These classic thick & chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies set the standard for everything a cookie should be. They’re easy drop cookies, ready in a flash any time at all.
What makes these “the best” gluten free chocolate chip cookies
It’s entirely possible that you already have a recipe for classic gluten free chocolate chip cookies that you think is straight-up the best. But I’m here to tell you, these are better.
This recipe is a version of the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies that I was small-f famous for, long before I started baking gluten free for my son (and you) in 2004. In fact, I’d been making them for years before that.
They still brown. They hold the same glorious shape. They’re thick, and they are chewy.
They’re ever so slightly crisp on the very edges and the bottom, but just enough that they are ridiculously satisfying to bite into. This is the super simple chocolate chip drop cookie recipe that is simply perfect for so many occasions.
To be clear, they’re crispy on the edges, thick throughout, and chewy in the center. If you prefer a cookie that isn’t crisp at all, and bakes up thin and chewy, try our recipe for soft and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
If you’re new to baking, gluten free or not, start here
They’re perfect when you’re just starting out on a gluten free diet, and you want to bake something simple that you absolutely know will be a success. I always recommend starting out with a drop cookie recipe—this recipe to be exact.
I have made them countless times for a roomful of gluten-eaters. They’re still the first dessert to disappear at a dinner party, and that is just, well, fun.
This is the gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe you memorize
These cookies are so easy, use such basic ingredients, and the recipe is very easy to memorize. The first few times, you’ll want to double-check to make sure you’re remembering everything right.
But remember that all standard drop cookies have flour, baking soda, and salt. Next up are granulated and brown sugars (here, they’re in equal amounts, 3/4 cup each), then butter (1 single stick, at room temperature), eggs (2) and vanilla (1 tablespoon, but a bit more or less won’t affect the result noticeably).
You can freeze the raw gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough and bake as needed
Both the shaped dough and the cookies themselves freeze perfectly. I almost always have a batch of the cookies themselves, and a batch of the cookie dough disks in my freezer.
You can bake them right from frozen, but if you plan to do that, I recommend pressing the raw disks of cookie dough flatter, since they’ll spread less if you bake them from frozen. You’ll also need to add another minute or two to the baking time.
This gluten free cookie dough doesn’t have to be chilled a lot
If your cookie dough is at room temperature to begin with, you will only need to chill the shaped dough for a few minutes before baking. It will maintain its shape during baking, crackling a bit toward the end of baking.
If you live in a hot and/or humid climate, chilling the shaped cookie dough becomes more important. The best way to know how important chilling the dough will be is if your “room temperature” butter is nearly liquified.
If you press your finger lightly into the butter, and it leaves a shallow impression, your butter is at perfect room temperature. If the butter barely resists your touch, your butter is too soft.
Your cookie dough may end up a bit greasy, so be sure you’re mixing it a bit extra (ideally in a stand mixer) and then chilling it until firm after shaping. For more tips on making gluten free cookies of all kinds, see our tips and tricks for making gluten free cookies.
How many chips should you put in your chocolate chip cookies?
You’ll notice that there is actually a range of chocolate chips that you can add to this recipe. You begin with 12 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips, and you can add up to another 4 ounces for a total of 16 ounces, or 1 full pound.
It’s really a matter of personal taste (how many chips are you hoping for in each and every bite?). If you add more than about 14 ounces of chips, the less the cookies will keep their perfect shape during baking.
Substitutions for gluten free chocolate chip cookies ingredients
Gluten free dairy free chocolate chip cookies
I have successfully made this recipe with Spectrum healthy vegetable shortening (aff. link) in place of butter, and they come out beautifully. They don’t brown as much in the oven, but they’re still crisp on the edges.
You can also try using Melt or Miyoko’s Kitchen brand vegan butter. Those are generally my favorite butter substitutes for baking.
Gluten free egg free chocolate chip cookies
You can try replacing the two eggs in this recipe with a “chia egg” each (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
These are such simple cookies that the texture may not be the same when you make such an important substitution, but it’s definitely worth trying.
If you’d like to make a recipe that is written to be dairy-free and egg-free, try our vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies recipe.
Can you make these gluten free chocolate chip cookies with alternative sugars?
These are not healthy cookies. They’re chocolate chip cookies, meant to have all the good stuff: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla. But you might be able to make them with a sugar substitute.
If you would like to try them with a sugar substitute, I recommend Lankato brand monk fruit granulated sugar replacement for the granulated sugar, and their “golden” variety as a replacement for the brown sugar.
Those sugar alternatives do tend to be drying, though, so you may need to add water by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to achieve the proper cookie dough consistency. Watch the video carefully before trying the swap.
How to make the best classic gluten free chocolate chip cookies, step by step
The BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (315 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I use Better Batter, but my Better Than Cup4Cup blend works well, too)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend already contains it
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (164 g) packed light brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips plus more as desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well-combined.
- You can use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to make quick work of it.
- Add 12 ounces of chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough. The cookie dough will be thick but not stiff. Add more chocolate chips if you like, and mix thoroughly.
- Divide the cookie dough into 21 portions (or 24 if you’ve used all 16 ounces of chips), and roll each tightly into a ball about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (and about 50 grams each).
- Press each of the balls of dough into a disk about 1/2-inch thick and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- As you’re rolling the dough, add a few more chocolate chips to each ball, if desired, and roll them into the dough.
- To ensure the thickest cookies, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes, or until the dough is cold.
- Remove the chilled dough from the freezer and place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven.
- Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges, light golden brown all over and set in the center (about 12 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
The BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (315 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I use Better Batter, but my Better Than Cup4Cup blend works well, too)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend already contains it
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (164 g) packed light brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips plus more as desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well-combined.
- You can use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to make quick work of it.
- Add 12 ounces of chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough. The cookie dough will be thick but not stiff. Add more chocolate chips if you like, and mix thoroughly.
- Divide the cookie dough into 21 portions (or 24 if you’ve used all 16 ounces of chips), and roll each tightly into a ball about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (and about 50 grams each).
- Press each of the balls of dough into a disk about 1/2-inch thick and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- As you’re rolling the dough, add a few more chocolate chips to each ball, if desired, and roll them into the dough.
- To ensure the thickest cookies, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes, or until the dough is cold.
- Remove the chilled dough from the freezer and place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven.
- Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges, light golden brown all over and set in the center (about 12 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Alvin says
It is delicious and my family love it.
Samantha Muller says
Hi Nicole! I followed your recipe exactly and my batter is almost runny- like cake batter. I put the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes, scooped out balls, and put in the oven. It immediately ran into one giant cookie. Why is it so runny and how do I fix?? Thank you! :)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Samantha, this is one of the best tested recipes here on the blog, so it will work when made as written. I can only give you my standard questions for you to ask yourself: Did you measure by weight, not volume (volume is simply not accurate)? Did you use one of my recommended flour blends? My recipes will not work with a poor quality blend. Did you make ingredient substitutions? If I had to guess, I’d imagine you used a poor quality flour blend.
Amy says
These really are the best. I never knew until I made them what chefs meant about a cookie having a bite. Thanks for well written instructions and reasoning behind your processes.
Nicole Hunn says
Love this comment, Amy. Yes! These cookies do have the proper bite and chew. I’m grateful you found the reasoning useful!
Anita says
first gluten free baking i have done in a while so was expecting not much but these were great. i did not chill dough so they spread a lot but great texture and not too sweet. thank you
Nicole Hunn says
Time to raise those expectations, then, Anita. ?
Zab says
I did this recipe as the instructions said, but my batter before adding the chocolate chips is very crumbly and only sticks to itself if I push it together. What do I do?
Nicole Hunn says
You can see in the video that it’s not a wet dough, Zab. I’d watch the video again to see the texture. If yours is anything like that, it’s right!
Chris says
These are great! I used Bob’s GF blend. Thank you for the recipe!
Debbie Mann says
Hi Nicole! I was diagnosed Celiac four months ago. I am an avid cookie baker and have had disaster after disaster with other gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipes I found on line. I used the good ‘ole Toll House recipe for over 40 years and just can’t accept anything less in texture and taste. Happily, my search is over! I made your recipe today and you absolutely nailed it! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Baking flour and was so excited when the cookies looked and tasted perfect. I can’t thank you enough Nicole. I am so glad I found your website and recipes!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Debbie, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I’m afraid I do recommend against using Bob’s Red Mill flour blends in my recipes, as they aren’t well balanced and are of inconsistent quality, but I’m glad you got lucky! I don’t mean to dampen your enthusiasm at all, but I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed in the future. If you’re interested, here’s a link to the full explanation of what flour blends I do recommend and why.
Janet says
Hello Nicole been following you for some time now perhaps did not cool mine long enough, spread pretty good. But hey when delicious cookies like these become too large one has to make ice cream sandwiches . I do like options
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Janet, it sounds like a temperature issue, for sure, assuming you measured by weight, didn’t make any substitutions, and used one of my recommended flour blends. But I’m glad you’re looking at the bright side! ;)
Julie L says
Is this the same (but smaller scale, maybe) recipe that is featured on the better batter 5# box? That was the first recipe I tried with better batter and it is by far the absolute best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had. Like, ev-ar. I know it’s one of your ccc recipes, and I don’t have the box anymore so I’m jumping up and down inside hoping this is it.
Nicole Hunn says
Actually, I think it is, Julie! I’m not 100% sure since I haven’t seen that box in ages, but I think it at least used to be…
B Hulme says
I have a GF friend in Iceland who I wanna bake some cookies for, and I need a choc chip recipe that will travel and keep well :/ These look sturdy but do you know how long they last after you make them? I’ll be sending them by fastest post, but it could still take a week…
Nicole Hunn says
They’re quite sturdy, but a week in transit is quite a lot to ask of anything perishable, B Hulme. I’m picturing them sitting out in the hot sun…
Rebecca S. says
You are such a genius. Made these last night with mock cup for cup flour. I can’t believe how good they are!!!!i haven’t shown them to my kids yet. Lol.
