These soft chewy paleo chocolate chip cookies are made with cassava flour, making them nut free PLUS grain free and gluten free. The cassava flour makes the flavor very similar to traditional chocolate chip cookies, so you know everyone will love them!
Get ready for more Paleo + nut free baking today! It’s chocolate chip cookies for you right now – soft, chewy, chocolate chip cookies, with a flavor nearly identical to traditional white flour cookies, thanks to our star – cassava.
I worked on this recipe over last summer until it drove me so batty that I decided to shelve it for awhile. The problem? Texture. It turns out that cassava flour behaves very differently in a cookie recipe than in a bread recipe.
My cookie dough would look perfect over and over, but the results after baking were all over the place.
I was met with cookies that spread ALL OVER the baking sheet, cookies that didn’t spread at all, cookies that looked perfect but had the texture of crumbly cake, and cookies that seemed to melt into something that tasted like sand after taking a bite.
After about 5 tries, I noticed a few common themes.
First, ALL of the cookies came out of the oven fall-apart-soft. Even the ones that would up pretty good after a few hours could disintegrate if you tried to touch one a few minutes out of the oven.
Lesson 1 – cassava flour cookies need lots of time to “set” and should be cooled COMPLETELY on the baking sheet – not transferred.
Lesson 2 – using all granulated sugar to sweeten the cookies (like coconut sugar) won’t work – it needs to be combined with a nice STICKY sweetener (honey) for a good chewy texture after cooling.
Lesson 3 – Cassava flour chocolate chip cookies seem to have superior texture after cooling completely and THEN chilling in the fridge for awhile. Trust me on this one – and try it!
Lesson 4 – More than one egg (even an extra yolk) turns the cookies way too cakey and almost rubbery. I had a batch that looked absolutely perfect, but had a strange rubbery texture that I couldn’t get past! After that, I stuck to one egg and didn’t look back.
So, after compiling all these lessons learned from the failed batches, I came up with a recipe that seems to be as close to perfect as you can get, both flavor and texture wise!
I used a mixture of honey and coconut sugar to take care of the texture and flavor. One egg, one cup of cassava flour and a mix of baking soda and powder to help the cookies spread just enough.
I still recommend allowing the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet – these aren’t “grab-one-out-of-the-oven” cookies. They need to be left alone for at least an hour to really set properly (weird, yes, but it works.)
And again, I totally prefer these after spending a little time in the fridge. That doesn’t mean they can’t be left out at room temp, but for superior texture I recommend a little chilling. As a side note, they are SO perfect with some coconut vanilla ice cream!
I hope you’re ready for insanely delicious paleo chocolate chip cookies – let’s bake!
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cassava Flour {Nut Free}
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cassava Flour {Nut Free}
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup ghee OR grass-fed butter
- 1/3 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg room temp
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder*
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet (or 2) with parchment paper.
- Using an electric hand mixer, cream together the ghee (or butter), honey, coconut sugar and vanilla until smooth on medium speed
- Add in the egg and beat on low speed until combined
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then add dry mixture to wet, beating on low speed until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips, then chill the dough for 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet about 2” apart since they will spread a bit while baking.
- You’ll need to repeat the process on a separate baking sheet for the leftover cookie dough.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet - do not transfer them while they’re cooling since they’re VERY delicate due to the cassava flour. These cookies are not at their best right out of the oven - they need time to finish setting while they cool.
- Once completely cool to the touch, remove from sheet and serve. Cookies will be soft and chewy at room temp, and become more firm, yet still chewy after refrigeration. I personally prefer them after chilling! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*For Paleo (corn free) baking powder, mix 1 tsp baking soda with 2 tsp cream of tartar. For this recipe you’ll need just 1/2 tsp of this mixture.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cassava Flour:
Want More Paleo and Nut Free Baking Recipes? Try one of These!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Double Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread
Classic Blueberry Muffins with Cassava Flour
Chocolate Donuts with Chocolate Frosting
Hearty Cassava Flour Banana Bread
Chocolate Chip Donuts with Chocolate Ganache
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Yum! These look great. I’ve never baked with cassava flour but I’ve been curious about it so thanks for all the tips.
Sounds good!
So you think this recipe would work with coconut oil instead of butter?
Yes I think so, however they might be softer or more crumbly. I think ghee would work well though!
Michele, did these work for you subbing coconut oil? Mine didn’t. They tasted good but were extremely dry. I will make with ghee as directed next time.
Mine were too and I followed the recipe to the T. Definitely not right in texture at all but tastes great. I’m a pastry chef and even I was dumbfounded. It needs a starch and a liquid!
I’ve recently started to use cassava flour a lot more because of some diet changes, so this recipe looks great! I’m egg-free, though, so do you think it will work without the egg?
Unfortunately I don’t think they’ll work without an egg, but you might be able to try a gelatin or chia “egg” to replace it.
Can you use tapioca flour instead of cassava?
No, they have different properties unfortunately!
Tried this recipe but didn’t have enough honey so I had to use a bit of molasses to top off the 1/3 amount listed. They turned out surprisingly well! Thank you! I have them in the fridge now to see if I like them better chilled ?
That was a good call with the molasses, glad it worked out!
I followed the recipe to a t (except for accidentally mixing coconut sugar with the dry ingredients) and it turned out great! Definitely agree that they taste best when stored in the fridge. Thanks for the recipe!
So happy they worked out for you!
Can this dough be frozen and baked later?
Thanks!
I’m not sure how they would turn out, I’d say a day in the fridge would be fine though
Ok thank you!
These are delicious!
Another GREAT recipe! These turned out so yummy! Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed them!
Best gluten free chocolate chip cookies EVER!
Bit of a bizarre question but think this could work without chocolate chips? I actually wanted to make vanilla wafers – something cookie but not too sweet – but your recipe for wafers used almond flour which I find much too dense (in general, not that specific recipe).
I’m dairy and egg free and made a couple tweaks to this recipe and they tuened out great! I used half and half palm shortening and coconut oul and a “flax egg” (1T grounf flax, 1/4c water). The refrigerated raw dough was delish! Baked them about 15 mins and their shape never changed from how I plinked the dough on the sheet. Next time I will ball and smash for more classic shape. Great recipe!
Will arrowroot flour work in place of cassava? I was hoping to try these this weekend but I only typically have arrowroot flour on hand.
Unfortunately no it doesn’t have the same properties so won’t work
Well shoot! Lol
I will try one of the other versions if I have all ingredients. Love all your recipes though! I refer people to your site on a regular basis if people ask me how to start Paleo. I have been following a mainly Paleo lifestyle since 2015.
I did make these as directed but got so excited to bake them forgot to chill. Still they turned out fantastic. Thin and crisp with just a bit of chew. Will make again, and try refrigerating them.
The batter looked good when I made it. I put it in the oven and after 9 minutes, it expanded like a pancake followed your recipe step by step but it didn”t turn out good 🙁 what could possibily go wrong?
I chilled the dough about 20 minutes before I made them. Its a pet peeve of mine when cookies come out as pancakes!
They were amazingly good! Making them again today for my upcoming camping trip…can’t wait!!
these come out amazing! Very sweet! They don’t spread on the cookie sheet either so you can put them closer together than normal cookies
I can’t believe I am saying this— but this is the first recipe I found on your site that I actually didn’t love. I think I have given up on cassava….everything I make with it is a fail.
These cookies did not spread at all…stayed little round puffs. They are also super dry and crumbly. The flavor is good and I’ll still have no problem eating them all haha …. but this one wasn’t one I will make again. I really don’t think cassava is for me lol.
Great cookies! Delicious once they cool off and incredibly delicious once left in the fridge over night.
So my cookies spread into one giant pan of cookie. What would i have done wrong. I followed all of your steps. I only forgot to add the chocolate chips. I still broke them up and they taste like caramel brittle. Delicious!!! but how can I get them to stay in cookie form?
Thanks
My daughter and I have been doing AIP for two months now and have added in eggs and dairy. We made these cookies tonight subbing the baking powder and soda with tapioca starch and used a little bit of cacao nibs. The cookies are amaaaazing. To us, they taste like toffee…and remind me of the torched sugar on a crem brûlée (I think that’s the flavor of the coconut sugar) anyways we love them and made some whipped coconut cream with them and it was heavenly. We are so happy to have this simple easy to make delicious treat!!
That sounds so delicious, now I’m craving them too! Thrilled you enjoyed them!
This cookie recipe is amazing. I recently started using cassava flour and wanted a good cookie recipe. I read about five different recipes and some of them did not have good reviews. Since people seemed to like it, I decided to try this one. I’m glad I did because they came out great. I can definitely give this one a five star rating. Only thing I did different was added a little cinnamon. They came out just like the photo. They don’t taste like regular chocolate chip cookies, of course, but the texture is very similar. And they are still delicious in their own unique way. The combination of coconut sugar and honey is delif. This is my first cookie recipe using cassava flour and I’ll definitely be adding it to my personal recipe book.
These are very good taste like regular chocolate chip cookies
So happy you enjoyed them!
An awesome cookie recipe!I appreciated all the advice about how to let it cool, but was not able to contain my self and ate three cookies strait out of the oven! deliciousness!!!
These are so good! My husband loved them too and he is SUPER picky! I made mine a little bigger than suggested but I just added about 5 extra minutes to the cooking time and they came out perfectly. I don’t eat a lot of sugar so for my pallet they were a bit on the sweet side. I would love a suggestion on how to cut down the sugar while still accomplishing the same great texture.
Like myra said, I found the flavor too sweet in my first batch–I am strict AIP and eat very little natural sugars. So in second batch I added 1/4 -3/4 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with olive oil to even out the sweetness without compromising texture. The flavor of the cookie was so good I really didn’t mind that they were a bit on the puffy side and a few were crumbly. Like others, I tasted them 20 mins out of oven and later after being in fridge overnight. Really good considering the simplicity of recipe.
Very delicious! This is my first time using cassava flour, and these were PERFECT!
The dough needed at least 30 mins, close to an hour, of chilling to roll nicely into balls (too sticky at 15 mins, yet still worked). And I didn’t have any extract, but these luckily still tasted scrumptious! Thanks for the recipe and all the tips Michele!
I also want to note that I used maple syrup instead of honey. 🙂
These turned out good and my family and I ate them right up but they were a little too crumbly. I did some reasearch on cassava flour and learned that it can be used 1:1 in WEIGHT as regular flour. 1 cup of Cassava flour weighs 120 grams. I will try these again measure the weight rather than volume.
I made these yesterday evening, and we all, including my 4 year old- devoured them! Yum!!
Followed your advice exactly -on letting them cool in baking sheet and then chilling. Absolutely delicious! 🙂
My one and only question is, how do I get them from not sticking on that parchment paper so much? Should I spray the parchment paper with cooking spray next time?
Thanx!! Love that youre using cassava flour!
First batch did not spread. Used Stevia instead of coconut sugar because I did not have it. Could not open honey jar so I used maple syrup. I read your lesson 1 thru 4. May try again
I used regular sugar but that’s the only deviation and they turned out really well! Thanks
I made these cookies for my grandsons who need egg less, gluten free, dairy free and nut free by substituting coconut oil for the butter and golden flax meal for the egg. They were a hit.
Hi I was very excited to try this recipe. I am on AIP and also just told I am celiac. I made these with grass fed butter and they were very soft like a soft whip and i added an extr 1/2 cup of cassava and it was very soft. when baked they browned very fast and went totally flat??? What did I do wrong. They taste great though!
Baking is a science. You can’t add extra cassava without adjusting the amount of the other ingredients as well.
Maybe my mistake was not chilling them before putting on pan to cook? Missed that….
A+++++ on the dough, I haven’t finished cooking them yet but my daughter and I DESTROYED half of the cookie dough before we could get them in the oven!😅
I omitted the coconut sugar and added double honey, added a few extra tbsp of cassava and an unknown amount of arrowroot (might have been 1/4c ish?) chilled before balling…. soooo yummy! Can’t wait to see how they are after cooking!
My new fav choc chip cookie recipe!
These are AMAZING! Amazing flavor! They are the first GF cookies my adult kids liked! Thankyou for all the hard work in developing this recipients to perfection!!
IS THERE A VEGAN NUT FREE OPTION, MICHELLE?
Hi there – I am making this recipe, but didn’t realize they were chocolate chip only and not peanut-butter chocolate chip? Can I just add some peanut butter to the recipe, and if so, how much? Thanks.
Cookies taste great! They are soft but my husband loves them and he is picky about his sweets.
Right out of the oven and they are very crumbly. I followed recipe to the T.
Where did I go wrong ? What can I do now
Should I bake for some more time
These were decent. I used butter since I don’t have ghee and I used honey but there are so many different consistencies, I didn’t know which one you used. I had liquid honey I needed to use up, so I put that in. I also used demerara sugar because I didn’t have coconut sugar. I chilled them for over 20 minutes, accidentally baked them on super convection in my oven >.< They did flatten out like pancakes (which I don't mind at all) but I had to take them out early because they were getting super browned and I was worried they would burn.
I froze the rest of the batter for later. It seems to freeze well.
This is the second time I’ve made these and they turn out to be a crumbly mess but kind of pancakey too what am I doing wrong the flavor is so good I want to keep trying but feel like I’m missing something.
Ya, I’m with the crew that these did not work at all for. I doubled the recipe, and used half molasses half honey, those are the only changes. They didn’t spread and they’re extremely crumbly, like they go poof if you touch them wrong and explode into a pile of powder. Perhaps it’s cassava flour brand? I’ve heard there can be variations in effect brand to brand. Anyway, bummer, these are supposed to be a birthday present for tomorrow.
Flour has a distinct flavor that is off from chocolate chip cookies. They’re not terrible but not my favorite recipe, the cassava gives them an off flavor and texture is a little off if they’re cooked at full time. I recommend cooking 2 minutes under time stated.
I baked these cookies this morning with my kiddos and they are a hit! I’m not sure they’ll last the day. If anyone was wondering, I wanted to share that I used agave nectar instead of the raw honey, because we are out of honey and they are still perfect! Next time I will use honey because I believe the best results come from following a recipe exactly. The cookies are delicate and delicious! Thank you so much for taking the time to create such a great recipe!
Has anyone tried these with palm shortening? I am going to try but wanted to see if anyone had insight as these are all expensive ingredients.
My cookies came out a golden brown but flat and fall apart soft. I re-baked them for 10 minutes. This time much darker but not so soft. I used honey but not raw and a different sugar. I used what i had on hand. It was Truvia brown sugar. Could this be why the texture was so fall apart soft and flat?
Looking forward to trying these! Wondering if I can nix the baking powder? Don’t have any of that or cream of tartar in the pantry currently.
The recipe looks delish! Have you tried any other healthy fats? Dairy free option? Maybe coconut oil or lard?
First, thank you for generously sharing your recipes. It’s a lot of work and sometimes thankless, so I want to start with that.
Second, I do want to let others know this recipe was an incredible fail for me. I don’t think it has anything to do with the author’s recipe writing/testing ability. I think it has everything to do with cassava flour coming in all kinds of consistency and qualities.
I used a vitacost brand of tapioca/cassava flour which worked beautifully in two other recipes: a KAF recipe for cheese bread and another blogger’s brownie recipe. I am assuming the brand of flour used by the author above is more absorbent and some other reviewers used is less. I used a third of the dough following the recipe to a T. My cookies spread across the pan and cooked very unevenly. Tonight I cooked another third and added more cassava flour which seemed to help a little bit. I may add even more tomorrow when I bake the rest of the batter. Thanks again for sharing this. I do think it’s a good place to start and experiment from based on the brand of flour you are using.
I added more cassava flour once again and they looked much more like cookies than before. Perhaps too much flour because they were a bit dry and crunchy. I’m afraid each brand of cassava flour requires its own testing. I can see how this recipe would work with tweaking.
do you know if this would work with just honey for the sweetener? thank you!
These came out perfect and were delicious! Doesn’t taste weird like most gluten free recipes I’ve tried. Will definitely refer back to this recipe again and again in the future.
I just made these cookies, they taste great!
I replaced the butter with 1/2 cup of coconut oil si e I have a dairy sensitivity. I left some on the fridge and they are awesome!
Hey, trying out the recipe now. Hoping it turns out. Will review again once done baking!
The recipe worked great, but I found the cookies went soft after about 24 hours, so I rebaked them for a few mins on a low heat and they came out AMAZING, soft but crusty like Domino’s cookies!!!!!!!