These easy flourless chocolate cookies are made with egg whites, sugar, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and mini chocolate chips. Crisp on the edges, and endlessly chewy inside. Packed with chocolate flavor!
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Why bake flourless chocolate cookies?
Over the years, I've done more and more flourless baking. There are a few reasons that I decided to focus on baking gluten free chocolate cookies, but without any flour.
If you're brand new to gluten free baking, you probably don't have any gluten free flours in your pantry, and unfortunately the best ones can take a bit of time to order.
True flourless baking doesn't require any special ingredients like individual flours. That means that you can bake flourless with, say, the black beans or peanut butter in your pantry. If you do have a flour blend, of course, you can learn all about gluten free cookies recipes including tips and FAQs.
Why this is the best flourless chocolate cookies recipe
Slightly crispy outside, super chewy inside and naturally gluten free, these flourless chocolate cookies are made with basic pantry ingredients. With all the lightness of their meringue-style base, they're also much, much richer and more substantial than meringues.
In the case of these amazing flourless fudge cookies, you'll only need egg whites, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, your favorite chopped chocolate, plus some miniature chocolate chips that you could do without. There's also a bit of salt and vanilla, but you could even skip those, too.
The addition of melted chocolate, an idea I got from Allrecipes Magazine, makes this recipe so much less fragile. This flourless cookie recipe doesn't puff and then deflate, relying on chocolate chips to keep its shape as it cools. In fact, the cookies barely even spread in the oven.
Regardless of the recipe variation you use, flourless chocolate cookies make such a nice show of themselves that you often see them in bakeries. They deceptively simple, though, both in method and in ingredients.
How to make flourless chocolate cookies without melted chocolate
You can see in the image above the larger, shinier and crispier cookies that this recipe makes when made without the melted chocolate—and with more confectioners' sugar.
With the previous recipe, these cookies changed rather dramatically in the oven. The raw cookies are very shiny in appearance and seem almost like a liquid. But when they finished baking, they were firm and chewy, with a rich, chocolate taste.
They puffed in the oven and deflated as they cool, and tasted amazing—but were so much more fragile, the recipe more temperamental.
If you'd like to make the recipe in the previous style, here are the changes to make to the ingredients list:
- Increase the confectioners' sugar to 2 cups (230 g)
- Eliminate the melted chocolate as an ingredient completely
- In place of 3 ounces of mini chocolate chips, you'll need 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (standard size)
The method is very similar. Here are the differences:
- Beat the egg whites only until foamy, not whipped to stiff peaks. The cookie dough is super thin.
- coop the batter into portions about 1 1/2 tablespoons each, and leave at least 2 inches between the cookies. The batter will spread, but slowly.
- Bake at 325°F until the cookies are just set and beginning to crack on top, 12 to 14 minutes. They will puff in the oven, and then deflate as they cool.
- Let them cool completely, then peel the parchment paper from the cooled cookies to release them.
Flourless chocolate cookies: ingredients and substitutions
These rich chocolate cookies have very few ingredients, which is great news when you're seeking simplicity! But it also means that each of the ingredients does a lot of work. Let's talk about it…
Egg whites
First off, I should mention that the egg whites in the carton have worked quite well for me, but in my experience, those do vary in quality quite a bit from brand to brand. To be safe, I'd stay away from a store brand of carton egg whites, unless that store brand is Trader Joe's as those have worked perfectly for me.
Egg free, flourless chocolate cookies
When I first posted this recipe, I never would have thought I could provide you with a suggestion for an egg white substitution for this recipe. It was hard to imagine replacing egg whites when the recipe is little more than egg whites, cocoa powder, and sugar.
But since I've been doing so much allergen-free baking lately, I have an educated guess to offer you! ? Although I haven't tried this substitution, I actually think that aquafaba would work well as a substitute by weight. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out!
Cocoa powder
I've made this recipe with Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and with natural cocoa powder, and both work well. The Dutch-processed cocoa variety just makes a richer chocolate cookie.
You can't, however, replace the cocoa powder with something that isn't chocolate. I've tried, with absolutely disastrous results, so I don't recommend it.
Melted chocolate
I used to make this recipe without melted chocolate, and the cookies were beautiful—but the recipe was much fussier. Here, we add 4 ounces of melted chocolate and reduce the confectioners' sugar, for a chewier, more stable and richer result.
I like to use 4 ounces of dark chocolate here, but you really can use any sort of good-quality chocolate you like (semi-sweet or milk chocolate are both great ideas). I wouldn't use white chocolate which is too soft, or unsweetened chocolate, which is too bitter.
Chocolate chips
I have tried making these cookies without any chips or other mix-in pieces and it's a disaster! The chips really help the cookies hold the batter in some sort of shape.
You can replace them with any other sort of chip you prefer, or with a mixture of chips and chopped nuts. Keep in mind that you need something in pieces that hold their shape in the oven.
