These delicious gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies will please even gluten-eaters and non-vegans! Soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chips, they’re a healthier cookie that everyone will love!
Honey, I’m home! And I brought gifts of the edible variety!
Read: I’m sorry I’ve been gone, but look! I made you cookies! And not just any cookies, but soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies that also happen to be gluten-free and vegan…
Oh.my.word. Where was I? Oh. Right…
Hi guys! I feel like it’s been forever since I posted, when really… it’s only been 2 days. I try to stick to a pretty regular posting schedule here on Spoons, but sometimes… sometimes you just need to take a mental health day. Or two.
I mean, I love blogging and I’m super lucky to be able to make an income from it, but I never, ever want it to feel like a job or a chore. Ever. I do this because I love writing and photography (and you guys, obviously), and I’m passionate about helping people get happier and healthier… which thankfully involves things like sharing recipes for healthy chocolate chip cookies.
Despite the fact that I don’t personally eat a gluten-free diet (being peanut-free is a big enough pain in the butt, thank you very much), I still do a lot of gluten-free baking… partially because a lot of my clients and readers eat gluten-free, and partially because I like the challenge. Just don’t ask me how I feel about it when I’m standing over the kitchen counter crying over a 4th failed batch of cookies — my answer might be a tad less enthusiastic.
Thankfully, this recipe only took me three attempts, although some tears were still nearly shed when the roof of my mouth discovered the fiery inferno that is the melted chocolate chip.
It hurts so good. And it tastes even better.
Buttery and sweet like a cookie should be, without any actual butter and only minimal amounts of sugar. I thought about going the natural sugar (read: maple syrup/honey) route, but cookies really do need that brown sugar (or coconut palm sugar, in this case) to give them that traditional cookie taste, and since I was already messing with so much by making them GF and vegan, I decided to leave the sugar alone.
For flour, I went with a mix of brown rice, almond, and oat. I’ve found that mixing GF flours tends to lead to the best results, but you could easily simplify things by just using two of the three flours (see recipe notes). And what you’ll get is a soft and chewy cookie that even gluten-eaters and non-vegans will love.
That’s always the true test, isn’t it? Seeing if “normal” people still enjoy a recipe with all the substitutions and tweaks. And the good news is that this recipe passes that test — even my normies loved it! But then again, it’s hard to say no to soft and chewy cookies… especially when chocolate is involved.
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup oat flour*
- 1/4 cup almond meal**
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar***
- 1 tsp. ground chia or flax, mixed with 2 Tbsp. water****
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, oat flour, almond meal, baking soda, and sea salt, whisking until fully incorporated.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, combine coconut oil, applesauce, coconut palm sugar, flax “egg,” and vanilla, whisking until everything is fully combined and smooth.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. If the dough seems a bit dry, use your hands to make sure everything is well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Using a generous tablespoon, scoop out dough and roll it into balls. Place the balls on your prepared baking sheet, and use your palm to flatten them. These cookies don’t spread much, so make them the shape you want before baking them.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. The less you bake them, the chewier they’ll be, so feel free to remove them as early as 7 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on sheet for ~5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an air-tight container.
Notes
* You can make your own oat flour by processing 1/4 cup rolled or quick oats in your food processor or blender until they reach a flour consistency. Make sure to use certified GF oats if you need these to be GF. ** You could also replace the oat flour and use 1/2 cup of almond meal instead. OR replace the almond meal and use 1/2 cup of oat flour, but you may have to add a tad more liquid/oil if you solely use oats, since they absorb more liquid. *** You can also sub the coconut sugar with brown sugar. **** Make sure to check that your chia/flax doesn’t contain any traces of wheat. One reader commented that her brand did.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Looking for more gluten-free vegan recipes? Try one of these!
Cookie Dough Protein Granola Bars
Strawberry Banana Oat Bars
Vegan Flourless Banana Bread Muffins
Flourless Vegan Banana Muffins
Strawberry Almond Oat Bars
I don’t usually comment on too many recipes, but I gotta say this is one of my all-time favorite recipes! The combination of the brown rice flour and the chocolate is a winner. I don’t use the coconut oil (sub butter), use all oats (no almond meal) & add extra flax and these cookies are just fantastic. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I just made these and they came out kind of dry. They didn’t taste horrible but not great.
wondering how these cookies would be with white rice flour vs. brown? they sound delish, but all I’ve got right now is white rice flour?
