These perfect paleo chocolate chip cookies are thick, chewy and have the perfect texture. Many of the reviewers have called these the best cookies ever and said that nobody had a clue that they were paleo (or even gluten-free)!
This recipe also has vegan and keto options. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for making today’s post possible!
I first posted this recipe four years ago and am reposting it today with new photos and more tips. Since I posted it, it’s been my most popular recipe and the photos just didn’t do it justice.
All almond flours are not created equal
When I first made these paleo chocolate chip cookies, it’d been quite a while since I last posted some grain-free recipes. I had run out of my favorite Bob’s Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour months before and was so frustrated with the brands of almond flour available here in Germany since they’re so inconsistent.
Because I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of ordering flour from the US, I thought I’d wait it out until Christmas when I’d be back in the US and could buy all the Bob’s Red Mill I want.
But then I got a hankering for chocolate chip cookies. And I really wanted to make paleo cookies.
So I went to work and while every batch tasted amazing, the appearance and thickness was different every single time. The only variable?
The almond flour. The almond flour I’d been buying varies from brand to brand and even within the same brand.
Variation in baking = bad
They come in tiny 1-cup bags here so I go through a load of them when recipe testing. I’d open up one bag and find some finely ground almond flour, then I’d open up another bag from the same company, and it was overall coarser with bits of sliced almonds.
Sliced almonds! In my almond flour. That was the final straw.
So to save my sanity, I ordered myself some Bob’s Red Mill almond flour. By the way, if you have Bob’s Red Mill in a retail store in your area, you can use one of these $1 coupons.
Consistency matters a lot
The cookies made with Bob’s Red Mill came out thick, chewy and just as delicious and magical as all-purpose flour chocolate chip cookies. I doubt that anyone would be able to tell that these are paleo cookies! And the 750+ reviewers agree with me.
And every batch comes out the same. I can say this very confidently as I’ve made these cookies over 100x in the last 4 years (yes, that’s about 2x a month!). Hooray for consistency!
Some of the reviewers have mentioned the same issues with random brands of almond flour vs. Bob’s Red Mill. And homemade almond flour? The cookies definitely won’t come out the same! This has been confirmed by several commenters.
So the almond flour obviously plays a huge role in the final outcome of these paleo chocolate chip cookies. Another thing that will affect the cookies is the temperature of the coconut oil.
Pay attention to the coconut oil
If you make these in the summer when room temperature coconut oil means melted coconut oil, you’ll need to refrigerate the coconut oil until it’s firmer, like softened butter.
If you make these dairy-free cookies with melted coconut oil, the dough will be very greasy and the chocolate chips will be hard to incorporate into the dough.
It doesn’t work to use melted coconut oil and then just chill the dough. I don’t understand why but it doesn’t work!
Coconut sugar (for paleo) vs brown sugar
You’ll also need to chill the dough if you use coconut sugar rather than brown sugar. I made one version with brown sugar and one with coconut sugar at the same time and the brown sugar cookies were nice and thick while the coconut sugar version spread flat and was super thin.
I refrigerated the remaining coconut sugar dough until firm and that resulted in nice and thick cookies, just like the brown sugar version! Just a little darker colored.
Size also matters
If you can’t tell by the pictures, these paleo chocolate chip cookies are huge. Instead of making 8 cookies, you can make 16 to get regular-sized cookies.
I just prefer how they bake up with gooier and chewier centers when they’re larger! Several of the commenters have said that they make them half that size and enjoy them and other commenters have said that they agree that the key to making these cookies so perfect is to make them huge.
Variations of this recipe
If you’ve had enough chocolate chip cookies lately but like this sound of this recipe, I’ve got you covered! I’ve made several variations of these cookies over the years:
- Coconut flour cookies – they don’t use any almond flour, in case you need a nut-free version! And they’re somehow every bit as delicious as the version below.
- Paleo “Peanut Butter” Cookies – these use sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter for a version that tastes super similar to real peanut butter cookies.
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies – they also only use coconut flour. I spent 4 years trying to make the below paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe with peanut butter. I didn’t like the results. But I finally nailed it and they are the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had!
- Paleo Double Chocolate Cookies – So. Much. Chocolate!
- Paleo “Oatmeal” Cookies – these cookies taste really close to traditional oatmeal cookies!
- Paleo Peppermint Cookies – so perfect for Christmas!
Have you made one of them? Or the original? Which one is your favorite?
Substitution questions for these paleo chocolate chip cookies:
- Can I use something instead of almond flour?
Almond flour is only really interchangeable with other nut flours so cashew or hazelnut meal would likely work. I’ve heard of some people using sunflower seed meal as a sub for almond flour but I haven’t tried it myself.
- Can I use something instead of coconut flour?
