Almond butter chocolate chip cookies are simple, wholesome, and made with only 5 ingredients! You won’t miss the butter and flour in these naturally gluten-free cookies.
One reader, Lana, commented: “Made these tonight and they were so much better than expected! So soft, fluffy, and delish. I did sub out the brown sugar for coconut sugar and the result was still amazing! โ โ โ โ โ “
One reader, Emily, commented: “Super easy to make and incredibly deliciousโwe don’t miss the gluten with these! Thank you for this recipe my whole family can enjoy! โ โ โ โ โ “
Almond butter. It’s a toasty, almond-y spread that’s a bit more grainy than peanut butter. Besides on a spoon straight out of the jar, I love it in quinoa snack bars, breakfast cookies, banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies, coconut granola bars, and in today’s flourless chocolate chip cookie recipe. We’re ditching the butter and flour for these easy gluten-free cookies!
While flourless cookies are certainly nothing new, I love these cookies so much that they deserve a place in my collection of beloved healthy dessert recipes and gluten free dessert recipes. This recipe came about when we had some friends over and I wanted to serve something a bit healthier. Did you know almonds have tremendous health benefits? No one had any idea that these cookies were flourlessโthe entire batch was gone in seconds!
Everything to Love About Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Only 5 ingredients
- Naturally gluten free
- No mixer required
- Easy, 1-bowl recipe
- No cookie dough chilling (just like shortbread cookies and snickerdoodles!)
- Only 30 minutes start to finish
- Lots of customization options
Ingredients in Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
With such few ingredients, the natural flavors truly shine. Use quality ingredients for best results!
- Egg: Binds everything together.
- Almond butter: Acts as both butter and flour in these flourless cookies. You can use homemade, natural, or commercial almond butter, however, the type you use slightly alters the texture. I find the best texture is with 1 cup of my homemade almond butter OR 1/2 cup Jif Creamy Almond Butter and 1/2 cup all-natural organic almond butter.
- Brown sugar: Sweetens the cookies. For an unrefined sugar alternative, use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. So tasty!
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies rise while baking.
- Pure vanilla extract: Optional, but is it really a cookie without vanilla?
- Chocolate chips: An essential component to chocolate chip cookies! ๐
Need another reason to love these flourless chocolate chip cookies? They’re totally customizable! The cookie base is an awesome starting point to add whatever you’re craving. A few ideas: dark chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sweetened shredded coconut, chopped almonds, dried cherries, dried cranberries, or raisins. Keep add-ins to about 1 cup total.
You can also leave the almond butter cookies plain with no add-ins! And, finally, you can use peanut butter instead of almond butter or try sunflower seed butter for a delicious nut-free option.
If you’re craving a gluten free cookie with even more texture, try these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies or flourless monster cookies next!
How to Make Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These flourless chocolate chip cookies are incredibly simple and come together very quickly (in 1 bowl!). We’re only using a few ingredients, so the preparation is super quick.
Crack the egg into a medium bowl and whisk until beaten. Mix in the almond butter, brown sugar, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir until well combined. You want your cookie dough to be mixed together very well, so depending how thick and/or cold your almond butter is, you’ll have to use some arm muscles! Fold in the chocolate chips.
No cookie dough chilling! This cookie dough doesn’t require any chill timeโthe entire batch takes 30 minutes from start to finish! Use about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie and place each onto a prepared baking sheet. Slightly press down the cookie dough mounds before going into the oven (see photo above).
The cookies will look quite soft and under-baked when they’re done, but as they cool, they will set and firm up. By the way, you could use these easy gluten-free cookies to make cookie ice cream sandwiches. I love that you don’t need to chill the cookie dough!
What Almond Butter Should I Use?
Any almond butter works in this chocolate chip cookie recipe. Here are a few tips depending on which kind (homemade, natural, commercial) you use:
- Homemade almond butter: Making almond butter at home is simple. It takes just a few minutes and you only need 1 ingredient. I highly recommend it! You could also use the maple almond butter detailed in those recipe notes. ๐ Ensure the homemade almond butter cools before using it in this cookie dough. After being freshly processed, the almond butter is slightly warm and will make your cookie dough warm. And we all know what warm cookie dough means, right? Colder cookie dough is the key to how to prevent cookies from spreading.
- Natural almond butter: Sometimes, natural almond butter (the kind you buy that has a layer of oil on top) can be pretty oily. Make sure you stir this very well. The more oil, the greasier your cookie. The more oil, the more your cookies will spread while baking. So stir, stir, stir and make sure it’s super thick! You can even refrigerate before using.
- Commercial almond butter: This kind of almond butter is typically pre-stirred and ready to use, but give it a good stir just in case before using.
I guarantee these almond butter chocolate chip cookies are full of flavor, totally chewy, and incredibly soft. Each bite melts in your mouth!
