Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Rich, fudgy chocolate cookies with a shiny, crackled top, made with melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder for deep chocolate flavor. Naturally gluten-free with crisp edges and soft centers, ready in about 30 minutes with no flour blends required.
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 4 oz. 60–70% dark chocolate chopped
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt chopped chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water (or microwave in short bursts). Stir until smooth, then let cool slightly.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and both sugars until thick, pale, and bubbly, about 2–3 minutes. Whisk in vanilla.
- Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.
- Sift in cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir gently until just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Fold in chocolate chips or chunks.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet, using a lightly greased ice cream scoop, spacing 2 inches apart.
- Bake 10–12 minutes, until tops are shiny and cracked but centers are still soft.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- For the melted base, stick to dark chocolate (60–70%) — milk chocolate makes these too sweet and can affect how they set.
- Melting real chocolate, not just cocoa powder, is what keeps the centers fudgy instead of dry.
- If your kitchen is warm, rest the dough 5–10 minutes before scooping so the cookies don't spread too thin.
- Pull them from the oven while the tops are shiny and cracked, but the centers still look soft — they firm up as they cool.
- Measure cocoa powder by weight if you can, since too much cocoa is the most common cause of dry, crumbly cookies.
- If adding extras like nuts, dried fruit, or flavored chips, stick to about 1/2 cup total.
- Need this dairy-free too? Swap in dairy-free chocolate chips.
- These keep well: room temperature up to 4 days, refrigerated up to a week, or frozen baked for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 86mg | Potassium: 189mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg