Baking

April 23, 2020

Gluten Free Brownie Cookies: Fudgy & Healthy

gluten free brownie cookies

My first attempt at making these healthy brownie cookies was a bit of a disaster. The dough was too dry, but I didn't want the dough to go to waste, so I added milk and eggs. It helped, but I knew the next time I tested them exactly what I needed to tweak. I've really gotten into baking cookies lately, if you follow me on Instagram, maybe you've seen this on my stories. Failure is always a part of the baking process for me, but it's all good, because the end result is worth it. Especially, when the end result are these gluten free brownie cookies.

These decadent, fudgy cookies are a delicious cross between a brownie and a cookie. And when it comes to cookies, I like them to be relatively thin, crispy on the outside and fudgy and soft in the middle. And these gluten free brownie cookies (or brookies) are exactly that.

gluten free brownie cookies

The Ingredients

In order to make these brownie cookies, here is exactly what you'll need:

ingredients laid out

Almond Flour

My go-to flour when baking cookies is almond flour. I find that it results in the softest tasting cookie. You can see a similar recipe for my pecan chocolate chip cookies over here.

Tapioca Flour

Whenever I bake things that are gluten free, I find that using more than one flour is necessary. Tapioca flour is another flour that I always have on hand. Also note that tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing, it just depends on how it's been labelled. Tapioca flour is very fine, and is great for using to thicken sauces, soups or anything else that needs thickening. For baking, it helps to provide some chewiness and crispiness, two things that are key for any cookie recipe.

Walnuts

Not everyone likes walnuts in their brownies, I do! It provides a nice crunch to the cookie and to me, it really makes these cookies taste more brownie like.

Eggs

I haven't tested this recipe without eggs, as they are key to binding these cookies and providing moisture to the recipe.

70% Dark Chocolate

You could substitute dark chocolate chips for this recipe, but I just love using dark chocolate instead. Personally, I prefer the texture that chopped chocolate provides to this recipe. I love this brand of dark chocolate!

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is what makes these brownie cookies taste like a brownie. I recommend using Dutch processed cocoa powder. I don't recommend cacao powder as it will be a little too intense and the colour will be a lot darker.

Coconut Sugar

For these healthier brownie cookies, I use a mix of coconut sugar and a little bit of white sugar. Coconut sugar adds a little more depth of flavour, more so than what traditional white sugar can offer. You can opt to use brown sugar if that's what you have on hand. You can also omit the white sugar and use all coconut sugar as well.

Butter

Most things are just better with butter. Butter makes these cookies taste rich and also provides flavour. If you can't do butter, ghee will also work. I haven't tested these with coconut oil, so I'm not sure if it will work the same. A vegan butter should also work as well.

Flaky Salt

I am a salty girl, and to me cookies just taste so much better with a pinch of salt on top. It helps to cut the sweetness and honestly, they just taste so much better. I like using Maldon flaky salt on top, and adding them right after baking, while they're still hot from the oven. You could omit the flaky salt if you don't have it though.

gluten free brownie cookies

How to Make These Gluten Free Brownie Cookies

Making these gluten free brownie cookies is pretty easy! Once you have all your ingredients ready, the recipe comes together pretty quickly. I have a few tips to ensure successful cookies.

Toast Those Nuts!

Yes, I know that the walnuts get baked in the cookies, but toasting them beforehand really makes these brownie cookies stand out even more. This is one step that I think is really necessary to make them taste even better. So don't skip it!

Then whisk the dry ingredients

Whisk the almond flour, through to the cocoa powder and set aside in a medium sized bow, while you prepare the wet ingredients.

dry ingredients in bowl

Melt the Butter and then Add the Chocolate

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, then go ahead and add the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Set aside!

Beat the Sugars and Eggs:

Usually I am just a simple whisk and go girl. But beating the sugars and eggs really helps to ensure the sugars are incorporated. I only have a basic hand held mixer and that works just fine for these. You want to make sure you blend on medium for about 3 minutes in total. It will be very smooth and bubbly after.

wet ingredients for cookie dough mixture

Don't over mix the Batter:

As with any baking, you don't want to over mix the dough, you just want to mix it enough so that everything is just combined. Stir the melted butter and chocolate in with the whipped eggs and sugar and take a moment to admire the swirls.

mixing chocolate cookie ingredients

Then add in the dry ingredients along with the toasted walnuts and chopped dark chocolate. Stir until just combined! Then pop the cookie dough in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes. This makes it a lot easier to scoop the cookies as the dough is quite sticky. Plus this helps the cookies not to spread too much during baking.

cookie dough mixing with a spatula

When you're ready to bake, place them on a cookie/baking sheet. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, the dough will still look a bit undercooked, thats ok, it will continue cooking while on the tray. Add flaky salt on top right when you take them out of the oven. Let them cool on the tray for about 10 minutes, then place them on a cooling rack. Continue with the next batch, until all the cookies are made.

gluten free brownie cookies

How to Store Your Brownie Cookies

I like to keep my brownie cookies in a sealed container on my counter for a few days. Then, I'll move them to the fridge still in that sealed container.

Because this recipe makes about 16-18 cookies, and I'm just one person, living alone, I also store leftovers in the freezer. To do this, I wrap them in some parchment paper and then in a sealed plastic bag. Whenever I want one, I take it out and et it come to room temperature, for about 8-10 minutes. They taste almost as good as when you made them fresh, obviously they're not hot from the oven, but they're still REALLY good. You could pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds if you want to recreate that whole fresh out of the oven thing too.

If you do freeze them, they also work well as the sandwich to whatever ice cream you put in the middle too. You can see my recipe over here for double chocolate paleo cookies made into ice cream sandwiches.

gluten free brownie cookies

If you make these brownie chocolate chip cookies, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to tag me on Instagram, and/or leave a comment, rating or review below.

Don't let the instructions intimidate you, it's just me trying to be as descriptive as possible. These brownie cookies are really easy to make!

Other Cookie Recipes to try

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share products and services I have personally used and love. Disclosure here.

Gluten Free Brownie Cookies: Fudgy & Healthy

Decadent and fudgy double chocolate brownie cookies!

Prep:
20
min
cook:
9
min
total:
30
min
servings:
16
Author:

Jaclyn

Ingredients


Instructions


  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Add the walnuts to a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 9 minutes, until lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before roughly chopping.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond flour, tapioca flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda and set aside.
  3. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the butter, stirring until just melted. Then remove the butter from the heat and add 5 oz of the chopped chocolate. Mix until the chocolate has melted and set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, coconut sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract. Using a hand held mixer or stand mixer, mix on medium for about 2 to 3 minutes, until very well mixed.
  5. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the large bowl with the eggs and sugar and stir until combined. Then fold in the mixed dry ingredients until just combined. Gently add the walnuts and remaining chopped chocolate and mix just to incorporate. Place the dough in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes.
  6. Prepare a baking tray by lining it with parchment paper and heat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) if not already on.
  7. Using slightly damp/wet hands, use about 2 tbsp to scoop the cookie dough into balls and flatten with your hands. Place them on the cookie sheet, making sure there is enough room so they don't touch one another when baking. This should work out to be about 8 cookies per baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, the dough will still look a bit undercooked, thats ok, it will continue cooking while on the tray. Add flaky salt on top right when you take them out of the oven. Let them cool on the tray for about 10 minutes, then place them on a cooling rack. Continue with the next batch, until all the cookies are made.

Notes

If your cookies are a little on the pillowy side and not flat enough, bang the baking tray down to flatten the cookies. They will deflate a little as they sit on the baking tray as well.

To get the salt to stick on top, you can just lightly touch the tops of the cookies once they come out of the oven to expose some of the melted chocolate chunks, the salt will stick to that.

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