More Gluten Free Desserts
- Chocolate Coconut Almond Tart
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
- Healthy Berry Streusel Bars
- Chocolate Soufflรฉ
- Cranberry Frangipane Tart
Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Almond butter chocolate chip cookies are simple, wholesome, satisfying, and made with only 5 ingredients! You won’t miss the butter and flour in these naturally gluten-free cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (250g) almond butter or peanut butter, at room temperature or cold (not warm)*
- 1/2 cup (90g) light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- optional and tasty: 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (190g) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, peanuts, peanut butter chips, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whiskย the egg until beaten. Mix inย the almond butter, then the brown sugar, baking soda, and vanilla (if using). Mix everything together very well. Depending how thick and/or cold your almond butter is, you’ll have to use some arm muscles.ย Fold in the chocolateย chipsย until combined.
- Scoop the dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheet. Gently press down on the dough mounds with the back of a spoon. If you find the cookie dough balls are a little oily from your almond butterโmine usually areโblot each with a paper towel. If desired, press a couple chocolate chips onto the tops of each cookie dough mound.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will look very softโthat’s ok! For crispier cookies, bake for up to 12 minutes. Sometimes I press a couple more chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie immediately after coming out of the oven. This is optional and only for looks.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Almond Butter: You can use homemade, natural, or commercial almond butter, however the type you use will alter their texture slightly. I found the best texture was with 1 cup of my homemade almond butter (the regular or maple version detailed in that post) or 1/2 cup Jif Creamy Almond Butter and 1/2 cup all-natural organic almond butter. Be sure to stir in any excess oil on top of the natural brands, and get it completely mixed in. An equal amount of peanut butter may be used instead of almond butter.
- Sugar: I’ve successfully made these cookies with coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. So tasty! I like Trader Joes brand organic coconut sugar.
- More no chill cookie recipes to try!
Reader Comments and Reviews
These cookies are delicious!! Theyโll turned out perfectly.
Made these for my coworkers. One said it was excellent! The other one loved it although she’s not a cookie person.
Can you make this into a cookie bar? What size sheet should I use and how long should I bake it?
Hi Lynn, That should work! We haven’t tested it so we are unsure of the best bake time, but we recommend using an 8-inch or a 9-inch square baking pan.
Thought I’d try these out for book club because we have one GF member, and I wanted to see if they were even close to “real” chocolate chip cookies. The certainly are! Amazing texture and flavor, super easy to make. No one would be disappointed to find these on a cookie table in lieu of ones with flour. Everyone came up to tell me how great they were and to ask what made them GF. As always, I tell them they just have to find this website for any and all baking needs.
Would it be possible to use maple syrup instead of sugar?
Hi Omer, maple syrup would add too much moisture to these cookies. Coconut sugar works well here if you have it!
I use powdered maple sugar and it worked out awesome because I have a coconut allergy and canโt use coconut sugar. Just a suggestion.
Oh.my.goodness, yum! I was skeptical about this recipe but man, now I see the light!
I used raw honey in place of sugar and added a big pinch of salt, since my almond butter is unsalted. Then I cracked a bit of pink Himalayan salt on top of each dough ball.
Result: perfection!
They werenโt as puffy as the picture but I followed the bake and cool times a T and it worked great!
I put the cooled cookies in the freezer, since they were super soft and love them frozen!
When I baked these cookies last week I made a mistake that turned out really well. I put one pan of cookie balls in the oven and started shaping the remaining dough. About 3 minutes later I realized I had left out the sugar and baking soda. Drat!
I pulled pan #1 out of the oven, transferred those (fairly hot) cookies plus the ones I had already shaped on pan #2 into the bowl with the remaining dough, added the sugar and baking soda, and mixed it up very thoroughly. I refrigerated the dough for 10 minutes (back to room temp), then I started over shaping, baking, and cooling 2 pans of cookies.
At the end I had delicious dark brown chocolate cookies. The heat of the cookies on pan #1 had melted the chocolate chips, and they permeated the dough. I liked the results so much that I will try to replicate my mistake intentionally next time.
The cookies were also much easier to shape the second time. The first time, the chocolate chips didn’t want to be fully incorporated into the balls of dough, but after they had melted the dough was easily scooped into balls.
You once had a reduced sugar chocolate chip cookie that was delicious, but looks like it had been replaced with this recipe. Where can i find that recipe as im in need of reduced sugar options these days. Thank you
Hi Rebecca! That recipe was called Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Less Sugar – We were no longer satisfied with the outcome of that older recipe, so we unpublished it. We still have it, so send us an email and we can forward it to you. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
Dear sally,
A five star winner!!! I used coconut sugar and itโs so fluffy, yummy surely I will bring this to my Zumba class! Thank you.
