GLUTEN FREE BROWNIE COOKIES

I would like to introduce all of you to someone who has become a dear friend recently – his name is Joshua Weissman and he is the man behind the acclaimed food blog Slim Palate. Joshua and I met through Instagram a few months ago, but I actually already knew of Joshua before he came across my profile on Instagram. See, I came across Joshua years ago, as he was writing his cookbook while he was still in high school. I was immediately drawn to his photography and had so much respect for how hard he was working for his goals at such a young age. What I did not realize at that time, was just how much we actually shared in common then and ultimately, that our paths would cross years later. Joshua and I went through similar phases with our relationships with food, so his honesty in sharing his story of how he healed really resounds with me. What I find to be so incredible is that both of our journeys have led us to the same food beliefs, that a truly healthy way of living has so much more to do than just with the food you put in your mouth. 

I am so incredibly excited to have the opportunity to guest post for Bella! I love being able to collaborate with people who care about food like I do. Food isn’t just something that nourishes the body, but it is something that nourishes your mind, your emotions, your being. It’s something that often times, transforms our lives in some way or another.

Food has certainly transformed my life in many aspects. The first encounter being that I lost more than 100 pounds at age 16 and then published my first cookbook at 17. I understand that it was a fantastic achievement but I was very rigid during this time period. I never shamed people but I was very hard on myself. I think that I was mentally shaken still by the trauma caused by people who harassed me physically and emotionally when I was overweight. This took me to a place where everything needed to be as paleo as it could get.

I ended up dipping way too low on the weight spectrum for my height (entirely unintended). This put me in a bad spot for many reasons. After a trip to Europe, a lot of my mindset changed very quickly about food and the paleo and “gluten-free” community. That being that there was/is a lot of immense dogmatic, body dysmorphic, and orthorexic behavior going on in that realm. Following that, I gained about 70 pounds of necessary and good mass plus a lot of strength. I finally felt at peace with food, eating plenty of gluten when I wanted it. Baking my own sourdough bread, eating things that I was well aware contained gluten. It was a really important learning piece for me. That being, that you will not die if you eat gluten and do not have celiac disease. Of course, I still care about the food that goes into my mouth, I just don’t make a religion out of it anymore. I don’t need cheat days, I don’t need gluten free pancakes, and I don’t need to be stressed about any of those things. For credibility sake, I have kept the weight off for over 5 years now (which is about a quarter of my life).

gluten-free brownie cookies

That’s where this super sweet treat comes in. Sort of a symbol of letting go of the dogma and accepting real food for what it is. Ironically this recipe ended up gluten free but not by intention. I actually just liked the texture of the cookie without flour. It ended up much more chewy and exciting to eat. Either way, thank you all so much for taking the time to read this. Take a few minutes this week or weekend and bake some of these mind-blowingly easy to make gluten free brownie cookies! These really are throw-together cookies that likely contain ingredients that you already have lying around the house. Either way, thank you again for having me Bella. Hope to see you and everyone here again soon!

gluten-free brownie cookies gif gluten free brownie cookies

Thank you so much, Joshua, for sharing your story and these delectable gluten free brownie cookies! I think these are the perfect treat to make my dad for Father’s Day (he is a total cookie monster!) To follow Joshua you can check him out at his site Slim Palate, on Facebook & on Instagram @joshuaweissman

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GLUTEN FREE BROWNIE COOKIES


  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8-12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 3/4 cup (390g) powdered sugar (or substitute powdered maple sugar)
  • 2 egg whites (2 egg whites weigh approx. 80g)
  • 1 whole egg (weighs approx. 60g)
  • 3/4 cup (70g)cocoa powder or cacao powder
  • 1 tablespoon (8g) corn starch (or substitute 2 tsp arrowroot starch)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 oz roughly chopped dark chocolate (70% or higher)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 360 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. In a medium bowl add your powdered sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch, and salt. Whisk to combine.
  3. Add in the egg whites and whole egg – whisk until thoroughly incorporated and no lumps remain.
  4. Fold in the chopped chocolate (the dough should be a bit liquid in texture)
  5. Scoop the cookie “dough” onto the parchment lined baking sheet or sheets giving them enough room to spread slightly
  6. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are shiny and are beginning to crackle.
  7. Pull from the oven and let cool slightly until you can remove them without breaking them.(You can loosen them from the parchment if they stick by using a spatula to carefully loosen them from the paper)
  8. Once they’ve cooled slightly, let them finish cooling on a wire rack until they are almost completely cooled.
  9. Enjoy immediately and within a day of baking for best taste and texture.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
{ 91 comments… add one }
  • Kate June 15, 2017, 1:32 pm

    AH! I’ve tried these! These are so so good!

