With puddles of chocolate on top, these deep dark gluten-free chocolate cookies are crispy on the outside with chewy gooey centers that melt in your mouth. With flakes of salt on top, these will satisfy all your chocolatey dreams!
This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill, a long-term partner of Snixy Kitchen
Earlier this week I ate four gluten-free chocolate cookies for dinner. Earlier this week my daughter also very matter-of-factly told me, "my favorite in the whole world of all my parents is daddy." These two events might correlate. When I told her I had two favorite kids, she amended her statement, "I have two favorite parents, you and daddy." But I know where I really stand.
It's fine though, really. I've got 3 dozen gluten-free chocolate cookies and a bottle of wine. Which coincidentally is all you really need to get you through Valentine's Day (or any holiday, really). Whether you're baking for someone special or treating yourself with chocolate, these gluten-free chocolate cookies have your back. And the only thing between you and a warm freshly baked gooey chocolate cookie? 20 minutes.
These chewy gluten-free chocolate cookies are the first recipe in a year-long partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. Head over to find a list of all the recipes I've made in partnership with Bob's Red Mill over the years!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookie Recipe
When developing this gluten-free chocolate cookie recipe, I had a very specific list of requirements. It had to be super deep dark chocolatey. It needed to be gooey and fudgy on the inside - almost like melted chocolate. More than that though, it also must be chewy like a very good brownie. Then I wanted crisp edges to balance those soft centers. While normally I like my cookies thin, I wanted these to have some lift, so you really get to sink your teeth into the deep dark chocolatey middle.
I had a craving and I baked at least 10 dozen cookies in service of that craving. These gluten-free chocolate cookies are exactly perfect.
Arguably the real MVP of this cookie's attributes though is that the dough doesn't require any chilling! So you're only 20 minutes away from freshly baked gluten-free gooey chocolate cookies.
What is the best gluten-free flour for cookies?
Gluten-free cookies require a blend of gluten-free flours, depending on the type of cookie and texture desired.
Chewy centers and crisp edges
For cookies with soft chewy centers and crisp edges, a soft flour such as Bob's Red Mill's gluten-free oat flour or teff flour will give cookies the slight soft lift, combined with a bit of tapioca flour to create the classic chewy centers and crisp edges. Adding a small amount of sweet rice flour will further enhance the chewiness. For grain-free cookies, you can substitute almond flour for the main soft flour, but you'll have to compensate for its oiliness by adding more flour. See the next section for flour substitutions you can use to make this gluten-free chocolate cookie recipe.
- These Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten-Free Teff Chocolate Chip Date Cookies
- Hazelnut Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Soft and pillowy
For soft and pillowy cookies, use similar amounts of Bob's Red Mill's superfine blanced almond flour, a soft cakey flour such as oat flour or millet flour, and tapioca flour or sweet rice flour to help bind it together. This blend will give it height and a pillowy texture with an ever-so-slight chew like a classic gluten-full cookie. Using tapioca starch will create a cookie that's more cakey and pillowy, like in the soft lofthouse-style gluten-free sugar cookies, whereas using sweet rice flour will create a pillowy cookie with a much chewier center, such as in the ginger molasses cookies.
- Soft Lofthouse Style Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
- Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies with Easy Icing
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
- Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
- Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies
Crisp and snappy
For crisp and snappy cookies like shortbread, graham crackers, or oreos, use similar flours as with the soft and pillowy cookies, but with very different ratios and one important addition: corn starch. Corn starch gives the cookies a crisp snappy texture. Increase the almond flour, reducing the soft cakey flour and reducing or even eliminating the tapioca flour or sweet rice flour, if your cookie is able to bind together without.
- Gluten-Free Oreos
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Pecan Shortbread Cookies
- Gluten-Free Matcha Shortbread Cookies
- Chestnut Chocolate Gluten-Free Graham Crackers
- Hazelnut Chocolate Gluten-Free Slice & Bake Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies with Different Flours
In my many tests, I found these gluten-free chocolate cookies to be very versatile. The recipe I've provided below is hands-down the best variation with the perfect balance of crisp edges, gooey fudgy centers, and chewy bite. Still, I get lots of questions about flour substitutions, so I'm providing some variations below.
Oat flour, Sweet Rice Flour, & Tapioca Flour: 112g oat flour, 36g sweet rice flour, 33g tapioca flour. This is the best variation of this gluten-free chocolate cookie. Crisp edges, gooey fudgy centers, and chewy bite.
Oat Flour & Tapioca Flour: 112g oat flour and 70g tapioca flour. This variation bakes up very very similar to the cookie above and is quite delicious, but with a noticeably less chewy center. As the cookie sits overnight, it gets softer and the centers less chewy and gooey. If you can't tolerate sweet rice flour or just don't have it, you can still bake this recipe!