That should work fine, Jean!
Just made and devoured these… They were great. We usually grind sunflower seeds as a nut flour substitute, but we were out of that so I used a combination of ground hemp and ground pumpkin seeds. Really good, and much better than I expected. 😉 The sweetness was so lovely. thank you
Just made these….. They are the perfect cookie!!! Oh man. I’ve made a number of GF and/or vegan cookies before – using different mixtures of rice/oat/almond flours… but I’ve gotta say, none have ever turned out as soft and chewy and “just like your grandma made them” as these guys. YUM!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write such an awesome review, Lilly! I’m glad you liked them.
Burning your mouth on something which tastes great is one of those things which hurt so good, until of course you destroy your taste buds for two days straight. Then it kind of sucks, not that I would know or anything. Cough, cough.
I love chocolate chip cookies. They’re a classic, and these look amazing.
Not that I would know, either. And not that I’m currently nursing those kind of battle wounds or anything…
These look great! I hate it when people say “If it’s healthy, I don’t eat it.” That’s silly because many things that taste amazing are also (ok, not “good” for you) not all that bad!
um…. delectable. I actually want to eat my screen.
THE TEXTURE.
Holy yum! These look amazing- I have never baked with brown rice flour, but maybe it’s time I gave it a try!
It’s fun to experiment with! Just make sure you get one that’s really finely milled or your baked goods can end up a little sandy. I like the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
Oh girl what are you doing to me- can I just skip over the baking bit and have these cookies in front of me! I’m not a cookie-ist i.e. I’ll eat ’em all! Although right now all I really want is a chocolate chip cookie….even better if it had some vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between ;)! I find that the easiest way to get friends/family members to overcome the mind block over healthy eating is to not tell them…at least not until they’ve given their seal of approval- works like a charm!
I will eat any kind of chocolate chip cookie and these look delicious. Now I’m hungry again!
I’m just going to pretend you made these for me…they are perfect.
Of course I made them for you. In exchange for the coffee you brought me 😛
I’m always a sucker for a chocolate chip cookie…or a double chocolate chip…or a triple…you get the point! 😉 And I know I always appreciate your gluten free recipes! Keep up the tasty work! 😛
Those cookies look delicious!! My favorite type of cookies are oatmeal raisin. Sooooo good. This would be a great recipe to bring home and so much better than the chocolate chip cookies we ate last night!!
These cookies would be perfect for my low-FODMAP diet! Would you recommend any substitute for the applesauce? Could one just leave it out?
I definitely wouldn’t recommend leaving it out because it adds moisture to the cookies, but you could replace it with an extra Tbsp. or two of coconut oil. You might end up having to chill the dough before baking it, though, so that the cookies don’t melt in the oven.
Thanks! Good idea! I also might try a little bit of mashed banana
I’m not gluten free or vegan but I would make/eat these cookies in a heartbeat, they look fantastic!
I used to tell my family before they ate a baked good if it was vegan or a “healthier” version, but now I wait until a day or two afterward. I found my dad LOVED my vegan chocolate chip cookies. Like, adored them. So, I told him they were vegan (which he doesn’t understand anyway) and he was like “Wow, these are the best ones yet!”. Winning.
What I don’t like is the afterburn of when you tell someone the baked good is “healthy” and, immediately, their opinion about it changes to “mehhh, I guess it’s okay”. BIGGEST PET PEEVE EVER.
Oh man. Don’t EVEN get me started. Just… no. Not okay.
I LOVE COOKIESSSSS! This post reminded me how long it’s been since I’ve baked. Need to change that ASAP. If only the weather weren’t so hot this week. Turning on the oven sounds horrible so maybe I will have to do it early in the morning 🙂
Confession: I’ve totally been baking in my toaster oven. Doesn’t make the house nearly as hot 😛
So so so so jealous these are not infant of my mouth right now! Your pictures need to be on the cover of food magazine like right now! Too many childhood feels with the milk and the colorful straw…
My family didnt want anything to do with healthy recipes in the beginning, but they are slowly coming around. I am sure they wouldn’t say no to cookies though! 🙂
Yum, these look and sound great and I love that they are able to be eaten by anyone and easily baked!
Oh wow – these sound wonderful! And don’t get me started on how they look! Love the applesauce in there – I don’t think I’ve ever used applesauce in my cookies – EVA! So, I gotta try this next time!
