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These Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth! Made with nourishing almond flour, they take just minutes to stir together and will quickly become one of your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This gluten-free cookie recipe is made with blanched almond flour, which means the skin has been removed from the nuts before they were ground into flour.
Your cookies will have a crispy, buttery texture when you use this type of grain-free flour, but you can use almond meal (made with whole ground almonds) if that’s what you have. Desserts made with almond meal tend to be denser and not quite as crisp, so just keep that in mind.
Maple syrup and coconut oil help to bind this recipe without using an egg or flax egg, but if you prefer to use coconut sugar as the sweetener, check out my classic almond flour cookie recipe instead. They taste like the Tollhouse cookies, only made with almond flour!
Using coconut oil keeps this recipe dairy-free, but if you’d prefer to avoid any coconut flavor, look for refined or expeller-pressed coconut oil which has zero coconut taste. You can also use your favorite vegan butter, or real butter if you don’t need a dairy-free cookie.
Use dark chocolate chips to keep this recipe lower in sugar, or try adding dried fruit for another variation. I like to use mini chocolate chips to distribute the chocolate flavor even more.
How to Make the Best Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Mix.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Stir well until a thick cookie dough is formed. (Because this recipe is not made with traditional flour, there’s no need to whisk the dry ingredients together before adding in the liquid ingredients.)
Fold in the chocolate chips, being careful not to stir too much. Almond flour cookie dough can become oily when overmixed.
2. Bake.
Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop the dough onto the prepared pan, about 2 inches apart from each other. You should get roughly 19 to 20 cookies from this batch.
Use your hands to gently flatten each cookie mound, as they won’t spread much on their own. Sprinkle a little sea salt on top, if you’d like a sweet and salty cookie, then bake at 350ºF for 9 to 10 minutes, until the edges look lightly golden.
3. Cool.
Once the cookies are done baking, let them cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes. They will firm up as they cool.
The finished cookies will have a crispy edge and a slightly chewy center, reminiscent of a shortbread cookie studded with chocolate chunks.
Serve these paleo cookies warm or let them cool completely on a wire rack. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they do become softer and less crispy in that case.
For crispier results and longer shelf life, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! Coconut flour is unlike any other flour on the market and needs a totally different ratio of ingredients. Check out my coconut flour cookie recipe for guidance.
I love Hu brand, which is naturally sweetened if you can find it at your local store. Otherwise, dark chocolate chips make a great lower-sugar option, or you can chop up your favorite chocolate bar. For a sugar-free option, try using crunchy cacao nibs instead.
Looking for more paleo cookie recipes? Try Almond Butter Cookies, Almond Flour Sugar Cookies, or the Healthiest Cookies Ever.
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut oil , melted
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (at room temperature)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips (or cacao nibs, for sugar-free)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract. Stir well, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop the batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your fingers to flatten and shape the cookies to your liking; they will NOT spread when baked, so make them the shape you want.
- Bake at 350ºF for 8 to 9 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. The darker they get, the crispier they will be.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature. These cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. They will soften if stored at room temperature, so for the crispiest results, store them chilled.
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Notes
Nutrition
If you try this paleo chocolate chip cookies recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them.
Thanks for this amazing recipe Megan! These are the tastiest cookies I have tried in my 44 years of life. To take you over the moon – use all organic ingredients and substitute hazelnuts for almonds – when I eat these cookies, the world stands still.
wow! i made a couple of your no grain cookie recipes before but this one takes the cake, er, cookie! this time, however, i opted for 1 1/2 cups almond meal with 1/2 cup buckwheat flour. i needed to add about 1/3 cup water to make the dough come together. along with vegan choc chips, i threw in some walnuts and ate three cookies before they were completely cool! since my dough only make 12 cookies, i will probably eat them all in a day. : )
This was such a quick and yummy breakfast for both me and my toddler!To avoid chocolate overload in the morning I substituted craisins in half the batch. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
No on paleo diet but awesome cookies. My husband’s favorite and kids loved it too. Very crispy cookies. Used 1/2 cup of coconut oil to help it form better. Probably could have used a little less. Kids allergic to almond so used whole wheat pastry flour. Used Agave nectar 6 Tablespoons, added 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 1 tablespoon of flax seed ground. By the way this is my favorite cookies. Next time I’ll try adding oats.
I just had to let you know, I made these cookies for the third time tonight, and they are seriously the BEST cookies I’ve ever tasted– gluten-free or otherwise! Thank you so much for the delicious recipes.
thank you for this recipe. I changed it up a bit – did one cup almond meal, one cup gluten free flour from arrowhead, one cup of gluten free oats, used sunflower oil – added more to fill it out + more maple syrup. played with it a tad as I usually do and we will see how they taste as they are cooling down.
When you change a recipe that much, how can you give it an accurate rating? Two stars is unfair. These cookies are amazing.
Agree with Aimee … how can you accurately review a recipe if you change it so much? It’s like getting takeout from a local restaurant, then completely covering it in salt when you’re eating it at home, and then giving the place 2-stars on Yelp, stating that their “dishes are way too salty” … doesn’t make sense?
These were absolutely horrible. The flour never became anything but crumbled powder. Considering the $8 worth of ingredients and the fact that it is Christmas eve, so nothing’s open, we’re completely out of luck.
“Merry Christmas, dear daughter. Enjoy your powder”
I’m sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you. I’m not sure what you mean by “the flour never became anything but crumbled powder.” Were you making your own almond flour, and the ground almonds didn’t become fluffy enough? Or do you mean that there wasn’t enough moisture for the cookies to hold together? I’ve made these cookies many times, and this ratio of maple syrup and coconut oil (or butter) has always produced a delicious result. You can always add additional coconut oil or maple syrup if the cookie dough doesn’t look like it will hold together. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas, regardless!
I’ve made these cookies literally dozens of times and they are always amazing. I’m not sure what you did wrong, but if your cookies came out poorly, it’s not the fault of this blog where you found a FREE recipe.
I went to lunch with another blogger today (This American Mama) and she told me about these cookies. Can’t wait to try them! They look fabulous.
Great recipe, but I wish I read the comments before attempting. Definitely don’t use rice flour! The cookies had a really weird texture and were way too crumbly. Also I forgot that coconut oil goes solid really quicky, so had to add soya milk in the end to get usable dough. Can’t wait to try these again when I’ve got all the correct ingredients!
Much better than expected! I had to use honey instead of maple syrup (I was out)… And I wasn’t sure they were going to turn out well – the batter was super crumbly, so I added 2 more tbsp of coconut oil and then using a cookie scoop, I mashed the batter into it to make rounded balls. The ones I mashed in like that didn’t crumble when they came out of the oven – they stuck together well.