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.
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 recipe archive. 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 flourless– the 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! 😉
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.
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 time- the 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- a little flat on top).
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. 🙂 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!
Print
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 350°F (177°C) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until beaten. Mix in 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. Fold in the chocolate chips 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 butter– mine usually are– blot 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 soft– that’s ok! For crispier cookies, bake up to 11-12 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!
Keywords: almond butter chocolate chip cookies, flourless chocolate chip cookies
Hi Sally,
Thanks for this wholesome recipe! I just made them and they’re terrific. I have two teenage boys coming home after school – usually with an entourage — who arrive ravenous. Unfortunately, carrots and celery don’t do the trick;) Thanks for a healthful snack.
We recently went dye free in our house and I’ve been looking for home made desserts that are somewhat healthy. I made a batch of these tonight, following the recipe exactly. There were delicious. If there was a rating system I would give this recipe all five stars. Thank you for sharing!
Just made these with dairy free chocolate chips and added slivered almonds and sea salt – soo good!!
These were great! Found the recipe this morning on your site and grabbed some almond butter at the store. Made them in a flash and downed one with a glass of cold milk. Yummy! I added some chopped honey roasted pnuts and a dash of vanilla (because I read someone else did that). Very tasty! Will share with my small group tonight.
Thanks!
These are AMAZING! Just made them exactly as you had written except I substituted Trader Joe’s organic coconut sugar for the brown sugar and you would never know the difference! DELICIOUS!! For the almond butter I used a jar I found at Home Goods (in their healthy snacks section) called Zinke Orchards Natural Almond Butter, Crunchy Style. I just stirred all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon and used two spoons to scoop them on to the silicone mat on the baking sheet. Made a dozen really big cookies. 🙂 Oh, and the house smells divine!! Thank you so much!!
Hi Sally,
Could I substitute the chocolate chips for something else, like dried fruits? I’m making these for my toddler and I’m trying to keep the sugar content as low as possible!
Definitely! Raisins, dried cranberries, peanuts, almonds, dried apple pieces, etc.
These are so delicious! I made them tonight and they turned out great! I would like to make a vegan version – I know the Earth Balance ‘butter’ would work – but do you have any suggestions to sub in for the egg? Thanks for a great recipe!
There actually is not butter in this recipe and almond butter is vegan, so you won’t need to use Earth Balance. I’ve had readers report back that a flax egg works wonderfully instead of the egg.
Oh my goodness, I just made these and it is really hard not to eat them ALL before my daughter comes home from school! SO GOOD! And super easy, not to mention kinda healthy, which is a great bonus 🙂
I made mine using Justin’s Maple almond butter and they came out GREAT. Thanks for a wonderful recipe, that happens to be Gluten Free, which is key for my family.
-Dana
Wow Sally! These cookies are phenomenal. So sweet and delicious. My husband is a cookie addict and as soon as I said they were “healthy,” they vanished. I can’t wait to try your dark chocolate version and your cheesy garlic bread sticks with my left over pizza dough. Yummmm
Just made these today after making homemade almond butter with your recipe. We have an egg allergy in the family so I made them with chia seeds (in water) as a substitute and they still turned out AMAZING. We all had zero room for dinner after snacking on these all afternoon! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Can you share the chia substitution for the egg? Thanks!
Would I be able to add oats to these to make a gluten free oatmeal cookie by just adding gluten free oats to the recipe? If so quick or whole oats? I am apparently obsessed with oats, having already asked about adding them to the streusel of your Banana Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake… Who knew?
Thanks!
Definitely! Maybe about 1/2 cup of oats. There is so much moisture in this cookie dough that I don’t think 1/2 cup of oats would make a huge difference taste wise – won’t dry them out. Whole oats or quick oats – doesn’t matter which.
I have made these with peanut butter probably 5 times in the last 3 weeks. My husband even requested them when he was having a bad day. He said to me that when we decided to eliminate wheat from our diets, he thought he would never eat a soft and delicious cookie again, but this cookie changed that!
Thank you!
Just made these tonight. They came out delicious! I used the salted almond butter from trader joes. Added a tiny sprinkle of brown sugar to the top to counterbalance salt.
My son is allergic to peanuts but not other nuts. This is a great alternative for our family to the peanut butter version. Thanks!
Just made these today, except I made them with homemade roasted almonds since we didn’t have roasted peanuts. They turned out WONDERFUL. So thick and chewy and perfectly browned. Almond heaven.
Also, I finally preordered your cookbook! I’ve been meaning to for months now. Super duper excited.