Nope! There isn’t a really good sub for coconut flour. A few people have mentioned using oat flour (for a non-paleo version) with success but I haven’t tried it.
- Can I use something instead of almond butter?
I’ve tried using peanut butter but didn’t like the results. So I really don’t recommend using peanut butter.
Using it in the all coconut flour version? Amazing! It’s linked to above. If using sunflower seed butter, you need to make a few changes (see the Paleo “Peanut Butter” Cookies linked to above).
Hazelnut butter would probably be awesome in this original recipe! Reviewers have used cashew butter but the cashew butter I get and make is SO much firmer than almond butter, I can’t imagine the cookies coming out the same as with almond butter. - Can I use something instead of coconut / brown sugar?
Subbing in a liquid sweetener won’t work. There’s no liquid to reduce to make up for the added liquid, so it’d make the cookies cakey. Any other granulated sweetener would probably work.
- What can I use instead of the egg or chia egg?
I’ve tried flax eggs but I don’t like the taste (people say that flax eggs don’t taste like anything but I think they do). Others have used it with success in this recipe. I haven’t tried it, but Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free Vegan Egg Replacer would probably work.
- Can I make these cookies smaller?
Yes, but I think they have a better texture when they’re baked as huge cookies.
- Can I bake these cookies as bars?
You can make them in an 8″x8″ pan. I’m super forgetful and never remember to write down the baking time but I recommend to start checking around 15 minutes.
- Do you have nutritional info?
There are loads of free online nutritional calculators online. I’m not a dietitian and not legally allowed to post this info. Sorry about that!
If you try these paleo chocolate chip cookies, I’d love to hear how they come out!
Thanks again to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post! Be sure to check out some of their other gluten-free flours if you’re into gluten-free and paleo baking. :)
And here are some resources if you’re new to the vegan or gluten-free diet:
- Are Chocolate Chips Vegan?
- Are Chocolate Chips Gluten-free?
- Is Baking Soda Vegan?
- Is Baking Soda Gluten-free?
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, see my disclosure.
Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan, keto options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8 huge bakery-style cookies or 16 regular-sized cookies
Please read the notes at the bottom before beginning!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 grams) blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup (32 grams) coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) coconut oil1 or unsalted butter, room temperature but NOT melted (if your coconut oil is a little melty, put it in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes or until firmer, like softened butter. If you use slightly melted coconut oil, the dough will be greasy and the chocolate chips will be hard to incorporate.)2
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) coconut sugar, very tightly packed for a paleo version (it's best to weigh this!) OR brown sugar OR for keto, use 2 ounces (57 grams) xylitol + 1.5 ounces (43 grams) erythritol + 1/4 teaspoon powdered stevia3
- 6 tablespoons (98 grams) natural almond butter (the kind with just almonds in it and no added fat / sugar), room temperature (here's how to make almond butter)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature (or 1 chia egg4 for vegan)
- 1 1/4 cups (213 grams) paleo chocolate chips or chopped paleo chocolate chunks, divided
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or using a stand mixer, beat together the fat, sugar, almond butter and vanilla extract at medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. If you use coconut oil, it may not come together easily. If that's the case, use your hands to combine it and then beat another 20 seconds.
- Beat in the egg on low and mix until well incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture until well combined. Then stir in 1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips. If you used brown sugar, skip to the next step. If you used coconut sugar, place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until the dough is firm.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into 8 (75-gram) balls and place the remaining 1/4 cup (43 grams) of chocolate chips on the top and on the sides of the dough balls. You can also roll them into 16 smaller balls but then you need to adjust the baking time (a few minutes less than recommended below). Place 4" apart on the prepared baking sheet. Press the cookies down lightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes (if using coconut sugar or the keto version) or 14-17 minutes (if using brown sugar) or until the surface of the center of the cookies no longer appears wet. They'll be very soft but will continue to cook as they sit on the cookie sheet.
- Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- If you use unrefined coconut oil, the cookies will likely have a slight coconut taste. I prefer refined coconut oil for absolutely zero coconut taste (but most reviewers have used unrefined and are happy with them!)
- I haven't tried these with ghee or shortening or anything other than coconut oil and butter.
- The sweeteners I used were 100% xylitol, 100% erythritol and 100% stevia. If you don't have a scale, then this is about 1/4 cup + 3/4 teaspoon xylitol, 3 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon erythritol + 1/4 teaspoon stevia.
- To make a chia egg, mix together 1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds and 2.5 tablespoons water. Let sit 5-15 minutes or until goopy like an egg.
- For paleo: use coconut sugar, coconut oil, and paleo chocolate (some consider Enjoy Life to be paleo, some don't. If you really don't want to use cane sugar, try Pascha's 100% cacao chocolate chips.
- For dairy-free / vegan: use coconut oil and dairy-free chocolate.
