The Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Made with brown rice flour and almond butter, these are so soft, chewy and with a moist fudgy interior! You only need 8 ingredients and 20 minutes to make these! You would never guess they are oil-free!
BEST VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I am not kidding when I say these are the best vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! I have a lot of cookie recipes on this blog, a lot. And lots with chocolate chips, like these Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies made with almond flour are a huge reader favorite.
For these though, I wanted to share a classic and perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that really tastes like a traditional cookie made with butter, oil, white flour and white sugar, but so much healthier. These are amazing and so authentic!
Bonus is that these are gluten-free and oil-free and only 8 ingredients. You can learn all my tips on How to Bake Without Oil! You won’t miss the butter or white sugar, I can guarantee that. These are made with unrefined sweetener maple syrup. They are moist, fudgy and have an irresistible crispy edge. They are also ready in about 20 minutes!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Only 8 main ingredients needed. Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- brown rice flour: This keeps these vegan chocolate chip cookies gluten-free.
- roasted almond butter: This replaces the oil and makes these cookies so fudgy and moist. You can use store-bought or homemade. If using store-bought, make sure it is a smooth runny kind, not a stiff or thick one. I recommend the Trader Joe’s almond butter and the Target Good and Gather almond butter brands.
- maple syrup
- molasses: This adds a wonderful depth of flavor and texture to the cookies.
- coconut sugar
- baking powder
- vanilla
- chocolate chips
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Step 2: Add the brown rice flour, baking powder, salt and coconut sugar to a large bowl and whisk very well to ensure there are no lumps. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 3: In a separate medium bowl, combine the almond butter, syrup, vanilla, molasses and water. Stir until completely smooth.
Step 4: Pour over the dry ingredients and stir for a couple of minutes until all the dough comes together and no more flour is visible. It should be very sticky and thick, yet SOFT, not stiff.
Step 5: Drop 2 tablespoons worth of batter (or use a cookie scoop) onto the pan about 2 inches apart to allow room for them to spread.
Step 6: Take a small piece of parchment paper and press each cookie down to between 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Place extra chocolate chips on top.
Step 7: Bake 1 pan at a time for 10-11 minutes until the edges are turning golden brown.
HOW TO STORE THESE COOKIES
These vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are so buttery and moist and will stay moist and delicious for 3 days, as long as they are sealed in an airtight container. They will soften more as they are stored, but are still amazing.
ARE CHOCOLATE CHIPS VEGAN?
These days, many chocolate chip brands sell dairy-free options. Many, however, contain milk, so make sure to read the label first. I love the Whole Foods 365 brand but there are brands at Trader Joes, Sprouts and many grocery stores that simply use cocoa, cocoa butter, vanilla and sugar, just read the label!
SUBSTITUTIONS
- Can sub the maple syrup with agave if desired.
- Can sub sunbutter for nut-free, just make sure it is really smooth and keep in mind that it will yield a sunbutter taste.
MORE VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPES
- Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 5 Ingredient Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Grain-free Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies
- Vegan Gluten-free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
THE BEST Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (120g) brown rice flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons (30g) coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup (180g) semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips (plus extra to put on top if desired)
- 3/4 cup (192g) super creamy roasted almond butter**
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup*
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (20g) regular unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap, I used Grandma's molasses)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) water
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C)and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Add the brown rice flour, baking powder, salt and coconut sugar to a large bowl and whisk very well to ensure there are no lumps. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the almond butter, syrup, vanilla, molasses and water. Stir until completely smooth.
- Pour over the dry ingredients and stir for a couple of minutes until all the dough comes together and no more flour is visible. It should be very sticky and thick. (see photo)
- Drop 2 tablespoons worth of batter (or use a cookie scoop) onto the pan about 2 inches apart to allow room for them to spread. Place only 9 on a sheet so they don't get overcrowded. Now, depending on the thickness of your almond butter used (as some are really drippy) it will affect how stiff/soft your cookie scoops are. If your cookie scoops slowly spread out once dropped onto the pan, then you don't need to flatten them. If they hold their shape (as in the photo), take a small piece of parchment paper and press each cookie down to between 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Smooth and piece together the edges to a round shape. Place extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie, if desired.
- Bake 1 pan at a time for 10-11 minutes until the edges are turning golden brown. Mine were perfect at 11 minutes.
- Cool 10 minutes on the pan and then cool another 10 on a cooling rack. They will crisp and firm up as they cool. You must wait for them to cool at least 10 minutes or they can crumble because of the rice flour, but will be fine after cooled. Keep sealed so they don't dry out.
Notes
- Can sub the maple syrup with agave if desired.
- Can sub sunbutter for nut-free, just make sure it is really smooth and keep in mind that it will yield a sunbutter taste)
Nutrition
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I didn’t know freezing dries them out! I freeze all my cookie doughs and bake when I can during the holidays. For this one, I’ll just make the dough a couple of days before and refrigerate. I might up the liquid a little to compensate, but I’m won’t freeze them. The flavor is so good, that it’s already in my list for next year, but I’ll do a test run before that. Thank you
I love the flavor of these cookies and will try to make them again. But – we were literally crunching on the rice flour after they were baked. I always make my doughs ahead of time, so they were frozen, then refrigerated, which should have given the rice flour plenty of time to absorb the liquid I would think. Which rice flour did you use? Or maybe you have a tip for this issue.