    • bella | ful-filled June 15, 2017, 3:13 pm

      YAY! I cannot wait to make a batch!

  • Christiann Koepke June 15, 2017, 2:43 pm

    wow this looks so good!! certainly cannot go wrong with chocolate cookies :) – CK

    • bella | ful-filled June 15, 2017, 3:13 pm

      exactly! I totally agree!

  • kimberley hasselbrink June 15, 2017, 3:37 pm

    My kind of cookie. Glad to hear your food journey is evolving; I don’t think it ever stops. ;)

    • bella | ful-filled June 15, 2017, 9:17 pm

      Me too Kimberley! And yes, I totally agree!

  • Sunny June 15, 2017, 4:51 pm

    These look amazing but I think I’m missing something. In the ingredients it lists cocoa powder and rough chopped dark chocolate but in the directions it lists mixing cocoa powder both with the dry and the wet ingredients????? Confused. Thanks.

    • bella | ful-filled June 15, 2017, 9:17 pm

      Hi Sunny! So sorry about that typo! Joshua sent me the corrections to the recipe instructions and it is all updated now! Happy baking!

      • Greg Hanlon November 13, 2019, 5:46 pm

        I contend leaving out a step or misidentifying an ingredient should be referred to as a “braino,” not a “typo.”
        And, after decades of brainos, I know.

        • bella | ful-filled November 18, 2019, 3:42 pm

          Haha! For sure! I suppose it was a braino after all!

        • Prisca March 5, 2020, 10:59 am

          Hey there!
          I am so so so excited to try out this recipe and surprise my sister (as she’s gluten intolerant) I just hit a little snag. On my quest for buying ingredients I bought corn flour instead corn starch. Is there any method of substituting the one with the other? Can I still use my corn flour or should I take a rain-check?

          • bella | ful-filled March 5, 2020, 11:11 am

            Is your corn flour white? If so, it is corn starch! The names tend to be interchangeable for the same product. If your ‘corn flour’ is yellow, then you will need to get cornstarch instead or else the recipe won’t work out!

  • Timothy June 16, 2017, 4:13 am

    Love this post! Looks lovely.

    • bella | ful-filled June 16, 2017, 8:09 am

      Thank you Timothy! Joshua is an inspiration for sure!

    • Max November 25, 2019, 12:27 pm

      I tried them,but they turn out very flat.What can I do?
      And it seems you forgot to mention the vanilla in the steps.

      • bella | ful-filled November 25, 2019, 10:11 pm

        Hello Max! I just noticed that the vanilla was missing from the instructions, fixing that now, but you simply add it in with all of the other ingredients! Also, if your cookies turned out flat, may I ask you if you weighed your ingredients? It sounds like your cookie batter may have been looser than intended, so you may want to try weighing the ingredients instead if you give this recipe a try again!

        • Max November 26, 2019, 5:08 am

          Thank you for your quick answer.Sadly I already weighed the ingredients.Could it be my oven setting?They rise when I bake them but either during the end or when I take them out,they fall.What can I improve?

          • bella | ful-filled November 29, 2019, 11:26 am

            The cookies do naturally flatten out when they cool, but do you feel like they were too flat or that they looked very different from the photos in this post? And what type of powdered sugar are you using? This article explains how the differences between organic & non-organic powdered sugar affect your baked goods: https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/03/organic-powdered-sugar-versus-conventional-baking-cornstarch-tapioca.html
            I personally use organic, but have not asked Joshua what he used for this recipe…

          • Nancy F Hoyle September 13, 2020, 5:49 pm

            I’m wondering if you chilled the dough first, would they stay a little thicker I do that for most of my cookies)? Any thoughts?

          • bella | ful-filled September 17, 2020, 11:06 am

            Hi Nancy! I am not sure that chilling would help this recipe be thicker, as there is no flour and there is only fat from the eggs. If you wanted them thicker you could try adding a bit more cocoa powder, say one cup instead of 3/4 cup :)

  • michelle @ hummingbird high June 16, 2017, 8:45 am

    Joshua’s story is so inspiring, and i love that he walked away from the whole experience with a healthy attitude towards food. these cookies look AMAZING too. xo

    • bella | ful-filled June 17, 2017, 10:07 am

      I totally agree Michelle and yes, these cookies are a part of my weekend plan for sure!

  • Joshua Weissman June 16, 2017, 8:52 am

    Wow this recipe looks so delicious and amazing! I bet someone really handsome came up with this recipe. Joking. So happy to be contribution to your beautiful blog!!! <3

    • Joshua Weissman June 16, 2017, 8:56 am

      Contributing**

    • bella | ful-filled June 17, 2017, 10:07 am

      hahahahaha! you are too much Joshua! Thank you so much for partnering with me for this! It has been an honor to have you here!

  • Mark June 16, 2017, 10:36 am

    Can’t wait to try these. Any suggestions for a substitute for the powdered sugar? Perhaps a wet sweetener like honey or maple syrup? I realize this changes the wet/dry mixture. Just curious.

    • bella | ful-filled June 17, 2017, 10:06 am

      I can definitely recommend powdered maple sugar as it works very well as a substitute for powdered cane sugar Mark :) happy baking!

  • Miriam June 16, 2017, 11:25 am

    Can coconut sugar, run through a coffee grinder, be substituted for the powedered sugar here?

    • bella | ful-filled June 17, 2017, 10:05 am

      I have never tried making my own powdered coconut sugar, but I have used powdered maple sugar with success in various recipes that call for powdered sugar Miriam. But if you try making powdered coconut sugar for this recipe, please let us know how it works out!

  • Haley | Brewing Happiness June 18, 2017, 8:15 am

    Does it get any better than combining brownies and cookies???? NOPE.xo

    • bella | ful-filled August 6, 2017, 8:05 am

      I’m with you on!

  • Natalia June 19, 2017, 7:06 am

    OMG, I forgot when was the last time I saw chocolate cookies looking so addictive!!!

    • bella | ful-filled August 6, 2017, 8:04 am

      Haha! I know, right!?

  • Niko June 22, 2017, 11:29 am

    WHOA!! what have you done to me?!?!?

  • Niko June 22, 2017, 11:30 am

    These look SO freakin good!!
    Now i can eat NO other dessert until we make this!!

  • Niko June 22, 2017, 11:32 am

    eating these TONIGHT, btw., period. NO if’s, and’s, or but’s…SO EXCITED!! thank you for sharing bella!!

  • Miranda Mucklow June 25, 2017, 2:11 pm

    I just made these and i think i must have done something wrong. I mixed all the dry ingredients. And then mixed in egg and vanilla. But my batter was not wet like directions say it will be. And my cookies came out very thick and cake like not flat like the ones pictures. Help!!!

    • bella | ful-filled June 27, 2017, 9:15 am

      Hmmmm…its hard to say what may have gone wrong Miranda…I am thinking that perhaps your eggs were not large enough? Since eggs are the only liquid, maybe you could have added an extra egg white? Also, when you measured your powdered sugar did you use a spoon to fill the measuring cup or did you scoop directly into the bag? Using a spoon is a more accurate way to measure, this way the sugar does not pack into the cup and actually end up being too much for the recipe…I hope this helps!

      • Andrea August 28, 2017, 2:12 am

        Weight in ounces or grams would have been great.

        • bella | ful-filled August 31, 2017, 8:43 am

          Hi Andrea! That is a great idea! I will update the recipe to have weighted measurements!

  • Laura August 6, 2017, 7:11 am

    Hi I’m just wondering are these a healthy option I’m trying to eat healthy and I’m craving something so sweet and these look sooo tasty can someone help me out here please. Thanks

    • bella | ful-filled August 6, 2017, 8:03 am

      These are definitely a special treat Laura! If you are looking for something sweet that could be considered ‘healthy’ I would make https://www.ful-filled.com/2016/07/25/chocolate-avocado-mousse/

      • Laura August 6, 2017, 12:23 pm

        Thank you! I have the cookies in the oven the mixture even tasted amazing!!

        • bella | ful-filled August 9, 2017, 5:58 pm

          Yay! So happy!

  • Mia Kouppa August 18, 2017, 8:02 pm

    All I can say is…oh my! I am definitely going to make these for a co-worker who has celiac disease, but I will make a few test batches before I bring them to her…you know, just in case :)

    • bella | ful-filled August 19, 2017, 9:52 pm

      hahaha! but of course ;)

  • Allegra Cerreti November 15, 2017, 3:23 am

    I made these cookies for a chocolate-themed bake sale and they sold out within minutes. I actually felt bad that I hadn’t made enough.

    • bella | ful-filled November 20, 2017, 11:01 pm

      That is great news! So happy they were a hit!

  • cheryl saylor June 4, 2018, 4:31 pm

    Has anyone ever tried making these with Energ Egg replacer? Looking for GF, DF and EF recipes.

    • bella | ful-filled June 6, 2018, 12:45 am

      I have not had any feed back on an egg free version of this recipe…and I am not sure what would be a good replacement…maybe aquafaba?

