Please tell me what’s more beautiful than a perfect dessert under the warm-colored light of the oven?
This recipe isn’t just gluten free. It’s also egg free, butter free and refined sugar free! I posted about this on my Facebook page, and someone said, “That sounds like a handful of chocolate chips!” Doesn’t it, though? Without butter, eggs and flour, how on Earth can you make a chocolate chip cookie?
I have to say, I’m really impressed with this recipe. It fooled my kids, and even my husband loved it. He’s all about a healthy meal, but his philosophy on dessert is, why bother trying to make it healthy if the entire point of desserts is to indulge? Easy for him to say, he can lose 3 lbs just by thinking about going on a diet! But for someone like me (and you?) who really needs to watch gluten, dairy and sugar intake, these cookies are fabulous. And my dessert-snob husband completely agrees.
I love the texture of these cookies. They’re soft and chewy, and because they include a bit of protein and extra heaviness from almond flour, it’s pretty hard to binge on them. Two cookies will satisfy you deeply. And fully. 🙂
Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup agave nectar
2 1/2 cups almond flour (or more, see note below*)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all the wet ingredients in a mixer or large mixing bowl. Combine almond flour, sea salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until well incorporated.
*You may need to add more almond flour. Depending on whether you made your own almond flour or bought it, different brands vary in coarseness. The consistency of the cookie dough should be just a bit more wet than normal cookie dough, but more oily-looking. If it’s too runny to form into balls, add more almond flour until a thicker consistency is achieved.
Add chocolate chips. Roll into 1-inch balls, and press the balls slightly flat onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat sheet, or parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be really soft when they come out, so allow them to cool completely before transferring to a plate.
If you try these cookies, please let me know in the comments below! I can’t wait to hear how your family likes them!
Hi McKenna! The cookie recipe looks awesome, but I don’t have grapeseed oil…would coconut oil work??
Hi Rachel! Coconut oil should work, although it will impart a somewhat coconutty flavor. Sounds delightful! Make sure you melt the coconut before measuring, and you may need to adjust the flour amount until you get the right dough consistency. If you try it, PLEASES come back and tell me how it turned out! I’ve subbed-in coconut oil for so many other oils in baking and it usually works out like a dream!
Awesome recipe, McKenna! How do you make almond flour? I make my own almond milk following your tips, but I have no idea what to do with the excess paste afterwards… I tried making flour out of it but it went bad before it finished. Help?
Kelli, save off the almond pulp from your almond milk. If you have a dehydrator, sprinkle it in a thin layer and dehydrate it until it’s no longer moist at all. Then throw it in your blender to grind it to a finer flour. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can spread a thin layer on a lined (parchment paper) cookie sheet and bake in the oven at a low temp (125-ish)… the oven takes longer than a dehydrator, but still does the job.
You weren’t kidding when you said we’d love today’s e-mail!
These cookies have made my day. Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks, Alicia! I can’t wait to hear how you like them! Will you come back here and tell us? Have a great week!
Wow! I can’t wait to try it but… me and agave do not play well together. What can I sub instead? Stevia powder? Or does it have to be liquid?
You could use honey or pure maple syrup, but you may need a bit more. It would be an experiment, but they should still turn out pretty well!
Thank you so much McKenna for the Recipe 🙂 Going to pass to my gluten free friends, who will appreciate it a lot! 🙂
Wow! These will be a sure-fire hit! Thanks for sharing!:)
I made them! They just came out of the oven and they are delish!! Different, but soooo good!! They kind of have a banana taste. Lol. I didn’t have any almond flour left so I used some whole wheat flour and some porridge oats with flax. I also didn’t have dark chocolate chips so I used the 3/4 cup of milk chocolate I had at the back of my cupboard (guilty!) I also added 2 tbsp hemp hearts!
You’re FAST! Hahaha. Glad you liked them! I haven’t tried them with the extras you added, but mine stayed suuuuuper soft and chewy on day 2! They’re all gone now, though 🙂
Mine are just chewy enough and especially delicious with a glass of almond milk! Mmmmm, I doubt mine will last longer than a day! I will definitely have to share :p
These look amazing! I am going to try them this weekend!
McKenna,
This looks fabulous. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
this recipe looks delicious i just went off gluten and recently diagnosed prediabetic so i’d appreciate the carb count per cookie pls thanks !
Malky, you want to pay attention to Glycemic Load, more than anything. These have a load of anywhere between 10 and 20, depending on your brand of chocolate chips and agave. That’s SUPER low. These are VERY diabetic-friendly cookies.
Can you make almond flour just by blending almonds in a Blendtec?
Where do I buy grapeseed oil? I really want to try these. And the aluminum free baking powder, where would I look for that. Can I buy almond flour somewhere or just blend up almonds?
Jenn, I’ve seen grapeseed oil at regular grocery stores recently, but if not at yours, then the health food store will have it. If you don’t want to buy an extra oil (assuming you already use coconut oil) you can sub in coconut oil, just make sure it’s melted for this recipe. It’ll add a coconutty flavor.
Aluminum free baking powder is everywhere. Arm & Hammer makes some. You can buy almond flour at a health food store or make your own by grinding almonds in a coffee grinder or a powerful blender. Just don’t blend for too long, or you’ll get almond butter. you do want a fine consistency, though.
I finally got to make this recipe last night! I’ve been wanting to since it came out! I shared the cookies with 2 other families and they loved them too! This recipe is a keeper! I used carob chips and coconut oil and it was divine! I will be trying other sweeteners, however, as I have recently learned agave (because of how it is processed) is as bad for our bodies as HFCS and regular corn syrup. My heart is still aching over that recent discovery! 🙁
Hi Kennessa! So glad you liked the cookies. I also like to substitute coconut oil for these cookies. Both versions are really yummy. I have also heard a lot about the agave controversy that’s been created by the HFCS industry. I agree that you shouldn’t have agave or any sweetener (be it healthy or not) in a large amount or every single day. They are still “treats” and should be treated as such. but hopefully this article will help you feel a little better about agave in moderation: http://simplywholelife.com/is-agave-good-or-bad
Just made a variation of these, using brown rice flour. I added bananas, cocoa, and ground chia seeds. They are to die for! Thanks again, McKenna 🙂
Can you please tell me what kind of Chocolate Chips you use? I am having such a hard time finding chips that are gluten, dairy, and refined sugar free!