With their deepest, darkest chocolate flavor, you’d never know these fudge-like cookies are made from only 6 simple ingredients. And you won’t find any butter or flour! This is a naturally gluten-free recipe. (And dairy free, if using dairy-free chocolate chunks.)
While my website focuses on traditional baking recipes, I do have a growing selection of naturally gluten-free recipes—those where flour simply isn’t needed. It just so happens that some of my favorite recipes hail from this section of my website. Hello, chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies! Today’s recipe is certainly up there on my list. (And you can see that full list of gluten free dessert recipes for even more ideas!)
Inspired by these flourless almond butter cookies, today’s recipe kicks it up a notch with a double dose of chocolate, thanks to cocoa powder and dark chocolate chunks. They’re ultra-decadent and fudgy, and I have a feeling that you’ll love every bite.
Why You Should Make These Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
- Simple 1-bowl recipe, ready in about 30 minutes
- Only 6 ingredients
- No-chill cookie recipe like shortbread cookies and snickerdoodles
- Deep chocolate flavor, like double chocolate chip cookies… but without flour or butter!
- Naturally gluten-free recipe
- Dairy-free recipe if using dairy-free chocolate chunks/chips
- Slightly toasty taste from almond butter (and you can absolutely use homemade almond butter here)
- Guaranteed to disappear quickly!
In short, these decadent cookies will certainly satisfy your sweet tooth while still being one a of my healthier dessert recipes.
6 Ingredients to Use & Why
You’ll find a pretty standard list of ingredients here:
- Egg: To bind the ingredients; the cookies would fall apart without an egg.
- Brown Sugar: For flavor and structure. You can use coconut sugar instead, which is an unrefined sugar swap that I like to use in my banana muffins, too.
- Baking Soda: For a little lift.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This will give the cookies their deep, chocolatey base. Cocoa powder is a very drying ingredient, so you’ll only use 1/4 cup (21g). Still, the cookies have a wonderfully chewy and fudgy texture.
- Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Chunks: Because what’s a chocolate cookie without plenty of chocolate add-ins? I use dark chocolate chunks in these cookies, but you can really use whatever type of chocolate add-ins you like best. Dark, semi-sweet, milk, or even white chocolate… if you enjoy it in your chocolate chip cookies, you’ll enjoy it in these cookies. This is optional, but feel free to add some chocolate-coated sunflower seeds (or even sprinkles!) as well. How fun do these cookies look with the colorful sunflower seeds? I found them at Trader Joe’s when I originally published this recipe in 2014.
- Almond Butter: The M.V.P. of this recipe! Not only does almond butter give these cookies a nutty, toasty flavor, it replaces the flour and butter to give the cookie its structure. A jack of all trades!
Let’s Talk Almond Butter
Have you baked with almond butter before? I love it. It’s my first choice when making banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies, and I always include these almond butter sparkle cookies on my Christmas cookie trays. Almond butter is also fantastic drizzled on top of whole wheat pancakes.
For today’s dark chocolate almond butter cookies, you can use homemade, natural, or creamy processed almond butter. Keep in mind that the type you use can impact the texture. In my recipe testing, I found that the best texture came from using 1 cup of homemade almond butter, or 1 cup natural organic almond butter.
Prefer peanut butter? You can swap the almond butter for the same amount of peanut butter, or try my recipes for flourless peanut butter chocolate cookies, flourless monster cookies, or flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies instead.
Tips for the Best Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
- No chilling required: Bake your cookies right after mixing the dough. Otherwise, they may have a hard time spreading. I use this medium cookie scoop for perfectly portioned cookies—one of my most-used cookie baking tools!
- Press your dough: To encourage just a bit of spreading, gently press your cookie dough balls before baking. (Pictured above.)
- Underbake your cookies: Bake your dark chocolate almond butter cookies for just 10 minutes. They’ll look soft when they come out of the oven but will set as they cool. I found this to be just the right amount of time to keep the cookies tasting soft and fudgy, not dry and hard.
- Get ready to make a second batch: Whenever I make a batch of these cookies, they barely have time to make it to the cookie jar. LOL.
The next time you need a quick chocolate cookie fix, keep these dark chocolate almond butter cookies in mind!
More Flourless Recipes (GF)
PrintDark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: about 14 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These 6-ingredient flourless dark chocolate almond butter cookies are so good, you won’t miss the butter and flour!
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (250g) creamy almond butter, at room temperature*
- 1/2 cup (90g) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup (21g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (180g) dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
- optional: 1/3 cup chocolate candy-coated sunflower seeds
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. With a big spoon or silicone spatula, or using an electric mixer, mix in/beat on medium speed the almond butter, then the brown sugar, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Beat/mix everything together very well. Depending how thick your almond butter is, you’ll have to use some arm muscle! Fold in the chocolate chunks until combined.
