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.
Love this recipe! Quick question I want to make them again and I’m out of coconut oil, would it be alright to use olive oil instead?
I’ve never tried it and would probably do butter instead of olive oil if I had to pick a sub, but I’m sure it would work.
I have tried a lot of recipes lately where the blog author raves about his or her creation and I can’t even finish it once I make it myself. Gina, you have restored my faith in humanity and the blogosphere. Thank you! These are AMAZING!
haha, you win best comment of the day :) So glad you like them!!
Ah! I’ve never won anything before! ;) Thank you! And btw, I’m making these again tomorrow. It’s the weekend…
I’m just beginning to try out various paleo recipes and I have to say, these are ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I’m not much of a cook myself, but they were super quick and easy to make, and they tasted unbelievably good. The only suggestion I’d make is to perhaps go a little lighter on the honey next time.
Great recipe!
How can something eggless, sugarless, grainless taste so good?
It was really hot here today, so I didn’t want to run the big oven and baked these in the convection oven instead. As a consequence, my first half of the batch was getting too toasty on the outside and unfinished on the inside, so I turned the temp down to 300 and baked for 15 minutes so the middle would set better. Worked out great, and didn’t over heat my house. I had about 4 tablespoons batter left, and tried adding a teaspoon of cocoa to that bit to make a double chocolate cookie –> pretty darn good, and didn’t change the texture. I now have two cookie flavors from your recipe. I will also try adding coconut flakes someday, and the chopped toasted pecans on another day as was mentioned in other comments.
Thank you for a simple, healthier, and interchangeable recipe that is SO yummy!
oh, just realized I left out the milk and didn’t even miss it!
I just made these for the second time and they were even better!!! I sifted the almond meal/flower and chopped pecans and chocolate chips . .wow. . .they are so so good! A new trick is to measure out the honey in the same tablespoon you just did the coconut oil as it will slide right on out! I doubled the recipe and it made 12 nice size cookies .. next time I’ll triple . .everyone I’ve shared with love them and even my hubby who doesn’t eat my type of Paleo-style of eatin’ .. good eats peeps!
so glad you liked them! and yeah, I’ve done the oil first then the sticky stuff in a measuring spoon before too, such a good little kitchen trick!
Great Read!! Thanks!! I just recently wrote a blog post on my favorite paleo chocolate cookie recipe, a easy one and super yummy!!
Thanks,
Michelle
Ah you are the best for sharing these!!! I have been craving a good cookie and I’m following the GAPS diet (very close to paleo, just has an emphasis on probiotic foods like fermented veggies). These I can eat! Yeah!! Gonna try them this week. Thanks again!
These are AMAZING! We took these to a friends house and all of us loved them!! We just made our second batch two days later. SOOO YUMMY!!!
Awesome! so glad you like them :)
Awesome!!! I just made these for the first time and love them. Thank you soooo much!
Glad you liked them!