Soft, Chewy, and Gooey Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft, chewy, gooey paleo chocolate chip cookies that have a nice crispy outside and that delicious molten inside. You’d never know these cookies are grain-free and refined sugar-free!

I had zero intention of giving you all yet another cookie recipe, but then something happened: a ginormous hankering for gooey, chewy, ultra chocolatey chocolate chip cookies struck me in my stomach chakra and before I knew it, I was conjuring up ways of improving my original recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies to come out with a version 2.0. Sometimes you just need an ultra comforting cookie, and so…

Version 2.0 is here, and let me just tell you…

Bangarang!

I wanted to title these The BEST Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies In all the Land, but then I figured at some point in the future I would add one more tablespoon of ghee (for instance) or an additional tablespoon of pure maple syrup only to find out these cookies could be improved by yet another subtle adjustment…you catch my drift?

..That said, it’s difficult for me to imagine them getting any better!

I made a few subtle changes to the same recipe I’ve been making for years, and those subtle changes made all the difference. I added tapioca flour for fluffy texture, some almond butter, and I used ghee instead of coconut oil. PLUS, I sprinkled the cookies with Himalayan Pink Salt when they came out of the oven, because: fancy and because: salt + sweet = epic mind meld.

The salty-sweet combo, the goo, the soft and chewy yet exterior crisp (it’s ALL ABOUT the crinkle top, can we agree?!) of these cookies makes them nearly indistinguishable from a regular chocolate chip cookie.

My guess is if you handed one to a friend, he or she would never be able to tell the difference.

So if you’re tired of all the holiday hubbub, take a therapeutic baking moment for yourself and whip up a batch of (sorry ->) THE BEST paleo chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had the pleasure to consume.

But pace yourself. Don’t do as I did and eat 4 off the bat…they’re definitely sultry little temptresses, but you’ll want to save some for breakfast and of course share one or two them with your beloved humans.

Ingredients for THE BEST Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Almond Flour: An easy to access and work with grain-free flour. Almond flour is full of fiber, magnesium, healthy fats and a small amount of plant-based protein. When combined with tapioca flour, you can make delicious grain-free desserts that have a similar consistency as regular flour goodies.

Tapioca Flour: This starchy flour helps bind the cookies together, giving them the texture of regular chocolate chip cookies. If you stay away from starches, you can replace it with more almond flour.

Ghee: Ghee is clarified butter, or butter that has been cooked to remove the milk solids (lactose). Most folks with lactose intolerance can tolerate ghee. It is packed with omega-3s and B Vitamins. You can use regular butter or coconut oil to replace the ghee in this recipe.

Pure Maple Syrup: Used to sweeten the cookies, pure maple syrup is a great minimally processed sweetener that is easy to incorporate into baked goods. 

Almond Butter: The almond butter in these cookies is a little je ne sais quois that gives them a chewiness and a unique essence that you won’t want to miss! If you don’t have the almond butter on hand, you can skip it without replacing it with anything else (i.e. don’t add more ghee).

Egg and Baking Soda: The agents to leaven, rise, and hold! The egg and baking soda help make the cookies fluffy, chewy, and hold together.

Sea Salt, Cinnamon & Vanilla Extract: These three ingredients aren’t mandatory in baked goods but truly add wonderful subtle flavor. You don’t want to skip them!

Chocolate Chips or Chunks: The main event of these delicious paleo chocolate chip cookies! Select your chocolate based on your own personal preference. I like using dark chocolate bars and/or stevia-sweetened chocolate chips.

To Roll or Not to Roll?

There comes a time in everyone’s baking life when he or she questions if the dough should be rolled into a ball or not. Really, that’s a matter of preference. Here is what the cookies look like when you roll the dough into a ball prior to baking it:

Both baking methodologies yield insanely delicious results, HOWEVER!:

My preference from a texture standpoint is to not dough roll. Simply dropping spoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet yields that crispy crinkle top. They seem to be gooey-er this way, too!

You can also use dark chocolate chunks (as seen in the photo above) instead of chocolate chips. I chopped up a dark chocolate bar for these cookies and was blown away by how amazing the cookies turned out.

More Grain-Free Cookie Recipes:

• Paleo White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
• Chocolate-Dipped Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
• 5-Ingredient Paleo Banana Bread Cookies
• Paleo Morning Glory Cookies

Happy cookie baking!

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @TheRoastedRoot on Instagram!

The Best Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.32 from 19 votes

Grain-free chocolate chip cookies made with almond flour

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Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 15 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup ghee softened, not melted
• 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
• 1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 2/3 cups finely ground almond flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips see note**

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add the egg, ghee, pure maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla extract to a stand mixer. Fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until mixture is completely creamy and there are no visible chunks of ghee.
• Add the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and sea salt and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough on a baking sheet according to the size of cookies you like. I enjoy making mine fairly large.
• Bake for 8 to 15 minutes, depending on your desired level of chewiness or crunch. For me, 11 to 12 minutes is the sweet spot of ultimate goo-to-crunch. Allow cookies to sit 5 minutes before using a spatula to remove them from the baking sheet.

Notes

*You can also chop up a dark chocolate bar, which in my opinion makes the cookies even more over-the-top delicious

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Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie · Calories: 236kcal · Carbohydrates: 18g · Protein: 4g · Fat: 18g · Sugar: 11g

Author: Julia

Course: Desserts & Treats

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate, dairy free, gluten free, grain free, vegan

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