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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I made these cookies and they were a mess. It might have been that I used tapioca flour instead of cassava flour, but the dough was a batter type of consistency. I didn’t want to add anything more in case I ruined the recipe. When I took them out of the oven the whole pan I baked them on was covered in the dough it was a mess. Although they didn’t turn out right they were still pretty good.
These turned out great, way better than I expected, my parents had no idea it was cassava and said it was way above store-bought and described them as gourmet. My first batch turned out great, I’m trying to avoid dairy so I subbed the butter for coconut oil. My second batch was the best, I tweeked the recipe a little by adding xanthan gum and coconut flakes which when combined helped keep the cookies together tremendously, these were the batch that was described as gourmet. Yummy Recipe 😋 thanks a bunch!
I’m allergic to coconut can I use date sugar and honey?
This is, by far, my FAVOURITE paleo chocolate chip recipe. I use olive oil instead of butter and maple sugar instead of coconut. It turns out AMAZING. Best recipe I’ve made that makes the cassava work. I’ve made it 3 times in 2 weeks!
Hello! How much of olive oil and maple syrup did you used? Thanks a lot ✨
I used a Arrington Farms cassava flour and they spread so thin, they were flatter than pancakes, the chips stuck up like mountains. I have a blob of cookie instead of separate cookies on my sheet. They taste ok, maybe more salt, maybe a different brand of cassava.
I’ve made these twice now and followed the recipe to the letter. They are good, but my cookies don’t spread and they aren’t chewy. What am I doing wrong? I’m using Otto’s Cassava flour and butter, not ghee. Would using ghee make a difference?
Hi! Are there any tips to make this recipe successful? I am terrible at baking, let alone GF recipes and Cassava flour is not cheap, please let me know what works best! Also, I use panela (unrefined sugar) instead of cane sugar, could this be used instead of coconut sugar and possibly honey? (Raw is $$ lol)
This is by far the best cassava flour cookie I have ever made, and I’ve made quite a few in my AIP journey. I followed the recipe with the exception of substituting the egg with applesauce since I cannot have eggs. The consistency is so similar to a wheat flour recipe and the taste is so good!! So happy to have found this recipe!
This is my fourth badge of these chocolate chip cookies. The first batch was perfect. The second batch they never flatten out. They stayed in balls. Then I tried doubling the recipe and they still stayed in balls. The last batch still stayed in balls? Any idea what happened?
Found this while daughter doing Low FODMAP. It was yummy and she loves the dough too, but it was extremely moist and very spread out even after waiting/cooling as recommended. Had to sub maple syrup for honey; can’t do all coconut sugar. Live in Boulder,CO. Any suggestions for high altitude adjustment or other suggestions to make it like a traditional CC cookie?