Amazing Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cookies that are also oil-free and so easy to make! They are fudgy, rich, super decadent and have bonus flavors of espresso and sea salt for the most delicious vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies!
Does the sound of Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cookies with espresso and flaked sea salt get your mouth watering? I thought so. These vegan chocolate cookies are so delicious, fudgy, rich in chocolate flavor and next level with the espresso and sea salt sprinkled on top. The fact they are oil-free, have no wheat, no dairy and no oil or butter is shocking because they are so good and so fudgy.
I love chocolate and espresso together. I’ve shared this many, many times over the years that it’s my favorite combo. One of my all-time favorite cookies are my Double Chocolate Espresso Almond Cookies. And the No-Bake Chocolate Espresso Cake in my cookbook is in my top 5 desserts ever and has been a universal hit with readers.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- Superfine blanched almond flour: This is an essential ingredient to make these cookies so rich and moist, especially since we are not using oil. Almond flour contains a high amount of fat to make them moist, so it cannot be eliminated. If you need nut-free, try subbing with raw sunflower seeds ground into a flour.
- Superfine oat flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill.
- Ground flaxseed: This replaces eggs and adds another layer of moisture and gooiness, perfect for cookies.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Roasted almond butter: Use a really smooth one. You can use either my homemade, or the brands I suggest are the Trader Joe’s, Target’s Good & Gather and the Whole Foods 365 brands. All are very smooth and runny and have no added oil or salt.
- Maple syrup: You can also use agave.
- Unsweetened applesauce: Applesauce also replaces oil and adds an extra layer of moisture.
- Vanilla extract
- Dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips: I used a combo of dark and semi-sweet so they were extra rich and dark.
- Optional for topping: Ground espresso and flaked sea salt for optimum flavor and decadence.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients and add to the dry.
Step 3: Mix together all the ingredients until a very thick, sticky batter forms.
Step 4: Roll into balls about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth. Place on parchment paper lined pan 2 inches apart. You should get about 16 balls.
Step 5: Flatten each cookie 1/4 inch thick and smooth out the edges, piecing them together and patting the tops flat. If using, sprinkle espresso on top of the cookies.
Step 6: Bake 1 pan at a time at 350°F (177°C) for 10 minutes until puffed up and spread beautifully.
Step 7: If using the flaked sea salt, immediately upon removing the cookies, sprinkle the salt on top while the cookies are warm.
Step 8: Cool 5 minutes and transfer to cool completely on a wire rack. Hope you enjoy these decadent and fudgy vegan double chocolate chip cookies!
TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
If you are allergic to nuts, I would suggest grinding raw sunflower seeds into a flour as fine as you can get it. But keep in mind sunflower flour will never be as fine as almond flour, so you may end up with a stickier batter that’s hard to roll into balls and may need to chill the batter first before baking.
I used a combo of dark chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. This gave a wonderful, rich and decadent chocolate flavor and kept them from being too sweet with all semi-sweet chips. If you prefer a sweeter cookie, then use all semi-sweet. My daughter prefers the sweeter kind here.
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Vegan Thin Mints
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Best Vegan Snickerdoodles
- 5 Ingredient Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Almond Butter Blossoms
- Grain-free Chocolate Coconut Cookies (reader fave!)
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cookies (So Fudgy!)
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons (35g) superfine blanched almond flour (SEE NOTES below)
- 1/2 cup (64g) superfine oat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 3 tablespoons (18g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons (16g) ground flaxseed
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 tablespoons (100g) pure maple syrup or agave
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup (128g) roasted smooth almond butter (SEE NOTE below)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (115g) semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips (I used a combo of semi-sweet and bitter-sweet)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground espresso powder and extra for sprinkling on top (optional) I love the Illy brand and the Medaglia D'oro
- flaked sea salt for the topping (optional)
NOTE
- I always recommend a scale for baking for accuracy. It makes all the difference. Make sure to add the bowl, hit zero and then start measuring, making sure to hit zero in between each addition. You do NOT need to even use cups, just the scale, bowl and my gram weights listed.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour, oat flour, cocoa powder, flaxseed, baking soda and salt and espresso (if using) and whisk very well, breaking up any lumps.
