Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies {The Best!}

Published March 29, 2014. Updated May 22, 2021

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These Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies are THE BEST! These don’t taste like they’re gluten-free and are so easy to make. I honestly can’t believe how amazing these are! 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies on baking sheet

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

What is the best way to judge the success of a gluten-free cookie recipe? If no one can even tell it’s gluten-free. This these chocolate chip cookies, no one knew. That is just how insanely delicious these are!

I’ve tried several gluten-free chocolate chip cookies recipes on the lookout for the best, and these are hands down THE BEST! Six picky eaters (my two kids, my nieces and nephew, and my husband) all requested two and finished them off in no time. No idea. Yes, I call that success.

The other gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes I tried left me wanting more. Simply put, I wanted a gluten-free cookie that tasted just like a gluten-filled chocolate chip cookie.

One of the recipes I tried was Alton Brown’s Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie. In my opinion, I thought they were flat, crisp, and greasy. I also didn’t like the flavor of the brown rice flour.

These cookies, however, are soft, chewy and moist (in a non-greasy way). They have a great structure (as in they don’t deflate into nothingness when you take them out of the oven), and their flavor is perfect. And of course, you can always fancify them a bit and add some Maldon Sea Salt or vanilla beans.

I’m nowhere near experienced in the field of gluten-free baking (it can be a tricky thing for sure), but these homemade chocolate chip cookies were a breeze to make and seem nearly fool-proof. Just as easy as the ordinary chocolate chip cookies, but with a little more measuring since there is more than one type of flour.

If you have been looking for an incredibly good gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, be sure you try this recipe! I was thoroughly impressed.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies sprinkled with sea salt on baking sheet

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients

For these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, you’ll need:

  • White rice flour
  • Potato starch
  • Tapioca gum
  • Xanthan gum
  • Baking soda
  • Gluten-free baking powder
  • Salt
  • Unsalted butter
  • Light brown sugar
  • Granulated sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chocolate chips
  • Sea salt, optional

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies on red and white plate next to jar of milk

How to Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Stir together dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet in another.
  • Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet, then fold in chocolate chips.
  • Drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake until golden. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.

Can I Substitute Something Else for the Potato Starch?

Whether you’re out of potato starch or you have a sensitivity to it, you can likely use something in place of it (like arrowroot powder or cornstarch). However, without having tested alternate versions of this recipe myself I can’t say for sure what substitutions will work.

Quite a few readers have left their substitutions in the comments section below, so I recommend reading through the comment thread to see what worked for other people!

Can I Freeze These Cookies?

Yes, these cookies can be frozen and enjoyed later on. Simply let the cookies cool completely before storing them in the freezer inside a freezer bag. Let them thaw in your fridge or on the counter when you’re ready to enjoy.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies on baking sheet

Tips for the Best Gluten-Free Cookies

  • When measuring the dry ingredients, you need to scoop and level them (rather than pouring the dry ingredients from the pouch and then leveling the dry ingredients).
  • If desired, you can reduce the vanilla to 1 tsp and add the seeds of one small vanilla bean when blending the butter and sugars.
  • I used 2/3 cup each of bittersweet, semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips when I made these cookies. But you can use any chocolate chips you have on hand!

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5 from 6 votes

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The best gluten free chocolate chip cookies! They have a perfect texture and incredible flavor.
Servings: 28 cookies
Prep15 minutes
Cook20 minutes
Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups white rice flour*
  • 1/2 cup potato starch
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 3/4 cup (firmly packed) light-brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract**
  • 12 oz (2 cups) gluten-free chocolate chips***
  • Maldon Sea Salt , for sprinkling tops (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt for 30 seconds, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until mixture is well blended and creamy (if you aren't using a beater blade, the paddle attachment that scrapes the bowl while mixing, then occasionally scrap down sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process). 
  • Mix in eggs one at a time, blending until combined after each addition. Stir in vanilla. 
  • With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredient and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips. 
  • Drop dough (I shaped into balls for more even rounds) about 2 1/2 Tbsp (45g each) at a time onto Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. 
  • Bake in preheated oven 9 - 11 minutes until golden. Sprinkle tops with Maldon Sea Salt if desired, and cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

