I originally created these gluten-free brown butter chocolate chip cookies for my daughter-in-law, who's allergic to gluten. I wanted her to have something genuinely good to enjoy at family get-togethers, not one of those gritty gluten-free cookies that tastes vaguely of sweetened beach sand.
She loved them and told me they were the best chocolate chip cookies she'd ever had. They're thick and chewy with crisp edges, plenty of melty pools of chocolate, and absolutely none of that sandy or grainy texture you sometimes get with gluten-free baking. The browned butter adds a rich, nutty caramel flavor that makes it downright difficult to stop at one.
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🥰 Is this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for you?
- You need a gluten-free cookie that doesn't taste gluten-free. These are thick and chewy, not sandy, gritty, or crumbly.
- You believe brown butter improves nearly everything. Correct. It adds a rich, nutty, caramel-like flavor that regular melted butter simply cannot be bothered to provide.
- You want plenty of chocolate. There are melty chocolate chips in every bite because nobody came to the family gathering hoping for restraint.
- You're baking for someone who can't have gluten. These are good enough that everyone will reach for them, so nobody gets handed the depressing little "special cookie" from the corner of the table.
- Skip this recipe if you want thin, crispy cookies. These beauties are unapologetically thick, soft, and chewy.
🧾 Ingredients
No specialty-store scavenger hunt required. These cookies use familiar baking ingredients, a good gluten-free flour blend, plenty of chocolate chips, and browned butter doing what browned butter does best: making everybody else look lazy.
- Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour - This is the flour I tested the recipe with, so it's your safest bet for getting that soft, chewy texture instead of gritty cookie sadness.
- Brown butter - Browning the butter gives these cookies their deep, nutty, almost caramel-like flavor. Worth the extra few minutes. Every single one of them.
- Kosher salt - Balances the sweetness and makes the brown butter and chocolate flavors pop.
- Baking soda - Gives the cookies just the right amount of spread while keeping those centers thick and chewy.
- Eggs - Add richness, moisture, and structure, especially important when we've evicted gluten from the premises.
- Brown sugar - The secret behind those wonderfully chewy centers and rich caramel notes.
- Granulated sugar - Helps create crisp, golden edges to contrast with the soft centers.
- Vanilla extract - Rounds out all that brown butter and chocolate with classic cookie flavor.
- Chocolate chips - I use a mixture of dark and semisweet chocolate chips because more than one kind of chocolate is rarely the wrong decision.
📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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- 1 cup salted butter, browned and cooled until just warm
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1 large egg yolk, room temp
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups Ghirardelli chocolate baking chips, Your favorite combination of milk chocolate, dark, bittersweet and/or semisweet.
Instructions
- If you are using 2 or more types of chocolate chips mix them together in a bowl
- Brown the butter first, then pour it into a mixing bowl so it stops cooking. Let it cool until it's warm but not hot before adding the sugars.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking sheet.
- Combine the brown butter with the sugars. Beat on medium -high speed with the paddle attachment until well combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the 2 eggs, the egg yolk, and the vanilla. Continue beating but turn the speed down to medium.
- In a separate bowl, combine the Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour, salt and baking soda.
- Stir into the butter mixture with the mixer on low speed - just until well combined. Don't overmix.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Let the dough sit for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. This allows the flour to soak up moisture and keeps it from getting that "sandy" texture some GF products have.
- Place 2-tablespoon (⅛th cup) sized scoops of dough on the prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
- Pop into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Bake chilled dough for 12 -13 minutes or until the edges are set and the centers are still soft - about 190℉. Don't overbake.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Always check your ingredients for any listed gluten!
- Be sure to let the dough rest at room temperature for the full 20-30 minutes! This is essential for the proper texture.
- I used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour. I do not know how other GF flours might work in this recipe. For best results use the Bob's Red Mill.
- You can also freeze the scooped cookie dough for up to 3 months. Freeze the dough balls on a baking sheet first, then toss them into a freezer bag once solid. Bake straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🔪 How to make gf brown butter chocolate chip cookies
Brown the butter, mix the dough, and give it time to rest and chill before baking. That little bit of patience is what helps turn gluten-free cookie dough into thick, chewy cookies instead of something that could double as driveway gravel.
- Beat the sugars into the cooled brown butter and add the eggs.
- Stir in the gluten free flour mixture.
- Mix in the chocolate chips. Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Scoop onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. Freeze 10 minutes before baking at 350F.
🎥 Video: How to brown butter
If you've never browned butter before, this quick video shows you exactly what you're looking for.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
⚠️ Gluten sneaks into unexpected places. If you're baking these for someone with celiac disease or a gluten allergy, double-check every ingredient label, including the chocolate chips, vanilla, baking soda, and other packaged ingredients. Brands and manufacturing practices can change, so even something you've bought before deserves another look. Also make sure your bowls, utensils, baking sheets, and other equipment haven't been contaminated with gluten.
🍪 The cookies are gritty. Don't skip the resting time. Gluten-free flour needs time to absorb the moisture in the dough, and rushing it is how you end up with cookies that have the mouthfeel of lightly sweetened landscaping material.
🍪 The cookies spread too much. Make sure the dough is thoroughly chilled before baking. Brown butter is liquid when it goes into the dough, so chilling gives the fat time to firm back up and keeps your cookies from becoming chocolate chip pancakes.
🍪 The cookies aren't spreading enough. Gluten-free flour is particularly unforgiving when you measure with enthusiasm. For best results, weigh it or spoon it lightly into the measuring cup and level it off. Too much flour makes thick, dry cookies that refuse to budge.
🍪 The brown butter burned. Once the milk solids begin to brown, things move fast. Pull the pan from the heat when the butter smells nutty and the bits at the bottom are deep golden brown. Black bits and an aroma reminiscent of regret mean we've gone too far.
🍪 The texture seems too soft right out of the oven. Leave them alone. Gluten-free cookies continue to set as they cool, so let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Hot cookies are fragile creatures with poor decision-making skills.
👩🏻🍳 FAQs
You can, but results may vary. I tested these with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, so that's what I recommend for the same thick, chewy texture.
No. Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 already contains xanthan gum, so you don't need to add any separately.
You could but it would be better to use my regular recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies (link).
🍽 Regular cookie recipes
I don't normally share gluten free recipes. There are many good gf bloggers that do. These cookies came out so good I felt like they were worth sharing. The following recipes are not gluten-free cookies, just really good ones.
🏡 These gluten-free brown butter chocolate chip cookies started with one simple goal: make a cookie my daughter-in-law could enjoy right along with everyone else. They ended up being so thick, chewy, buttery, and ridiculously chocolatey that she declared them the best she'd ever had. Gluten-free or not, that's the kind of cookie worth keeping around.
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