As long as I don’t tell anyone what is in or not in a cookie/cake, they/it gets eaten – usually, the only compliant is it needs to be sweeter – even though I adore deserts, I just never like them too sweet.
I’m with you on that one, Shashi! I used to boast about how nothing was too sweet or rich for me, but the older I get, the less I enjoy those super sweet desserts. Never thought I’d see the day…
I agree that you are so creative in your baking. It’s truly incredible and thank you for sharing. I’m not one for vegan/gluten free because thankfully I don’t need to be!
I am always in awe of how you great all of these great recipes! I wish I had that creative of a mind like you!
My favorite cookie either has to be snickerdoodle or oatmeal chocolate chip.
My mom is always willing to give my healthier recipes a taste, my sister, however is a bit hesitant. She did love you fudge balls, though! 😀
Aww well that’s good to hear! And awesome choices with the cookies — those are two of my favourites as well 😀
That is one beautiful cookie! You little gf cookie master, you. 😉
I feel your pain with gf vegan baking. It’s so hard and I find myself crying over it frequently. But when it turns out, it always feels so good! Especially when they look as good as these cookies!
And I was wondering what happened to you the last couple of days so I’m glad to hear you were just taking a little break. It’s so important to allow yourself that sometimes for productivity purposes. I’m about due for one myself too!
These look so good I have to try them!
http://www.libertylifeandselfhelp.com/
Your photos are incredible. I don’t eat gluten free or vegan but I think your cookies would convert me in a hot second.
Working from home today, means these will be made! Favorite type of cookie is snicker doodle. I love love love them. And yes – my friends and family are difficult to eat around because although they aren’t super unhealthy, they are not as conscious about food choices as I am. My boyfriend is probably the easiest, but my parents are a little harder since they love everything that is a carbohydrate.
Your parents definitely sound like my kind of people! <3
I love so many kinds of cookies but if I had to pick, I absolutely go with an original chocolate chip cookie, fresh from the oven, still mushy and gooey with melty chocolate 🙂
These look absolutely delicious. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite!
Oh DANG. I could become a chocolate chip convert for these!! Okay, so I still eat chocolate chip cookies anyway, but they’re not my favorite. I’m more of a snickerdoodle, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin cookie gal. Nope, I can’t just choose one.
I love that there are so many healthy baked goods that taste amazing (like all of yours!) and that my family enjoys. However, there have been some healthy baking attempts in which I’ve tried to keep things TOO low fat and low sugar, and then the product tastes like cardboard. For the most part though, my family and friends are open to the good-for-ya stuff 🙂
Oh girl, believe me… I’ve been there too. This was back when I refused to put ANY sugar or oil in anything and was basically eating four and applesauce 😆 Definitely not times that I miss.
Yum!! Chocolate chip cookies are definitely my favorite. I have no dietary restrictions, so I guess I fall into the “normal” eater category. I don’t usually lighten up my baking, but I’ll lighten up a lot of other dishes. I just can’t tell Riley that it’s healthier, otherwise that’s all he’ll think about!
I may not be GF or vegan, but you had me at soft n’ chewy!
I bake all the time and have used oat flour, almond meal/flour and coconut flour a lot but not really a lot of rice flour. How does it affect the baked good in your opinion? I saw you have subs for oat flour and almond but not the rice. Any reason you think? Planning on throwing these together when I get home from work tonight!
I find that the rice flour makes things just a tad bit lighter, since something like oat flour can be a little more dense and require more liquid to not be overly dry. But you have to be careful with what kind of rice flour you get since you want one that’s milled super fine so your baked goods don’t end up gritty. I really like the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
Oh, I will be trying to make these but with peanut instead of almond flour (we are nut allergy opposites) – I have a good friend who is also GF, but unlike me, she needs to eat dairy free too, so these will be perfect for us! Especially since we both love munching cookies on a Hobiecat out on the Sound in summer…
Oh you know I’ll be trying this! I’ve never tried a vegan cookie aside from no bake but I’ve always wanted to see how I like it. You’ve sold me, I feel like I can taste this through the pictures alone!
Hope you like them, Michele! Let me know if you end up making them 🙂
you can welcome me home anytime with these! please bring the milk or coffee too. and see, you are a master at cookies, and all things BAKING. WOW!