These gluten-free brownie cookies are like brownies in cookie form: fudgy, chewy, and gooey with shiny, crackly tops. With just 7 main ingredients, they're easy to whip up in about 30 minutes – and even easier to eat!
Thanks to Vermont Creamery for sponsoring this post!
These cookies go by many names: gluten-free double chocolate cookies, chocolate brownie cookies, fudge brownie cookies, mudslide cookies... the list goes on! When I first published this recipe in 2012, I called them "über chocolate cookies" since they contained unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate as well as cacao nibs. All the chocolate!
These were the days before Über became synonymous with tech bros and predatory capitalism. It was also the days before I knew how to make my recipes findable on the internet. Thus my post was just a series of haiku along with some process images. Simpler times!
I wanted to give this reader-favorite recipe a fresh look and show off my favorite butter while I was at it. But don't worry – I've left the haiku and an original photo below the recipe for posterity ;)
These easy gluten-free chocolate cookies are basically brownies in cookie form. The batter uses the same method as my favorite gluten-free brownie recipe. They're rich and fudgy, a little bit chewy and very, very chocolatey.
Fudgy Chocolate Cookies: years in the making
This gluten-free brownie cookie recipe has become quite dear to me over the years. I first found the base recipe in 2005 in an issue of Cook's Country. Whipped eggs and sugar created an airy base for unsweetened and bittersweet chocolates melted with butter. Vanilla and espresso powder added depth, and chocolate chips folded in melted into gooey pockets.
I brought this recipe to an organic bakery that I worked at circa 2006, and made a big batch every week. I developed a gluten-free version, shared here in 2012, and proceeded to bake gluten-free chocolate cookies at summer music camps.
I streamlined the recipe and swapped in buckwheat flour and turned them into cherry ice cream sandwiches. I published the recipe, with optional citrus zest, in my cookbook Alternative Baker. There it became the most-made recipe in the entire book, baked by many of my baking heroes on the internet and beyond. They are really the perfect chocolate brownie cookie!
Looking at all of these beautiful wheat-free chocolate cookies made me itch to revisit to the recipe that started it all. So now I present to you the ultimate gluten-free brownie cookie!
Ingredients & Substitution Suggestions
These cookies are made with just 7 ingredients that you probably already have on hand. So simple and so satisfying!
- This recipe is all about the chocolate, so use one that you love the taste of. Guittard and Valrhona 66% both work beautifully. Note that if you use a chocolate with a lower cacao mass the cookies will be more thin, whereas a higher cacao mass will yield cookies that spread less.
- Whipped eggs create a lofty base, giving the cookies the texture of flourless chocolate cake and keeping them from tasting overly dense. I wouldn't recommend subbing out the eggs here.
- Melted butter adds richness. My favorite butter comes from Vermont Creamery.
- Sugar adds sweetness and helps aerate the eggs. I use organic granulated sugar, which is more coarse than refined white sugar and retains a bit of molasses for a golden hue and warm flavor. For those avoiding unrefined sugar, try this with coconut or maple sugar instead.
- Flour binds the ingredients together. The cookies shown here are made with cassava and tapioca flour for grain-free chocolate cookies. I've made versions with sweet rice flour, cassava flour, and buckwheat flour, all with a bit of tapioca flour to add chew. The dough is so full of sticky ingredients, you can use just about any flour you like, substituted by weight. An all-purpose flour (gluten-free, paleo, or wheat) would work great too.
- Baking powder adds extra lift.
- Fine salt sharpens the flavors of the batter and flaky salt adds addictive crunch to the tops.
- Vanilla extract adds depth of flavor.
Method
These cookies come together in about 30 minutes. The only special equipment you'll need is a stand mixer or hand blender to whip the eggs and sugar. This makes a batch of 20 small but rich cookies. Double the recipe to feed a crowd!
Variations
These gluten-free brownie cookies can accommodate a wide range of dietary preferences.
Dairy-Free
Swap the butter out for plant-based butter such as Miyoko's and decrease the salt by half if the butter is salty.
Grain-Free
Use cassava and tapioca flours.
Paleo
Make the grain-free version and use coconut or maple sugar instead of granulated.
Flavor Options:
These fudge brownie cookies take well to flavor variations. Here are a few favorites that I've tested!
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies / Candy Cane Cookies
Add peppermint extract to the batter and sprinkle chopped candy cane on top instead of flaky salt. Optionally use chopped chocolate bark instead of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Add cinnamon and cayenne to the dough for a spicy kick.