  • Ann June 27, 2018, 9:13 pm

    I would love to make these cookies but the amount of sugar scares me.In every recipe I make ,I always use about 1/4 to 1/3 of what the recipe calls for. Unfortunately this recipe does not uses any flour, so I am not sure if cutting the amount of sugar will have an impact on the outcome of these cookies.Did anyone used less sugar without any problems?

    • bella | ful-filled June 28, 2018, 1:49 am

      Hey Ann! You are right in judging that reducing the sugar in this recipe would cause the cookies to not turn out! I have not received any feedback on reducing the sugar (just replacing with powdered maple sugar), but if you wanted to experiment you would have to replace whatever you take away with something (like a starch) – it would most definitely alter the texture of the cookies, but let us know if you try something and it works out!

      • Fox January 31, 2021, 5:02 pm

        Just made these cookies! So easy to make and DELICIOUS! My batter wasn’t as liquid-y as Josh’s but I think maybe he used bigger eggs? Not a problem at all and they were soooooo good!

  • Anna L Carver July 16, 2018, 1:06 pm

    OH MY GOD THESE ARE AMAZING!! We ate them all in under 24 hours. I ate one for breakfast. I’m not even going to pretend that I didn’t.

    • bella | ful-filled July 17, 2018, 12:28 am

      Hahahaha! That is so awesome! It is such a great recipe! So happy you all enjoyed them!

  • Aim August 15, 2018, 2:18 am

    Wow!! Superb .
    How did you do a thin flim on cookies surface. I’ve tried to do this recipe from Joshua’s youtube channel but i think my cookies are too thin and didn’t look have thin flim on them.😢 BTW i ate all them.

    • bella | ful-filled August 15, 2018, 7:35 am

      Hello Aim! Did you weigh your ingredients? It really is the best way to ensure the final product looks like what you see pictured! But either way, it sounds like you enjoyed them anyway! :D

  • marquis December 28, 2018, 10:53 am

    They looked perfect but the consistency is too week with banking of 14 min at 360. Also they are insanely sweet! They are falling apart even if I try to pick it up with a spatula. They look like a version of macroons.

    • bella | ful-filled December 28, 2018, 11:26 am

      Hi Marquis! Did you let them cool before trying to move them? I have to say that they are pretty sweet cookies, so depending on how you like your sweets, I can understand that these may have been too sweet for you :)

  • Bakingaddict April 14, 2019, 11:14 am

    I’m sorry to say this but I made these cookies and they turned out really bad. Actually I needed to throw them away. They were way too sweet and were stiking to the parchment paper, so I couldn’t even get them of. I’m wondering if I did something wrong because your cookies seem not sticky at all.

    • bella | ful-filled April 14, 2019, 11:19 am

      oh no! I am so sorry that they did not turn out right for you! Such a shame to have ingredients go to waste :(
      Something definitely went wrong but it is hard to say what exactly – but if you want to give it a go again, I would recommend weighing your ingredients!

  • Ricardo Miranda May 17, 2019, 5:04 pm

    These look amazing and I’m a fan of Joshua but, unfortunately , I tried these and they didn’t turn out so well.. The batter was runny and the final result was inedible (they just expanded a lot and foamed up). I have a good scale and tried it twice. Do you have any idea what could have happened?

    • bella | ful-filled May 29, 2019, 5:50 pm

      Hey Ricardo! I am so disappointed that these did not work out for you. It is tough to determine what could have gone wrong, but you are not the only person to have a struggle with this recipe. I am wondering if it is the size of the eggs that caused the recipe to turn out so differently for some. Maybe your eggs are larger, resulting in a runnier batter?

  • Kari Tedford July 11, 2019, 7:51 pm

    OMG! I love these so much. Just wanted to let you know they are delicious right out of the freezer. After they are fully cooled, I stack them in a Tupperware separated by a square of parchment. So damn good! (they keep that chewy texture we all love!)

    • bella | ful-filled July 13, 2019, 1:29 pm

      That is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing that tip! I will have to try that next time I make them!

  • Dominic Steiner August 13, 2019, 10:27 am

    The recipie/directions in the Youtube description and the one on this website recipe are totally different. Make sure to only look at one or you’re screwed…

    • bella | ful-filled August 13, 2019, 2:31 pm

      Hi Dominic! I went ahead and made the adjustments to match what Joshua shared on his YouTube video for these cookies (so sorry for that, Joshua made the YouTube video sometime after he shared this recipe on my blog) the adjustments are very slight, but should result in the same final product! Cheers :)

  • Pam October 6, 2019, 8:31 am

    Your cookies looks so delicious. However seeing from the recipe its seem very very very sweet. Pls let us know how much sugar we can reduced that won’t effect tge texture of the cookie.

