Vegan Gluten-free Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
These vegan almond flour chocolate chip cookies are healthy, chewy gluten-free, vegan cookies made with a combination of simple, wholesome ingredients. Bonus, these gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookies with almond flour are also grain-free and paleo!
How to make vegan almond flour cookies?
It’s easy to make delicious vegan cookies using almond flour, no eggs, no butter, or dairy. The trick is to use a combination of plant-based ingredients that provides a chewy, soft cookie texture and bind the almond flour together.
Ingredients
Let’s see the few simple ingredients you need to start making these vegan, gluten-free cookies with almond flour at home:
- Almond flour – it is preferable to use ultra-fine, golden-white almond flour instead of almond meal. In fact, almond flour comes from ground blanched almonds, and its texture is not as coarse as almond meal. Therefore, it doesn’t make cookies gritty or grainy, and the cookie color comes out perfectly white golden.
- Tahini paste – also known as sesame paste. This is the paste you are using in a most classic hummus recipe. If you can’t find this ingredient, swap for fresh runny peanut butter or almond butter. These options work great as long as your nut butter is fresh and drippy.
- Maple syrup – or any unrefined liquid sweetener you love like agave syrup or brown rice syrup to decrease the carbs and GI of these vegan cookies.
- Unsweetened almond milk or any dairy-free milk of your choice.
- Baking powder – or half the amount of baking soda if preferred.
- Salt – optional but recommended for extra flavor!
- Vegan dark chocolate chips
- Vanilla extract or almond extract – optional but tastes great and boosts the cookie flavor.
Use ingredients at room temperature
First, bring all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, including almond flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
Then, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Make sure you don’t use cold almond milk, bring the milk to room temperature first!
I also recommend using lukewarm tahini paste. Pop the tahini paste jar for 30 seconds in a microwave or bain-marie to soften the seed butter.
In fact, if your seed butter is too dry or the oil and butter separate in the jar, you won’t create soft, moist cookies.
Form the cookie dough
Stir all your ingredients together with a spoon or silicone spatula. Don’t hesitate to use your hands to squeeze the cookie dough and bring all the ingredients together.
Stir in the chocolate chips at the end.
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a cookie sheet with lightly-oiled parchment paper. I like to use melted coconut oil to rub on the paper to prevent the cookies from sticking to it.
Finally, roll the cookie dough between the palm of your hands to form balls and place each ball 1 thumb apart on the baking sheet.
Baking
Bake your cookies for 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Note that almond flour cookies are always slightly soft when out of the oven.
First, cool down 5 minutes on the cookie tray. Then, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and wait 30 minutes to appreciate their final texture.
How to store my vegan almond flour cookies?
These cookies are egg-free and dairy-free. It means they store well at room temperature in a cookie jar for 3 days.
You can also store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days. The outside becomes sticky if in contact with moisture, so make sure they are stored in a sealed container.
Can I freeze my almond cookies?
Yes, you can freeze these cookies in ziplock bags or sealed jars. Thaw at room temperature 3 hours before serving.
Ingredients swaps idea
Below I listed some swap options for you to try if you don’t have one of the ingredients listed in this recipe.
- Tahini – you can use unhulled or hulled tahini. Both give the same results with different colors. Other options are sunflower seed butter, almond butter, and peanut butter.
- Sweeteners – you must use a liquid sweetener in this recipe, so don’t try coconut sugar or any other granulated sugar. It won’t work. However, you can try other liquid sweeteners like agave syrup, date syrup, or sugar-free maple-flavored syrup for a keto vegan cookie recipe. All these options change the cookie color and texture slightly. For example, sugar-free Monk fruit syrup makes the cookies dryer, and you may have to add a bit more almond milk to get the dough together.
More vegan almond flour cookie recipes
I love to bake with almond flour. It’s a healthy, low-carb, gluten-free flour that makes chewy, soft, healthy vegan cookies. Below I listed my favorite almond flour cookie recipes for you to try.
They are all vegan, gluten-free, and paleo cookie recipes for everyday baking:
Have you tried this vegan almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe yet? Connect with me and share a picture of your creation with us on Instagram!
Your friends, Carine
Vegan Almond Flour Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Maple syrup - or brown rice syrup for a lighter sweet flavor or agave syrup (90 ml)
- 5 tablespoons Tahini paste - - at room temperature or fresh runny peanut butter, no added sugar, no added salt
- 1 tablespoon Almond milk - - lukewarm
- 1/3 cup Vegan dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Line a cookie tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add almond flour, baking powder, salt, maple syrup, fresh tahini paste, and unsweetened almond milk (lukewarm, not cold).
- Combine with a spoon until it forms a crumbly dough, then stir in the vegan dark chocolate chips.
- Use your hands to gather the pieces of dough into a cookie dough ball. The dough should be soft and easy to bring together. If it is too dry, it may happen if you used almond meal (not recommended). Add 1 tablespoon of extra almond milk to bring ingredients together.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough to shape 16 small cookies. Place each cookie dough ball onto a baking tray.
- Slightly press the top of each cookie to flatten slightly. The cookie won't expand while baking, so shape them as you like, thinner they get crispier, thicker they stay softer/chewier in the center.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 12-15 minutes or until the sides are golden brown. The center stays soft, white in color. The cookies will harden and get chewy at room temperature.
- Cool down the cookies onto a cookie rack for at least 2 hours to enjoy their best flavor and texture.
Storage
- Store the cookies in a cookie jar for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Very yummy. Excellent texture…little bit of crunch and a little bit of chew! Great flavor. Definitely will make these again but double batch next time!