Chocolate Bergamot Cookies / Chocolate Orange Cookies
Add finely grated citrus zest to the batter along with the butter.
Espresso Chocolate Cookies
Add instant espresso powder along with the vanilla extract.
Make-Ahead
I always bake these cookies off right away, but readers have had success making the batter ahead and refrigerating it until ready to bake, up to a few days.
Or you can freeze extra cookie dough and when you're ready to bake, thaw the batter in the fridge or at room temperature until it's soft enough to scoop. Scoop and bake as directed.
Baked cookies can also be frozen. Warm them in a toaster oven when you're ready to eat cookies.
Cookies for Everyone
Bite into one of these pillows of choco-love straight from the oven and you're met with the earthy tastes of chocolate and vanilla enhanced with just enough salt to keep things interesting. These heavenly flavors are all wrapped up in a crackly cocoa cookie studded with gooey pockets of dark chocolate.
With options for every dietary preference, you can share these gluten-free chocolate cookies with everyone. Be sure to have a glass of milk or plant milk at the ready to wash down these rich little cookies.
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free chocolate brownie cookies, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
7-Ingredient Gluten-Free Brownie Cookies
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 10 ounces (285 g) coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips, divided use (60-70% cacao mass)
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter (or plant butter for dairy-free)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (125 g) organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (decrease if using salted butter)
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (55 g) flour (cassava, sweet rice, buckwheat, or GF AP flour all work by weight)
- 2 tablespoons (15 g) tapioca flour (or arrowroot)
- ¾ teaspoon GF baking powder
- flaky salt such as Maldon, for sprinkling
Instructions
Prepare things
- Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350º. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Make the batter
- Place the butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan set over the lowest possible heat. Add 6 ounces (170 g / 1 cup) of the chocolate and melt together, stirring frequently to prevent the chocolate from scorching. Continue cooking until the mixture is pleasantly warm, but not super hot, to the touch. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, tapioca flour, and baking powder and set aside.
- Meanwhile, place the eggs, sugar, and fine salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high speed until the mixture triples in volume and is very light and fluffy, 5 minutes. (You can also do this in a large bowl with an electric egg beater, or a whisk and your buff arms.)
- Turn the mixer to low and stir in the vanilla until just combined, then the warm (but not too hot!) chocolate/butter mixture.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a flexible silicone spatula to fold in the remaining 4 ounces (115 g / 3/4 cup) chopped chocolate.
Bake
- If the batter is very runny, let it cool for a few minutes until it firms to the consistency of a thick brownie batter. Use a #40 spring-loaded ice cream scoop or 2 spoons to drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Top each cookie with a few chunks of chocolate and a pinch of flaky salt.
- Bake the cookies until puffed and cracked and the edges are set, 8–12 minutes, rotating the pans front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking. Let cool slightly and enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Store
- Extra cookies keep well in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- The key to getting the pretty crackles on top is making sure the chocolate/butter mixture is warm enough to partially dissolve the sugar, but not so hot as to cook the eggs. It should feel pleasantly warm to the touch, like you could take a bath in it, but not hot enough to scald your finger.
- This recipe is all about the chocolate, so use one that you love the taste of. Guittard and Valrhona 66% both work beautifully. Note that if you use a chocolate with a lower cacao mass the cookies will be more thin, whereas a higher cacao mass will yield cookies that spread less.
- Chilling cookie dough: I always bake these cookies off right away, but readers have had success making the batter ahead and refrigerating it until ready to bake, up to a few days.
Nutrition
Haiku from my original post in 2012. Leaving them here for posterity!
Chocolate glistening
melting gooily beneath
shiny, crackled crust
Whipped eggs and sugar
Chocolates and butter, folding
folding into you
Globs of sticky dough
hit the oven's heat, slumping
into crinkled discs
Crispy, chewy goo
bittersweet and earthy
and flecked with cacao nibs
How can these cookies
taste so good and yet, surprise!
still be gluten-free?
The answer is here:
whipped eggs, sticky dark chocolate
a touch of rice flour
Chocolate cookies and
a glass of milk make you smile
on a rainy day
Anonymous says
can you use gluten free flour instead of the rice flour??? these look delicious!
Alanna says
Hi! I haven't tried as much, but I'm guessing that a GF all-purpose blend would work out fine; worst-case scenario is that the cookies will be more delicate. If you can substitute by weight, this will give you a better chance for success, since flours can vary in weight. Please come back and let us know how it works out.
Anonymous says
sure! and do you think i can add anything that would make it not as delicate?