Teff Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, & Tapioca Flour: 87g teff flour, 42g sweet rice flour, 40g tapioca flour. This is the first version I tested and it was nearly perfect. Similar to the final recipe, it's got crisp edges, gooey fudgy centers, and a chewy bite. Teff flour adds rich toffee notes and is my preferred flour for all my classic chocolate chip cookies, enhancing the butter and brown sugar. In these gluten-free chocolate cookies, however, it competes a bit with the classic chocolate cookie flavor I was craving, so I slightly preferred the oat version. Still, it's a very delicious cookie in its own right!
Almond Flour & Tapioca Flour: 115g almond flour 88g tapioca flour. For those of you looking for a grain-free version, you can certainly use almond flour & tapioca flour. The result is a nuttier cookie that spreads a bit more, but is still yummy!
All of these variations have been tested using Bob's Red Mill flours, which I recommend because of their quality and how finely ground they are. Much to my delight, their packaging has recently been updated with a resealable velcro strip, which is ideal for pantry storage!
Freezing Gluten-Free Cookie Dough
Don't need more than a few cookies? Gluten-free cookie dough can easily be frozen! Roll the dough into balls and place on a small baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and toss the hardened cookie dough balls in a freezer-safe bag or container. Keep up to a year in the freezer.
To bake frozen cookie dough, bake the dough balls still frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the bake time. I usually start with a minute longer and gently tap the edges of the cookie. It should feel a bit firm while the centers look completely underbaked. If the edge is still very delicately soft where a gentle tap leaves an indent, I bake for an additional minute.
How to make dairy-free gluten-free chocolate cookies
To make this gluten-free chocolate cookie dough dairy-free, replace the butter with plant butter - it will be just as delicious!
Favorite Gluten-Free Chocolate Recipes
- Chocolate Mochi Donuts
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Waffles
- Chocolate Gluten-Free Swiss Roll Cake
- Dark Chocolate Honey Fig Walnut Truffles
- Mexican Chocolate Buckwheat Muffins
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
- Mint Chocolate Mousse with Toasted Matcha Meringue
Recipe
Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 112 g (1 cup + ½ tablespoon) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
- 36 g (3½ tablespoons) Bob's Red Mill sweet rice flour , different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour"
- 33 g (¼ cup + 2 teaspoons) Bob's Red Mill tapioca flour
- 33 g (⅓ cup) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (104 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon chocolate extract, or sub in more vanilla extract
- 4 oz high-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- flaky salt, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the oat flour, tapioca flour, sweet rice flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together starting on low speed and increasing to medium high speed, until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and add the egg and vanilla and chocolate extracts and beat until just combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined. Add about ⅔ of the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and beat for a few seconds until evenly distributed.
- Scoop 1½ tablespoon-sized balls and place them 2½ inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet (I use the OXO medium cookie scoop and it makes exactly 19 cookies). Press 1-2 chocolate chunks onto the top of each cookie dough ball.
- Bake in batches, if needed, for 10 minutes. Let cool for two minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack with a thin metal spatula to cool completely. Sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired.
Rebecca -
These are perfect! I have been searching for the perfect DF gf cookie and this is it. It's still chewy and flavorful and crisp at the edges. Thank you! This is a keeper.
tmcs -
These are a fantastic cookie! Easy enough for an after school snack (the dough freezes easy). We even added crushed candy cane to the top to make them a Christmas cookie in a pinch.
Thank you!
Trish -
I've made this recipe 3 or 4 times now and each time they're incredible. I use a gluten free flour blend instead of 3 different types and it seems to work just fine! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Dee -
Can I freeze the baked cookies?
Sarah Menanix -
Yes - freeze them in an airtight bag! Just set them on the counter to defrost before serving.
Jenn -
Wondering if I could use coconut oil instead of butter?
Sarah Menanix -
Hmm - I've never tried that! I have made these with plant butter before though if you're looking to make them dairy-free!
cc -
hi! is there any reason why my cookie ended up cracking at the rims but remained fudgy (the way i would like) within?
i baked them rather large sized so could it be this reason or oven temp/ baking time?
Sarah Menanix -
Hi! My guess is that because you baked them large-sized, they needed to bake longer, which made the edges crack before the centers could bake up fudgy. If you email me a picture at [email protected] I can help you trouble shoot more!
cc -
hello there ive sent an email some time back, did you receive it?
also wanted to check, when substituting flours, do you do so using cup measurement or grams? it appears that the total flour weights of the above suggested substitutions are all not the same..