Could I use almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Sure, if the jar is fresh and almond butter is drippy, if its too dry cookies crumbles appart
Hi ur recipe sounds really gud….I tried many almond flour recipes n not satisfied wid any….now I wnt to attempt ur recipe n I have a question, can I use orange juice in place of maple syrup….
No, you can’t replace a liquid sweetener that is sticky and hold the batter by a liquid. It won’t work. Enjoy! XOXO Carine
OMG! These are amazing. You will kick yourself if you don’t make them. Made them last night and ate two when they were still warm.
My favourite recipe of all time
Hi!! So I followed the exact recipe and after 15 min of being in the oven they are still really soft! Do they harden at all? I’m leaving them for a bit longer but it smells delicious. Excited to try them
Yes, as the recipe says they are soft when out of the oven so don’t put them back. Cool 10 minutes on the tray then cool completely on the rack and they will get their bast texture when completely cool about 2 hours. They will be chewy, crispy on the sides and a bit soft in the middle. Enjoy! XOXO Carine
These look delicious and I’m so looking forward to making them! Would you reckon that I can substitute almond flour for coconut flour since I’ve got the latter in abundance in my pantry? Let me know! 🙂
Unfortunately you can’t never swap almond flour by coconut flour. Coconut flour contains 4 times more fiber and it’s highly liquid absorbent, the cookies won’t hold together and fall appart with coconut flour. It will be new recipe to develop with new ratio and probably some flaxeggs involved. Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hi! What sweetener substitute can I use instead of agave or maple syrup? Liquid or granulated stevia works? How can it change the texture? Thank you!
I used honey and they were good. A little too sweet for my taste, but the one cookie i tried together with bitter chocolate was very good. So i would suggest try using the same amount first and the next time slightly adjust to your liking.
(it also works good with hazelnut butter instead of tahini)
This is a great recipe!
This recipe required a liquid sweetener, it won’t work with a crystal sweetener. Therefore, vegan options apart the one you listed are coconut nectar, rice syrup or date syrup. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Thank you so much for this delicious cookie recipe. I’ve been attempting to cut down on wheat and refined sugar and these fit the bill perfectly. I made a batch for my family and they have been voted “the best cookie you’ve ever made!” This included my 4 year old grandson and his dad. I’ve just made a batch for a friend for their birthday and I know she will just love them as she appreciates the finer things in life. So once again, thank you so much for sharing this, it’s definitely a keeper! x
Hi. C
an you replace almond flour?
Usually oat flour or sunflower seed flour works very well here, use same amount. Enjoy the cookies, XOXO Carine
I am so glad all your famiLy love it ! Enjoy the vegan recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hi!! I tried to do it.. the flavor is amazing… wow! love it !… but I don’t know why some stuck in the baking tray and others broke easily. I left as long as you recommend 🙁
If you cookie stick to baking paper you can slightly grease your paper before baking or try a different brand of baking paper or bake your cookies on a silicon mat.
I have made these so many times now & it’s totally addictive and guilt free. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks so much for the lovely comment. Enjoy the cookie recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hello!! I want to do these!!! I tried today another recipe but the texture was very soft almost like a cake!! Not the texture I’m looking for. I let the dough in the freezer for almost an hour but still the batter was kind of liquid. Yours looks yummy!!!! Do you recommend to put the batter in the freezer for a little while? Or not?
For my recipe you don’t have to refrigerate the dough. The cookies will be moist in the center and crusty outside. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
I have made these twice and love them. They are easy to make and the end result is perfect. Not too sweet and not bland at all, they stay soft for a couple of days. Plus most of the ingredients are ones that I usually have on hand so its been easy to keep in rotation.
Thank you for such a lovely feedback on the cookies! Enjoy the recipes around here, XOXO Carine
Thanks for sharing! What else can I use tahini paste for?
These look so good! Do they crumble very easily?
I made these according to the instructions, with tahini, but I used agave syrup instead of maple syrup (just because I didn’t have enough maple syrup on hand). They are good but seem to need more sweetness. I’m more aware of the salt than the sweetness for some reason. I wonder if this is because of the agave — perhaps it isn’t as sweet, measure for measure, as maple syrup? So the next time I try these I will use maple syrup if at all possible, because I’m a fan of almond flour and I like these aside from the undersweetness. And maybe just a touch less salt.
Regardless, thank you, because these are wonderfully easy to make.
Omg, I have tried so many almond flour recipes that have been a waste of time and almond flour, so I was getting pretty leery of anything, but I was feeling like a gambling woman today so I made a batch, and dang did I hit the jack pot! They’re yummy, they don’t fall apart, the recipe was simple. I have a new go-to!
On a side note, I didn’t have any tahini so I just used the goopy top of my jar of almond butter.
Hello! Thank you for the lovely feedback on the cookies. Usually agave taste sweeter than maple syrup so maybe you have a slightly sweeter tooth than me, which is ok 🙂 Simply increase the sweeteness with few stevia drops next time. Ading more liquid sweetener will change the batter texture so I wouldn’t recommend that. Enjoy the recipes on the blog and thanks for being here with me. XOXO Carine.
I made the cookies today, they are tasty, yet a bit bitter because of the tahini. It’s not a bad bitterness though. But next time will make them with peanut butter. 🙂
Thanks for the lovely feedbakc nd for trying this cookie recipe ! Some tahini brand can be slightly bitter indeed, peanut butter will taste amazing in the recipe. Enjoy! XOXO Carine
These were great! A huge hit at the holiday party. I used peanut butter and would make again!
YEAH! I love to hear that. Thanks SO much for bringing my cookies to your party I am so happy that everyone love them. I can’t wait to see which recipe you are gonna try next. XOXO Carine.