Aida
I love the idea of making my own almond butter, but I worry that the process you describe so clearly might burn out the motor on my processor. Is that an issue I should worry about?
Hi John! A dependable, high-quality food processor (with a 750+ watt motor is best) is key. We haven’t had issues with burning out, but if you feel that your food processor is started to get overworked, you can take a pause to give it a break, then continue. Let us know how it goes!
How does this woman do it? How does she make every recipe better every single time?
Would it work with WOW Butter consistency? We have peanut and tree nut allergies to consider
Hi Alyssa, we’re unsure as we haven’t tested it ourselves – let us know if you try!
The taste was fantastic but like others, mine all ran together and I had one big, giant flat pancake of a cookie. (I just cut them apart when partly cool but they are very oddly shaped!) I used a jar of craft almond, cashew and pecan butter I had bought at a craft fair, and I used maple sugar. Baked for about 11 minutes on a silicone mat. I’d make them again but next time perhaps smaller and much wider apart to allow for the spread. They really are delicious though!
Was looking for a simple GF recipe to bring to a get-together with a friend who is GF. Was so pleasantly surprised with these! Followed the recipe to a T and they are delicious.
Yes they are delicate, but I handled them carefully and let them cool, and they seem to be holding up nicely.
I made these last night for the first time. My husband, who is a tollhouse chocolate chip lover, said the flavor of these were just as good (I was shocked….haha!). The fact they did not hold together well, was his only complaint. Do you think adding an extra egg would help them not fall apart as easily? Thanks!
Hi Lauri, we’re so glad they were a hit! Were they overbaked by chance? That could contribute to the crumbly texture, although they won’t be as soft as a traditional chocolate chip cookie. You could certainly experiment by adding an additional egg. Let us know if you do!
I used Barneyโs chocolate coconut and almond butter and then used the Lakato brown sugar monk fruit substitute. They are a little -fall aparty- but taste delicious! Iโll make them again and try coconut sugar next time. Thanks Sally!
Sounds really delicious. All of them.
In case anyone is looking for a gluten- and nut-free version,
I accidentally used natural Sunbutter and they turned out fine! You do have to watch them though – I almost burnt a tray.
These are absolutely delicious!
I make these cookies all the time. I weigh the ingredients and they come out perfect every time. They make 12 perfect cookies. The only change I make is I use less chocolate chips as I find it’s very hard to use that mini chocolate chips and get them into the cookies. In reading the reviews I might try adding pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds as well next time.
Do you know how many calories per cookie?
Hi Maria, We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
They are so good!! Used coconut sugar and itโs absolutely perfect!
I made the flourless almond butter cookies and for some reason the entire batch burned after just a few minutes in the oven. I lowered the oven to 325 and I attempted again and the same thing happened. Any idea why?
Hi Devi, if cookies are burning after just a few minutes of baking, your oven may be running quite a bit more hot than it says it is! We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer for most accurate baking results.
I entered the recipe into a calculator and while I am not sure how accurate it is here’s what I got:
253 Calories 5g Protein 17g Total Fat 19 g Carbs
As to the recipe itself I measured everything by weight. The “dough” is delicious, the cookies a touch crumbly/delicate. I wanted something that tasted like a Perfect Bar without the price tag! Fit the bill pretty well. Obviously a little sweeter and more of a treat. But I felt that was a good thing. The cookies are very filling and feel a little richer than a normal cookie.
I loved this recipe! However, the bottom came out slightly charred, any suggestions for the next batch to prevent this from happening again?
Hi Camille, Are you lining your pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat? Next time you can try baking them on a higher rack so they aren’t as close to the bottom of your oven.
Sorry but this was a FLOP; they spread out flatter than a pancake and I even added a 1/4c almond flour.
Hi Richard, there are quite a few different factors that can cause cookies to spread too much while baking. This post with 10 tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading will be a helpful resource to review. Thanks for giving these cookies a try!
These are DELICIOUS! Even my youngest who told me as I was making them that he would not eat them (because he doesn’t like almond butter) tried them and couldn’t stop eating them. A pain to stir and mix, but totally worth it!
The first time I made these they came out great. Now they keep coming out flat like pancakes!
Hi Di, there are quite a few different factors that can cause cookies to spread too much while baking. This post with 10 tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading will be a helpful resource to review. Thanks for giving these cookies a try!
Was looking for the nutritional information please
Hi Cathy, We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
My family doctor highly recommended this recipe to me. I am going through menopause and am now craving sweets in the afternoon; she said these are perfect to give me something sweet without feeling too guilty. I made a few changes to my second batch that bumped up the protein, but they still tasted amazing. I decreased the sugar and chocolate chips and added hemp hearts and loads of pumpkin seeds. They are a massive hit in my family!!!