These Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies have the chewy texture you love, with the flavor of a brownie. Roll them in powdered sugar for an easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookie!
Why You’ll Love Them
They taste amazing. If you love brownies, you’ll love these chewy chocolate cookies. They bake in less than 10 minutes, for an easy gluten-free dessert.
They are easy to customize. The variations are endless with this cookie dough. Stir in peanut butter chips for a chocolate peanut butter cookie, add a little peppermint extract for a mint chocolate flavor, or just stir in some regular chocolate chips for a double chocolate cookie.
They are allergy friendly. These cookies are naturally gluten-free, but you can also make them dairy-free and vegan by using coconut oil instead of butter, and a flax egg instead of a regular egg.
They are made with only 1 type of flour. Instead of using a gluten-free flour blend, this recipe relies on oat flour, which is a super-affordable option for gluten-free baking. You can even make oat flour with just rolled oats and a blender! Because oats can be contaminated during processing, be sure to buy a package that says “certified gluten-free” if you are serving someone who can’t consume gluten.
Ingredients You’ll Need
What’s in gluten-free chocolate cookies?
- Oat flour
- Cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- Coconut sugar
- Egg (or flax egg)
- Butter (or coconut oil)
- Baking soda
- Salt
This recipe comes together quickly in one bowl, and if you need a dairy-free or vegan option, it’s super-easy to make substitutions. You can also use any other granulated sugar you have on hand, like brown sugar, to replace the coconut sugar.
Note: Oat flour is not always tolerated by everyone who has a gluten intolerance, so if you need to use a gluten-free flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour) you can swap that for the oat flour in this recipe. The result is slightly more dry in that case, but it still “works.”
How to Make the Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies
1. Mix the dry ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients, which will help to break up any clumps.
2. Add in the wet ingredients.
To the bowl, add in the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Mix well, until the dough looks uniform. If you want to make gluten-free double chocolate cookies, fold in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, too.
The cookie dough will be slightly sticky, so let the dough rest in the bowl for 15 minutes. The oat flour will continue to absorb the moisture, and will be easier to handle after it rests.
3. Bake.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop the cookie dough, then roll the dough in powdered sugar, if you’d like to make a crinkle cookie.
Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheet, then bake at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes. (For soft centers, remove them after 8 minutes.)
Let the cookies cool completely on the pan, as they will be very fragile while they are still warm. Once they have firmed up, you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely, if you need to use the pan to bake the remaining cookie dough.
Storage Tip: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also store cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months! These cookies are delicious when served cold, or at room temperature.
Make Ahead Tip: If you don’t want to bake all of the cookies right away, you can freeze the dough! Drop the cookie dough onto a pan or plate lined with parchment paper, and place it on a flat shelf in your freezer. Once they are firm (about 1 hour) you can transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container, and keep them stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bake the cookie dough straight from the freezer for an extra 3-5 minutes, for a freshly baked cookie anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
This gluten-free cookie recipe was developed to use oat flour, so I don’t recommend using almond flour or coconut flour, but another grain-based flour will most likely work similarly. Gluten-free flour blends are often made with a combination of gluten-free flours, like rice flour and starches, so they may create a more dry cookie when compared to using oat flour. Feel free to use slightly less flour when making that substitution. (You don’t need a blend with xanthan gum for this recipe, unlike my gluten-free cinnamon rolls.)
Yes, you can replace the butter with melted coconut oil, but be sure to use a refined or expeller pressed coconut oil, if you’d like the cookies to have zero coconut flavor. You can replace the egg with a powdered egg substitute, or a flax egg. The cookies will spread slightly more with these modifications, so be sure to chill the dough before baking.
Try my Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, which are made with no flour at all.
Looking for more gluten-free recipes? Try Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls, Soft Pretzel Bites, or Oat Flour Banana Bread.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)
- 6 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 cup coconut sugar (or other granulated sugar)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional; for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cacao powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well to help break up any clumps.
