I made chocolate chunk cookies three times this week- three days in a row. But it was for work.
Sometimes, my job is making Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It could be worse
This whole cookie adventure started when I saw the video on NYT cooking’s Instagram of their almond flour CCCs. They looked amazing, so I made them almost exactly as written. I couldn’t find brown sugar so used coconut sugar. They were good.
Since they were already similar to my Brown Butter CCCs on here, I figured I should tweak them a little to use only coconut sugar. I did that for the second batch, and they were even better. A little dry, and not quite sweet enough.
Batch 3 was the ticket. A blend of almond flour and tapioca starch, just the right amount of coconut sugar to yield just sweet enough, chewy on the inside crispy on the edges cookie perfection.
An answer to any question about subs that you might be thinking at this moment:
I don’t know. I literally do not know. If you’ve read this far, you know that I made this recipe 3x. I did not post the recipe until after that third time, when the result was what I was aiming for. I got to that point by tweaking the ingredients based on the results on prior batches.
I have no idea how these cookies will work if you use an egg replacer, because I have not made them with an egg replacer. I don’t know what you can sub for almond flour. Actually that’s not true: You can sub a different recipe altogether because almond flour is the main ingredient in this one. My advice for Making Recipes You Find For Free On The Internet: If you can’t have the main ingredient, it’s not the recipe for you. Use your googles.
In the case of tapioca starch, I give the alternative or arrowroot starch, because I have used those two interchangeably with good results on multiple occasions. And of course you can sub chocolate chips for chocolate chunks with great results, but not the best results because chunks > chips. My favorite brand for Fair Trade chocolate is Alter Eco.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
The perfect CCC, paleo or not.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14-16 minutes
- Total Time: 0 minute
- Yield: 1 dozen cookies
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick / 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (140 grams) coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (190 grams) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) tapioca starch (or arrowroot starch)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
- 6 ounces (about 1 cup) dark chocolate, chopped*
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Either in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with hand mixers, beat the butter and coconut sugar on medium-high until lighter in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or so, until the mixture is homogenous.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix on low until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, drop the dough into 6 cookies on each prepared baking sheet, staggering them so they have room to spread. Press down a little so they’re about 1.5 inches thick. Sprinkle on some flaky salt.
- Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the pans, and bake for another 6-8 minutes, or until the cookies are brown on the edges and just set in the center. Allow to cook before transferring from the baking sheets to a wire rack.
Notes
You can, of course use chocolate chips instead of cutting up a chocolate bar, but I prefer chocolate chunks for the imperfect perfection of them. I love using a combination of dark and milk chocolate, but feel free to use whatever you prefer.
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Cristina says
Best GF/Paleo Chocolate Chip cookie I have ever had! I adjusted the cooking time a little for my oven. This cookie tastes just like the chocolate chip cookie of my childhood.
zenbelly says
Thanks, Cristina! So glad you enjoyed them!
Cheryl says
These are SO GOOD! These taste just like the version my mom made us as kids. This is the first gf/paleo recipe I’ve found that comes anywhere close to tasting like the “real thing” from my childhood. I used semi-sweet choc chips, but otherwise I made the recipe as stated. Definitely worth a repeat!
zenbelly says
Thanks, Cheryl! I’m so glad to hear you loved them.
Gayle St. Luise says
These were easy to make, perfect crisp chewy texture and delicious! They were much larger than expected so I’m glad I listened to directions and used two pans. Thanks again for another awesome recipe!
zenbelly says
Thanks, Gayle! I’m so glad you loved them.
Isabelle Moor says
Perfect cookies, reminded me of my mom’s recipe. Although they didn’t look as pictured because they spread quite a lot they were still crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle. Will make them again soon!
zenbelly says
thanks Isabelle! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Joyce says
These sound lovely! I’m holding off for a while since I’m restricting carbs, but a cheat day is in order! THanks! And thanks for your willingness to urge understanding and activism! YEs, Black Lives Matter!
Meg.F says
Wowow this are SO GOOD!
I didn’t have any tapioca/arrowroot so just popped a 1/2 cup of gf flour mix in instead and they still came out great. Looking forward to making them again, with the original ingredients but very happily devouring this batch now.
Katie B says
These were so great! I took a risk and made them with some lard from my butcher instead of butter (as I was out) and they still came out perfect. So chewy and delicious! I was worried it would be a little too sweet for me because I’m super sensitive to sugar, but the coconut sugar isn’t as sweet as other natural sweeteners and it was just the right amount. I think my oven needs to be calibrated or something though because they were done when I went to rotate the pans at 8 minutes!
Jessica Beckwith says
Amazing seriously the most delicious ccc I’ve made since going Paleo/GF I’ve tried many, but these are chewy and soft but still a slight crisp on the edge. I recently bought a cookie scoop which I believe makes a huge difference in that all the cookies bake throughly. ❣️ Touchdown again Simone!