Sugars
Since this recipe is so simple, the confectioners' sugar play a large role in its success. You can try using Swerve or Lankato brand alternative sugar, confectioners' variety.
Keep in mind that alternative sugars tend to be drying, so you might have to add some moisture. Maybe even some water? You'll have to experiment!
Tips for making these flourless chewy chocolate cookies
Be sure to use confectioners' sugar, not powdered sugar
Powdered sugar is just refined white sugar that's been ground into a fine powder. Confectioners' sugar has starch added to it, to help prevent caking.
Sift your confectioners' sugar for more even mixing
Confectioners' sugar may still clump, despite having added starch to help reduce caking. Since we're adding it to whipped egg whites that we don't want to deflate, sifting the sugar first will help the egg whites absorb the sugar, and stay fluffy.
Use a cookie or ice scoop for even portioning
This flourless chocolate cookie dough is relatively sticky, so the easiest way to portion the raw dough onto the baking sheet is with a spring-loaded ice cream scoop. A #50 scoop is the ideal size, but you can use a larger scoop and not fill it all the way.
Don't skip the parchment paper!
Lining your baking sheet with parchment paper helps ensure even baking, and prevents the cookies from sticking to the baking sheet. You can use bleached (white) parchment paper, or unbleached (brown) parchment paper. Your choice!
Let your flourless chocolate cookies cool completely, so they don't fall apart
These cookies are quite stable—once they've cooled. Since they don't bake for very long in the oven, they're quite soft when they're done. If you try to pick one up before it's cooled, you'll have a mess on your hands!
How to store flourless chocolate cookies
Luckily, this revised flourless chocolate cookie recipe is really stable after baking, so it can easily be made ahead of time and stored for later.
Freezing baked flourless chocolate cookies
These cookies freeze just fine, although not perfectly, since the crispy parts become chewy. But the chewiness stays just right, and they taste great!
Freezing flourless chocolate cookie dough
The dough is quite stable with the added melted chocolate, but I still don't recommend freezing the unbaked cookie dough. I suspect the structure of the whipped meringue won't hold up.
Flourless chocolate cookies FAQs
Yes! As long as your mixing bowl is large enough to hold all the whipped egg whites, go ahead and double!
I'm afraid not! The base of these cookies is a meringue, which is made by whipping egg whites, and only whites without even a drip of the yolk, into peaks.
If you only have powdered sugar (also called icing sugar), which is confectioners' sugar without starch, I recommend sifting about 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into your powdered sugar.
Sure! You can use extra dark cocoa powder for a really dark-colored cookie. Either Dutch-processed cocoa powder (which is alkalized cocoa) or natural cocoa powder (which is more acidic) is fine, but Dutch-processed will make a richer, smoother cookie.
No, you need to use a combination of 1/2 cup (40 grams) cocoa powder and 4 ounces of melted chocolate. But you can use any type of melted chocolate in your cookies. That's the best way to deepen or lighten their flavor.
Were your egg whites whipped into soft peaks before carefully whipping in the sugar and cocoa powder? Did you fold in the melted chocolate carefully, to avoid compressing the meringue?
If you overbaked your cookies, and they're super crispy, try storing them in a plastic container overnight. They'll soften up a bit. But if your cookies are overbaked and blackened at all, there's nothing you can do to fix that burnt flavor.
If you're willing to whip the egg whites with a balloon whisk vigorously by hand for more than 5 or 6 minutes, you should be able to whip them into soft peaks by hand. Try adding 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice to help stabilize the proteins as you whip.
When it's time to add the sugar and cocoa powder, do it in smaller batches to protect the air you've worked so hard to add to the egg whites.
Troubleshooting for whipping egg whites
Why won't my egg whites whip into soft peaks?
When egg whites won't whip, there are a few likely explanations. Among them are:
- You had some yolk in your whites; any fat and your whites won't whip
- You used a poor quality brand of egg whites in the carton (most work fine; sometimes they don't, and I don't know why!)
- Your bowl wasn't squeaky clean; if there was any fat left behind from a previous mixture, you're in trouble!
What does it mean to whip egg whites into soft peaks?
Egg whites whipped into soft peaks, by hand with a large balloon whisk, or with a handheld or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, are bright white, and mostly hold their shape. When you lift the whisk, the peak you create in the whipped mixture falls over on itself gently.
How do I fix over-whipped egg whites?
Just add more egg whites by the drop to the stiff or even dry whipped whites, beginning to whisk again after the first couple drops. Like adding more heavy whipping cream to over-whipped cream, adding a bit more liquid should smooth things right out.
If you end up adding another whole egg white, just increase all of the other ingredients in the recipe by 33% and make more cookies!