- To a separate bowl, combine the syrup, applesauce, almond butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the liquids over the dry but don't stir yet.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir for a few minutes until it all comes together into a sticky thick batter. It will seem too wet at first, but be patient and stir for at least 2-3 minutes. You will think it's too sticky, but if measured correctly, you should be able to roll into balls.
- Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter and roll into a ball. It should easily form, even though the batter looks sticky. If it's way too sticky to roll into balls, chill the batter for 15 minutes in the fridge, but all 3 trials of my cookie batter I could roll right away, but chill if needed briefly.
- Roll the batter into 16 balls, that is how many I got on each batch. Put them 2 inches a part. You'll need to bake one pan at a time.
- Press each cookie down to a 1/4 inch thick. Please refer to the photo in the post for how they should look before baking. When you press them down, do a circular patting motion with your fingers to make them smooth and flat and piece and round together the edges. If too sticky, dip your finger tips in water and that will help. You want them smooth and uniform so they bake up pretty and evenly.
- If using the espresso, sprinkle it on top of the cookies now.
- Bake for just 10 minutes. They should have spread and puffed up beautifully. I found each batch to be perfect at 10 minutes in my oven. You don't want to overbake these or they dry out.
- If using the flaked sea salt, immediately upon removing the cookies, sprinkle the salt on top while the cookies are warm.
- Cool on the pan 5 minutes and then transfer to cool on a rack completely. Seal cooled leftovers in a tight container at room temperature. These are best fresh the day made, but are still ok the next day.
Notes
- ALMOND FLOUR: This is an essential ingredient to make these cookies so rich and moist, especially since we are not using oil. Almond flour contains a high amount of fat to make them moist, so it cannot be eliminated. If you are allergic, I would suggest grinding raw sunflower seeds into a flour as fine as you can get it. But keep in mind sunflower flour will never be as fine as almond flour, so you may end up with a stickier batter that's hard to roll into balls and may need to chill the batter first before baking.
- SUPERFINE OAT FLOUR: I used Bob's Red Mill. You want it fine so that the texture and batter comes together.
Nutrition
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There’s no way a serving is just one cookie 😉 Can’t wait to make these!
haha, definitely not! That’s just showing the nutrition per cookie!
Oh Brandi, you have no idea how much I needed these!! I still can’t believe you powered through your back pain to create this recipe. If any reader ever doubted your love and passion for what you do; creating, testing, typing and photographing while battling horrific pain is beyond proof. I hope each day brings you continued relief! 🙏🏻💜
As for these delectable cookies, I made half a batch with just the sea salt and the other half with caramel coffee and sea salt sprinkled on the top. While both are currently being quickly scarfed by every member of the family, the coffee seems to lift a scrumptious cookie to an even higher level! (clearly you know that hence the word espresso in the title 😆) I can’t believe how EASY they were to make, how nicely they rose, and how wonderfully fudgy they are on the inside while being delicately crunchy on the outside. So So Good!! Thank you for this winner of a recipe!
You are the best Colleen!! I’m so so thrilled you loved these so much and they looked just perfect on Instagram! And you know me too well, haha, being injured was not just physically painful, but mentally because there was so much I wanted to do and most of it I could not. Thankfully this recipe was already ready to go and just needed a bit of work to get it live on the blog. Thank you so much for making them right away!!
Hi Brandi, can I leave the flax seed out or substitute it with something else? Thanks in advance.
It helps to bind them and give extra moisture (because of the natural fat in flaxseeds), but you could use tapioca starch instead or maybe try ground chia seed? Just note that the starch will make them just slightly drier, but with all the chocolate chips, you should be fine. Let me know after you try them!