Alanna says
Good call! 1/4-1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum should help, if you've got it. Though it might not be necessary, it probably won't hurt.
Cookie lover says
Can I just use buckwheat flour in this as I don’t have any of the other flours?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
That's a great question! I think that should work, the cookies might just be a touch more delicate without the tapioca flour. It's ideal to measure the flour in grams for the most accurate results. I'd recommend baking off a single test cookie in case they spread too much, then you can add a little more flour into the rest of the batter. Please let me know it goes!
Abby says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have a choco-holic, gluten free dad who loves these cookies!
I accidentally used Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix and then I had to substitute brewed espresso for the instant powder but the cookies still taste amazing and look exactly like the picture.
Thanks again!!
Alanna says
Hi Abby, I'm so glad your dad loves the cookies! That makes me so happy. Good to know that Pamela's GF Bread Mix works here, and so does brewed espresso. Thanks! And you're welcome. :)
Jaime Hammack says
this is an old post but i just found it through amanda paa's cookie post. i love your haiku!
Alanna says
Haha, thanks! I didn't know what to write, so haiku were my solution. :)
Daria Wrubel says
I just made a different GF chocolate cookie (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Brownie-Cookies-51210520), and they turned out way too chewy and not at all satisfying. Can't wait to try yours!
Alanna says
Oh no! I hope these do the trick. xo!
Anonymous says
Is there anything I can use in place of the sugar? I have become gluten free, dairy free and sugar free and I'm trying to keep with that program.
Alanna says
You could try coconut or maple sugar. Let me know!
Lara says
Do these cookies freeze well after baking? Thanks!
Alanna says
I think so; they might not look as pretty, but they should still be tasty. :)
Jonna says
I make these several times a week and they are absolutely addicting!! Fantastic recipe that doubles well.
Alanna says
Aw! So glad you like them! There's a new version in my cookbook Alternative Baker made with citrus zest and buckwheat flour. ;)
Jonna says
I make these several times a week! I double the recipe with no trouble at all. Today, I was out of cacao nibs so I replaced them with chopped dried tart cherries! These cookies are truly addictive. xoxo
Erin says
These cookies are delicous! So chocolatey! My son asked for "cookies with chocolate in all the layers," which I interpreted to be double chocolate chip cookies and THESE fit. the. bill. I think they've been my children's favorite cookies to date. Thank you!
Erin says
PS I made these with all coconut sugar and noticed they did not crackle on top during baking so I slightly overcooked the first batch waiting for that to happen. The 2nd batch was about 11 minutes baking time and they were just right to me.
Alanna says
Omg your son is adorable! I'm so glad these were a hit. The coconut sugar sounds absolutely divine here - I bet it adds a nice earthy flavor. Thanks so much for the sweet note and for trying my recipe!
Caitlin says
I recently discovered your site, although I have been cooking/baking Paleo for a long time. There are so many special gems in here for the holidays! Thank you so much for all you do to make delicious treats accessible to everyone.
Alanna says
Aw thank you for the kind note! I'm really glad you're enjoying the recipes!
armida says
Have I told you lately that I love you? I am a local baker too, and once I found you several yeas ago, I have been following you ever since. I LOVE everything about how you bake, your recipes are wonderful, your writing is a joy to read and your photography is especially beautiful. I think the following songs sums it up pretty well:
Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there's no one else above you
You fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do ( By Rod Stewart of all people!)
Thank you for sharing your art.
Alanna says
Awwww you are too kind! I'm glad you're enjoying TBG; I really love sharing recipes! And I love that song too.
Zeke says
Ok so I was meeting my girlfriends parents properly for the first time and her mom cannot eat gluten. And I’ve never really seriously cooked with gluten-free flower before. And so in my scramble to find something that I could “attempt” to impress them with i trued this. HOLY CRAP they are good! I don’t know if it’s the long whisking of the sugar egg mixture or the ratios used but absolutely would 10/10 recommend, even if you can eat gluten! These are legitimately some of the best cookies I have ever made and they helped me set a good example during a key moment in my life :)
Zeke says
Welp... I guess I made some typos. Sorry, I was just really excited to comment about these things!
Neecie says
Hi Alanna,
I am such a fan of your work! Truly amazing and non-fail recipes for gluten intolerant folks like myself.
I have made these cookies several times and followed the recipe to a T but they never crack and instead seem to have lots of air bubble holes in them. The family doesn’t mind coz they are delicious all the same and hardly last long but any ideas as to what I’m doing incorrectly as I’d love to get them to look as gorgeous as yours do.
