The Best (& Easiest) Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

When you start wondering if a particular food blogger has fallen off the face of the planet, it can mean one of several things…

1. They fell off the face of the planet.
2. They have kidlets. And trying to blog and work part-time out of the home with two energetic kidlets who aren’t yet both in school full-time is frankly…hard. (How many more months until September and the next school year? Not that the food blogger is counting because they love spending time with their kidlets…but okay…maybe they’re counting.)
3. They are doing some SERIOUS, in-depth research and recipe testing and want to get their recipe just right before they share it with the world.

I fall somewhere between #2 and #3.

And these gluten-free chewy chocolate chip cookies were DEFINITELY worth the two-month hiatus. And they are crazy easy, which for being gluten-free, is a miracle. With ONLY 6 ingredients all the gluten-free cookie eaters can finally rejoice. Cue music.

But I’m super nervous about sharing this recipe with you all. I know. Weird, right?

I’ve been avoiding creating a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for a REALLY long time. Because, we (meaning you, me, and everyone else who wants to shove a cookie in their face) have some REALLY strong preferences and opinions regarding this classic cookie.

Just do a quick chocolate chip cookie Google search, click on the cookie recipes that pop up, scroll down to the bottom of the post where people leave their comments, and you will see herds of cookie addicts liberally deconstructing the cookie that the poor food blogger fell off the face of the planet to develop.

Some like their cookies super chewy, some like their cookies super crispy (like my hubs Joe), some want both the crispy edge and the chewy center (that would me be), some like their cookies more cake-like, some like ’em thick, some like ’em thin…you get the point. And that doesn’t even include those who are begging to know if the cookie can be altered in some way to make them vegan, paleo, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, ALL the allergens-free. Chocolate chip cookie lovers can be a tough crowd. Especially gluten-free chocolate chip cookie lovers. Like me (slowly raising my hand from the back row).

All the gluten-free-ers like myself, are trying to make sense out of a bajillion different gluten-free flour blends that claim they are THE ONE that is most similar to normal glutinous white all-purpose flour. Then we cross our fingers and spend way too much money on a gf all-purpose flour mix only to realize that some of the gf mixes on the market really suck. And then once you get your hands on a good gf flour blend you forehead smack yourself because you just realized that you have to go back to the store to get some xanthan gum.

And what the heck is xanthan gum?!?!

If you’re not a baker by nature (btw I’m definitely not), we’re all feeling slightly confused at this point with how much xanthan our baked goods need to bind the ingredients together in order to give our goods some structure.

Speaking of structure, I wonder if rubbing some xanthan gum on our skin could help with saggy skin syndrome as we age. My 20-year high school reunion is approaching and I’m thinking my skin could use some more structure. Just a thought. Let’s start a support group. We’ll call it Saggy Skin Syndrome Anonymous. No?

Seven years ago when my doc told me that all of my problems were related to gluten and that I needed to go gluten-free cold turkey, I yelled very loudly at her (but just in my brain), “You’ve GOT to be kidding me! What about ALL the pasta and the CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?!” I definitely needed a support group then. It would have been called GF People with Saggy Skin Syndrome Who Need Pasta & Cookies. I’m the only member.

Anyway, the pasta problem turned out to be an easy fix (if you need some gluten-free pasta inspo see here, here, and here), but making a classic chocolate chip cookie that was also gluten-free has been a thorn in my flesh for the past 7 years. I’ve made a boatload of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Some test cookies were decent enough for me to feel okay feeding them to people but they still never quite held up to my standard of what a reeeally good chocolate chip cookie should be. Friends would ask for the recipe and I would either give it to them begrudgingly or just pretend like I forgot they asked for it.

A couple of months ago one of those friends had the nerve to ask if I would consider posting my gf chocolate chip cookie recipe on the blog. “Why yes… I would be more than happy to do that,” I politely replied, all the while shaking my head to the left and the right.

When Joe came home from work later that day, I looked him straight in the eye, and I said, “It’s time.” And basically he’s been eating cookies for the last 2 months and my kidlets think they have just hit the jackpot with mom. If you happen to drive through a neighborhood with kids laughing uncontrollably and doing somersaults in the front yard, keep driving. It’s probably just us and I made the #$%&-th batch of cookies in the last 8 weeks (I stopped counting). My kidlets are wired on sugar and Joe has gained 10 pounds wondering how his wife who claims to be a fitness instructor could do this to him. (Don’t tell my clients we’ve been eating cookies for 2 months.)

SO HERE IT IS COOKIE LOVERS!!! (see video ⬇)

The BEST (& EASIEST) gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe EVER. Period. End of search. Goodbye.

This recipe is THE ONE. And I even included an option for those of you who need their gf cookie to be egg-free as well. You’re welcome.

Everyone else who needs something else modified in their cookie. Sorry. While I may be a food blogger, I’m still a full-time mom/part-time fitness instructor (who likes to eat cookies)/who also needs sleep and the occasional shower which means there comes a point where I limit my cookie recipe testing to what I personally crave, hope, and dream for in an amazing gf chocolate chip cookie. Hopefully there are a bunch of gf-ers out there just like me who need nothing more, and nothing less. I’m not America’s Test Kitchen (which btw, I tried ATK’s recommendations for gf flours to use for gf chocolate chip cookies and I wasn’t a fan).

And they are crazy easy cookies. You don’t have to worry about xanthan gum OR whether you should use baking powder or baking soda or a little of both (anyone else have this problem?) BECAUSE the pre-made flour mix that I love Love LOVE the most for making these gf chocolate chip cookies takes care of that for you.

And it also happens to be an awesome gf pancake mix. I know. Sounds weird. Just go with it.

Make these cookies and then go make some pancakes. It’s a win-win.

One last thing… don’t try to make these cookies with a different gf all-purpose flour. Trust me on this one. Not all gf all-purpose flour blends are the same. It only took me a two-month hiatus to figure that out for these gf dream-come-true chocolate chip cookies.

P.S. Don’t forget the milk. You know, for the dunking.

The Best (& Easiest) Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Shannon Emery
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
• Total Time: 17 minutes
• Yield: 11 large cookies 1x

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Description

These are THE BEST (& easiest) gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! Containing only 6 ingredients (which for a gf cookie is not very many)! Chewy, soft centers with a slightly crispy edge (and without the gritty texture that is usually common in a gf cookie). Optional egg-free version as well!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) room temperature unsalted butter (See note #1 below if butter is refrigerated)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg (or sub 1/4 cup applesauce for egg-free cookies – See note #2 below)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups Pamela’s Gluten-Free Baking & Pancake Mix (Do not use a different gluten-free flour for these cookies! See note #3 below.)
• 1 1/4 cups Ghirardelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao Baking Chips (See note #4 below)
• Maldon Sea Salt Flakes (optional)

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Instructions

1.  Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
2. Add the egg (or applesauce for egg-free cookies) and vanilla and mix on low speed, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the ingredients are just mixed.
3. Add the flour and mix on low until just combined.
4. Turn off the mixer, remove the bowl from the stand, and stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. (Stop here and please read note #5)
6. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
7. With a large cookie scoop (2oz size), scoop even mounds of cookie dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookies will spread as they bake so make sure not to place them too closely together. I have room on my baking sheet for 6 cookies.
8. Lightly sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sea salt flakes (optional but so good).
9. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Remove when the edges are set and beginning to brown. Within the cracks that form in the center of the cookies, they will look undercooked, but the cookies will continue to cook as they cool. If you like gooey, barely cooked centers in your cookies, cook less. If you like crunchier cookies with chewy but not gooey centers, cook longer.
10. This is the hardest part –> Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling. The rich, toffee-like flavors of the cookie will deepen and became more enhanced if you allow the cookies to fully cool before eating. If you can’t resist and decide to devour a cookie before they have fully cooled, you and I have something in common.
11. Have a cold glass of your favorite milk on hand. Especially if you’re a cookie dunker.

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Notes

1. Place refrigerated butter in the microwave for no more than 30 seconds or just until the butter is partially melted. DO NOT fully melt butter. These cookies will not bake properly if the butter is fully melted but instead will look like super thin pancake cookies.
2. The one modification you could make in this recipe that will still produce a really tasty cookie is to swap out the egg for a 1/4 cup applesauce for an egg-free cookie. The texture and taste will be slightly different, but in my opinion, it is still a really tasty chewy chocolate chip cookie.
3. I tested this recipe using MANY different methods and gluten-free flour blends. These cookies will taste dramatically different (and most likely taste really gross) if you try to use a different gluten-free flour blend than the one I have suggested.
4. You can use any type of chocolate chips you prefer. I LOVE dark chocolate chips in my cookies and specifically the Ghirardelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao Baking Chips because they are larger in size than the typical chocolate chip. And in this case, bigger is definitely better.
5. If you prefer thicker, denser cookies than the cookies I show pictured in this post, keep the dough in the refrigerator for a longer period of time. The longer you let the dough chill, the less the cookie will flatten out when baking thereby creating a thicker cookie. It really just depends on your personal cookie thickness preference. My husband loves flat, crispy cookies, which if that is your preference as well, you won’t even need to chill the dough. Just make sure you leave plenty of space between each cookie because they will flatten out a lot!
6. Looking for the nutritional info? Let’s just enjoy the cookie instead. ?

• Category: Cookies
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

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I hope you enjoy these cookies all you gf cookie lovers! And if you do decide to go crazy with cookie recipe testing and come up with an amazing variation of your own, do share! I’d love to hear all about it!

Disclaimer: All brand recommendations are purely my own opinion. I am in no way sponsored by the brands mentioned or compensated by the brand for my recommendations. This post may also contain affiliate links which I may receive a small commission from (without any additional costs to you). The money earned from these commissions helps me to maintain this website. Thank you for your support!