Flourless Chocolate Cookies
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These Flourless Chocolate Cookies are soft, chewy, and supremely decadent! My recipe is easy to make and has an indulgent chocolate flavor you will love. Recipe includes a how-to video!
All the Flavor, Without the Flour!
Whether you are gluten-free, are actively trying to avoid grains, or simply found yourself craving a cookie but just happen to have an empty bag of all-purpose in your pantry, I’ve got something to hit your sweet spot today. In fact, even if you’re not in any of the above flourless scenarios, I think you’re going to love today’s recipe. They aren’t just good “for a flourless cookie”, they’re just plain good, period, and we make these almost as often as my chocolate chip cookies around here.
They’re soft, chewy, fudgy, and extra indulgent.
These cookies are very similar to my brownie cookies, and they even have the same shiny, crackly surfaces. They are on the thinner side though (they would be great for sandwiching around no-churn ice cream or edible cookie dough), but their interiors are fudgy and chocolatey with little pops of texture from mini chocolate chips. And, of course, they’re free of flour!
This recipe does have a few steps, and it’ll generate a few dirty bowls, but the technique isn’t complicated (just some melting, beating, and sifting) and the work is worth it. Let’s get to the details.
What You Need
While this recipe is missing flour, most of the other ingredients are to be expected. Here are the important ones:
- Baking powder. This is not the same thing as baking soda, so make sure you grab the right one! Read my baking powder vs. baking soda post if you’d like to learn the difference between the two.
- Cocoa powder. I like to use a natural cocoa powder in my flourless chocolate cookies. Dutch process cocoa will also work, but the flavor of your cookies will be different (a bit darker/more bitter).
- Corn starch. As with my flourless brownies, cornstarch is critical here to help keep the cookies from over-spreading and to help them bake into proper cookie shapes.
- Chocolate. Use a high-quality (I like Ghirardelli or Lindt), 60% cacao baking bar and chop it into even pieces. I don’t recommend using chocolate chips. If you’ve never melted chocolate in the microwave before, remember to work slowly and stir well in between. If you’ve had issues with your chocolate seizing or becoming grainy in the past, see my how to melt chocolate in the microwave post for helpful tips.
- Eggs. Many flourless chocolate cookie recipes use just egg whites, but I use whole eggs for a richer flavor and texture. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature (use my easy trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature if you forget to set yours out!) and beat the batter really well once you add them. You definitely want to use a mixer for this step!
SAM’S TIP: This dough will thicken as it sits; this is normal and nothing to be concerned about! I don’t recommend making the dough in advance for this reason though.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Melt the chocolate – Microwave the butter and chopped chocolate in 25 second increments until melted and smooth, then set it aside.
- Beat the eggs – Beat together the eggs, sugars, vanilla, and salt with an electric mixer until thickened and lighter in color.
- Fold to combine – Gently fold in the melted chocolate until completely combined.
- Sift in the dry – Sift in the cocoa powder, corn starch, and baking powder and stir until 50% combined.
- Add the chips – Add the chocolate chips, then continue stirring until everything is combined.
- Scoop and bake – Drop 1.5 tablespoon sized scoops onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool before enjoying – Let the cookies cool completely on their baking sheet before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: These cookies are extremely fragile when they come out of the oven! Let them cool completely on their baking sheets before removing them.
Frequently Asked Questions
This batter thickens the longer it sits, so if yours seems too thin, try letting it sit for 5-10 minutes before scooping again. If your batter still isn’t thickening up, you may not have beat your eggs long enough, which unfortunately can’t be fixed.
Yes! Because these cookies contain no flour, they are naturally gluten free. If you’re looking for more gluten free recipes, you can try my any of my other flourless recipes shown below the recipe card. Many of my candy recipes are also naturally gluten free!
Yes! Just make sure to store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag. They should keep for about 3 months this way.
My chocolate chess pie is another irresistibly fudgy and chocolatey option for any fellow chocoholics out there 😉
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
- 6 oz (170 g) 60% cacao chocolate bars, chopped
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (25 g) natural cocoa powder
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine chopped chocolate and butter pieces in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 25-second increments, stirring in between, until chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Set aside.6 oz (170 g) 60% cacao chocolate bars, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, sugars, vanilla extract and salt. Use an electric mixer to stir together, gradually increasing mixer speed to high and beating until thickened, increased in volume and batter is lightened in color and opaque (about 2 minutes on high speed).2 large eggs, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Gently (using a spatula) fold chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined.
- Sift cocoa powder, cornstarch and baking powder over the chocolate/egg mixture. Use a spatula to gently stir ingredients together until about 50% combined.¼ cup (25 g) natural cocoa powder, 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- Once approximately 50% combined, add mini chocolate chips and continue to gently stir until ingredients are completely combined.½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
- Scoop dough by level 1 ½ Tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” apart. Note that the raw cookie dough will thicken as it sits, this is fine.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before removing and enjoying.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I’m an experienced baker… I followed the directions to a tee. They looked good in the oven but as they cooled they became flat. The cookies taste great but disappointed in the flatness.
I’m sorry to hear this happened, Donna! There are a few things that could happen here. The first one would be the egg mixture didn’t increase in volume quite enough. You can see what it should look like in this video. You also want to make sure to not over-mix when stirring in the cocoa powder. 🙁
I just made these and they are definitely flatter than your pictures, but they are all crackly looking on top. They ended up being about 3-3.5 inches wide while yours seem smaller and higher. I did end up beating for a much longer time as I went a few minutes with my paddle attachment on the mixer then decided the whip attachment would be better. The batter looked like yours in the video as did the “balls” before they went in the oven. My cookie scoop is also the right size, maybe I should try a 1 TBSP size next time? Or my cookie sheets are much wider than typical so I did three rows of four, could that cause them to spread further? The batter tasted delicious but they are just now cooling so I haven’t actually eaten a cookie yet. I’m hoping they don’t just break into pieces after they cool.
Hi Mickey! Was your butter still really warm when adding the sugars? Is it possible the batter was over-mixed?
I never added butter to the sugars (?). I added butter to the chocolate while it was melting, and it was then very cool when adding to the eggs/sugar mixture. It is possible I over beat the eggs. Not sure where the fine line is between not beaten enough and over beaten. Quite a few folks here have commented on flat cookies and answers seemed to indicate the eggs weren’t beaten enough.
These cookies turned out good, but they tasted bitter and didn’t crinkle. They were like little cake balls instead. Next time, maybe I would try them with milk chocolate if there is a next time. The only thing that saved them was me drizzling them with caramel and white chocolate. This is a definite pass for me. Maybe it’s just because I don’t like dark chocolate.
Hi, these are delicious but mine keep coming out flat. The first time I beat the eggs 2 minutes, as suggested. The second time I went about 5 minutes. They were even more flat. Would it help to beat the eggs before I add the sugar? Or add an additional egg (or egg white)? I can’t figure out what’s going wrong.
Hi Kerry! I’m sorry to hear this is happening! Is your chocolate mixture really warm when adding it to the egg/sugar? Are you making any substitutions or omissions?
The chocolate was room temperature. Is it possible to beat the eggs too long?
Hmmm if they were flat and the chocolate wasn’t too hot, I would think it was more likely that the eggs weren’t beaten quite enough. 🙁
question is the bar of chocolate sweet?
Hi Lori! The bar of chocolate is sweeter. It’s a bit darker than semi sweet. The higher % you go here the less sweetness there is.
All your videos are great , so much imformation on how to bake perfect desserts , cookies, everything.
Thank you, Pamela! 🙂