Last Updated on January 4, 2026
(Nearly) Healthy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip and Almond Cookies:
When I was asked to write a post about cooking with Flora, I hesitated for a moment. I don’t actually bake very often, and although I do keep a tub of Flora Pro.Activ Buttery in the fridge, that has more to do with having raised cholesterol levels. Swapping Pro.Activ for butter helps assuage the guilt when I indulge in a hot cross bun or a Jacket Potato (or even a chocolate chip and almond cookie). It’s a simple change that I’m hoping will help me avoid having to take medication – the plant sterols in the Pro.Activ are known to reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol levels.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had a whim to make chocolate chip and almond cookies. And, I was intrigued by the idea of ‘healthy’, so when I found this recipe for Almond Flour and Chocolate Chip cookies, I thought I’d see if I could make a version using ingredients I could get hold of easily and know that I like. I love Billington’s Molasses Sugar. I can actually eat it by the teaspoonful – while that MIGHT be healthier than eating refined white sugar, I am sure it’s not really very good for me! If you want those pretty pale almond coloured cookies, then try using light soft brown sugar and blanched almonds instead.
I also wanted to make a little cookie stack and tie it up with ribbon. It would help the shot a lot if I could tie a tidy bow…But I still rather like my little chocolate chip and almond cookie picture. Even though I don’t really do food styling.
By the way, my chocolate chip and almond cookies are NOT burnt, that’s just the lovely treacle colour of the dark molasses sugar;)
I made my own almond meal by blitzing whole almonds with skins on. And, I used Flora Buttery to make the initial blending really quick and easy. Although I do have a stand mixer, taking it out to make a relatively small bake seems like hard work for me, and if I can get a great result using a product like Flora Buttery that is soft from the fridge, I’m more than happy to do that.
Almond and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 85 g Flora Buttery
- 80 g Dark Soft Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg
- 90 g Almonds pulsed in a food processor till you have ground almonds. You don’t need to blanch the almonds unless you want perfectly pale cookies!
- 1/4 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 125 g Chocolate Chips I used a mixture of white and dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200c.
- Cream together the Flora and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat well
- Mix the bicarbonate of soda and salt into the almond meal, then add that into the batter bit by bit till you have a ‘dropping’ consistency
- Fold through the chocolate chips
- Line a large baking tray with silicone paper. Drop dessertspoon blobs of the cookie mixture onto the tray, spacing them out with at least two inches between each cookie. You are aiming for 10 to 12 cookies. If necessary bake in batches or use two trays !
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or till the edges darken slightly.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before moving to a cooling rack
- These are best eaten quickly or frozen – just take one out of the freezer an hour before you want a treat
I’ve discovered these chocolate chip and almond cookies freeze very well. If they were just in the biscuit tin, I’d feel obliged to eat them all at once. But now I can zap it for 20 seconds in the microwave – and it tastes just as good as it did when first baked. For a small household without a gaggle of hungry children to feed, it is really important to find things to bake which can be frozen in ‘single’ portions. Brownies and muffins are great – and these cookies are now on my ‘can make safely’ list – treats that can be taken out when I fancy a little indulgence.
These chocolate chip and almond cookies are soft – they have a slightly soft centre with a crispy ‘shell’. Gluten-free, they taste wonderfully nutty to me with a lovely buttery flavour. I’m not entirely sure they are ‘healthy’, but I think I’m going to avoid trying to find out too much about the nutritional value and just enjoy one for a treat every so often.
If you’d like to try for yourself, why not pin this post for later
Chocolate Chip and Almond Cookies – FAQ
1. Are these chocolate chip and almond cookies gluten free?
Yes. The recipe uses ground almonds instead of wheat flour, so it is naturally gluten free as written. Just make sure that any extra ingredients you add (like chocolate chips or toppings) are certified gluten free if you are baking for someone with coeliac disease or a gluten intolerance.
2. What makes these chocolate chip and almond cookies “(nearly) healthy”?
These cookies still feel indulgent, but they are a little more wholesome than many traditional versions. They use almond meal instead of refined white flour and are made with Flora Buttery, a plant-based spread, which helps keep the texture light and easy to mix straight from the fridge. They do still contain sugar and chocolate, though, so they are best enjoyed as an occasional treat.
3. Why do you use Flora Buttery instead of regular butter?
Flora Buttery is soft straight from the fridge, which makes it very quick to cream with sugar by hand, especially for small batches where you might not want to get the stand mixer out. It also gives a lovely buttery flavour and is now a 100% plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free spread in the UK – though recipes and ingredients can vary by country, so always check the label where you live.
4. Do I need to blanch the almonds first?
No, you don’t have to blanch the almonds. The recipe works perfectly with whole almonds, skins on, pulsed in a food processor until you have a coarse almond meal. Leaving the skins on gives the cookies a darker, nutty appearance. If you prefer paler cookies, you can use blanched almonds or ready-ground almonds instead.
5. What kind of sugar should I use?
The recipe uses dark soft brown sugar (or molasses sugar), which gives the cookies a deep caramel colour and flavour – they may look darker, but they aren’t burnt! If you’d like a lighter look, you can swap for light soft brown sugar. The flavour will be slightly less treacly but still delicious.
6. What is the texture of these cookies like?
These chocolate chip and almond cookies are soft with a slightly squidgy centre and a light, crisp outer shell. The ground almonds give them a naturally nutty, buttery taste instead of the chew you get from flour-based cookies.
7. How many cookies does the recipe make and how long do they take?
The recipe makes around 10–12 chocolate chip and almond cookies, depending on the size of your spoonfuls. They are baked at 200 °C for about 10 minutes, or until the edges darken slightly. Including mixing and baking, you can have a batch ready in roughly 20 minutes.
8. Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes, they freeze very well. Once the cookies are completely cool, freeze them in an airtight container. Take one out about an hour before you want to eat it, or give it a very short burst in the microwave to recreate that just-baked taste. Freezing them also helps prevent the temptation to eat the whole batch at once!
9. Can I change the chocolate chips or add other mix-ins?
Absolutely. The recipe uses a mixture of white and dark chocolate chips, but you can use all dark, all milk, or any combination you like. You could also add chopped nuts or a handful of dried fruit if you wish. Just keep the total amount of mix-ins similar so the dough still holds together and bakes evenly.
10. Are these cookies dairy free or vegan?
As written, the recipe contains egg, so it is not vegan. Flora Buttery is currently sold as a plant-based, dairy-free spread in many regions, but formulations can change, so always check your local pack if you need to avoid dairy. To make a vegan version, you would need to use a plant-based spread and an egg replacer – but note that this variation has not been tested in the original recipe.
Looking for an alternative cookie recipe? These chocolate chip oat cookies are utterly delicious too
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