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Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies {Gluten-Free and Amazing!}

If you’ve tried a million chocolate chip cookie recipes out there trying to find the best one, look no further. Not only do these blow other cookies out of the water, but they are made entirely without flour! It’s pretty amazing that you can make a crispy, chewy, tasty cookie without any flour, but you really can. 

One ingredient I try to limit from my diet is refined flour. Typical flour is milled discarding all the essential nutrients the original grain contained. The heat that is generated to crush the grain into flour destroys any vitamin or mineral normally found in the the grain, leaving a white powdery product devoid of any life. It’s essentially dead food. So they have to “enrich” it back by adding in synthetic vitamins and minerals.

The next part is even scarier because fresh milled flour usually isn’t acceptable for consumption because of the look, feel and smell of it. The FDA has approved over 60 chemicals for manufacturers to use to help these aesthetics and the shelf life of flour. Chlorine is used to bleach conventional flours to remove the smell and change the color. The flour is put into a gas chamber and treated with chlorine dioxide which leaches all the vitamin E out of the flour and leaves a chemical called dichlorostearic acid that remains in the flour. Additionally treating flour with chlorine can create more chemical byproducts that have been known to react to other proteins and cause nervous system damage in humans.

The good news is that refined flour is pretty easy to avoid if you know what to look for. If you see “wheat flour”, “enriched flour”, “bleached flour” on an ingredient list, this is refined flour – so stick it back on the shelf and look for alternatives. This standard applies to other flour-based foods like breads, crackers, rolls, bagels, and any commercially baked food. 

Watch out for flours in “gluten-free” cookies too…

When it comes to gluten-free cookies, they are often made with replacements for wheat flour, like rice flour or tapioca starch. Rice is known to contain 10 to 20 times more arsenic than other grains, as it tends to absorb more arsenic due to the way it’s grown. Arsenic is a powerful carcinogen that promotes the risk of several types of cancer. It’s also linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, problems in pregnancy and infant development. Tapioca flour can skyrocket your blood sugar (more than whole wheat does) and has zero nutrient value – just empty calories. I get that you don’t eat a cookie to be healthy, but I’m all for packing as much nutrition into all the foods I eat, even cookies! 

You’d never guess these cookies are flourless!

They have a texture and taste very similar to cookies made with regular flour. They won’t crumble all over the place like other gluten-free cookies you may have tried, and are rich with flavor. 

If you’ve got 10 minutes, you can make these cookies!

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and lining a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. This makes cleanup super easy!

Crack an egg into your favorite glass mixing bowl and give it a little whisk. Stir in the date sugar, molasses, real vanilla extract, and a touch of baking soda. Mix it all up well…

Measure out a cup of almond butter into the bowl and stir well to combine…

Fold in the organic chocolate chips (make sure they are gluten-free if you can’t eat gluten!)…

Using an ice-cream scoop, drop tablespoon-sized balls on the parchment-lined pan. You should get about 12 cookies out of this recipe. If the batter is somewhat loose, gently shape them into nice little circles…

Put the pan in the oven and check them at 10-12 minutes to see if they’re done. Bake for up to 15 minutes if you want a crispier cookie…

My cookies came out perfectly crispy around the edges and bit softer on the inside. They are amazing dipped in homemade coconut milk

Food Babe's Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: Approx. 12 cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond butter
  • 1 egg beaten
  • ½ cup date or coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons unsulphured molasses
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix sugar, molasses, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Add almond butter, and stir well to combine.
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Scoop 1 tablespoon size balls onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
  6. Cook for about 12-15 minutes (longer if you like crispy cookies).
  7. Place cookies on a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes.
Notes
**Please choose all organic ingredients if possible.**

Kitchen essentials used in this recipe:

You might want to hide a few of these cookies away for yourself before letting anyone know you made them – they will be gone in a matter of minutes! If you know anyone who loves chocolate chip cookies, bake them up a batch. Who knows, maybe someday they’ll return the favor!   

Xo, 

Vani

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57 responses to “Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies {Gluten-Free and Amazing!}

  1. Is there an alternative for almond butter? I am not only gluten intolerant but I also have a problem with oxalates. Almonds, and many other very healthy foods, are very high in oxalates.

    1. Yes, any nut or seed butter can be used. I don’t know what their oxalate content is, but I like using pecan, hazelnut, and cashew butter in desserts.

      Also, you can use coconut flour for its low oxalate and no gluten content. You couldn’t use it as a direct sub in this recipe, though. Here’s my recipe for coconut flour choc chip cookies- 6 tbsp coconut flour, 2-3 tbsp honey or maple syrup, 6 tbsp your choice of soft butter or cooking oil (Iike coconut oil), 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and as many chocolate chips as you want (I think I use 1/2 cup). Mix and let sit 5 minutes, then add 1/2 tsp baking soda and 3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. I think they make about 16 cookies. (not sure on the exact amount). They’ve been a big hit.

      1. I make very similar grain free cookies using a combination of groud flax and cooked chickpeas. The beans make these even more nutritious and completely animal-free.

    1. I’ve used chia seeds in a similar recipe. For one egg you sub 1 tbsp chia seeds soaked in 3 tbsp water. The time it takes to soak varies. Sometimes just 15 minutes, other times the seeds are stubborn and need more time and water.

  2. Is there another butter you can use besides almonds? I notice a lot of recipes use almond flour too. But the problem is almonds are gassed, here in the US, even organic ones so I won’t buy them anymore. I can’t find any organic almonds from Spain or Italy anymore at my local health food store.

    1. Azurestandard.com sources truly raw almonds from Spain. Have them shipped to you from the warehouse in Oregon or join a “drop” which is a pickup point for the freight truck that comes about once a month. Just call them and ask about anything. By the way, they hire customer service reps to work from home.

    2. JoCarole, Trader Joe’s Almonds are water washed, Not gassed, not chemical washed..although there not organic.
      Its a law that Almonds have to be washed cause someone at one time got something from it.!
      I live in California.

      I buy Trader Joe’s organic No salt chucky almond butter and peanut butter. They also have smooth.
      Great price, great taste.

    3. I know this was an old comment but there is a farm in California that sells raw organic almonds direct from the farm

  3. I was also asking the same question about an alternative to almond butter? I realize these would be just for a treat but isnt a 1/2 cup of sugar a lot?

  4. Hi, do you think I could substitute the molasses with honey? I don’t have any molasses on hand but I’d love to make these! Thanks in advance.

  5. Hi hi!

    These look mighty tasty. Is there a recommended substitute for molasses? I see someone above suggested honey? Any thoughts?

    Thank you,
    Allana

  6. Hi there!

    You mentioned Rice and Rice Flour having arsenic. Does this apply to organic Rice and Organic Rice Flour as well?

  7. Umm sounds delish but ! question well maybe 2 I’m a diabetic but yes i do eat sweets, pasta , rice in moderation and no I don’t use and Pharma drugs. Exercise , diet supplements less that 50g of carbs per day and # are normal. What is your carb and sugar content per cookie if recipe is followed?

  8. Hi also asking about the molasses I can’t see both of the above questions about it haven’t been answered yet.
    Is this used just for sweetness ? Can I just not put in or do I need to replace it with something .
    Thank you
    Looking forward to make them today .
    Isabel

  9. Just made this recipe tonight using peanut butter instead of almond butter, but otherwise following the recipe exactly. I think they turned out great for a flour-less cookie! Mine definitely turned out more like a peanut butter cookie rather than a chocolate chip cookie though. I am going to try the almond butter next time to see if that is a bit milder flavor.

    *** Keep a close eye on the recipe after 12 minutes though, because they were almost ready to burn at 15 minutes. I would make them pretty flat on the baking sheet to begin with if you want them crispier, instead of baking them longer.

    Totally recommend trying out this recipe if you are gluten or wheat free. I will definitely be baking them again. 🙂

  10. Is the liquid portion off, because mine turned out more cake like. Delicious but definitely not what is pictured.

  11. I just made these cookies and they turned out dry. Any suggestions? They do not look like the picture.

  12. The batter was so dry, I followed the measurements exactly right and double checked everything. Something doesn’t seem correct.

    1. Also I’ll mirror the statement they are not as pictured, in fact from the pictures the batter seems more liquidy. It looks like some ingredient is not correct. Thank you would love to know your thoughts.

      1. That depends on the consistency of your almond butter. The kind I use is runny, and following the recipe exactly the batter came out liquidy just like the photos.

  13. I just made these and they came out perfect and AMAZING! They are not too sweet so I bet they would be even better with dark chocolate instead of semi sweet chips. I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t have enough coconut sugar so I used 1/4 cup coconut sugar and 1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Organic Sugar. The dough was not liquidy at all and did not look like the picture so I flattened the cookies slightly before baking them. Thanks for this heathy cookie recipe!

  14. My entire point is if anyone can explain is that they do not look like what is pictured at all, they are delicious and thank you very much for the recipe since it’s good, however being of a curious mind I’d like to know why they do not look like what is pictured. The only difference SEEMS to be liquid portion of the recipe. :-/

  15. I will be trying these with Veganegg which in custards and quiches does very well as an alternative. It is an algae product.

  16. I’ve been making Food Babe’s Almond Butter Brownies for years. Everyone loves ‘em, even those that believe they’re not gluten sensitive. I figured these would be just as good, so had to give them a try.
    Omgosh! They’re delicious! Just like the recipe states, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. At first I was hesitant about the molasses, but the combination of everything worked in this cookie’s favor! Note: mine felt like I was working with caramel (maybe that was the molasses?), not thin like the recipe mentions could happen. They puffed up during baking and settle right down to a beautiful chocolate chip cookie!

    Thanks again for another flourless, sweet snack Vani!

  17. These cookies surprised Me! The consistency was like that of a regular, flour filled cookie! It was delicious! I’m also refined sugar free so I couldn’t add the chocolate chips, unfortunately. Do you know if anyone makes a chocolate chip without refined sugar? I added goji berries instead but they all burned to a crisp!

  18. You make a lot of claims about additives and food processing in flour. Do you have any data to back this information up? Would be good for you to cite references from reliable sources as people might be misled believing you are some “expert” in food manufacturing.

  19. I was excited to try these but they are just okay to pretty good. The recipe is similar to the almond butter brownies on FB’s site, except these have less salt and include molasses. They taste healthier and not as rich as the brownies. Increasing the salt might help. They do hold together nicely and have a pleasant sweetness. Probably a good choice for kids, who won’t miss the salt.

  20. I made these for Christmas, along with your thumbprint berry cookies, and they were happily received. I made as directed, except the nut butter was a cashew-almond blend, and I used honey. They turned out just like the picture, and were really good!

    I had read the other comments about the batter being too thick, so I used the honey (1/4 cup) instead of sugar. That almost made it too liquidy, though, since the nut butter is a pretty runny one. It’s a homemade one I get at the Farmer’s Market. After stirring a bit I got it to behave. They really poofed up in the oven. I would say that the consistency of the nut butter is the key here, for those who found their cookies too cakelike. If your nut butter is too hard, you might want to try adding some oil. Or maybe an extra egg?

    Overall, these were like a cookie version of the famous almond butter brownies, which have long been a family favorite. It made about 18 cookies.

  21. Holy cow! These cookies are absolutely delicious. I made a batch last night, and we have already eaten all of them! I used peanut butter instead of almond butter, since I make my own. It’s hard to tell that these are flourless and made with a nut butter! Thanks so much for this recipe…my whole family loves these cookies!!

    1. I forgot to mention that I replaced the egg with ground chia seeds and water (1 tablespoon:3 tablespoons, whisked together and refrigerated for 15 minutes before using), replaced vanilla extract (which is usually synthetic) with 1 teaspoon maple syrup, and used bittersweet chocolate chips (70% cacao).

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