GRAIN FREE & GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES made with almond flour… yes, please! These cookies are an older AK recipe, but one that is perfect for Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or just baking with the kiddos.
These chocolate sugar cookies are a take on my almond flour sugar cookies, which are most definitely in my top 5 favorite cookies of all time. Seriously, UNREAL. If you haven’t made them yet, prepare for a life changer.
This time I’m showing you how to make a chocolate version because what’s Valentine’s Day without a little chocolate? Options to cut these into cute heart shapes or just enjoy as regular, round cookies for the perfect treat.
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What you’ll need to make gluten free chocolate sugar cookies
Good news! These gluten free chocolate sugar cookies can either be rolled into balls and baked or made into adorable sugar cookie cutouts, frosted and decorated. Perfect for making with kids, bringing to parties or birthdays, or just enjoying them at home. Or of course, Valentine’s Day. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Flours: we’re using both almond flour and coconut flour to keep these cookies gluten free, grain free, lower in carbohydrates and higher in fiber compared to using regular flour. Plus these two flours also have a nice sweetness to them, meaning we don’t have to use as much sweetener.
- Cocoa powder: you’ll also need some good quality unsweetened cocoa powder. I personally love Ghirardelli 100% unsweetened cocoa powder. You can also feel free to use cacao powder, which is a bit richer in flavor and contains more vitamins and minerals.
- Coconut oil: add a bit of coconut oil to give the cookies the perfect amount of moisture & yummy flavor. You are more than welcome to use melted butter or melted vegan butter.
- Egg: make sure your egg is at room temperature when you make this recipe. I like to do this by running it under warm water for 1 minute.
- Sweetener: we’re adding both sugar + honey to sweeten the cookies. Because these are sugar cookies, I wanted to use real deal sugar. The entire recipe only calls for a small amount of organic cane sugar, but you can also feel free to sub coconut sugar, although the cookies may come out softer. I use honey in the recipe to keep a nice soft texture to the cookies plus add additional sweetness. Maple syrup would also work well.
- Baking staples: you’ll of course need some vanilla extract for extra flavor, baking soda and a bit of salt. Learn how to make your own vanilla extract here!
- For the chocolate buttercream: this is optional, but highly recommended. You’ll need butter, more cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla and a bit of milk to make it.
Can I use regular flour?
Unfortunately, no, I would not recommend using a different flour in these grain free chocolate sugar cookies as the texture will greatly change.
Can I make these cookies vegan?
I haven’t tested this recipe with a flax egg, but I think it should work well! Let me know in the comments if you try it. Be sure to also use vegan butter if you’re making the chocolate buttercream. Learn how to make a flax egg here!
How to make cut out chocolate sugar cookies
- Make & refrigerate dough. After mixing up the dough for these gluten free chocolate sugar cookies, shape it into a disc, wrap it well, and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour (preferably 2).
- Roll it out. Once the dough is done chilling, place it on a large sheet of parchment paper that’s been dusted with a good amount of coconut flour. Add another large sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough ball and roll it out into a large rectangle until the dough is about 1/4th inch thick.
- Cut & bake. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out the cookies, transfer them to a prepared baking sheet & bake!
- Frost (if you’d like). Beat together the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder & vanilla until smooth and fluffy, then frost each cooled cookie and decorate however you’d like.
Want to make regular cookies?
This recipe can easily be made into regular, round cookies! Simply roll cookies into dough sized balls, then place them on a baking sheet, flatten the cookies with a glass, or your hand, and bake as directed. No need to refrigerate the dough for this version.
Tips for making gluten free chocolate sugar cookies
- Do not use substitutes. Almond flour should not be replaced with any other flour, nor should you attempt to replace the coconut flour. The cookies really are perfect as is, promise.
- Pack your almond flour. I like to pack my almond flour just like I would with brown sugar. It makes all the difference! No need to pack the coconut flour though.
- Want them dairy free? To make completely dairy free, just use vegan butter instead of regular butter in the frosting.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. It makes the dough MUCH easier to work with, plus it helps the cookies to hold their shape.
- Roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper or wax paper. This prevents the dough from sticking to your surface since parchment paper is nonstick.
- Add coconut flour to your rolling pin. This will ensure that the dough does not stick to the rolling pin.
- Roll dough so that’s it’s 1/4th inch thick. Yes, we want a thicker dough so that the cookies are easier to cut out. Plus, the thicker dough really allows the cookies to keep their soft middle texture, yet still have crispy edges.
Storing tips
Feel free to store these grain free chocolate sugar cookies in an airtight bag or container at room temp for up to 5 days.
Freezer-friendly gluten free chocolate sugar cookies
There are two great ways to freeze these chocolate sugar cookies, and they’ll stay good for about 2 months. Get all of our tips & tricks for freezing cookie dough and baked cookies here!