Thanks for all ur hard work😍
Alanna says
Hi Neecie! I'm so glad you're enjoying my recipes and that these cookies are a hit despite being aesthetically challenged! What you're describing is odd! There are so many variables, but I'm happy to troubleshoot.
Since I give some different options, which sugar and flours are you using?
What kind of chocolate are you using?
Are you using weights or volume to measure?
Does the batter look like the pictures?
Is your oven properly calibrated and do you have an oven thermometer in there?
Let me know the answers and we'll go from there! :)
Trish Ford says
HI I tried to make these with gluten free flour and still added the tapioca flour and then used coconut sugar .and the batch is so runny I'm going to try to put them in the fridge and hope they firm up enough to scoop them if not help pls.
Alanna says
Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that those substitutions together didn't work great. I wonder if the coconut sugar didn't fluff up the eggs as much as regular sugar would? Did the batter look similar to the photos and did you whip it for as long as the recipe called for? Which GF flour did you use and did you measure by weight or volume?
Chilling the batter was a good call! I bet you could pour the batter into a lined 8x8" pan and make it into brownies, that way you wouldn't have to worry about spreading.
If you want cookies, I would bake off a single test cookie and if it spreads too much, add another tablespoon or two of GF flour and/or cocoa powder if you have some, then bake off another test cookie and repeat until you get a good amount of spread.
Please let me know how it goes!
Lisa says
Do you have any suggestions for dairy free butter alternatives?
Also - my daughter is intolerant to egg yolks. We typically use either double the amount of eggwhites or we use 1 eggwhite plus a tablespoon of oil. It depends on the recipe and if it’s more important to have a binder or a fat substitute. Any recommendations before we dive in? Thanks so much!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Love these questions!
I like Miyoko's cultured vegan butter best for a sub but there are lots of good brands now like Melt and Forager. If you use one with salt, just be sure to adjust the salt in the recipe (either cut it in half or omit it).
For the eggs, I'd guess that an extra egg white will give the cookies a better texture but I'm not positive about that. Please let me know what you try!
Emily says
I just made these and they're delicious! I recently switched over to eating gluten free. This was my first time trying out a gluten free cookie recipe and it far exceeded my expectations! Thank you :)
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe! This is a great one to start with since they're mostly chocolate, eggs, and butter with just a touch of flour to hold them together. Best of luck on your GF journey, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Carson says
I just made a double batch and they were awesome! Used a mix of maple and coconut sugar, and subbed the butter for ghee (by weight). Worked great! I could eat the batter alone haha!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Carson,
Aw I'm so glad you loved the recipe! I bet the maple and coconut sugars and ghee all tasted amazing here – I want to try your version. Thanks a bunch for the sweet note!
-Alanna
Karen Dana says
Followed the recipe exactly since it's my first time making these. They turned out wonderfully - pretty and very, very tasty, they got the stamp of approval from my brownie loving husband.
Thank you for developing and sharing this gluten free treat! (And for those wondering, I doubt anyone would know these are gluten free!)
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Aw I'm so glad these were a hit with you and your husband. Thanks so much for trying the recipe (and actually following it, haha!) and for the kind note and rating!
Rachel says
These came out great! They were easy to make and also did well at high altitude, no baking time or temperature adjustments needed. I added chopped walnuts and white chocolate, and they were a hit.
I used Better Batter flour for the gf flour portion and that seemed to work perfectly.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay! So glad the cookies were a hit and that Better Batter flour worked well. Walnuts and white chocolate sound delicious here!!
Nicole Mann says
Made this recipe and tried it in oven without fan and another oven with fan.
Spread badly! Raw mixture tasted delicious and was made with roasted buckwheat flour and arrowroot, as your recipe stated for options.
I used a very small scoop and alot of space between.
I also tried blast chilling before baking, still spread everywhere and the dough was perfect, not sloppy or runny for me to make nice scoops, it held until baking.
Disappointed!
Lex says
I just made these using cassava flour, unsalted butter, and raw sugar (ground up in my spice grinder). Oh my, these are one of the best cookies I’ve ever made! And I’ve finally satisfied my craving for homemade brownies and cookies, all at once. Hehe! Next time I’ll make them with coconut sugar (which I normally use, but I wanted more of an authentic brownie/brookie experience).
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad these cookies worked well with those ingredient subs! "Brookie" is the perfect term for these, hehe. Let me know if you try the recipe using coconut sugar, I'll be super curious how they compare!