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks for your patience - I've been traveling a bit. You are correct that the total flour weights of the above substitutions are not all the same - different flours have different properties (for example, you need a LOT more almond flour than you do teff flour since almond flour adds quite a bit of moisture to the dough). All the substitution variations listed have been tested and tweaked to make the best cookie with that flour, which is why they're different measurements. I always substitute by weight (in this case, use the individual weights listed). Will respond to your email shortly!
cheryl -
hi there! i'm curious as to how accurate the weight measurements are? for me, 1 cup oat flour as googled is about 120-128g. so should i follow that or the above measurements in weight? thanks :)
Sarah Menanix -
I measure my weights based on bob's red mill oat flour and have tried to standardized my weights across my recipes, so I would trust the weight measurements listed :)
Delicious! -
These cookies were delicious!
I did about 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 of coconut sugar, and it was plenty sweet😊super yum! I didn’t have chocolate extract, so I would like to try it with that at some point.
Lyn Hamilton -
I live in Australia & some of the flours used are either not available or are too expensive. I used almond meal & tapioca flour instead.
I made these cookies for a friend who is gluton free. The mixture seemed a bit thick so added a little more butter. I got 12 cookies & the one I had was delicious. I hope she likes them as well.
Stephen -
Can one substitute sugar and brown sugar for coconut sugar?
Sarah Menanix -
Hmmm - unfortunately I've not tried it so I am not sure how they'd turn out. If you try it, please let me know!
Emily R -
Wow, these are so chocolatey and decadent! I used 70% chocolate, which definitely makes these uber chocolatey. Very yummy, especially when they are warm out of the oven and there are still puddles of chocolate on top. Thanks for the recipe!
Kim -
Can I use another flour like almond flour?
Brenda -
I used cassava flour instead of sweet rice flour because I didn't have any, and it worked perfectly. I find them too sweet but my boyfriend loves them!
Tori -
Wow! These are great. I used the recommended oat flour but did not have the other types so I subbed out for Bob's Red Mill 1:1 baking flour. Worked great! I also added only half the amount of chocolate chips and then dipped half the cookies in melted dark chocolate and added crushed candy canes on top- wow. They were great. This cookie was a great base to the topping I added because it was not too rich (partly due to the fact that I cut down on the chocolate chips). Will be a new go-to recipe of mine!
J -
Made this using buckwheat flour as a substitute to the oat flour (oat flour where I live isn't gluten free) - worked perfectly! Probably not as chewy as the oat flour version but definitely still holds together well as a cookie. Would probably be nice to experiment with adding nuts or another flavour as these are very sweet and chocolatey.
Thanks for the recipe!
S -
I made this recipe dairy free with dairy free butter and I didn't have chocolate extract on hand so I omitted it. It was a really good cookie but I might add more chocolate next time to add more chocolate flavor.
Catherine -
How well does this work with Bob’s 1 for 1 flour blend?
Sarah Menanix -
I haven't tried this recipe with that blend, but I do really like bob's 1-to-1 gf ap blend, so my guess is that it should work if you sub out by weight! If you try it, please let me know!
Katie C -
I made these yesterday using the 1 to 1 (all I had). They turned out great!! My GF nephew declared that “I have to make them for all the time”....and my husband has requested a couple batches to bring to work (and he’s not gluten free!). I’m going to add peanut butter chips on top for today’s batches!
Selena! -
Hi Katie! What measurement did you use for the Bob's Red Mill 1:1 flour blend? Was this the only flour that you used? Did you make other adjustments? Thank you for your help! :)
Merili -
A very chewy, rich, almost gooey (right out of the oven) chocolate cookie. Something you'd find more in a bakery quality-wise. Very simple to make, but really amazing. I've tried several gluten-free cookies, and this is the BEST by far! I wouldn't have even known these were gluten-free, had I not made them myself. They have the weightness of a regular flour cookie. I'm very impressed! Thank you sooo much for sharing.
Vivian -
I loved these cookies so much! Better than other regular (with gluten) versions that I’ve tried. Thanks, Sarah!
Debbie Feely -
Great! Recipe arrived on chocolate chip cookie day! I used Bob’a Red Mill vegan egg replacer.
I love your recipes! I pretty much just use yours and Alanna’s. Thanks.
Merc -
Super tasty and fluffy. Definitely finish off with some salt flakes on top.
Holly -
This recipe was so delicious! I made a couple slight changes - subbed the granulated sugar for organic cane sugar and brown sugar for coconut sugar cuz that's all I had in my pantry, and subbed the egg for a flax egg (cuz my daughter can't have eggs) and it turned out so good. Easy to follow recipe and loved the texture. Slightly crunchy edges with chewy centre.