- For keto / low-carb: use the keto option. Some consider it paleo, some don't. I had previously listed Lakanto but this other mixture works much better! Also use sugar-free chocolate chips, such as Pascha 100% cacao chocolate chips (paleo) or Lily's Chocolate Chips (not paleo, due to soy).
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1632 comments on “Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan / keto options)” — Add one!
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I made these without the coconut sugar. I only used half a cup of dark chocolate chips and the cookies were sweet enough 😊 Thanks for the recipe!
You didn’t add any sweetener at all?! Just the 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips? That’s amazing that they worked. :) And I’m happy that they were sweet enough that way! Thanks a bunch for your comment.
After making tons of mediocre healthy cookies, I have finally made one that looks and tastes great. Thank you for doing the experimenting for me!! I’m glad I have a digital scale, otherwise I don’t think they would have turned out. I don’t have coconut sugar and the brown sugar by weight was more than 3/4 cup. Thanks for the gram measure.
I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
That’s the thing about using cups – people measure things differently. ;) I’m happy you stuck to grams! I’m happy that you enjoyed the cookies and hope you’ll like the other recipes just as much. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
I just made these cookies according to the recipe and they are FANTASTIC! My family inhalf them and didn’t even notice the missing butter and white flour. I’m making another batch tomorrow but will make smaller cookies. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe so I can enjoy great cookies again!
That’s great that your family approved of them and didn’t even notice that they were paleo! That’s not always the easiest task, I know. ;) Thanks for your comment!
Actually it does work with peanut butter. I used the one that contains 100% peanuts, no other ingredient. I did it before reading the note and it was super delicious. I’m making more of those right now.
I changed my note. ;) I know that they work with peanut butter, but they come out so differently than the almond butter version and they’re just nowhere near as delicious. For me, they have a totally different texture. But I’m happy you like them! Thanks for your comment. :)
I made these today and they are so freakin good!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Woohoo! So happy you liked them. :) Thanks for your comment!
I made these once before, and they were awesome!! Want to make them smaller this time because I need more. How would you suggest adjusting the baking time?
It depends on what combination of ingredients you use and what size you make them. If you make them half the size (about 37 grams), I’m guessing you should bake them for 8-12 minutes (if using coconut sugar) or 11-14 minutes (if using brown sugar) or until the surface of the center of the cookies no longer appears wet. Good luck! :)
Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out exactly as you have the pictured. Big, soft, chewy with a little bit of a crisp edge of chocolate chip goodness.
They are not cheap to make and they are definitely have a good amount of fat and calories but for an occasional treat, these fit the bill!
Wouldn’t it be nice if these were calorie-free? I’m all good with the fat but calorie-free would be just awesome. :D I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed them! Thank you for your feedback. :)
I made the mistake of getting through all the steps to make these bad boys when I got to the bottom and saw that it said peanut butter won’t work with this recipe. I’m not strict Paleo, just gluten and dairy free. So substituting almond butter with peanut butter seemed logical, to me. I’m not sure why peanut butter won’t work, because these cookies turned out A-MAZ-ING!!! So, I am curious what your experience has been with these when using PB. Regardless, thank you for the recipe. I’ll be making these again!!
I’m happy they came out well with peanut butter for you! I’ve made these so many times with homemade peanut butter (with just peanuts and salt in it) and while the cookies aren’t a disaster, I just don’t think they’re very good. The texture is so different than the almond flour version and they’re not very peanut butter-y. And I don’t mean this in snarky way at all – do you see the footnote (the “1” at the end of the almond butter line? “6 tablespoons (98 grams) natural almond butter (the kind with just almonds in it and no added fat / sugar), room temperature 1” I ask because someone else mentioned not seeing the peanut butter footnote and I’m wondering if it doesn’t show up in some browsers. I added it as a footnote because the recipe was getting hard to read with all the notes in there. Thanks a bunch for your comment! :)
I love this Paleolithic Chocolate chip cookies. I’m cutting back on wheat and trying to lose weight from hypothyroidism. I wanted a chocolate chip cookie so bad instead of buying them in the store I remembered your recipe. I bought the ingredients went home and made two batches I love them and my children do too! Thank you!
I’m so happy that you and your children enjoyed the cookies! These aren’t really lower in calories than regular cookies (though I think they’re quite a bit healthier!) so if you’re trying to lose weight, you might want to watch yourself around them. ;) Thanks a ton for your comment!
Fabulous recipe! I doubled it, used only 200g of coconut sugar in the doubled recipe (so doubled all ingredients except the sugar), used coconut oil, and used Nuts for Nature Nut and Seed butter (cashews, almonds, chia, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and hazelnuts) in place of almond butter. Because of the reduced sugar the batter was ‘wetter’ than normal, so I added about a cup of large flake oats and mixed it in with my hands. They baked up great and my family loves them! They are plenty sweet with that amount of sugar, and I am going to try reducing it further next time! Thank you for a great recipe.
