Classic Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I’m biased, but these are the best paleo chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat. Trust me on this one.

I’ve always wanted to post a classic, simple paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe to my blog, but I never did because there are a million other paleo chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. Why add another to get lost in the shuffle, ya know?

In the last month or so, though, I have been CRAVING chocolate chip cookies. Really delicious, soft, chewy, rich chocolate chip cookies with the perfect amount of sweetness. Classic chocolate chip cookies. I set out to make some, but I was still resisting making “regular” chocolate chip cookies, since I know there are so many others out there. That led to my sugar-free, paleo, keto chocolate chip cookies (which are, by the way, absolutely delicious!).

Even though they’re delicious, they’re not the same as an old-school chocolate chip cookie, though. So I gave in and decided to just make the classic, my way. It was a long time coming.

A mistake I’ve made in the past, and one I see a lot of other bloggers make as well, is paying too much attention to what other people are doing in the health and wellness space. About a year and a half ago I decided to unfollow a lot of food bloggers and try to not see what other people posted, because I realized it was disrupting my own creativity. When I started really focusing on my own content and paying less attention to what others were posting, I became much happier and felt much more inspired. I stopped worrying about whether or not someone else had already done something similar, and things started flowing. The truth is that not much is really original anymore, anyways. There’s too much on the Internet. Plus, people don’t go to bloggers’ pages for originality, necessarily – they just want to see the way that person does things.

Recently, though, I’ve tuned out a lot more “noise” than ever before. The last few months I’ve barely listened to any other podcasts, I haven’t bothered reading other people’s blogs, I stopped scrolling on Instagram, and overall I’ve focused simply on making my own content and spending time with people in real life. It wasn’t really a conscious effort, and it wasn’t anything against anyone else. It was mostly just because I was feeling overwhelmed with so much content in general and needed some silence, so to speak. Mental space.

How does this relate to my chocolate chip cookies? Well, I realized I didn’t really want to search on the Internet for a paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe that I thought might really hit the spot, because I didn’t want to spend that much time searching on other people’s blogs. I also realized that if I wanted the cookies to taste exactly how I imagined they would taste, I would have to make the recipe myself.

I’m so glad I made these, because they will definitely be a staple recipe for me. I feel satisfied now that I have my simple, go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe up on my website! This way, you guys know exactly how I like my cookies. I feel confident making these for ANYONE.

And yes, they taste exactly how I imagined them to. I didn’t want them to taste like a “healthy” chocolate chip cookie, persay – I wanted them to taste like real chocolate chip cookies. The ones I used to love when I was a kid. The ones I made for Santa on Christmas Eve. The ones you dip in a glass of cold milk while you curl up on the couch watching a movie. Real damn chocolate chip cookies!

How do you get that flavor? Butter and sugar. The perfect ratio of both, and the right type. To replace conventional butter, I decided to go with ghee. Most people who don’t tolerate dairy do well with ghee, which is clarified butter that’s had the milk solids removed. Ghee also has plenty of health benefits – it’s a rich source of CLA, butyrate, and vitamins A, E, and K, and it helps to improve digestion and reduce inflammation. Ghee is definitely important for the flavor of this recipe. Even though coconut oil will work, if you really want to get as close to the taste of regular chocolate chip cookies as possible, ghee will provide that flavor.

I decided to go with an unrefined, natural sweetener – maple syrup. Maple syrup is my favorite natural sweetener because it fits perfectly in any cookie recipe. Honey tends to stand out a bit more and also loses a lot of its nutritional value when baked. Maple syrup also contains plenty of antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals like zinc, manganese, potassium, and calcium. I also love maple syrup because a liquid sweetener provides better texture than a granulated sweetener, in my opinion. The best part is that these need hardly any sweetener for the whole batch – only 3 tablespoons! And trust me – it’s plenty!

These are everything I could ever want in a cookie. I’m warning you now – they’re addicting. They have the perfect amount of sweetness – they’ll satisfy your sweet tooth but aren’t sickening or heavy. They’re soft and fluffy while also being moist and chewy. Not too soft, not too firm. Melt-in-your-mouth!

If you’re looking for the perfect, classic chocolate chip cookies – these are for you. I wish you could’ve seen how excited I was when they came out of the oven and I took my first bite. I honestly surprised myself with how perfectly they came out, and I was even happier when my friends immediately fell in love with them as well. The best part about these is that they taste exactly like a classic chocolate chip cookie, but they’re healthy, and they won’t upset your stomach like other sugar/wheat-filled versions might. Honestly, I’ve tried plenty of paleo cookies that are too heavy, too sweet, and still don’t leave me feeling that great. That is NOT the case with these beauties!

These chocolate chip cookies are paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free. They can be made egg-free if you replace the egg with a chia or flax egg. If you can’t do ghee, then you can certainly replace the ghee with coconut oil, but just remember that the ghee gives the buttery flavor. Butter-flavored coconut oil would work as well! You can replace the maple syrup with any other liquid sweetener that you prefer instead, but I personally like maple syrup the most! I like to use 100% cacao chips or Enjoy Life chocolate chips for the chocolate chips, but you can use any that you’d like. Lastly, feel free to sub the almond butter with another nut butter if you so desire! This is simply the version that I love the most and tastes the most like “traditional” chocolate chip cookies. Remember, though, never be afraid to put your own twist on a recipe!

Classic Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 10 cookies

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
1 large egg
3 tbsp ghee
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp raw almond butter
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips (You could use Lily’s, Enjoy life, 100% cacao chips, etc.)

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips together until well combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips.
Form the dough into cookies about 2 inches wide, placing them about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the bottom edges of the cookies start to turn golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool so the cookies set completely. Enjoy!