    • bella | ful-filled October 6, 2019, 2:18 pm

      Hi Pam! They are definitely sweet cookies, I have not tried reducing the amount of powdered sugar that the recipe calls for, but you may be able to reduce it some & replace with extra tapioca or arrowroot starch and cocoa to make up for the amount that you reduced. But again, I have not personally tried doing this!

  • JP November 12, 2019, 10:29 am

    Does icing sugar work instead of powdered sugar?

    • bella | ful-filled November 12, 2019, 9:30 pm

      It should! Powdered sugar typically has cornstarch or tapioca starch in it which will affect the outcome of the cookies, so you may want to see if your icing sugar has any starch in it! Hope this helps!

  • Katie February 9, 2020, 1:41 pm

    No flour no butter ! Wow that’s cool !☺️

    • bella | ful-filled February 11, 2020, 8:27 am

      Right!?!

  • Spoorti Sanamannavar March 5, 2020, 9:02 am

    Hey I just tried these and they turned out exactly like yours. They are very sweet to be honest. But I should have guessed that as they are basically sugar. I did finish them all and I’m not even guilty or mad 😛

    • bella | ful-filled March 5, 2020, 11:09 am

      They are sweet cookies for sure! But a nice treat nonetheless! So happy you enjoyed them ;)

  • Leah M March 18, 2020, 8:26 pm

    Is the salt kosher or table salt? I wish that was listed in grams… looks amazing, and I can’t wait to try them!

    • bella | ful-filled March 20, 2020, 6:11 pm

      Both Joshua and I use Diamond Kosher salt! Hope you enjoy them!

  • Ailin G April 14, 2020, 8:19 pm

    I tried making this but even though I weighted all the ingredients they still came out all stucked to the parchment. so far from all these comments the only thing that could make this wrong was the whole egg, because i weigthed the egg whites, it was the only thing that i didn’t put on the scale
    so dissapointed

    • bella | ful-filled April 15, 2020, 7:38 am

      So so sorry that they did not turn out for you…unfortunately they can be problematic because of the difference in weights of eggs.

  • Heide May 14, 2020, 3:01 pm

    Hi! I made these once before and they were so good but I ran into an issue. I didn’t have any parchment paper in the house and so I went for my usual nonstick baking sheet but the cookies burned on the bottoms which is extremely unusual for that pan. So for the rest of the batter I buttered a different regular baking sheet and the same thing? Not quite sure what happened or how I can troubleshoot that, any ideas?

    • bella | ful-filled May 14, 2020, 11:18 pm

      Hi Heide! The nature of these cookies causes them to burn when they are baked without parchment, so I would advise you not to make them unless you have parchment paper!

  • Sivani May 31, 2020, 10:33 am

    Hii! These looks SOO delicious – can’t wait to try them. Was just wondering if there’s anything that I could replace the eggs with?
    Thanks!

    • bella | ful-filled June 3, 2020, 11:06 am

      Hi Sivani! I have never made them without eggs, but the only thing that I think would work would be whipped aquafaba!

  • Jacquelyn Soh September 6, 2020, 7:13 am

    Is it possible to use Xanthan Gum instead of corn or arrowroot? That’s the only one I have on hand now. D:

    • bella | ful-filled September 6, 2020, 6:48 pm

      Although I have not tried it myself, according to several online sources, you can substitute xantham 1 for 1 with cornstarch

  • Andrea Eickelmann December 11, 2020, 9:22 am

    Made these last night, they came out pretty good though I agree with previous connectors they are quite sweet.

    I was wondering if anyone has tried subbing in almond flour for some of the sugar? They already remind me of macrons and I’m wondering if that would keep the texture but reduce the sweetness?

    • bella | ful-filled December 11, 2020, 11:43 am

      I think that is a great idea! While I haven’t personally tried it, I would try subbing in for maybe 30% of the powdered sugar and see how they turn out!

  • Riley Belanger December 29, 2020, 11:15 pm

    I made these cookies twice… they’re awful!
    I followed this recipe to the letter, I even weighed the ingredients with a kitchen scale (both times) and the cookies fell apart, half of them stuck to the parchment paper, and the flavor that stood out was only caramelized sugar, no chocolate at all. I don’t know what happened but I wont make them again.

    • bella | ful-filled January 1, 2021, 1:14 pm

      I am so sorry that you had no luck with this recipe Riley…I know that Joshua thoroughly tested them, but you aren’t the only one who has had difficulty. Hopefully, you can find a chocolate cookie recipe that works better for you!

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