That’s great that they worked with less sugar! And awesome that you were able to fix the wet batter with some oats. :) That sounds delicious as does your seed butter. Good luck with reducing the sugar even more and thanks for your tips!
Thanks so much for this recipe! Our family is converting to a paleo diet for health reasons and my son really wanted chocolate chip cookies. It was a hit for everyone! My 5 year old son really loved it!!
You’re welcome! :) I’m happy that you and your family enjoyed the cookies. Thanks for your comment and good luck with going paleo!
Really though– how is this a GRAIN free, better-for-you cookie? This recipe is AMAZING.
Haha. Thank you! I’m thrilled that you liked it so much. :)
Hi Erin-thank you so much for coming up with this recipe! I absolutely love these cookies. I am diabetic and need no sugar in the cookies, so I substitute stevia and use SF chocolate chips. I also add a cup of either walnuts or pecans. They come out absolutely delicious and my kids keep raiding my stash. (I bake them your regular recipe too). These are by far the best I’ve tried that I can eat. I was wondering if you have tried to come up with a peanut blossom recipe? The peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kiss? I’ve tried and have come up with an acceptable recipe, but nothing outstanding like these. Thanks again!
Hi Carla! What brand of stevia did you use? And did you use 3/4 cup? I ask because I’m gathering options for the people who ask for sugar-free options. :) I’ve tried so many peanut butter cookie recipes using natural peanut butter but they’re nothing like the cookies I love using regular peanut butter (which I try not to use on my blog). Such a bummer because peanut butter cookies are my favorite. I’ll keep trying, though! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :)
I LOVE these cookies! I use cold coconut oil and I use half coconut sugar and half brown sugar and they come out great! My boyfriend even likes them and he generally doesn’t like he taste of coconut oil.
Thanks!
I’m happy that you both enjoyed them! If your boyfriend doesn’t like the taste of coconut oil, you could try refined coconut oil, which has absolutely no coconut taste. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
I didn’t know that! Sounds too processed for me to buy though. Only non GMO, organic, cold pressed oil for me. He just has to deal with it. Hehe. Thank you though!!
Haha. Poor boyfriend. :D Nutiva has non-GMO, organic, chemical-free refined coconut oil (though not cold-pressed!) in case he gets stubborn one day and refuses to deal with coconut flavored everything. ;)
I am obsessed with these cookies. They freeze really well and making them with sun-nut butter worked perfectly!!! A+ recipe!!!!!!!
Do you freeze the dough, then bake from frozen? I’d be interested in knowing what you do!.
I don’t know what she does but I freeze the dough and then roll into balls or roll the dough into balls, freeze, and then defrost in the fridge. :)
The best paleo cookies ive ever had!! I used half butter/half coconut oil instead of all one or the other and used crunchy almond butter instead bc I didn’t have smooth. I get asked all the time to make these because they are such a hit!!
Aww, yay! I love that you get requests for these. That’s awesome. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
OMG! Just made these for myself and my parents and we have never found a paleo recipe that tastes as good as these! Do you have a pancake recipe??
Haha. I’m happy you all liked them so much! I do have a paleo pancake recipe but they’re not exactly like regular fluffy American pancakes. They’re not thick like regular American fluffy pancakes, but they’re not nearly as thin as crepes. Here’s the recipe if you want to try: paleo “buttermilk” pancakes. Thanks for your comment! :)
Hi Erin, I read an earlier comment/question about using sugar, but the reference was to the chocolate chips…but I also noticed the recipe calls for brown sugar or coconut sugar…can you please comment on this (I, too, an trying to figure things out)…I’m also wondering if maple syrup would work instead of brown or coconut sugar. TIA :)
Hi there! Check out the notes at the bottom of the recipe for the paleo version. :) I’ve tried these with maple syrup and they came out cakey. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
I’ve just started a paleo diet, but I thought sugar wasn’t allowed in the paleo diet. Why are these chocolate chips ok if they have cane sugar in them?
Sorry, just trying to figure out the paleo diet lol
Haha. Don’t be sorry! Enjoy Life chocolate chips are considered paleo by a lot of paleo folks (you can read about it here. :) If you don’t feel comfortable eating them, you can add nuts or something else in place of the chocolate in the cookies. Enjoy!
Hi! These look great–just wondering if the almond butter you listed as an ingredient has salt added. If so, is it okay to use plain, salt-free almond butter instead, or would it significantly affect the taste? Would I need to add extra salt to get it to the proper taste that these cookies are supposed to be (I want mine to taste just like yours)? If so, how much?
Hi there! I used homemade almond butter, which just has almonds in it. Nothing added! So you should be good to go. Hope you’ll enjoy them! :)