Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

These Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are buttery, loaded with chocolate and big chunks of crunchy walnuts. Golden brown on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside these oversized gluten-free chocolate chip walnut cookies will quickly become your new favorite treat.

While they may look similar to my Gluten Free Levain Bakery Cookies, these soft and chewy cookies are made following the "Streusel Technique" as well contain a lot less chocolate and nuts (oh and these chocolate chip walnut cookies are also less sweet if that's something you are into).

This cookie recipe is made with cold ingredients straight from the fridge. No reason to wait around for butter and eggs to come to room temperature. You actually want the ingredients cold to make sure the cookies will bake up thick and chunky.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: I have tested this recipe for Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies with my own gluten-free flour blend, King Arthur Measure for Measure, and Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1. All three of these blends work fabulously in this recipe. Each of these flour blends is made up of a variety of gluten-free flours and a binder (such as xanthan gum). A single flour such as almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour will not work in this recipe.

Whole Milk Powder: This is an optional ingredient. Milk powder enhances the taste of the baked goods by adding just a hint of sweetness as well as a creamier texture (think of it as an additional emulsifier). Also, when heated, the sugars from the milk powder caramelize which adds to the rich taste and give cookies a browner tone. The fat found in milk powder also acts as a tenderizer resulting in a softer bake. Non-fat milk powder, which works just as fine, can be found in the baking section or near the canned milk in your local grocery store. I buy this product online: Whole Milk Powder.

Butter: We are using cold, unsalted butter for this recipe. Straight from the fridge.

Eggs: To keep things simple, we are using one cold egg in this recipe. No need to bring them to room temperature ahead of time.

Chocolate: This is a great recipe to use up random odd ends of chocolate you may have in your cupboards. I like to use a mix of dark chocolate chips, maybe some chopped-up milk chocolate, and some chocolate chips. And of course, I always top the cookies with some chocolate before baking and when coming from the oven.

Walnuts: I use raw walnuts in this recipe but the nuts can also be toasted before adding them to the cookie dough. Just make sure they are fully cooled. If you are on a nut-free diet, feel free to sub them with some additional chocolate chips or try different nuts.

Salt: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt in all my recipes and Maldon’s Flaky Sea Salt as my finishing salt (the flaky sea salt I put on almost all my baked goods). If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier. 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt weighs roughly 3 grams while 1 teaspoon of Morton’s Kosher Salt weighs almost 5 grams. Therefore if use another brand other than Diamonds Crystal Kosher Salt please be aware that this can throw off the entire recipe.

How to make Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Dough

We are going to learn a new technique today which we will call “The Streusel Technique”. It’s the best technique to make sturdy cookies. Make sure to start with cold butter as mentioned above in the Recipe Ingredient Notes.

Step 1: In a medium bowl sift together Gluten-Free Flour, whole milk powder (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.

Step 2: Add the cold butter, cut into small pieces, to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat it until it loses its shape. During this step, we are just breaking up the cold butter into smaller pieces.

Step 3: With the mixer running on low, add your sugars and mix to combine. Again, we are not planning on creaming butter and sugar together. We want little hunks of sugary butter here (see image below)

Step 4: Add all the dry ingredients at once. Wait, what? Yes, we are going to add the dry ingredients before the eggs. Add all your dry ingredients and mix them together. You should have a mixture that looks almost like a Streusel (or crumble). This is why we are going to call this “The Streusel Technique”.

Step 5: Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix to combine

Step 6: In a small bowl whisk together the whole egg and vanilla extract and with the mixer running on a low speed, add it to your “streusel”. Mix it until all the dry pieces have disappeared. This can take up to 1-2 minutes until it comes together. It might look a little bit rough but that’s okay. IF for any reason, the dough does not come together, add ½ - 1 tablespoon of cold water to the mixture. This should do the trick.

Step 7: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and using an XL cookie scoop or a lightly oiled ½ cup measuring cup, portion the gluten free chocolate chip walnut cookie dough into 6 equal portions. You can also use your clean hands and a digital kitchen scale for this. I like to keep this cookie around 140 grams. Lightly press down the portioned-out cookie dough to make them look more like a disk than a dome (around 1" tall) Wrap the sheet tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 4hrs.

