The BEST Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baked to perfection, these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies have a soft, chewy center with a slightly crisp edge. Each bite is a heavenly combination of gooey melted chocolate and buttery cookie dough, making them an absolute treat for any dessert lover.

I made some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that even my picky husband loves. It was a bit tricky because he used to love my regular cookies. But after a bunch of tries, I nailed it! These cookies are so good that my husband can barely tell the difference between these gluten-free ones and the regular ones he loves.

They're even better than the famous Crumbl chocolate chip cookies. Just trust me, they're fantastic!

I will also share all my tips so you can make the best chocolate chip cookies easily. This recipe does not need any special equipment, so you can make it without any mixer. Let's get started!

If you love chocolate as much as I do, check out my gluten-free chocolate mousse, chocolate caramel candy, grain-free chocolate cake, and chocolate pudding recipes.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies?
• Can you Eat Cookie Dough Raw?
• Pro-Tips For the Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Substitutions & Variations
• How to Store Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies?
• Can I make Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead of Time?
• Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?
• Can you Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?
• Common Questions For Gluten-Free Baking
• More Gluten-free Cookies
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you need for making delicious gluten-free cookie dough.

You can also make these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies dairy-free cookies. I have had luck doing this by subbing the butter for Earth Balance sticks and ensuring you are using dairy-free chocolate chips to make this a dairy-free cookie dough.

• 1:1 Gluten-free Flour Blend - I use King Arthur 1:1. You want to use a gluten-free flour blend that already contains xanthan gum. Add ¼ of a teaspoon to your cookie dough if your mix does not contain xanthan gum.
• Cornstarch: You can also use arrowroot starch instead of corn starch. Substitute equal parts by weight if you use arrowroot starch. 
• Unsalted Butter: I use unsalted butter in this recipe. If you are making dairy-free cookies, use Earth Balance sticks.
• Baking Soda: Baking soda helps to leaven the cookie dough and create a soft and chewy texture. 
• Salt: It enhances the flavor.
• White sugar and Brown Sugar: White sugar and brown sugar add sweetness and contribute to the texture of the cookies. You can use either light or dark brown sugar in this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe. The dark brown sugar cookies will have more chew than the light brown sugar because of the added molasses content. 
• Eggs: Eggs act as a binding agent and add moisture to the cookie dough. 
• Molasses: It helps to keep the cookies moist and chewy. 
• Vanilla: It adds a subtle yet aromatic flavor to the cookies. I
• Gluten-free Chocolate Chips: My favorite brand of gluten-free and dairy-free chocolate chips is the Enjoy Life brand.

How to Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies?

You are just a few simple steps away from making the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

Combine Wet Ingredients

• In a bowl, add the sugars with melted butter.

• Mix it until it becomes a creamy mixture.

• After that, add the eggs, vanilla extract, and molasses to the creamy mix.

• Stir everything well.

Combine Dry Ingredients & Fold

• Whisk together the gluten-free flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a separate medium bowl.

• Now, gently fold the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients.

• Mix until it's all combined.

• Once that's done, add in the chocolate chips. They're the tasty part! I add about a cup of chocolate chips, but feel free to increase the amount to your taste.

Bake

• Let the cookie dough sit at room temperature while you heat the oven. This helps the flavors come together.

• Use a spoon or cookie scoop to scoop out cookie dough into balls, each about two tablespoons big.

• Leave some space around each cookie to let them spread a bit.

• Put the cookie dough balls in the oven and bake them

• Once out of the oven, let the cookies sit on the baking tray before moving them to a cooling rack.

• Now comes the best part – enjoy your freshly baked cookies! Or, if you're saving them for later, wait until they cool completely before storing them in a container.

Can you Eat Cookie Dough Raw?

This gluten-free cookie dough uses eggs and raw flour, so eating it before baking cookies is not recommended (because you could get salmonella poisoning). Granted, this has never stopped my husband, lol. If you love raw cookie dough, check out my gluten-free edible cookie dough recipe, and you can eat all the raw cookie dough you want.

Pro-Tips For the Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here are my tips for making the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies every time you bake.

• Melt the butter, but don't overcook it. You don't want to lose any water from the butter.
• Measure the gluten-free flour by weight to get the most accurate amount. If you don't have a scale, fluff your flour blend before spooning it into a measuring cup and then leveling it off. Never scoop gluten-free flour.
• Use room temperature ingredients.
• Do NOT overwork your dough. The more you work your dough, the tougher it will be. For these gluten-free cookies, I like to hand-mix them with a whisk and a spatula to fold in the flour and chocolate chips.
• Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes at room temperature before scooping and baking. This helps the gluten-free flour ensure it is moist before baking.
• Check your oven temperature. If your oven thermometer does not read the correct temperature, you could be over or under-baking your cookies.
• Let the cookies cool on the tray for 10-15 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Substitutions & Variations

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is great for dairy-free chocolate chip cookies. Only use a dairy-free butter alternative, such as Earth Balance.

Add Nuts to Chocolate Chip Cookies

You replace some of the chocolate chips with nuts. I use 1 cup of chocolate chips in this recipe. So you could replace ⅓ cup of them with nuts of your choice. I like pecans, walnuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts in cookies. Make sure to chop the nuts into small, equal-sized pieces before adding.

How to Store Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies?

In my house, these cookies last for about a day, and if any company is coming over, I better make a double batch, haha. But these cookies will last in a container at room temperature for about a week, like most cookies. These cookies do not get crumbly after a day as some gluten-free cookies can.

Can I make Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead of Time?

When it comes to cookie dough, I am usually all over on the team, let the dough chill. This gluten-free cookie dough doesn't need any chilling, but chilling the cookie dough doesn't hurt it either.

• If you want to make these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies ahead of time and chill the dough, you can.
• Just let them rest at room temperature while you preheat the oven.
• The cookies also need another 1-2 minutes of baking since the dough is cold.

Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?

I usually have frozen cookie dough balls in my freezer to take out and bake fresh, which you can do with these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

• You can freeze the cookie dough into balls and bake them from frozen.
• Just let them rest at room temperature while you preheat the oven.
• Just add 2-3 extra minutes of baking time.

Can you Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?

If you want that fresh-baked cookie texture, I suggest baking the dough fresh and freezing the already-baked cookies.

Freezing these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies also makes a delicious gluten-free ice cream sandwich when you scoop some ice cream between two cookies. Or, if you're feeling like you want the real deal, you can whip up a batch of my gluten-free ice cream sandwiches.

Common Questions For Gluten-Free Baking

These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies have been a labor of love to create. They are gluten-free and nut-free and work great as dairy-free cookies. They are the chocolate chip cookies that everyone can enjoy! Let me know in the comments what you think if you make some.

More Gluten-free Cookies

📖 Recipe