Flourless Chocolate Cookies | Crispy, Chewy, Naturally Gluten Free
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment
Ingredients
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- 3 (75 g) egg whites at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (173 g) confectioners’ sugar sifted (plus more for dusting)
- ½ cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 ounces miniature chocolate chips or a combination of chopped nuts and chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-safe bowl and melt over a simmering bowl of water or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, in 30 second bursts, until smooth. Set aside to cool until no longer hot to the touch.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer. Whip them at medium-high speed into soft peaks.
- Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar in 2 batches, whipping into glossy peaks after each addition.
- Add the cocoa powder and salt, and whip until most of the cocoa powder has been absorbed. Cocoa powder resists absorption, so begin at a slow speed or you’ll have a big mess of powder in the air.
- Using a silicone spatula or large mixing spoon, mix in the vanilla by hand. Scrape any sugar or cocoa powder from the sides of the bowl and incorporate it into the mixture.
- Add the melted chocolate, and fold it in as gently as possible until fully combined. The cookie dough will thicken considerably as you mix in the melted chocolate.
- Add the miniature chocolate chips, and fold into the cookie dough until evenly distributed throughout.
- Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop or two spoons, drop the cookie dough in portions about 2 teaspoonful portions onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
- With moistened fingers, tap down any rough edges, but try not to get the mounds of cookie dough too wet.
- Dust the tops of raw cookies lightly with more confectioners’ sugar. If any of the cookies absorb the sugar because they’re too wet, allow the extra moisture to evaporate a bit and dust them again.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until just set in the center, about 10 minutes. When the cookies are ready, the won’t glisten in the very center. Don’t overtake.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet until firm, about 10 minutes.
Notes
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
das says
Well my 21-year old daughter proclaimed last night that these were the “best cookies she’s ever eaten!” That might be enough of a review, but I wanted to add a few thing too. I don’t consider myself an accomplished baker, but between the video and detailed instructions, I found them very doable to make. I followed the instructions exactly, although I used 4 oz of dairy-free semi-sweet choc chips for the melted chocolate (and then the same for the added ones at the end). A couple of notes: I thought the batter looked wetter than I “thought it should be” when I put on the tray (the first batch; I cooked in two batches), but they set up and held some of the dusted powdered sugar just fine. Also, the 2nd batch looked a bit prettier when cooked (more like a traditional chocolate crinkle cookie), so maybe my suggestion might be to others is to the let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes before baking. Like others, I love that these are GF with easy on-hand materials, and they are simply delicious. I was able to make 21 cookies with this batter. (I cooked first batch 10 mins and second batch 8 minutes). I will definitely make again! Thanks for this awesome recipe.
Nicole Hunn says
Thanks for sharing your experience, das. So glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Sylvia says
This sounds fabulous but I cannot use sugar. I use raw Maple syrup or dates or raw honey to sweetened recipes. What’s an alternative to your confectioners sugar?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid there is no unrefined sugar that can substitute for confectioners’ sugar, which is essential to these cookies. There are sugar alternatives that attempt to mimic confectioners’ sugar, but they tend to be drying so they will almost certainly alter the recipe.
Lisa Roig says
These cookies are fantastic! Wipe your mixer with white vinegar that will get your egg whites to stiff peaks. Also if your eggs are small use 4.
Nicole Hunn says
Great tip, Lisa!
Carol says
Made these for a gluten free friend. She loved them. I love them too, I made them a second time for myself and I don’t need to worry about gluten free. They are very chocolatey. I liked that they didn’t take any special ingredients and your easy to make.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad to hear that, Carol. Making something flourless like this is the perfect way to bake a treat for a gf friend when you don’t want to buy any special ingredients.
Carol Ott says
It took me about 1-1/2 hours to make. I felt it was too soft and too chocolaty.
Nicole Hunn says
I’ll confess that I can’t imagine what could have taken that long if you followed the recipe as written, but I’d avoid any recipe that says it’s “packed with chocolate flavor” if you don’t like anything chocolatey!
Anita says
This recipe is fantastic! I’ve made it twice in the last few months and will be making notes about two important things for next time. I’ve never achieved glossy peaks after adding sugar to egg whites; it’s more like glossy ribbons. But it turns out great anyway, so apparently peaks aren’t necessary. The other thing is to count egg whites, don’t weight them! The first time I counted them bc I was using large eggs, which is standard size for baking. This time I weighed them bc I had medium eggs I wanted to use up. First I put the correct number in warm water to come to room temp, then cracked and separated them, and then weighed what I had to see if I needed to add more. To my surprise and confusion, I already had too much according to the weight provided in the recipe. Unsure what to do, I ended up removing some egg whites from my bowl to match the weight given in the recipe. This was a mixtake. The dough was way more dry and stiff and really seemed like it needed more moisture. The cookies look OK and the taste is still very good, but the texture is not nearly as delicious as the first time – they are chewy and more dry compared to the luscious, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth truffly texture they had the first time. I made a quadruple batch to take to a cookie competition party, so it was disappointing to have them not turn out the same way! Next time I’ll just count the egg whites, for sure. But overall, an outstanding recipe!