These Coconut Flour Cookies are quick & easy to make, calling for just 7 ingredients that you probably already have on hand. I love that they are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free!
Why Use Coconut Flour?
Since I’ve already covered buckwheat cookies and almond flour cookies, I figured a coconut flour recipe was in order for those of you who need to remain grain-free and nut-free.
What I love about coconut flour is that it’s more affordable than other grain-free flours. It’s so absorbent, a small amount goes a long way. However, it’s also a very tricky ingredient! Flax eggs won’t work as an egg substitute with this recipe (believe me, I’ve tried!), and if you don’t measure the coconut flour correctly, it can affect the results dramatically.
For the record, I like to scoop the measuring cup into the coconut flour, then swipe the top with a knife to level it off. I’ve included weights in the recipe below, too, if you’d rather use a food scale for precise measuring.
Can you Use Almond Flour Instead of Coconut Flour?
I do not recommend making any substitutions when a recipe calls for coconut flour. Coconut flour is very absorbent, and requires more eggs and moisture than other types of flour.
It’s better to look for a recipe that calls for what you have on hand, so you won’t have as much guess work. Check out the following cookie recipes if you want to use another type of flour.
- Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Almond Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (made with almond butter)
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
For even more ideas, browse my dessert recipes.
What Do Coconut Flour Cookies Taste Like?
Instead of being dense and chewy like a traditional chocolate chip cookie, this particular recipe yields a much lighter, fluffy, almost cake-like cookie, similar to a chocolate chip muffin top.
It’s simply impossible to create a chewy cookie using only coconut flour, without resorting to adding a bunch of other fillers, like starches or nut/seed flours, and that sounds way too complicated to me.
If I’m going to include nuts in the recipe, I’d rather make a batch of Almond Butter Cookies or these Healthy Cookies (that are date-sweetened!), instead.
Since I prefer to keep my recipes as simple as possible, I’ve decided to embrace the texture that coconut flour provides, and go with the soft, cake-like consistency.
My husband has proclaimed these cookies to be one of his favorites, anyway, so I hope those of you who enjoy softer cookies will love them, too!
Best Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut flour , leveled off (48 grams)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil , melted (54 grams)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (79 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (1 gram)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (2 grams)
- 2 whole eggs
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and eggs until a uniform batter is created. The batter will start off a bit runny, but will thicken as the coconut flour starts to absorb the moisture. Add in the chocolate chips, and stir to distribute them evenly. (Note: Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips are dairy-free & nut-free.)
- Use a heaping tablespoon to drop the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet, and use your hands to flatten the cookies. Keep in mind these cookies will NOT spread on their own, so you'll want to shape them how you'd like them to turn out.
- Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is for 1 of 15 cookies. This information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, so it’s just an estimate and not a guarantee.
Recipe Notes:
- As I mentioned above, there is no substitute for coconut flour. If you want to use a different type of flour, I’d recommend trying my chocolate chip cookie recipes using almond flour or buckwheat flour, instead.
- I don’t recommend trying to use flax eggs as a substitute for the whole eggs in this recipe. I tried it myself, and the resulting cookies were mushy and wouldn’t come off the pan.
- Feel free to use honey, instead of maple syrup, if you like, keeping in mind that honey is sweeter, so you’ll need to use less of it.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite recipe using coconut flour? I find that it seems to work better in softer baked goods, like muffins and cakes, so I think these Strawberry Cupcakes are my favorite so far.
Regarding taste using stevia I’m ok with 20-15 drops, what I need help with is with the amount of liquid in this recipe, I won’t be using 1/4 cup of syrup, I’d use no more than 1 tsp of liquid stevia, so should I add extra water to even out the syrup? I know when working with coconut flour , the amounts of liquids is very important. Thank you Megan
Since I can’t test it out myself, I’m not positive how that substitution will work out. Maple syrup does caramelize when heated, helping to bind baked goods, so I’m not sure if using water will have the same effect, though I would definitely think some sort of liquid is necessary, since coconut flour is so absorbent. Please let us know how your experiment turns out!
I’ve made this recipe at least 5 times. I even turned them into ice cream sandwiches! They’re super easy and quick to make. Thanks!
Hi!
If Dear Megan can’t help me out on this one maybe one of you sweet bakers can help me do the math. I can’t use honey or maple syrup, only stevia or Xyla (both in powder). I believe that the liquid texture of the syrup contributes to the texture of these cookies, specially when working with coconut flour. Since Im using powder sweetener,not syrup which means less liquid for the recipe, do you think I should add water or more oil to equal out the syrup…?
Thank you thank you for ny help! <3
These cookies were some of the best paleo cookies I’ve ever tried! I’m glad I stumbled across this recipe! Last time I did a paleo chocolate chip cookie it was made with almond flour…… Not that good :-/
just for the record, I made double batch, i baked them with 1/4 c. xyla to replace 1/4 c. maple syrup and 1/4 tsp liquid stevia to replace the other 1/4 c. syrup ( the website said 1/4 c sugar=1/4 tsp stevia). The texture is delicious, just like any baked cookie, no need to add more water or oil. The sweetness tough id def add either more liquid stevia or just 1/4 c.+ 1/4 c. xyla crystals cos they are not very sweet. Is tricky to bake with liquid stevia, either they come too sweet or not sweet at all. I prefer powder stevia.
Great recipe Megan, thank you!
Just made these and they r amazing! thank you for the recipe 🙂
I made these today. I used rice malt syrup instead of maple syrup. Cookies were yummy. However I have IBS and I’m now paying the price for eating coconut flour. Won’t be making them again as they are too good to resist.
I made these last night and they were so simple (even for me, and I’m a terrible cook!). Doubled the recipe so I could take some to work today and they are practically gone already!
I used honey as I didn’t have any syrup and I think I forgot to double the eggs despite doubling everything else haha
They still came out great though. Seriously – I am so impressed with how nice they are as I’m always suspicious of sweet treats made from healthier alternatives. I will definitely be doing these again!
Thanks for the recipe.
Sarah
xxx
I’ve recently gone back to paleo and have really missed chocolate chip cookies. I had a craving for cookies, so I made these last night. Fantastic! They are my new favorite paleo cookies! The consistency was spot on … not too gooey and not too crispy. I made sure to flatten them with a spatula half way through baking them to get that traditional coolie shape. My husband usually dislikes the taste of cookies made with coconut v. almond flour, but he actually loved these. I stored them in the fridge over night, and they were even better eaten cold. Thanks for the recipe. It’s a winner!
I am hopeless at cooking with coconut flour..I’ve had so many attempts, with so much money wasted.. But this was everything it described and more! So chewy and filling! I did the following subs: for the maple syrup I just used half maple and half stevia for that.. And I used Lindt dark choc for the chips.. I always find coconut flour dry so I baked for only 10 mins and these were soft in the inside and crispy on the outside.. Tender gooey chocolate! Yum! This is a keeper 🙂
These cookies are my new favorite! The first bite I had made me OMG out loud. I’ve finally finished the batch, and I have to wait for a week or so to make sure I don’t eat these all the time. I’m telling everyone! Thanks so much, and thanks again for the cauliflower pizza crust recipe; one of my favorite things.
Wow – these really impressed me, with their delicately crisp outsides and moist bread-y insides. I don’t usually like a cakey cookie, but this is something very different than the texture I associate with that description when made with gluten or GF flour mixtures. This was more like the moist, flakey inside of a macaroon (not surprising 🙂 Fantastic textures!
I followed the recipe with the exception of subbing chia (egg) + baking powder + slight extra coconut flour (this combination is a good standard for egg replacement, giving most of the binding, loft and slightly cake-y texture eggs give).
Knowing how dense egg-free recipes usually are, I flattened each cookie to less than 1/2 inch high, kept the thickness really even, and formed the edges so they’d hold together. My mini-chocolate chips kept trying to escape, cause the dough wasn’t as sticky as eggs would have made it. I kept chasing them down and poking them into the middle of the cookies 😛 It would be faster if I had a cookie cutter to press the dough into, so I’ll do that next time.
I’m now defending the cookies from all the family members. Make them last, people! …alas, that will never happen 😀
Made these again tonight with gelatin as the ‘egg’ and they’re great this way, too 🙂 They held together better while forming them (I wasn’t chasing down my chocolate chips like last time :D) as well as after baking. They were slightly less delicate and slightly more cookie-textured. They also browned a bit more. They were every bit as heavenly eaten in delicate bites 🙂
I will say, too, that this recipe is incredibly forgiving. “I shall use the ingredients in about the right ratios!” is not usually something you’re allowed to say during gluten-free baking 😛 *cough*
I made this today and it was a complete disaster. I even added more flout because I wanted to make sure I would not have the issues others were having. Batter was ok but as soon as it hit the oven it was complete meltdown.
