Paleo chocolate chip cookies that are gluten, grain and dairy free but taste just like the real thing! Just a small amount of easy ingredients and you can be eating these in minutes!
It’s been a week.
Like one of those that despite your best intentions, all you can eat think of is chocolate, dessert, pasta, cheese… Basically, all the bad stuff.
I blame the stupid weather which, according to weather.com, was supposed to be sunny and 60s every day when I checked on Sunday and then somehow ended up a cloudy, drizzly mess for 3 of those days.
My cousin just graduated with a degree in meteorology and took his first job which is accompanied by a disgustingly low salary. I now understand why. I’m convinced they all just sit around throwing darts at a selection of weather patterns and pick whichever one they hit for the forecast. (Chris- I’m kidding)
This is why I hate winter. It makes me crave bad things.
And before someone gets all sassy in the comments, no, I’m not calling cheese and pasta inherently bad, but when you crave copious amounts of each every day because it looks like armageddon outside, it’s not the healthiest choice.
I can usually hold myself off for the first half of the day but that 2-3pm blah time gets me.
Every. Single. Time.
It’s about the time I want a nap, lose all motivation to work and want to eat every single piece of chocolate and/or carby goodness in my house. This doesn’t happen in the summer.
Reason #345987456 why we should’ve never moved back to NY from Florida.
So since we have approximately 6 more months of this craptastic weather coming our way, I decided I needed a go to 2-3pm fix.
Requirements:
- Chocolate
- Tastes legit
- I can eat like 5 of them without feeling bad.
Let’s expand upon #2 for a second – when I say “tastes legit” I mean I don’t want some “health-ified” or “high protein-ified” version of a classic that uses prunes or dates or protein powder. Although, I’m kinda making fun of myself when I say that because these raw brownie bites fit that description but are SO delicious at the same time.
Guys- there’s some crazy ass shit out there in the form of “recipes” for stuff like that.
I just so happened to have picked about 5 of them for recent breakfasts. Wednesday’s ended up in a batter explosion and a black waffle with great flavor but the texture of an air puff. Um, wtf? Do people not taste their creations before posting for the world?
I digress.
I’m giving myself an A on this assignment.
These paleo chocolate chip cookies have chocolate chunks, legit chocolate chip cookie flavor and most importantly for me when it comes to a chocolate chip cookie, they have the soft gooey chocolate center. Soft batch cookies are where it’s at. Life’s too short for crispy, hard cookies, at least when it comes to chocolate chip.
Somehow they’re also miraculously dairy-free, grain-free and paleo.
Holla.
Also, I somehow only ate 3 straight out of the oven. So make that an A+ on this cookie assignment.
If you want to take these paleo chocolate chip cookies to the next level, check out these paleo bacon chocolate chip cookies!
Same recipe just with the addition of some crispy crumbled bacon to the batter for that delicious salty sweet combination.
Love these paleo chocolate chip cookies?
Try these other paleo cookie recipes like this Paleo Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet <– so gooey and insanely delicious!, these Paleo Blueberry Thumbprints or these Paleo Blueberry Chocolate Macaroons.
And for something chocolaty but not in cookie form, paleo chocolate mousse never disappoints.
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil, *update: make sure to measure oil after melting so that you’re not inadvertently using too much. This can cause cookies to flatten
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
- 1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate pieces Enjoy Life chocolate chips are a great option.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together wet ingredients in a small bowl.
- Add wet to dry and mix together.
- Fill a tablespoon measure with batter and press down to form a half-circle. Tap batter out onto baking sheet and lightly press down in the center. *Optional – freeze cookies on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before baking. This helps keep them from spreading.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes until bottoms just start to turn brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They will be soft when removed from oven but firm up in a couple of minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Can I use Oat flour instead of almond flour?
Don’t ask me how but somehow i seriously screwed these up. I have chocolate chip pancake wafers instead of cookies!
I just made these not even 20 minutes ago and they were DELICIOUS. It’s the first time I have ever baked paleo cookies and they came out great. I had to bake them a little longer because instead of putting them on parchment I put them in mini cupcake tins to make them into little portable bite sized snacks I added unsweetened coconut flakes to it because I love coconut flakes. All in all, great and super easy recipe!
So glad you liked them! I love the mini cupcake idea :)
These look HEAVENLY! Can’t wait to make ’em :)
These definitely look like the real deal too. Think I have all these ingredients on hand, definitely going to give these a go.
I’m new to this paleo thing, but isn’t sugar a no-no? I mean the sugar in the dark chocolate you use? Just curious! Tx!
technically, yes. But dark chocolate is very low in sugar (the higher the cacao content, the less sugar) and is used in “paleo” recipes quite often.
This week seriously bugged me so much weather wise. I checked it every night before bed expecting sun to only have rain, wind or clouds. Cookies should always be around to make up for those crumby days.
love the idea of this – healthy and curbs your cravings of bad stuff. smart idea! i hate winter too. ugh. gonna gain so much weight before my wedding, it’s not even funny
holy moley. that is all the words I have for these.
I wish I could trade weathers with you. Its all sunny and 75 here and all I want to do is wear hoodies and skinny jeans with boots and maybe a scarf. Not happening any time soon. What is wrong with me?
Would it work with coconut flour instead? I’m baking for a friend with an almond intolerance…
I was wondering the same thing. Almond meal is so much more expensive. We just had twins and our budget is TIGHT :) I have ordered some coconut flour and will try it out when it comes in.
Coconut flour is not interchangeable with almond. It absorbs a TON of liquid so the ratios would be quite different as well as the texture. Coconut flour tends to be chalky when used by itself so I would not suggest switching it out in this case. Also, I find coconut flour to be way more expensive than almond flour. You can make your own almond flour/meal if you don’t want to buy it and save $ that way. Just process almonds in a food processor until flour-like.
I know this is a little late for a reply but my 6 year old and I just made these tonight and they were delicious! I used a half cup of almond flour and a half cup of coconut, plus added an egg to this recipe. They turned out great and kid-approved by my picky little boy! Thanks for sharing. :)