- Scoop the dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each (I use this medium-size cookie scoop), onto prepared baking sheets and arrange 3 inches apart. 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 the almond butter (mine usually are) blot each with a paper towel. If using the sunflower seeds as pictured above, press several into the tops of each cookie dough mound before baking.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and that’s expected. For firmer cookies, bake for 12 minutes.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. During this time, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. (This is optional and only for looks.) Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature, if desired, before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Natural Cocoa Powder: Do you know the difference between natural cocoa powder and dutch-process cocoa powder? Use natural in this dough.
- Almond Butter: You can use homemade, natural, or processed almond butter; however, the type you use will slightly change the texture. I found the best, smoothest texture was with 1 cup of homemade almond butter or 1 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. You can use crunchy almond butter, but the cookies will be a little crumbly.
- Can I Use Another Nut Butter? Yes, you can use other nut butters such as peanut butter, cashew butter, or try sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option.
- Adapted from King Arthur Baking
I noticed the updated comment for your Almond Butter CC Cookies that the regular sugar was replaced by coconut sugar. I’m assuming that can happen with this recipe too?
Yes, absolutely!
The coconut sugar worked like a charm! It was a bit concerning initially when the dough was crumbly– but a little squeezing, shaping, and flattening, the cookie baked up nicely. Delicious, GF, minimal refined sugar, satisfying a chocolate craving.
I think I may add vanilla with the next batch to give it one more layer of goodness!
Also, no salt… is there a specific reason?
You can certainly add salt but I find the saltiness from the almond butter is enough.
Hi Sally,
Thank you very much for this recipe! I was not sure how the cookies might turn out because I didn’t have luck with almond butter cookies I made few years ago. But these are really really good…soft and chewy. I had to add a couple tablespoons extra sugar, as the dough was not sweet enough for me.Â
PS: looooove your website and not even a single day goes by without me checking your site. Keep the good stuff coming! And thanks so much for all the hard work you do to give wonderful recipes to us!!!
Hi sally, I’ve recently been diagnosed with a thyroid disease and I have to start going easy on the gluten because of it. I immediately searched your website because I knew you would have something delicious, and I was right! Thank you for the amazing recipe 🙂Â
Just made these. Used â…“ cup coconut sugar instead of the brown sugar. They are delicious. I got 15 cookies out of it. Put all of it into MyFitness Pal and got 95 calories each.Â
Wow! I made these with Swerve (probably 1/2 tsp of molasses also). My recently low carb converted DH loves them. I do too, Â and although I’m a low carber, Â I’m not a former carboholic so I like a lot of low/no sugar treats he’d never touch. They are also great right out of the freezer. Thanks for this simple, Â WONDERFUL, treat.Â
Thank you these are delicious! I added 1/4 cup chia seeds because I am obsessed with them and they were yummy!
Oh my goodness!!! I made these 2 days in a row. A couple days ago I made these before class, and again Wednesday night. They are soooo good!! Thank you!
Sally,
Thanks for this GF recipe. We are heading to see friends this weekend and they are newly diagnosed with Celiac. Looking forward to sharing these chocolate rich gems. A baking note: I ended up rolling mine in balls and then flattening them a bit. The dough was easier to work with that way. Also, I used half peanut butter and half sunflower butter. Turned out great. The hard part will be not eating them all before we go. 🙂
Just bought fresh chocolate almond butter at Wholefoods. Wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. Thanks for the idea. They turned out perfect!
Made these last week and they were INCREDIBLE. I froze them in the hopes that I would eat fewer cookies if I’d have to wait for them to defrost, but I’ve just been eating them straight out of the freezer!Â
THANK YOU!!! these recipes are amazing! Myself, my family and me friends all have varying dietary needs and these suit everyone! and they taste fantastic! 🙂Â
Made these cookies last night- used Jiffy Almond Butter and they were SOO good!! Couldn’t stop eating them. Next time I definitely want to try making my own almond butter. Awesome recipe!
These are so good. We didn’t have almonds or almond butter so I used peanut butter. Fabulous. I can’t wait to try with the almond butter.
Hi Sally! These looks AWESOME! I don’t use any sugar or brown sugar. Do you think that honey could be substituted or would that change the consistency? Thank you!!
Sally, these were addictively delicious! Nobody could tell they were healthy either. Another keeper. Thank you for all the awesomeness!!
Great recipe! I bought some Kashi ones in the US but couldn’t find them anywhere! I also added oats, baking almonds, and a dash of almond milk cause the texture was hard to work with. I strongly recommend adding the oats and almonds.
