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My almond flour cookies are thick, soft, chewy, naturally grain-free, and refined sugar-free. They require no chill time and are ready in 15 minutes.
Love almond flour recipes? Try my almond flour pancakes, almond flour banana bread, almond flour cake, and almond flour muffins next.
Using grain-free flour in cookies can be very tricky. While traditional white flour or wholewheat flour are safe choices, others can be pretty hit-and-miss. My simple almond flour cookie recipe is a winner, and it tastes like any good cookie!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- 5 Ingredients. And you don’t need any eggs or milk to make them.
- Perfect texture. They are thick and chewy, have a slightly soft center, and have gorgeous crisp edges.
- Quick and easy. There is no chilling required, and they take less than 15 minutes to make.
- Diet-friendly. These cookies are vegan, gluten-free, AND paleo!
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. You must use blanched almond flour, not almond meal. Almond meal tends to yield heavy and dense cookies and will be darker in color.
- Baking powder. Gives the cookies some rise.
- Butter. Either butter or vegan butter can be used. You must measure your butter in a melted/softened state. If you use vegan butter, be sure to use one from a stick, as other kinds contain added water that can affect the texture of the cookies.
- Maple syrup. Gives the cookies the necessary sweetness without being overpowering. You can also use agave nectar or honey (although I find honey to be a little too overpowering, so be wary!).
- Vanilla extract. A must for any good cookie recipe!
- Chocolate chips. Optional but highly recommended! I like to use a mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. If you opt for vegan butter, use vegan chocolate chips.
How to make cookies with almond flour
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Mix together the almond flour and baking powder. Next, add the softened butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Gently fold through your chocolate chips, reserving a few to top the cookies with.
Step 2- Shape. Form 6 large or 12 small balls of dough and place on a lined baking sheet. Press each ball of cookie dough into a thick cookie shape.
Step 3- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the pan.
Arman’s recipe tips
- While your butter must be melted/softened, it should also be at room temperature. Using warm butter will start the melting process of the chocolate chips, resulting in marbled cookies and burnt edges.
- These cookies do not spread, so shape them the size and thickness that you want.
- Do not overbake the cookies, as they continue to cook as they cool down.
- Be sure to check on the cookies at the 12-minute mark and continue to monitor them until done. They can go from golden to dark brown in a short amount of time.
- Use another syrup. Some readers have tried replacing the maple syrup with sugar-free syrup. I haven’t tried this myself, so I cannot vouch for its outcome.
- Shape appropriately. I made 6 large cookies (as pictured). For smaller cookies, make 12 balls of dough.
Flavor variations
- Almond flour chocolate chip cookies. As pictured! Fold through 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chip of choice into the dough.
- Raisin cookies. Add 1/2 cup raisins to the dough, and reserve a few to top the cookies with. Soak the raisins for 30 minutes prior, for them to plump up and be extra juicy.
- Trail mix cookies. Add up to 1/2 cup of your favorite mix-ins, including seeds, nuts, candy bits, and more!
- Double chocolate cookies. Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the batter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
Storage instructions
To store: Place the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Store them in the refrigerator if you’d like them to keep longer.
To freeze: Put your cookies in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
While you technically can use almond meal, your cookies won’t be creamy in color but flecked with brown and black spots. They also will be slightly more crumbly.
Unfortunately, no. Freezing this particular cookie dough will yield crumbly and gritty remnants once thawed, and the cookies will be brittle and grassy once baked. My recipe is super simple, though, so you don’t need to fret about prepping this in advance.
More almond flour desserts
- Almond flour brownies
- Almond flour oatmeal cookies
- Almond flour banana muffins
- Almond flour banana bread
- Almond flour waffles
- Almond flour chocolate cake
- Almond flour cupcakes
Almond Flour Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour blanched almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup butter or vegan butter, softened
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your almond flour and baking powder and mix well. Add your melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold through your chocolate chips.
- Form 6 large or 12 small balls of dough. Place on the lined sheet, and press down into a cookie shape. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just beginning to go golden around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published October 2020, updated and republished November 2024
I have made these several times in the last few weeks. They are tasty, easy and very quick to finish up. They create very few dirty dishes and everyone I have served them to loves them. Today’s batch is goin to a gluten free family. I like the small batch so they are always fresh.
It was super yummy, not too sweet. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
OMG!!!! This is my favorite recipe now. I love it thank you for sharing it with us 😘😘
The first almond flour cookie that I finally can serve to my gluten free friend that tastes so very good. It was EXCELLENT!!!! In fact, everyone loved them. I added walnuts.
So delicious and simple.
Thank you Arman for all your amazing recipes. I do love them. I appreciate you. I was curious do you happen to know how many grams each large cookie would be? Thank you
We don’t weigh them 🙂
Love these! I’ve made them many times. My go to healthy cookie. Quick, one bowl prep and fast cook time.
Made A dozen just like you!!said I only had keto maple syrup and did sugar free chip,
I will make again.
Thanks for your
Wonderful recipes
This is my second time making these cookies. I followed the recipe exactly and used a cashew vegan butter. I have tried making vegan chocolate chip cookies with a gluten free flour blend and those cookies came out hard as rocks. This recipe was a success and my husband who has a lot of food limitations loves them. Thank you for such a good recipe. It’s a keeper for sure.
If I wanted to use Swerve instead of the maple syrup, how much do you think I should use? Thanks so much!
Not sure- haven’t tried! You’d need to experiment and see!
Don’t make the mistake I made. Don’t use Bobs Red Mill almond flour. I tried making these cookies twice and the dough was too crumbly to form. I thought it was because I used melted butter but softened butter had the same effect. I made these cookies before and they were great.
Thanks, Treesa- Completely agree. I’ve stopped using Bob’s products for years, they’ve definitely declined.
Awesome! I really like these cookies! I’ve tried a bunch but these are really the best! I’ll double the recipe next time! Even my really picky husband liked them and that’s saying something!
What if I don’t have blanched almond flour? Can I use it or do I need blanched?
Standard almond flour will be fine.
These are great! I’ve made these three times in one month but substituted the maple syrup for agave. I also tried this and added a little extra vanilla extract, an extra tablespoon of agave, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and a splash of 2% milk. SOOO good, would recommend trying it this way if you want a nice, spiced cookie.
I like these more than flour cookies. The flavorings of the almond flour and maple syrup make these cookies taste more sophisticated somehow. Great recipe!
This recipe is so simple but very satisfying. It takes 20mins flat. I subbed the maple syrup for a Keto syrup (dietary reasons) and added Maldon salt to the tops of the cookies right when it was taken out of the oven. I definitely recommend the salt flakes. Pops the flavour! Thank you!