I am using homemade coconut flour so I am wondering if that is the issue. My flour is pretty fluffy. I think that if I had weight measurements it would had worked out better.
I won’t give up. I will try it again some other time. I will google more about weight measurements.
I made this last night too, and I think maybe I need to really compress the type of coconut flour I have as it didn’t thicken enough. However I added 1/2 cup of almond flour and it was better, 3/4 cups might have been even more appropriate. I don’t like adjusting with coconut flour as a little bit goes such a long way!
The resulting cookies were really good though. I’m going to try the buckwheat one next I think!
What’s the best way to double or triple this recipe? It doesn’t make very many cookies. Thanks.
Just want to say these sound and look amazing! I have a coconut flour recipe that is similar that I use flax eggs for and they come out great! I will have to try this one though! Yum! My son and I LOVE cookies way more than we should haha!
Hi Megan,
I recently tried making lactation cookies using coconut flour and didn’t turn out. The original recipe is as follows: 1 cup of butter; 1 cup of sugar; 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar, 4 tbsp of water; 2 tbsp of flax seed meal; 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla; 2 cups flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 3 cups of oats; 1 cup chocolate chips; 4 tbsp of brewer’s yeast. The only difference with my version is I substituted 2 cups of flour with 1/4 of coconut flour. My key ingredients for “lactation” are the oats, flax seed meal and brewer’s yeast. Can you advise as to how to get the “perfect” cookies or consistency using coconut flour?
Try my gluten-free lactation cookie recipe– it’s already worked out for you, so you won’t need to worry about substituting coconut flour! https://detoxinista.com/2014/08/vegan-lactation-cookies-gluten-free/
If the name of the recipe was Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroons, they’d have gotten a solid 3.
Wow… thanks for the no value comment!
Do you think I could use this recipe to make a giant cookie (a pizza pan size)? If so, any suggestions on cooking time or other tips? I’m trying to make a cookie “cake” for my son’s birthday. Thanks for any thoughts.
I cannot have eggs… since I cannot use flax can I use applesauce for the cho chip cookie recipe?
Traditional egg substitutes don’t always work with coconut flour, so you’ll have to experiment and let us know. I don’t imagine that applesauce would give these cookies the structure they need, but maybe Ener-G egg replacer would?
I have found the best replacer of eggs is blended banana 😀 But that will give a different flavor 🙂 Going to try making your recipe in a little while as is 😀
How did you make the cookies so perfectly round? Did you use a shaping tool or just carefully shaped with spoon/hand?
I just shape them with my hands!
Thanks Megan for a great recipe! I tried another coconut flour cookie recipe a few weeks ago (with 1/2 cup flour) and liked yours better as it had 2 eggs vs 1 (I used chia seed eggs) for more moisture. Cooked mine for about 15 minutes. Just tried one and they are yummy! Can’t wait for more with my hubby after dinner, with our home made cashew hemp milk in our lattes. I am going to freeze and eat straight from the freezer. Thanks again!
Hi Angela,
could you tell more about how do you make chia seed eggs please?
Erani- You can see directions to make chia eggs here: https://detoxinista.com/how-to-make-flax-eggs-or-chia-eggs/
These are great! I have made them twice and both times perfect. Coconut flour makes a completely different cookie than all other flours, but I like it.
These cookies were not the best. But I guess when you don’t have a choice, you’ll eat anything
I jumped for joy at seeing this recipe, because I am all-grain intolerant. I tried making these, twice, and they were a disaster both times. The cookies that “aren’t supposed to flatten out” melted and spread in to one gigantic paper-thin mess. I had added more coconut flour for moisture…twice the amount, actually. Help!
I’ve made this recipe a number of times. Each time except the most recent one, I mistook the 1 teaspoon of vanilla for 1 TABLESPOON. I LOVE my mistake! I recommend upping the vanilla, if you like that sort of thing. It makes them taste kind of exotic.
Do you think I can substitute the maple syrup for a liquid sweetener to make it low carb? Or is it absolutely necessary to hold it all together?
I made mine with about 2 tablespoons of agave instead… I also added an extra egg and 1/2cup shredded unsweetened coconut and they turned out amazing!
1/3 of a cup of flour????? really!! How can that possibly work…
That’s the nice thing about coconut flour– you don’t need much, so a little goes a long way! The eggs give these cookies the rest of their structure.
I made them yesterday, used brown sugar instead of maple syrup, so not as healthy…but delicious..:)
this has become my go to coconut flour cookie recipe. basically bake them anytime i crave a dessert? tried adding cocoa once but they became a bit too dry. any tips to make a chocolate version of them?
Hi Megan! Beautiful recipe you have shared with us. I bet the taste is out of this world! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve made these many times and while they taste good they never really had a cookie consistency….too wet and sticky even after baked. I just made them yesterday with only ONE egg and I baked them for 20 minutes and this time they were perfect and have a dry cookie consistency. I love these now!!
I made these for the first time last night, adding shredded coconut and chopped pecans. Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Hi Megan,
I tried making these today. They were delicious! I added a bit more flour since it seemed to be too runny. They were very good! thank you 🙂
I made them today and love them. Turned out exactly as you said. Thank you. First time coconut flour baking for me but definitely not the last.
ok… followed the instructions this time without substituting the maple syrup with honey and they turned out perfectly! thank you so much for your recipe! 😛
My teenage son loves them too!
There were absolutely amazing! The texture is great and crumbly and they smell and taste amazing.
How many sugars per cookie
These are seriously amazing. Just made them, 12 min was perfect time, the dough is delicious as well. Will be making these again, like them even more than traditional cookies
Can I omit the maple syrup?
I made these today…..and BOY! are they delish! I’m following a low carb lifestyle so I used swerve instead of the syrup! YUM YUM!
Thank you!
I just discovered your stte and I love it ! I did a little variation on your recipe I added 1 tablespoon of coconut flour and I used Lakanto sugar (same measurement as indicated in the recipe) did have butter and half coconut oil and it turned out wonderful !! My husband is diabetic and I’m trying to bake with coconut flour as much as possible . Thank you for the recipe 🙂
These are the lightest, fluffiest looking coconut flour cookies I have ever seen! I hate crunchy cookies, so I’m going to pin these and give them a try soon. Thanks!
I agree! They look so soft and I hate crunchy cookies, so I totally need to try these!
Yum! My five year old tried to convince me he could eat the whole batch. I let him have 2.
I think I made them too big. I only got 7 cookies. They needed 20 minutes cooking time.
I’ll oil the paper next time too. I lost the bottom of the cookie on the paper.
I’d love to try these with stevia or monk fruit.
Hi Megan!
I happened on your site while searching for a recipe to use my coconut flour. I just tried your recipe and these are fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing them! I used your exact measurements and they came out great…very light and cake-like. After seeing the texture I can think of many things to add to them besides chocolate chips that would also be yummy.
I shaped them with my hands like you did and they looked wonderful, too. I made them about 2″ round and was wondering if you knew the calorie, fat and carb count that may be in each cookie??
Thanks again!
I have made other coconut chocolate chip cookies and my husband was not a fan. He wants the fatty buttery ones. WELL HE LOVED THESE!!! Thank you. I added a little butter extract and used agave maple syrup.
My 11 year old daughter just made these cookies, they are delicious, I will TRIPLE to recipe next time:)
350 degree burnt my cookies…Can you please confirm the temp again?
Must have been in the measuring ! But I’m looking at one mass of mixture spread out all over my baking tray 🙁 not happy what a waste of time and ingredients!
Initially my batter was thin too. I found I had to had a little more coconut flour. I think it could have been due to the size of the eggs used. My eggs were on the large size. I also baked the cookies for closer to 20 min. Came out great and tasted great!
Made these today and they’re good, considering I’m not a big fan of coconut flour baked goods (so trying to use up my supply). I used rice bran syrup instead of maple and substituted one of the eggs with a small banana. Baked for about 20 minutes and they came out crispy on the outside and soft & moist on the inside. The comparison to a muffin top is about right but texture is obviously different because of the coconut flour.
Great recipe and the cookies are yummy. Don’t expect the same consistency of tollhouse cookies but if youre trying to watch carbs and crave something sweet, this is it.
This is my absolute favorite choc chip cookie recipe ever! I have some in the oven right now but always forget I should double (or triple) this recipe as they don’t last very long cuz they’re so good! Love your cookbook too!