Hi Coco, that is because you froze them. Freezing them is going to dry them out, even if you let them thaw after. I don’t recommend freezing my cookie recipes unless specifically noted. Since my recipes are oil-free, they don’t freeze as well as ones filled with butter/oil. These are extremely MOIST and buttery when made immediately as directed. This is why they have a perfect 5 star rating with all the great reviews below 🙂
Try them that way next time and you’ll notice the difference!
I didn’t know freezing dries them out! I freeze all my cookie doughs and bake when I can during the holidays. For this one, I’ll just make the dough a couple of days before and refrigerate. I might up the liquid a little to compensate, but I’m won’t freeze them. The flavor is so good, that it’s already in my list for next year, but I’ll do a test run before that. Thank you
This is the best cookie recipe I have ever tried 😋
Oh that thrills me to hear!!
Deeelicious! I followed the instructions exactly, measured the ingredients where necessary, and they were truly scrumptious! Even my non-gluten-free friends were impressed. Another great Vegan 8 recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It is so delicious!!!! I RATE THIS RECIPE A FULL 5!! I used slightly less chocolate chips and I did use the Enjoy Life brand. I made mine smaller so my quantity was 2 dozen. I also put both sheets in at the same time. I had no problem, I also think that is a waste of energy. I will definitely make these again and try the other varieties of chocolate chip cookie recipes. These cookies are so nice and moist and so tasty! Thanks again!!
Kathy, I’m thrilled you love these so much!!
These are SO good! I’m off dairy, wheat and processed sugar and these fulfill my cravings!
My husband, who is not vegan and a chocolate chip cookie snob loves these! ❤️ We make them and keep them hidden from our kids bc they are so delicious and don’t want to share them 😂😂😂. My husband if I would let him, would eat these all in on sitting. 10/10!!!!
hahaha that is HILARIOUS!! So glad they are a hit!
When I say my family ate these faster than I could bake them I’m not kidding! I made some modifications for the ingredients I had on hand:
+chunky almond butter (the extra crunch is so yummy)
+subbed brown rice flour for oat flour
+dairy-free mini chocolate chips
I’ve had requests for another batch (or two) so safe to say this is going to be a staple recipe in my kitchen
Thank you so much Brandi
haha awesome, so glad they were a hit!!
These cookies are amazing!! They are chewy and are perfect in their sweet/salty balance. My son dipped them in almond milk and said they were 10 out of 10!
I made this cookies and they are amazing .i made also different kinde.of it and they are all exelent.I follow up.yoir recepi and is really good explain so you can’t make a mistake 🙂
Thank you, these are delicious! We halved the sugar and maple syrup, so had to add a tiny bit more water to incorporate it all. Turned out really delicious 🙂
The absolute best. I use hazelnut butter and less sugar. I don’t weigh the ingredients and they always turn out amazing.
So happy to hear that! Hazelnut sounds delicious!
We live in Cyprus and I recently started following you being vegans, but we have already made several of your dishes and we love them all – so easy to follow and without oil even better. Yesterday I made the cookies and my husband loved them so much that I had to hide a few that I just had for breakfast 😂
Such a great recipe! It definitely filled my craving for regular chocolate chip cookies. I will definitely make again, thank you! 🙂
So happy to hear that Isabel!
Hi Brandi,
I love your site! I want to try these but was thinking about using almond flour. Will that work?
I make your PB cookies all the time and LOVE them!!!
Hi, for these, no! Use my “almond butter chocolate chip cookies”, they contain almond flour, or my “crispy vegan chocolate chip cookies”.
Great recipe. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Kids ate a few even before it got cool. I used less almond butter than called for (not enough in my jar haha). Also didn’t have molasses, so I used coconut nectar instead
These are soooooo yummy, so rich and chewy, I love the almond butter as a replacement to butter. I’m hooked! Thank you so much for creating such deliciousness from wholesome ingredients. I applaud your brilliance!!
Sounds delicious!! Just looking for a last minute cookie and these sound yummy.
These are so delicious! I made them this morning and added finely chopped crystallized ginger along with tbe chocolate chips. Divine!!!
-Amy
Oh I love candied ginger so much in cookies! Sounds delicious!!
Here I go, making these again….with diced crystallized ginger of course!!! Double batch this time! – in the oven right now. Can’t wait!!! Thanks for all that you share with the world, Brandi!!!!
-Amy
Aww that’s amazing Amy! Ginger is so yummy!
I made these from the cookbook with cashew butter and used regular flour (both substitutes Brandi suggested). I literally cannot believe I’ve had the cookbook a year and JUST now made these! They are literally SO good! All the non vegans LOVED them! Every recipe Brandi creates is delicious. Make these NOW!!! Best chocolate chip cookie ever, vegan or not!
Yay DeShay!! So happy you loved those from my book and they are the best you’ve had! They are truly my all-time fave chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever tasted in my life, so I’m so happy you agree, haha! Thank you!
Can we sub the molasses with honey?
You are welcome to try it, but keep in mind that molasses is much more bitter and acidic, so it helps the cookies to spread by reacting with the baking powder. I don’t use honey, it is much sweeter, but hopefully will work fine here since it is a small amount.
love that these cookies use brown rice flour as that’s all I’ve got on hand right now! Turned out really well. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Will definitely make again, thanks!
wow wow just wow. you are amazing.
I don’t care for almond butter. Can I substitute peanut butter?
Hi! I would make these instead then since they are created using peanut butter. Since peanut butter is quite thicker and not nearly as smooth/runny as almond butter, I don’t think an even swap would work as well here, so make these instead 🙂 https://thevegan8.com/vegan-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/