If I don’t have flaxseed, can I replace the 2 tbsp flaxseed for 1 egg?
No, you don’t want to use an egg because that’s adding a lot of liquid and I’m only using the flaxseed, not the flaxseed + water combo. You could try cornstarch or tapioca starch instead, same weight amount.
Another hit recipe! I loved the double chocolate cookies from your cookbook and made these today because they sounded just as good. I love the texture of these so much, they’re fluffy and moist, yet somehow have that beautiful crispy outside! You’re a baking magician when it comes to vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free treats. Thank you for yet another great recipe!
Aww thank you so much Aly!! That is the best comment, so glad you loved them so much! I love how the outsides get a nice crispy exterior too, so addicting!
When do you add the chocolate chips?
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Thank you! They are absolutely delicious.
So wonderful to hear that!!
Another keeper, Brandi! I made half the recipe without espresso or salt, using a cookie scoop which holds 1-1/2 Tblsp. of batter, each weighing 22g. Half the recipe yielded 10.5 cookies. I used ChocZero dairy-free chocolate chips which are sweetened with monk fruit, and no one could tell the difference. Thanks for your hard work on our behalf! Fyi, 10 minutes of yoga, and “the bridge” exercise help relieve my lower back pain. Hope you are feeling better!
So wonderful to hear you loved these Mimi! Thanks for the back tips!
Yum!! These are super delicious! Out of curiosity, what brand of dairy free chocolate chips do you recommend? Thank you so much!!
Yay! I used the HEB brand dark chocolate and semi-sweet! It’s Texas. But enjoy life sells them too!
These are the best cookies I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of cookies! The espresso and sea salt take these to a whole new level. Even the batter is delicious! I know I will be making a lot of these! Thanks for another great recipe!
This makes me so happy to hear Donna, thank you so much for the amazing review!!
I liked them but the flaxseed taste was a little bit strong, I used the scale (always do) maybe I group get the seeds too fine!! I could smell of the flaxseed the whole time I was mixing the batter. Can I use grounded Chia seeds instead? Maybe it’s just me, I’ll know tomorrow when my husband eats one, he’s my biggest credit. Always doubt everything I make, always ask if I really followed exactly the recipe!! 😕 I enjoy all your recipes gluten-free or not because I don’t have that problem. I always bring some of your desserts if I’m going to family or friends they welcome me with open arms hamming at my container lol. Always remember them it’s from your website. Thanks again for all your wonderful yummiest treats. Love you 💞🌱🍰
You’re so sweet, thank you so much Diane for your kind words! I’m surprised that you can taste the flax though! Since there’s only 2 tablespoons in the whole recipe, that only amounts to about a 1/4 teaspoon per cookie, which is a really small amount. But I know we all have different tastebuds! I use golden flaxseed, so that may be it too. But you can totally sub with tapioca starch instead (same weight). I wouldn’t do chia seed, because I actually find chia seed to be much stronger and bitter tasting. Thank you for making them!
Hi Brandi,
If I wanted to add espresso powder or coffee right into the batter, how much would you use? My mom makes an espresso ball cookie (family tradition) and we’ve searched for 2 years on how to make a gluten free version. I think this may be it! But how would you adjust cooking time if we baked as balls? Or would you not recommend that at all? If I can’t bake them as balls it’s ok I just really miss her cookies! She’s the one who loved your oatmeal raisin cookie and asked me to make a new batch today LOL so we have high hopes for you!
Hi Josie, make sure to use espresso powder and not actual brewed coffee, since that would be adding unnecessary liquid to the batter. Honestly I have not tried these as baking as in the ball form, but you could totally try it if you want. Just follow the recipe as written and roll into the balls and bake as is. Although, keep in mind, they will be dense that way and obviously not spread like that. They will fluff up a bit while baking, but will not of course look like traditional cookies. I can’t guarantee what the result will be without doing them like that myself. I’m assuming though to avoid the insides being totally raw, that they might need an additional couple of minutes of baking time.
delicious! Can I add walnuts?
Definitely!
They were a little grainy like I could taste the dry flour is that because I didn’t mix enough or ratios off a bit? I ordered the scale to be more exact but I enjoyed these all week.
Hi Chad, yeah, it’s really easy to mismeasure without a scale. These are very moist and fudgy, they shouldn’t be grainy at all, so it sounds like too much flour was packed into a cup or the almond butter was not runny/oily enough. There isn’t any ingredient that should make these grainy unless you used a gritty almond flour or a homemade oat flour that wasn’t ground enough. You’ll notice a big difference when weighing ingredients and make sure the ingredients are super fine, but glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Absolute perfection! Everyone loves them…everyone! Thank you Brandi for another easy, delicious treat!
That thrills me to hear, thank you Michelle!
Delicious, like all of her recipes. Whenever I make something, my husband will always say “tastes healthy.” Not with these haha. He gobbled them up
These cookies are PHENOMENAL. My girls begged for more and more. They remind me of some of my favorite cookies from before our food transition. It makes me so happy to have found these.
Woohoo! I love hearing that so much Megan, thank you!
One of the best GF DF vegan chocolate chocolate chip cookies! Super-tasty and easy to make!
So glad you loved these!
These sound spectacular! I want to make them for a group of about 60, and wonder if I can make the dough the day before and refrigerate? Or maybe roll the balls and put them on the cookie sheets, cover, and refrigerate?
Also, when you say “espresso” – is this a special kind of coffee, or just a very fine grind?
Thank you so much, I want to wow a “standard American diet”-eating crowd with a gluten-free vegan meal they won’t believe, and these cookies are the topper! Can’t wait to try them. (Going to serve with lemon ice!)
Hi Alison! I have not tried making the dough the day before but I think it could be okay if you want to try that. Only thing though is, it contains baking soda, which recipes that rely on baking soda need to be used baked fairly quickly, as it starts to react when mixed with the wet ingredients. But this is usually more important with cakes (that contain a lot more liquid). But you could try chilling the dough if you want. I would simply make the batter, cover it well with plastic wrap or something so it doesn’t dry out. Then let it come to room temperature before rolling into balls. And the espresso is ground espresso, which means powder, not the liquid. It is sprinkled on top, which you can see in the photos and directions. I linked to a brand I like in the ingredient list! But you can usually find a ground espresso at most grocery stores.
I know substitution questions are probably so annoying LOL, but any scientific reason I can’t use peanut butter instead? It’s all natural and very creamy. I simply dislike almond butter and it’s so expensive to buy for just 1/2 cup in a recipe. And ty so much for all of your recipes I can’t tell you how your desserts have improved my reputation in my family 😂😂 I can actually show up to dinners and events with edible vegan desserts now
You can try peanut butter, but something to keep in mind is that it is much thicker/less oily and runny than almond butter, so the cookies will be more thick and not spread the same. And of course, they will taste more like peanut butter, but if you are ok with all of that, it should work fine! Thank you for the kind words!
can all almond flour be used or do you have to use the oat flour?
You need the almond flour for moisture. Since there’s no oil. They’d be really dry with all oat flour.
Will these keep in the fridge/on the counter for a few days? I’d like to make them for a party on Saturday night but trying to budget my time wisely 🙂
Hi! I wouldn’t suggest it because they will dry out by then. They only take about 20 mins to prepare and cookies are best fresh or made the day before.
Where’s the note on the Almond butter (it says see note, but there’s no note). Thanks!
I’m not sure what happened to it but just make sure you are using a runny smooth roasted almond butter! I love the target brand and trader joes brand.
hi brandi
any good subsitute for the apple sauce ?
Hi Salma! Hmmm, maybe try pumpkin puree or banana? This will change the flavor if you use banana, but the applesauce is quite wet and provides moisture, so this is necessary to get the moist cookies.