-2 Tbsp. flour to the dough at time to help them puff more and spread less. (You can bake a test cookie or two after adding more flour, if you like)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes + 30 minutes to chill
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Delicious! Best GF cookie I’ve ever made! I let them cool on baking sheet as they tend to break apart when really hot!
Debbie – I’m SO GLAD you loved them! They’re my very favorite, too.
These are yummy! I followed the recipe ingredients exactly. Needed to bake them a couple of minutes longer to get golden brown. I think this recipe is a keeper for sure! I’m going to freeze some so I don’t eat them all. Thank you!
Jess – Perfect! I’m so glad you liked them!
Do you use light or dark brown sugar? Does it matter with this recipe?
I usually use light brown since I prefer that flavor, but if you like the flavor of dark brown, it shouldn’t impact the bake. 🙂
I made the cookies a week ago and they were so yummy! Mine were a little puffy do you know how I could fix that?
Caitlin – I’m glad you enjoyed them! One thing to look for if they’re puffy is how you’re measuring the flour (often if they’re puffy, it’s too much flour). If you have a kitchen scale, that’s the most accurate way to measure, but if not, you can use the scoop-and-level method to help. Instead of using your measuring cup as a scoop, lightly fluff up the flour with a fork or whisk, then use a spoon to scoop spoonfuls into your measuring cup. Level off the top with the back of a knife, then add to your recipe. This helps make sure you’re not compacting the flour in the measuring cup and inadvertently adding a little more than you meant to. I hope that helps! 🙂
That trick has helped me with all of my gluten free baking! I make these cookies all the time, they are the best!
Omg, BEST cookies ever!!! These are by far the best gf cookies. I used vegan butter and 1 egg yolk and 1 egg and wow everyone loved them. Best part is they didn’t notice the difference!
Ooooh, I bet they had great texture with the egg yolk! I’m so glad you loved them as much as we do!
The best is correct! I’ve been GF and baking GF for about 12 years and it was my husband’s first time making GF cookies. I told him I hadn’t had any luck lately making a chewy & crispy cookie. He made them exactly as the recipe states (using Bob’s 1:1) and they turned out delicious!
Kelly – BEST REVIEW EVER! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! You totally made my day. And thank you for taking the time to leave a review–it helps others find the recipe, too. 🙂
These were great but I think the recipe could do for a bit less baking soda, mine turned out very large and puffy and I could taste the baking soda
hello, this recipe looks amazing can’t wait to try it! if you use vegan butter, does the texture and taste of the cookies taste the same? thank you!
Joslyn – If you’re used to vegan butter/dairy-free butter, it’ll be just what you expect. We’ve had lots of readers use Earth Balance with great results! They’ll be *slightly* less crisp on the bottoms, but still lovely.
So, first of all…WOW!!! This cookie is incredibly tasty and to die for. I baked three other different recipes I found online and almost gave up on trying to make gluten free chocolate chip cookies. This recipe made a lot so I made a log inside parchment paper and froze it. I used King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour. Whenever my husband is in the mood for cookies, it is so easy to just thaw for 30 minutes at room temperature then cut half inch or as thick as he wants and bake as stated. It is divine. Thank you so much for this recipe.
So so so good! The best I ever had!
I have been making these for four years now. This is the best recipe I have found for gluten free chocolate chip cookies!
This totally made my day, Caitlin! THANK YOU for taking the time to share!