Gluten Free Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Cup (Small Batch)

Gluten Free Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies in Cups - the dessert you didn’t know you could have without ever turning on the oven. One experiment led to another, and suddenly I had gooey gluten free cookies baked right in ramekins. Turns out, the air fryer is surprisingly good at this kind of thing. This small batch recipe is ideal for when you’re craving something sweet but don’t want a dozen cookies sitting around.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: This Gluten Free Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is very forgiving when it comes to gluten-free flour. After all, the cookies are baked in a ramekin, so there is no need to worry about them spreading (or not spreading). I tested the recipe with Bob's Red Mill 1-1 and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Both flour blends work great here. Just make sure your blend does contain xanthan gum.

Egg Yolk: Make sure to use only the egg yolk in this recipe. Egg whites contain water and protein, which can make cookies more cakey or dry. Omitting the white keeps the air fryer chocolate chip cookies moist and chewy.

Brown Butter: I love browning the butter for these cookies - it adds a rich, nutty depth with hints of caramel and toasted hazelnut. It’s a simple step that makes a big difference in flavor. You can also use melted butter - just make sure to omit adding milk/water back to the recipe.

Milk: When browning butter, it loses some of its water content. To make up for that, I like to add just a splash of milk back to the recipe. You can also use dairy free milk or even water for this. (Or a splash of strong espresso if you want a hint of espresso flavor)

Chocolate: I like using a chopped dark chocolate bar here instead of chips - it melts into the dough and gives you those perfect, gooey pockets of chocolate in every bite.

What is an Air Fryer?

I have to admit, I jumped on the air fryer wagon in early 2025. I never even thought about owning an air fryer until a friend gave me their "small" air fryer since they upgraded to a bigger one. An air fryer is a countertop kitchen appliance that cooks food by circulating hot air around it, kind of like a small, powerful convection oven.

Just like any other kitchen appliance, air fryers can vary quite a bit from model to model. Some have bigger baskets, different temperature settings, or extra features like baking trays and rotisserie functions.

My air fryer is a very basic model - just a temperature dial and a timer, that’s it. No fancy presets or extra bells and whistles, which makes it super simple to use. You just set the temp, turn the timer, and let it do its thing. It’s great for straightforward baking without any confusion.

Recipe Testing Notes

This recipe for Gluten Free Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Cup started with me just dropping scoops of cookie dough onto parchment paper in the air fryer basket. I didn’t think about how the air circulates, though, so the parchment paper ended up covering the dough, and I got some pretty oddly shaped, still-raw cookies inside. Not what I was going for.

Then I tried baking the dough in ramekins and quickly realized this was the way to go. The cookies rise beautifully, but still a little gooey inside, making the perfect single-serve dessert (don't skip that scoop of vanilla ice cream, you can thank me later)

I like to cover my ramekins with a piece of foil for the first half of the baking time. This helps the cookie dough rise nicely without drying out or overbaking.

Gluten Free Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I make this small batch gluten free air fryer chocolate chip cookie dough in a small bowl with just a rubber spatula. There is no need to get out the stand mixer or electric mixer for this quick and easy recipe.

1. Brown the butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan until the butter starts to smell nutty and turns a medium amber color. Remove it from the stove and transfer it to a small, heat-proof mixing bowl. Make sure to get all the bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow the brown butter to cool for 10 minutes. (Detailed instructions with photos on how to brown butter can be found here: How to brown butter)
2. While the butter is cooling, measure out the gluten free flour, baking soda and kosher salt in a separate small bowl and set aside. Make sure to stir or sift them together.
3. Once the brown butter has cooled a bit but is still liquid, stir in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Use a flexible spatula to mix everything together until it looks like wet sand.
4. Next, add the egg YOLK, a splash of milk (or heavy cream or water), and the vanilla extractct. Stir until the mixture is smooth, glossy, and fully combined.
5. Fold the dry ingredients and the chopped chocolate into the wet ingredients and stir together with a spatula. The cookie dough will seem very dry first, but the more you stir the ingredients together, the dough will come together.
6. Place your cookie dough in your fridge for at least half an hour to allow the butter to set up and the flour to hydrate. The dough will be loose and almost unscoppable if you try to scoop cookies into the cups without chilling the dough.

Baking Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies in Cups

Since every air fryer is different when it comes to the size of its basket, it's up to you how many cups you want to bake at once. Also, once portioned out, you can cover each cup tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for a few days until you are ready to bake it. (Freezer works as well) I found baking one or two cups at a time is perfect for my air fryer. I found that when you over-crowd the basket, the baking time dramatically increases.

1. Preheat your air fryer to 325°F for 5 minutes while portioning out the cookie dough.
2. Use a large cookie scoop or digital kitchen scale to portion out the dough. I like to divide this small batch air fryer chocolate chip cookie recipe between three 6oz ramekins. If you’re not sure what size yours are, a standard 6-ounce ramekin is about 3.6 inches wide and 1.8 inches tall. I fill each cup with about 75 grams of cookie dough and then gently press it into the cup.
3. Next, tightly wrap each ramekin with foil. This will make sure the cookie dough actually will bake without drying out the outside first.
4. Place one (or two) cups in your air fryer basket and bake at 325°F for 7 minutes with the foil on.

5. After 7 minutes, carefully open the basket of your air fryer and with tongs remove the foil wrapping.
6. Place the basket back into the air fryer and continue baking the air fryer chocolate chip cookies in a cup for another 8 minutes for a total of 15 minutes. Baking times can vary if you use larger or smaller ramekins! Please keep this in mind.
7. Once the timer goes off, leave the cookie cups in the closed air fryer for an additional 2 minutes. This will help them continue baking for a few minutes without overbaking them.
8. Carefully open the air fryer basket and, with tongs or oven mitts, remove the ramekins from the basket. The cookies should be puffy and golden brown with some melted chocolate chunks peaking through.
9. Place them on a wire rack and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Please be careful - the ramekins will be HOT! It's normal for the Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies to slightly deflate while cooling.

Serving Ideas

It's pretty much a given that the best way to serve a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie baked in a ramekin is straight in the ramekin with a scoop of ice cream on top. The warm cookie will melt the ice cream just enough to make it a magical dessert. Vanilla is the go-to, but salted caramel, coffee, or peanut butter ice cream are great too (or whatever is your favorite ice cream flavor).

Want to take it over the top? Hit it with a drizzle of fudge or caramel and a sprinkle of flaky salt. Then watch it disappear in less than five minutes.

Storage & Leftovers

The whole point of a single-serve dessert is the fact that there shouldn't be any leftovers. If you have some unbaked cookies in cups left, I recommend wrapping them very tightly in plastic wrap and letting the gluten free air fryer chocolate chip cookie dough sit in the fridge up to 3 days or freezing them for up to a month. Add a few minutes to the baking time. Just make sure to remove the plastic wrap and replace it with aluminum foil for the first half of the baking time.

Note about Salt in my Recipes

I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Since takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.