More gluten free treats to try
- Inside Out Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
- Amazing Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Lemon Raspberry Poppy Seed Cake
- Fudgy Flourless Almond Butter Brownies (gluten free + dairy free)
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Tahini Blondies
Get all of our gluten free treats here, and all of our Valentine’s Day recipes here!
I hope you love these almond flour chocolate sugar cookies as much as we do. We’d also love for you to leave a comment + rate the recipe below. We greatly appreciate your feedback! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Gluten Free Almond Flour Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1/3 cup organic cane sugar (regular sugar or coconut sugar will also work)
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups packed fine almond flour (do not use almond meal)
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut flour (start with 2)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Chocolate Buttercream (optional):
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened (or use vegan buttery stick)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 teaspoons almond milk (or milk of choice) to smooth/thin out frosting
Instructions
- In a large bowl add in the coconut oil, sugar, honey, egg and vanilla extract; whisk until well combined and smooth.
- Next add in almond flour, 2 tablespoons coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon (not a whisk) until dough comes together. Allow dough to sit for 5 minutes. If dough is WAY too soft to form into a disc after 5 minutes, add in another tablespoon of coconut flour and mix again.
- Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic; chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (preferably 2) or 30-45 minutes in the freezer. Also optional to chill overnight if you want to save time.
- Once ready to bake: preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place dough on a large sheet of parchment paper that’s been dusted with a good amount of coconut flour. Add another large sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough ball and then begin to roll out into a large rectangle until the dough is about 1/4th inch thick. The dough is soft, so you need to work quickly so that it doesn’t warm up too much! This is also the best method to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes, then use a spatula to help you transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet.If you don't want to make cutouts, there is no need to refrigerate the dough. Simply roll cookies into dough sized balls, then place on a baking sheet, flatten the cookies with a glass, or your hand, then bake at directed.
- Place cutouts on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack and allow cookies to cool completely before frosting. Makes about 15 cookies.
- For the frosting: Beat butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla on medium high until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add a tiny splash of almond milk and beat again to make frosting more smooth. Frost each cookie then decorate however your heart desires.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Photography by: Sarah Fennel
Recipe originally published on February 6, 2017, and republished on February 11th, 2022.
112 comments
Aw I’m glad Tony is okay and you guys ended up having a relaxing weekend! Seriously, Gaga gave me SO much life. These cookies look amazing and I just bought a new bag of almond flour from Trader Joe’s! 🙂
I have a huge bag of almond flour in my kitchen just waiting to be used up for this recipe! These cookies are seriously the cutest yummiest looking cookies ever! YES to extra sprinkles 🙂
Convinced I need these AND your almond flour sugar cookies in my life. Glad to hear you guys still got to celebrate despite the scary slip!
Are these gluten free?
Yep!!
You mention not to use almond meal but then state it’s ok to use it? Can you confirm if I can use fine almond meal? Thanks 🙂
Hi. Can almond meal be substituted? Thanks. Looking forward to trying.
Hi Andrea – I wouldn’t recommend almond meal as it will change the texture.
I’m making these right now and they look delish! A few questions…what is the health benefit of almond flour? And what is the difference between almond flour & meal? A lot of the bags at the store said “almond flour/meal”.. thanks!!
These definitely need to be on my Valentine’s Day treats lineup!
Making these. Dough is already on POINT
Love that you love them!
great recipe! Kid and hubby approved!
whoo hoo!!
Did you fridge them after frosting ?
No I didn’t, but you can if you want. 🙂
Looks yummy!!
Thank you for the good recipe!!
You bet!!
Do you think it would turn out if put a caramel in the middle of the rolled ball, like your salted Caramel snickerdoodles?
I think that should work! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Just made these without the frosting for a quick treat and they were great! I cut the entire recipe in half, rolled into balls and flattened with a fork similar to peanut butter cookies. Next time might try adding coconut, chopped nuts or chocolate chips to them as well! Thank you!
Amazing! I’m so glad you enjoyed these. Those add-ins sound delicious, too!
i have these baked and cooling! can’t wait to frost and decorate for valentines day! is it ok if i make a post on my blog and link back to you?
Perfect for Valentine’s Day! Please avoid posting the recipe on your blog, but feel free to add the link to this recipe! 🙂
Is it okay if I skip the coconut flour or is there some replacement to coconut flour that I can use
Did you find a replacement? I have the same question.
You could try oat flour, but please know that I haven’t tried it.
Hi! I would love to try these cookies but don’t have the coconut flour. Was wondering if I could possibly sub with tapioca flour? Thank you!
I haven’t tried tapioca flour, but it would probably work! Or oat flour.
I made these last night. The dough seemed very crumbly and dry, so I added a dollop of sour cream to help pull it together and I got lovely, chewy, soft cookies.
Everyone loved it! No one could tell they were “healthy” cookies 😉
Happy to hear that everyone loved them! I’m not sure why the dough ended up being crumbly or dry, but glad the dollop of sour cream helped out.
I made these last week and they truly are delicious! This is a recipe I will keep around. I love doing double batches and then freezing them so they’re available later! I seldom bake with white refined flour and so I am always looking for goodies with alternative flour’s like almond or oat or coconut, etc. Thanks!
Love that idea! So glad you found this one 🙂
can we not use . i want to make in my family but somebody is allergic to eggs . any other suggestion. Thanks
Anita
Flaxeggs should work!
I want to make these for my daughter’s class party because they look amazing! However, they have to be nut free. Any suggestions as a decent sub? Or should I fold and find another cookie recipe? Help! Thanks so much.
Hi Alexandra! Unfortunately many of my grain free cookies use nut flours (almond & coconut) to keep them nut free. These gluten free cookies use quinoa flour: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/the-best-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies-made-with-quinoa-flour-coconut-oil/ otherwise take a look at this cookie roundup: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/the-best-cookie-recipes-to-bake-this-holiday-season/
would this frosting work well on a cake?do you think I would need to double for a regular round cake? looks delicious!
it would work fine, you’d probably have to triple it for a cake though!
I made these for a family camping trip and everyone gobbled them up. When I got home I had to make a second batch just for myself because they were so tasty. Everything came out perfect both times.Thank you!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that Emilia 🙂
Love these super easy and delicious sugar cookies.
We made these for Halloween with Halloween cookie cutters and they turned fantastic. My 2 year old had so much fun rolling and stamping. Definately will make again!
Love that! Perfect for the holidays!
Would a flax egg work here? They look so good,but I can’t eat eggs. Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
Yes I think a flax egg would work well, however I’m not sure that you’ll be able to roll them as well. Let me know how they turn out if you do try to use a flaxegg!
These frosted cookies were DELICIOUS. We made them with our little kids and they a) had so much fun and b) loved the flavor, even our one kid who weirdly doesn’t have a sweet tooth. I added the zest of one whole orange to the dough (just can’t help myself), and we loved it!
Amazing! So happy to hear that. Love the idea of orange with the chocolate 🙂
congratulations. loved the cookies.
love all of your recipes. pat marino
Thanks so much, Pat! Happy to hear that 🙂
I’ve tried so many of your recipes, and now here’s another on my list!
Amazing! Let me know how you like them!
Ahh, these look so yummy!! Chocolate is never a bad idea, especially on Valentine’s Day. I always love your content, thanks for sharing!
Made these cookies for Valentine’s Day! They honestly taste like brownies they’re so chocolatey! They’re soft, but do have the crisp edges. The icing is literally silk! I substituted the coconut flour for oat flour and it worked fine. I was surprised by how much mine expanded, though. Maybe it had something to do with the flour swap. But if you want your cookies to look like hearts, make sure there’s room for them to expand without looking like blobs (lol).
So glad you liked them! The flour swap may be the culprit for them expanding, but delicious regardless 🙂
LOVED this recipe! So easy, tasty & the best!!
So happy to hear that!! Thanks for your note, Nicole 🙂
These were so easy and delicious! Pulled mine out right at 8 minutes and they were perfect. Will be making again soon.
Love it! One of my fav cookie recipes 🙂
My sister and her kids love these cookies, can I substitute the almond flour for something else I have a nut allergy : (
Thanks & happy baking!
Sorry, this recipe only calls for almond flour!
This has become a go-to recipe I make with my 4-year-old — about a half dozen times so far. It’s one bowl, super easy, and we usually have all ingredients on hand (just had to buy coconut flour the first time). We’ve made both cutouts and balls and both work well. No frosting for us, the dough is plenty sweet and flavorful on its own. Thank you for a delicious recipe!
So happy to hear that! Such a great treat 🙂
I havent tried these yet but they look amazing.
I needed to know the carb count for 1 cookie.
thanks
Hi! The nutrition info for 1 cookie is listed right below the recipe 🙂
Brought these cookies to a party tonight and every single one of them was eaten! I made a double batch, half chocolate half regular sugar cookie and people really loved both! One lady kept saying over and over how good they were and how surprised she was that they were grain free and dairy free (used vegan butter for the icing). Thank you for another winner!!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that!!
I’ve baked cakes with almond flour, but haven’t tried cookies yet. I’m looking forward to baking these this weekend.
Perfect! Enjoy 🙂
Wow, amazing cookies! I cut the powdered sugar in the frosting to a half cup and they were still perfect. Love that these are gluten free (a new change in our diet) and lower in sugar but still DANG GOOD! My husband asked me if I put crack in them lol.
Loved them! I first attempted to make chocolate graham crackers from a different site that came out so hard – hard to eat! – that I had to redeem myself for my own peace of mind lol and THIS RECIPE is THE RECIPE! I bake paleo very frequently but also bake with regular AP flour, WW flour, whatever. My silly self didn’t see my coconut flour hiding – forgot I bought a new bag – so I used tapioca flour and they came out perfect!(followed the recipe as written for the rest) Skipped the frosting, and put peanut butter on them, my kids say “deeee-lish!”
Amazing! So happy you and the kiddos loved them!
These turned out great for me! I realized I didn’t have enough almond flour when I was actually measuring it out. Oops. So I used white whole wheat flour for the rest (1 c almond, 1/2 c white whole wheat flour). And they still seemed to turn out! I know that doesn’t make them grain/gluten free anymore but the texture seemed ok for me. I plan to buy more almond flour and try them again. Thanks for a great recipe!!
I’m glad that still worked out well! Such a great dessert 🙂
Hi Monique! Do you think your new strawberry buttercream frosting would taste good on these?
That would be delicious!
I have tried these before! They were really good. Do you re-post posts? Because I made these two weeks ago, and it says its new. They were super yummy though!
Yes I do give them updates! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Can you use cacao powder?
Yep! Check the full blog post for all suggested ingredient swaps 🙂
Hello! Is it possible to make this recipe without the coconut flour and just use almond flour? Or another substitute? I am not needing it to be GF–but like eating cleanly if I can!
Thank you!
you could use oat flour or regular flour! You might need to use a few extra tablespoons of regular flour though.
perfect for our grain free dairy free family to celebrate with for Valentine’s day
Absolutely!
So yummy. KIds loved these for a special Valentine’s Treat! The cookies got softer each day, and we adored the frosting.
I usually only take inspiration from online resources and sort of like to tweak the recipes to give them a personal touch. But for this time, dare I make any changes. I’m copying the entire recipe to the dot >.< These look great Monique. I really hope they turn out good for my Valentine's weekend.
Soo good. I’ve made these quite a few times. Light and chewy, and the frosting is bomb.
I made these with a flax egg and they went straight into the oven, I didn’t chill and roll and cut out I just made the dough balls and flattened and baked. They were AMAZING. I mean that frosting for sure just puts them on another level but the cookie was so perfect. There was not one time that I just ate one. Very soft but structurally sound they didn’t fall apart on me. Yum.
can i used brown coconut sugar?
I added a little too much coconut flour but they were great!
these turned out AMAZING – I made them with 2in and 1in heart cookies (wanted to test out the smaller cut outs for little ones…I baked them for 6min). They have a great texture and the buttercream is just delicious. will for sure make these for a lot of celebrations for a gluten-free option
I rolled these into balls and they were super easy to make! Great texture and taste, indulgent but not too sweet
These are delicious! The coconut oil is delicious in these cookies and the classic frosting make them decadent!
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Love these cookies! Delicious!
Glad you loved them!
So delicious! Made these cookies today, stayed true to the recipe as is and they turned out great.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Great recipe!..I used hazelnut flour (it’s what I had) they taste intense like oreos..with a cup of cold plant milk…delicious..no pain all gain!
Easy enough..wish there was no fridge first step..but that’s me being greedy lol!.
I will consider buying cookie cutters now! (didn’t bother before cause gluten/lactose effs me up).
Ooh yes they DO taste like Oreos, glad you loved them!! And yeah, the fridge step is super important. Excited for you to make them again soon 🙂
See that water started in my mouth, I will definitely make this recipe at home
Hahaha can’t wait for you to try them!
Do you have a gram measurement for the almond flour? I usually weigh my almond flour so am not sure if a cup would equate to a packed cup.
Sorry, I don’t! I don’t weigh my ingredients. As long as you’re packing the cup well, it should be ok 🙂
I made these last night with a 6 year old and they were SIMPLE, EASY, and DELICIOUS. I followed the recipe putting in freezer for about 20-30 minutes and they were perfect for cutouts. We used melted chocolate on top instead of buttercream.
I’m so glad to hear that!! And the melted chocolate sounds delicious 🙂
this looks so delicious and amazing. thanks for sharing this amazing article and delicious recipe.
If I don’t have coconut flour can I sub for another kind?! So excited to make these
I haven’t tried subbing the coconut flour so I can’t be sure, but you could try using an addition 1/4 cup almond flour instead of the 2 tbsp. coconut flour (because almond flour is less absorbent of moisture, you can use more!) Let me know how that goes 🙂
These are so good! Not too sweet and so much flavor. It is a repeat recipe at my house. We top with melted chocolate and sprinkles.
I made these for my family this week! they loved them! i made the cookies and froze them. then took them out at the end of the week to frost them! Sent some to my daughter (who lives in Chicago and who follows your blog too). She loved them! Thanks for all the great recipes! Making the brownies tomorrow!