Anne Lairmore says
I made these cookies and your fabulous lemon pound cake for Easter (we are paleo, but couldn’t resist a holiday treat!). Both recipes turned out fabulous!!! I always use your flour recommendations and put arrowroot instead of cornstarch in the pound cake with perfect results — you are a genius!). Thank you so much for the treats!
JES says
These were AMAZING and are now my new go to choc chip cookie recipe! Thank you so much for all that you offer here!
Samantha says
I’m new to your blog…and GF cooking – and so far, so good! But I’m wondering if know what to do for high-altitude GF baking?? Simple trick with “regular” baking is simply add 2 Tbs. flour to the batter for a high-altitude adjustment. Any idea if that would hold true with GF flour blend?? I really want to get back to baking….. Thanks!
youngbaker2002 says
Hi Nicole! Today I used your new vanilla cake recipe to make cupcakes and I frosted them with the chocolate buttercream frosting you used to frost your chocolate cutout cookies (using a star tip to make them pretty) . EVERYBODY ABSOLUTELY LOVES THEM. LOVES THEM. PERIOD.
Thank you so much for the great recipe Nicole. :) I will always use that recipe when I want vanilla cake or cupcakes.
XOXO -Mena
Charlie says
These are great with the milk chocolate chips too.
Sarah says
I made these for non-gluten free friends and they loved them! I’m making a second batch tonight. Thanks for the great recipe!
Nicole says
Hi, Sarah,
They’re a major favorite in my house. Glad you enjoyed them!
xoxo Nicole
Emily @ Our Frugal Happy Life says
I just found your blog – and I am so excited! I have a long list of your recipes to try, but tonight I made these cookies. I swear, I couldn’t even tell that they are GF!!
I love that your recipes use “normal” ingredients – things that I already have in my pantry. So many times, I find recipes for GF products that have weird, expensive flours and stuff. I usually use Bob’s Red Mill flour blend – but sometime I may have to try this Better Batter that I see you recommend.
Thanks so much for the fabulous recipes!
Lorna says
just agreeing with all those who love this recipe, it was very very good,, even my non gf husband ate quite a bunch,, can’t thank you enough for this site
Kim says
Hi,
I am currently baking these cookies and they are wonderful! I used olive oil instead of butter, we are dairy free and they still came out perfect! The recipe calls for a 1/2 stick of butter, that is only 4T. One of the above posters mentioned cutting the butter down to “at least 6T” that is too much butter to begin with.
I bake a lot both professionally and personally and the trick as Nicole has said is really to keep the dough cold.
These are really great freezer box, slice and bake cookies. I love being able to pull something out of the freezer already made and it’s only 12 minutes to something really fantastic.
Thanks Nicole these really are wonderful!
Kim
Jessica says
OMG! This is the bestest recipe ever! I make this constantly!!!! I always double it…EVERY time! I have been mixing it up with changing the kind of chips I put inside (PB/White Choc./half semi sweet – half milk choc. etc)!
I usually make half of it and roll the rest into a long thick sausage like shape(like the cookie dough rolls you can buy in the grocery store!) and then use tin foil or plastic wrap to wrap it up…then put inside a container or bag to freeze or refridge – then when you want to make them you can just unwrap and slice….so easy as you can make just a few at a time or all of them!
Another thing I have done is used the dough once frozen for mixing with GF ice cream…to make cookie dough ice cream as I can’t have the stuff you buy! I know I know….you shouldn’t eat cookie dough, but you know what? I DO and have since a wee bit kid and it hasn’t hurt me yet!
Laura says
Hello Nicole! I just found your website today! I put my kids to bed and read every one of your posts! My son was diagnosed w celiac on 6/1/09 so GF fooding is new to me. But I made these cookies just now at 9 p.m. and they are great! They look just like Toll House. I read through the comments section and the second cookie tray I put in my freezer for 10 minutes and they came out much thicker. Thank you so much! I intend to loyally read your blog and am excited to try some of your recipes!
Nicole says
Hi, Heatherlyn,
You are very welcome. I’m so glad you’re enjoying them. I hope you have a stash in your freezer. They’re excellent even frozen! I’m so glad I was able to save you some time. I consider it an honor to help make a regular day easier.
Warmly,
Nicole
Heatherlyn says
OMG!! I must tell you thank you thank you thank you. These were the absolute best cookies ever! I so miss cookies and these were fabulous. I am going to try them without the chips and add other things, maybe walnuts. Thanks so much for sharing your successes! For a working mom like me it is hard to have time to experiment with recipies.
Amy says
OK YUMMY!!!! They were perfect. My newly diagnosed 13 year thought they rocked. (direct quote!) We individually wrapped each one and froze so we can add them to her lunch. It is 90 degrees and humid here. I placed the dough repeated in the fridge and the cookie sheets in the freezer for about 5 min before baking. They were thick and chewy. PERFECT