Baking Instructions

Once your gluten-free dough has rested peacefully for 4 - 12hrs, it's time to bake some delicious gluten free cookies. The longer you allow your dough to rest, the more flavor your cookies will have.

Preheat your oven to 375F. While your oven preheats, transfer the number of cookies you want to bake to the freezer. It will take at least 20 minutes for your oven to be fully hot, so a quick freeze will help the cookies to hold their shape.

Bake your cookies: Arrange no more than 4 cookies on your parchment-lined sheet pan and sprinkle with some flaky sea. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, rotate the tray, and reduce the temperature of your oven to 350F. Rotate the sheet tray and bake for an additional 7-9 minutes. The cookies are ready when they have crispy edges, look puffy, and still look slightly underdone in the center. Top with more chocolate and a little sea salt if you like. I like to use Maldon Flaky Sea Salt.

Cool your cookies: Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheet tray for 10 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.

Storing: Like any other cookie, they taste the best when freshly baked BUT those cookies are amazing the next day as well. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Leftover Cookie Dough: If you do not plan on baking all the Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies at once, I recommend freezing the dough. Place it on a sheet tray that fits in your freezer and allow for the cookie dough to fully freeze. Once frozen transfer them to a ziplock bag and store them in your freezer for up to 3 months.

Customize 'em

It's always fun to customize a cookie to personal taste and preferences. Here are a few add-in ideas to change things up. As always please double check any products if they are gluten-free and don't overload the cookies with add-ins (I recommend staying around 150-200 total)

Dried Fruit: raisins, cranberries, or dried cherries would work fabulously in this gluten-free chocolate walnut cookie recipe

Add a Candy Bar: Add some chopped-up heath bars, peanut butter cups, snickers, and butterfingers along with some chopped-up chocolate chunks.

Mix up the chocolate: white chocolate chips, milk chocolate, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips… just a few fun ideas on how to change things up

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this cookie smaller?
Yes. You can use a #20 cookie scoop (or a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop) or your digital kitchen scale to portion the cookies into 75 grams portions. This recipe should give your around 10-12 smaller cookies. Bake them at 375F for 8 minutes and finish baking them for 5-7 minutes at 350F. The baking time for smaller cookies depends on your oven and the size you choose to make. (The yield depends on how accurate you are when adding chocolate chips and walnuts)

Can I skip the chilling part?
Got a chocolate cookie craving and don't want to way 4hrs to bake? Portion out your cookie dough and freeze it for 30 minutes. Bake them as directed. They may spread a bit but will be just as delicious. If you can, I highly recommend allowing the cookie dough to rest for several hours.

Can I make those cookies with "Regular" All Purpose Flour?
Yes, Please substitute the gluten-free flour used in this recipe with 185 grams of regular all-purpose flour.

Can I make this recipe vegan?
I have not tested this recipe with butter or egg replacements to make this vegan. IF you do, please share your experiences in the comments. So others can benefit from your experiment. I know one of my readers has successfully used margarine in my Gluten Free Levain Bakery Cookies to make them dairy-free and replace each egg with 3 tablespoons of aquafaba.

Can I freeze the baked cookies?
Yes! Place the Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies on a baking sheet and freeze them. Once frozen wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in a ziplock bag in your freezer. When you are ready to eat a cookie, allow for it to thaw at room temperature. You can always warm it up in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to give it that fresh-baked gluten free chocolate chip cookies taste.

How should I store my cookie dough?
If you do not plan on baking all the cookie dough at once, I recommend freezing it. Place it on a sheet tray that fits in your freezer and allow for the cookie dough to fully freeze. Once frozen transfer them to a ziplock bag and store them in your freezer for up to 3 months.

How do I bake the frozen cookie dough?
The best way to bake the frozen cookie dough, please preheat your oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. When your oven is preheated, transfer the number of cookies you would like to bake to your sheet tray. Bake them at 375F for 13 minutes, lower the temperature to 350F and finish baking them for 7-11 minutes.