Thanks for the recipe Sally! My sister is gluten free so I tried this yesterday. Didn’t have choc chips only choc buttons so used those instead. Ill cut it down to 3/4 cup next time. Great recipe though my family loved it! And very light, you don’t feel sickly after eating a few of them like you would regular cookies. Thanks!
These cookies are amazing! I am always looking for healthier alternatives to traditional foods. Thank you for sharing!
Nope, sorry. The taste is fine, more like a fudge than a cookie, but there are many, better recipes out there that actually taste like a cookie, and have no processed sugar in them, as these do. Ultimately, a sub-par, not altogether healthy cookie alternative.
I just made a batch of these. I found no-salt almond butter at Trader Joe’s and was dying to find a cookie recipe to use it in. I’m diabetic so flourless cookie recipes are right up my alley! I substituted brown sugar Splenda for the brown sugar and used 1/3 cup Hershey’s sugar free chocolate chips instead of the 1 cup chips listed in recipe. I wasn’t sure exactly how many chips to use, but 1/3 cup seemed fine. I may try 1/2 cup next time I make them to compare. Anyway, they came out great. My daughter who is not diabetic and a pb cookie fan gave them the seal of approval, high praise indeed. Thanks Sally!
Note: 1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda equals 1/2 cup regular brown sugar
Excellent recipe! I made these twice in two days, and had two friends (non-bakers!) ask for the recipe!
Made homemade almond butter for the first time yesterday morning and made these in the afternoon. So good!! My husband has to eat gluten free and loves chocolate chip cookies. It’s not easy finding good gf cookie recipes. I’ve made the flourless pb chocolate chip cookies before and he said he liked these almond butter ones better! 🙂
These cookies are AMAZING! I think they are the nicest i’ve had. So easy to make too, so they didn’t distract me too much from revision! If only I could stop eating them… Thanks Sally! X.
The perfect cookie- made these with peanut butter and chopped milk chocolate and not only were they delicious, but they were a SNAP to make.
Brought these to a friend gathering and rave reviews from everyone.
Thanks for making me look like a good baker, Sally 😉
I made these and they turned out pretty well except they were a little more browned underneath and aesthetically looked a little burnt. I had them in the oven for 9 minutes. Is there any way I can prevent browning in the future? Also would using the top oven rack be helpful?
The oven rack position wouldn’t have to do with it. Might I suggest lowering your oven temperature and/or baking on a light colored baking sheet? Or baking the cookies on a silicone baking mat, if you do not use one already. Happy you liked them otherwise!
I had to try these over the weekend because logically I could not wrap my mind around how these could turn into a cookie….but they did! And oh mah gosh I had to put in a hella lotta extra time on the treadmill this weekend to work off all of the sampling I did! These are AMAZING! I think I will try with Sunbutter or peanut butter next time as they are really really good!
Also, FYI for any other readers who might be interested, MaraNatha makes a no stir almond butter that is nice and thick and worked beautifully in these. I was too lazy to make my own.
These are FANTABULOUS! (Is that even a real word…haha!
I made these today, and they are AMAZING. I subbed coconut sugar for the brown sugar and used a bit less, and they still turned out fabulously! My almond butter (Justin’s) was a little oily, so I rolled each cookie dough ball in a paper towel before placing it on the baking sheet.
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! 🙂
These just came out of the oven. Absolute winner. I used “no stir” natural almond butter. (It had a tiny bit of sugar and salt added). Only had mini chocolate chips on hand, which worked beautifully. I baked these until golden brown and they are delicious! I am loving these healthified January recipes. You’re the best Sally!
I made a batch earlier today, and I must say, they are good!! I made my own almond butter with 2 cups of raw, unblanched almonds and 1/2 cup of honey roasted peanuts. It was nice and easy! A few friends stopped by at just the right time and tried them out; they loved them too! 🙂
I found that 1 full cup of chocolate chips along with 1/2 cup of honey roasted peanuts in the cookie dough was a bit overwhelming. I ended up “losing” about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in the bottom of the bowl because they wouldn’t “fit” in the cookies. I also got about 22 cookies, and they weren’t small! (I’m certainly not complaining here!) 🙂
I love trying out gluten-free recipes and this one is certainly a keeper! I also have good recipes for gluten-free peanut butter cookies and chocolate walnut chewies. Both are fabulous! I’m glad to add one more delicious cookie to my repertoire! Thanks so much Sally!!
I just made these tonight and they really are delicious! I used cashew butter since that is what I had on hand…
Thank you so much for a recipe that tastes like a normal cookie!!
I’m a new follower 🙂
I made these using almond butter I made from Trader Joe’s cinnamon sugar coated almonds and they were DELICIOUS!