  • *All the dry ingredients are to be scooped and leveled (rather than pour from the pouch and level).
  • **If desired, reduce the vanilla to 1 tsp and add seeds of 1 small vanilla bean when blending butter and sugars.
  • ***I used 2/3 cup of each bittersweet, semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips because the blend of the three is my favorite, but use whatever kind you prefer.
  • Recipe Source: adapted from Land O Lakes
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 201 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 25mg8%
Sodium 117mg5%
Potassium 118mg3%
Carbohydrates 26g9%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 175IU4%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 28mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

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124 Comments

  • Sarah

    I recently got diagnosed with an allergy to wheat, oats, and barley, so I’ve basically gone GF for convenience sake (all that’s left is rye!). In my pre-allergy life, I was quite an amazing cook, and had recently become quite the baker as well – scratch cakes, crusty breads, and I was planning on perfecting a Southern biscuit. Now, I’m having to rework my entire life, recipe by recipe, and let me tell ya – it’s disheartening at best, and downright miserable at worst! But, you see, this cookie recipe? It healed my heart. I, too, started with Alton Brown’s GF Chewy (the reviews made me think it would be perfect!) and I nearly cried in despair. They were terrible. But then I found this recipe, and it gave me hope that my GF life isn’t doomed to be awful. It’s so wonderful! Even the cookie dough is delicious – something I thought I’d never be able to eat again since GF dough is usually awful. Anyway, this is a long comment but I had to be sure I sang your praises adequately. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. (Any chance you’re going to tackle a GF sandwich bread recipe soon??)

  • Phyllis

    Do you think I could use brown rice flour? I know that you should never try to fix something when it “ain’t” broken, but I was just wondering. Thanks.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I think you could sub some of the white rice flour for brown but I wouldn’t recommend doing all of it because it might alter the flavor.

  • Faith

    I commented above to say that I love these, and my family does too! My husband keeps asking me to make more. I was wondering if you think I could use this recipe to make a cookie cake, and if so, how? Would it work in a greased 13″x9″ and if so, how long would you recommend I bake?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I think it should work fine, I’d imagine about 20 minutes but that’s just a guess :).

  • Marci

    OMG. Just made and inhaled 3. Light and fluffy but holds together to the last bite. Yummy! Made exactly as directed. THANKS!!!!!!!!!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I’m so glad you liked them Marci! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!

  • chocolate chip cookies

    Hi. really nice recipe and I have gone through lots of your recipes. these are not easy but you have explained them well also. thank you for sharing

  • Terri/LoveandConfections

    Mmm. Chocolate Chip Cookies sound good right about now!

  • Karen

    Could I substitute Crisco for the butter. These look delicious but we have a family recipe that calls for the Crisco instead of butter. Didn’t know if it would work with this type flour.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      You probably could but I wouldn’t recommend it, the cookies won’t spread the same and the flavor will be much different.

  • Faith

    Thank you for this recipe! I made these vegan by substituting earth balance and flax eggs. These are the first successful GF cookies I have made. They’re not AS good as my fanciest non-GF cookies, but they’re definitely universally appealing. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring them to a party. I halved the recipe and got 12 large cookies – my ice cream scoop made good 2.5-tbsp balls as suggested.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I’m glad you were able to make them vegan too Faith! Thanks for leaving a comment!

      • Faith

        Wanted to update that I tried using coconut oil instead of the Earth Balance because my favorite vegan non-GF cookies used coconut oil. It worked okay here but not nearly as well as the earth balance. The flavor was good but the texture wasn’t as good and they didn’t look as nice, plus they had a very greasy feel to them. So, vegans, stick to earth balance (unless you’re just eating the dough, then by all means use coconut oil haha!)

          • Faith

            We can’t get enough of these cookies! Yesterday I made a cookie cake using a half recipe in a 9″ round glass pie pan, which took around 20 minutes to bake. It was amazing! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe :)