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
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet (or 2) with parchment paper.
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Using an electric hand mixer, cream together the ghee (or butter), honey, coconut sugar and vanilla until smooth on medium speed
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Add in the egg and beat on low speed until combined
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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.
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Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet about 2” apart since they will spread a bit while baking.
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You’ll need to repeat the process on a separate baking sheet for the leftover cookie dough.
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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.
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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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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
They are delicious but mine spread so thin you could see through them! After cooking they wer thin and chewy and great but I’d rather have a little thicker cookie…I used half honey and half coconut sugar. I also made sure dough was cold before baking. I read that over beating could cause too thin cookies— is that why??!!
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.