- Add in the melted butter or oil, egg, and vanilla extract, and mix again until the dough looks uniform. The oat flour will continue to absorb some of the moisture as it rests, so let the dough rest in the bowl for 15 minutes. (This will make it easier to work with.)
- Next, use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the dough and roll it between your hands to form a ball. For a chocolate crinkle cookie, place the ball in a small bowl of powdered sugar and roll it around to coat the outside. Place the ball on the parchment lined baking sheet, then repeat the process with the remaining dough. You should get roughly 20 cookies from this batch, so you may need to bake these cookies in 2 batches. (Or use 2 pans, if you prefer to bake them all at once.)
- Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies should puff up and spread slightly. Let them cool on the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, as they will be fragile while they are still warm. As soon as they are firm enough to handle, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling, so you can bake the remaining cookies in the batch.
- As soon as the cookies are firm enough to pick up, they are ready to serve. You can store leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, or they will last up to a week in the fridge. (Or store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.)
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this gluten-free chocolate cookie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
My daughter and I made a double batch right away so we would have extra to share with our mail carrier as. Thank—you gift. These are delicious and you would never know that they are GF. Coconut oil worked great as a substitute for butter, like Megan said it would. I rolled half of them in finely ground coconut, since I can’t have the powdered sugar, and that worked beautifully also. 😍
Wow, these are delicious and so easy to make, thanks so much 🙂
These are DELICIOUS just the way the recipe is – I added crushed candy cane to a few -YUM . I also rolled a few in coconut flakes which we also liked. Will be making another batch real soon ! Thanks again for another GREAT recipe ! You are my fav !!!
I made these with 3/4 c. sugar and 1/2 t. peppermint extract (in addition to the vanilla). I used coconut oil. They were excellent–I love a chewy cookie and these did not disappoint! So good, and so easy; I’m sure I will be making them regularly.
These were so good! I’m so glad you add ingredient swaps. I had to make a vegan version to accommodate some allergies and they still turned out delicious. Everyone in our family (including gluten lovers and non-vegans) enjoyed these. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this with my adult children and their kids. Everyone loved them! They are now my husband’s new favorite cookie. I used Canola Oil at my husband’s request and it didn’t seem to compromise the outcome. I have already made a second batch and am sure more batches will happen in 2023! Thanks for this recipe!
The cookies were tasty! I followed the recipe exactly, except for using 3/4 cup coconut sugar. The one thing is my cookie crumbles and doesn’t stay together? How does one keep the cookie bound? I did grind my oat flour from rolled oats. Maybe it wasn’t fine enough? Either way, very tasty.
These were so easy to make. The batter was so nice to work with and not sticky and the cookies came out beautiful and tastey. People wouldn’t know they were gf if you didn’t tell them.
Quick and easy to make. Fantastic flavor and texture. Only problem is a single batch is gone in a day or 2 at the longest.
Can these be made with Almond or coconut flour and Swerve to make them Keto?
That would be a lot of changes; I’d start by looking for a chocolate cookie recipe that uses the flour you prefer to use, and then maybe you could modify the sweetener from there.
My daughter baked these and they were amazing! I’m wondering if you could use coconut flour instead?
Thanks,
My daughter baked these and they were amazing! I’m wondering if you could use coconut flour instead?
Thanks, Lavender
I loved this recipe so much! Could I add chocolate chips? If so, how much? Thanks, Lavender!
I have a lot of food restrictions, so I swapped maple sugar, egg whites and grape seed oil. The flavor was great, but my substitutions gave me a very flat flat and delicate cookie. I probably wouldn’t make them to share with anyone else, but I bet if I froze them they could make great ice cream sandwiches. Actually, I might go make some ice cream right now and try it!
My cookies didn’t spread so for the second batch I flattened them before putting them in the oven. I tried a flax egg for the first time in my life and it worked out just fine. I used half the amount of sugar. The cookies were delicious!!