Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Get ready for the best paleo chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had! These cookies are soft, chewy, and have a rich, buttery taste. They’re also incredibly easy to make, which is good because everyone will be asking for more!

When I tell you I’ve made this paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe over 100 times, I am not exaggerating. Do other paleo cookie recipes exist? Well, yes, I have a whole cookie book with them. HA! But if I’m being honest, I always default to this recipe when I’ve got cookies on the mind.

Even though these chocolate chip cookies are made with paleo ingredients, absolutely no one will know. They’re thick, soft and chewy, and loaded with little pockets of melted dark chocolate chips. I’ve tested these on all of my friends (those who are gluten free and gluten filled), and they’re always a fan favorite. Tailgates, birthday parties, dinner with friends, Father’s Day, or just weekend baking fun—you name it, these paleo cookies have stolen the show!

They’re also incredibly easy to make, which is good because they tend to go fast! The entire cookie recipe mixes up in one bowl. Then, just form into balls and bake. Let’s do this!

Ingredient Notes

• Almond flour – Make sure to use blanched almond flour. This makes the cake soft and moist.
• Tapioca flour – Tapioca is a starch that derives from the cassava root. You’ll find it in the baking section (often near almond flour). It’s also sometimes labeled tapioca starch.
• Coconut flour – A drier flour made from ground coconut meat. This gives the cake a nice cakey texture. You’ll find this in the baking section.
• Sea salt – I like to use an unprocessed sea salt like Real Salt.
• Coconut sugar – This adds a nice maple-like flavor to the pudding. Coconut sugar is paleo because it’s sourced from the coconut palm tree.
• Honey – I recommend using a local, raw honey for the best flavor and nutrients
• Ghee – Ghee is butter with the milk solids removed. It’s a great option for those who are sensitive to lactose or milk protein.
• Egg –  Lay these out about an hour ahead of time to bring them to room temperature.
• Dark chocolate chips – For 100% paleo chocolate chips, use Hu Kitchen chocolate chips.

Substitutions

• Almond flour: You can use another nut flour, like cashew flour.
• Tapioca flour: You can use arrowroot flour. Note: this will change the texture slightly as arrowroot is a little more gummy.
• Honey: You can swap this for maple syrup. Honey is generally sweeter, so you’ll taste that difference.
• Ghee: If you need to be completely dairy free, you can swap this for coconut oil. You can also swap this for butter.

How to Make Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients. Whisk the almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut flour together until it’s broken down and fine. Add the sea salt, baking soda, and coconut sugar, and whisk until combined. 
3. Add the wet ingredients. Add the honey, ghee, egg, and vanilla extract, and fold everything together until a uniform dough forms. The dough should be fairly thick and come together to form a ball. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Form into balls. Form the dough into about twelve 2-inch balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie ever so slightly with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Mixing Tips

These paleo chocolate chip cookies are made with almond flour, but they’re also made with a blend of coconut flour and tapioca flour. This makes them irresistibly soft. While I tested many different flours combination, this trifecta was a match made in heaven.

No weird gritty texture or dryness. No browning on the bottom or sogginess in the center. Just pure, thick and chewy chocolatey goodness.

The second piece that makes these soft and chewy is how you process the flours. After much testing, getting perfectly chewy cookies requires whisking the flours until broken down and fine. You can use a food processor or stand or hand mixer to do this. Just whisk the flours for about 2-3 minutes, then switch out the attachment to the beater to fold in the remaining ingredients.

You can also mix the flours together by hand. Just use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients together, and then fold in the wet ingredients with a spatula.

Baking Tips

• If you don’t have a food processor or mixer, just whisk the flours by hand!
• Make sure to watch the paleo cookies in the oven right at the 10 minute mark for any golden brown color on top.
• Making this recipe for kiddos or a special holiday? Add naturally colored sprinkles or chocolate candies on top just before placing them in the oven.
• Want to turn this into a cookie cake? Check out my Paleo Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie!

Recipe FAQs

Storage and Freezing

STORE: You can store leftover paleo cookies at room temperature in an airtight container. Use a piece of parchment paper to separate the layers when stacking them. They’re best if eaten within 1-2 days, but will last up to 4 days at room temperature. You can also store the cookies in the fridge for up to a week.

FREEZE: To freeze, simply wrap the cookies in parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking, then put them in a freezer-friendly storage bag in the freezer for up to three months. To thaw, lay a cookie out at room temperature for about an hour.

Other Paleo Recipes

• Fudgy Paleo Brownies (Crackly Top, Gluten-Free)
• Paleo Chocolate Cake
• Paleo Chocolate Donuts
• Paleo Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread