This easy chocolate cookies recipe is gluten free, takes about 25 minutes to make and it’s perfect for Halloween or Christmas. Truth be told, I would never say no to homemade chocolate cookies regardless of the time of the year, or of the day.
Hey Foodies,
It’s been a while since my last dessert and since Halloween is just around the corner I thought you might be looking for some easy and super delish dessert recipes.
To help you with that, and to sweeten up my blog a little bit, today I’m going to show you how to make homemade chocolate cookies for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other special occasion for that matter.
More Dessert Recipes:
Now I know most cookies are made with chocolate chips and eggs but this recipe is slightly different.
I made these homemade chocolate cookies without chocolate chips and I used cocoa powder* instead. Also, I didn’t use eggs and went for gluten-free oat flour* instead of the usual all-purpose.
Now you might wonder what makes these perfect for Halloween and Christmas. After all, gluten free chocolate cookies are great for any dessert, not just on special occasions, right?
Well, the difference lies in the decoration. I’ve used white chocolate and candy eyes* to decorate them as mummies which I’m sure will drive the kids crazy about them.
So when they’ll trick or treat you this Halloween, make sure you greet them with some (not so) scary but incredibly delicious mummies.
But careful though. They might like it so much that they’ll trick or treat you daily 🙂
And now let’s move on to my usual tips and tricks. These will help you make the best chocolate cookies with cocoa powder so make sure you read them before making the recipe.
So let’s dive in…
How to make gluten free chocolate cookies – Best Tips & Tricks
1. How to make cookie dough
The dough should be easily pliable to produce chewy and soft chocolate cookies. If it’s dry and crumbly, the cookies will come out dry, and if it’s too sticky, they’ll end up too crispy.
To make the dough easily pliable, rich, fluffy and textured, you have to use pure butter. Unsalted if you want, but it has to be pure without oils or other ingredients added.
Then you have to choose the right sugar for cookie dough.
Dark brown soft sugar and white caster sugar mix very well with butter to form the cookie dough and they also add a more intense flavor.
Make sure you beat them well together until they’re perfectly incorporated and the dough gets light and fluffy.
2. How to make homemade chocolate cookies chewy and soft
To make soft and chewy chocolate cookies, you have to make an easily pliable dough as I explained above. Remember to use melted pure butter as this plays a very important role in making them soft.
Also, sugar is very important in this process as well. Brown sugar will make the homemade chocolate cookies chewy and soft, while white sugar will make them crispy.
If you like them crispy, or maybe even extra crispy, you should also bake them for a few extra minutes. Somewhere around 2-5 minutes should be enough but make sure you check them every minute or so.
Now let’s see which is the best flour for cookies.
3. Best flour for cookies
I used oat flour because I wanted to make the chocolate cookies gluten free. So for me, that’s the best option.
But you can go for plain flour. It’s worth noting here that if you use plain flour, you’d have to add some form of raising agent, like baking powder*.
A teaspoon of baking powder for every 3.5 oz (100g) of plain flour will make it self-raising.
4. Which ingredients can be changed in this easy chocolate cookies recipe
As said above, you can use all-purpose flour if you don’t have oat flour. Then, you can replace maple syrup with honey and use any kind of milk (I used almond milk).
I made the topping (mummy decoration) with melted white chocolate and you can replace it with dark or milk chocolate.
Or, you can even serve these gluten free chocolate cookies without the decoration topping and they’ll still be delicious.
And if you’re a chocoholic like yours truly, add some chocolate chips. Trust me, these will go great in this recipe.
That’s it for today, my dear foodies. Now it’s time to put the tips and tricks into practice and make these chewy chocolate cookies with cocoa powder.
And remember. These are great Christmas and Halloween cookies but really, they make a wonderful dessert for any occasion, whether it’s an anniversary, family get-together, or any party for that matter.
Oh, and yeah, I almost forgot.
If you happen to like this easy chocolate cookies recipe video and want to see more like it, please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
*This recipe was included in Twinkl Halloween Guide. Make sure you check out their guide if you need more Halloween inspo. And while at it, check out the pumpkin patches available near you for this Halloween
Easy Chocolate Cookies Recipe (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (100g) gluten-free oat flour
- 1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup (65g) sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter - melted and chilled
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp milk - dairy or non-dairy
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
To Decorate:
- 1/4 cup (60ml) melted white chocolate - to drizzle
- candy eyes - to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and line one large baking tray* with a Silpat mat* or parchment paper*.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
- In a second bowl, using a hand mixer*, mix all wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- With a silicone spatula*, form the dough into a big ball.
- Take less than a spoon of dough and roll it between your palms to create a ball, then place it onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough (you should get about 8-10 balls). Arrange the balls on the tray leaving enough space between them, as shown in the video.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. They will look a bit soft as they come out of the oven but once chilled, they'll get crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. So, allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes, before removing them from the tray.
- Add 2 candy eyes to each cookie, then drizzle with white chocolate. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set.
Recipe Notes
- To make soft and chewy chocolate cookies, use melted pure butter and brown sugar. These will produce an easily pliable dough which is essential for that purpose. See More on this and how to make the dough for cookies at Tips 1 & 2.
- You can replace oat flour with plain all-purpose or with self-raising flour. If you go for plain flour you have to add some form of raising agent. See more on this at Tip 3.
- To decorate these homemade Halloween cookies, you can use white, dark or milk chocolate or you can even make them without decoration. See what other ingredients can be replaced in this recipe at Tip 4.
Nutrition
*This post may contain affiliate links