These are highly addicting. So easy to make, which is nice since I don’t own an electric mixer. My husband who is picky when it comes to baked goods loved them.
just made these with a combination of almond and nut butter. used 1/3 cup coconut sugar, added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla. subbed dried cherries and cocoa nibs for the chocolate chunks. sprinkled with a bit of sea salt before baking.
good stuff!
Made these last night for a trip we are taking and they where amazing! Instead of the sunflower seeds I used M &M-like candies. The kids loved them 🙂
So easy and soooo delicious! Love the texture added by the sunflower seeds 🙂
Hi Sally! Those look and sound amazing! Can’t wait to make them 🙂 quick question – do you think going down to 1/3 cup of sugar like you do for the flour less peanut butter brownie cookies would be okay? Or would they not be sweet enough? Thanks! Xo.
That should be fine, Kelly. Especially if you add the dark chocolate chunks which will sweeten it back up a bit. Enjoy!
I made these with coconut sugar as a direct substitute to the brown sugar. OMG…they are amazing!!!! Even mu husband loves them! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I’ve made my almond butter in preparation for this recipe however the texture is very odd. I processed it for a very long time but it never became creamy, it just clumps together. I’m thinking it’s because my almonds were quite old and possibly too dry for this. Nevertheless, there is no point in wasting the stuff so I’m still going to try the recipe. What would you recommend to fix my problem? Should I add any butter or oil? Should I just go with it despite having a stiffer cookie mix? Thanks for any advice you have Sally 🙂
Hi Jess! It sounds like there wasn’t enough oil in your almonds – if you try to make the almond butter again, try adding a little oil (I prefer peanut oil or melted coconut oil) to help smooth out the consistency. For your cookies – try adding 2 scant teaspoons of oil to the cookie dough. That will help!
You were so right! What I actually did was reprocess the almonds and add a little oil until they went creamier 🙂 turned out a treat! Thanks!
I made these today. They are good! I made the almond butter, let it cool and then made the cookies. I used a large egg but it was really powdery. I ended up beating and adding another 1/2 egg. Did I do something wrong? I’m not complaining: they turned out. I’ve never made GF cookies before, and I didn’t know what kind of consistency I was going for. I happened to be at Trader Joe’s the other day and picked up some sunflower seeds. My daughter LOVES that I put “candy” in the cookies. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this.
Hey Cate! I don’t think you did anything wrong. The dough shouldn’t be powdery or dry, but it’s certainly extremely thick and hard to mix all together. Hope you enjoyed their taste! Your daughter’s comment is adorable.
I made these a couple of days ago and they are seriously so good and SO simple to make! They might be my new go-to cookie recipe. I always have the ingredients on hand and I love that no refrigeration is required. Oh, I also used a flax egg. Thanks so much Sally 🙂
Hey Michelle! So glad to hear these work wonderful with a flax egg. That will be so helpful to my readers looking for an egg-free version. Love these cookies too!
Hi Sally!
As I’m reading this I’m polishing off a bit of your chocolate peanut butter granola…. Deeeeeelish! I was curious what you thought about using a nut butter “imposter” so to speak in your recipes? For example, Better’n peanut butter spread? I’ve never tried it, but due to the reduced fat/calorie content I was intrigued by the product…any thoughts?
I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of your cookbook, which was preordered for me as a Christmas gift!!!
Thanks,
Nina
I do not suggest using a peanut butter spread type option. Definitely stick to peanut butter or almond butter (or even sunflower seed butter or Biscoff spread works too!).
Sounds delicious! If we substitute peanut butter for the almond butter, do you have a suggestion on which type of peanut butter? I usually by the reduced fat Skippy, but would a different type be better?
I’ve made them with homemade peanut butter, Skippy Natural, and Jif Creamy. Your kind should be just fine. Enjoy!
I have tried your plain almond butter chocolate chip cookies and they were AWESOME!! so I can only imagine how great these taste:) I was wondering, I used homemade almond butter when I made the plain version of these, But right now I only have creamy store bought almond butter, I was wondering if that would change the texture/consistency? Thanks!
Hey Megan! The cookies should be just fine with your almond butter. Just make sure you stir it up and that it isn’t super oily.
If we can’t use almond butter (nut allergies), what other type of “butter” would you recommend? We could use Biscoff or Cookie Butter (less healthy) or we’ve just newly discovered sunflower butter (which is more runny than nut butters, which might impact the texture).
I’ve done the original version with sunflower seed butter and they turned out wonderfully. I know cookie butter would be a great option as well!
Oh Sally, looking at this right now (10 pm) really makes me hungry! I really want to make this cookies, but here in my country, there’s no almond butter. And almond is expensive and a lil bit rare here. The only peanut butter we have here is just skippy, so can I use that?
You may certainly use Skippy peanut butter instead of the almond butter. No problem at all!