Chestnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips are soft and buttery, subtly spiced, and have a delicious nutty, earthy flavor. Made with chestnut flour, they're a super tasty gluten-free treat. Perfect for the holiday season!
If you want an amazingly delicious, unique gluten-free cookie that everyone will love, this is it!
With chocolate in every soft, chewy bite, a slight crunch around the edges, and a nutty rich flavor, these Chestnut Cookies are undeniably dreamy.
The first time I worked with chestnut flour was shortly after my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I was inspired to try all sorts of interesting flours to see how many different and delicious, gluten-free baked goods I could come up with. (You'll find more of them here.)
What is Chestnut Flour?
- Typically labeled Italian Chestnut Flour, because it's imported from Italy, it's made from roasted chestnuts.
- Chestnut flour is one of the most fundamental ingredients in the Tuscan mountains in Italy, and in years of poverty, chestnuts supported the local population.
- The flour has a subtly sweet, nutty and earthy flavor that adds a heartiness to baked goods.
- Chestnut flour is great in cakes, cookies, pasta, crepes and quick breads.
- The flour clumps together, but becomes a fine powder when it's sifted.
Where to get Italian Chestnut Flour
- You might see chestnut flour in specialty markets, some health food stores, and you can also get it here or here.
- You can make your own chestnut flour using the instructions here, going through step no. 2. (Please note that the consistency and moisture level might be different if you make it at home, which could slightly alter this chestnut flour chocolate chip cookie recipe.)
How to Store Chestnut Flour
Chestnut flour has a short shelf life of about 1 month. Keep it stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place, or you can freeze it for about 6 months.
What's in this recipe?
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- vanilla
- cinnamon
- salt
- egg
- chestnut flour
- baking soda
- semisweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chestnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use an electric mixer to blend the butter with the sugars, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add the egg and mix on a low speed for 1 minute.
- Sift the chestnut flour into the batter with the baking soda. Mix just until the flour is incorporated and fold in the chocolate chips.
- Shape the cookies with a cookie scoop, placing them on the parchment-lined baking sheets. They should have a couple of inches between them.
- Bake in a 350°F preheated oven until they're golden along the edges.
- Let them sit for about a minute on the baking sheet, and then carefully use a flat-bottomed, metal spatula to move them to a cooling rack.
(More detailed instructions are below.)
Recipe Tips for Chestnut Cookies
- Do not skip sifting the chestnut flour, as it tends to clump up in the packaging. (See above photos.)
- These chestnut cookies will spread a good amount, so be sure to leave ample space between them on the cookie sheet. They are a flat cookie, and should look like the photos once they cool.
- These cookies are best within a day of baking them.
Can you freeze Chocolate Chip Chestnut Cookies?
Yes, you can freeze them. Once the cookies are baked and cooled to room temperature, they can be frozen in a tightly sealed container for up to four months.
Chestnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips are perfect for the holiday season and for all of the gluten-free eaters in your life.
Enjoy!
Fun side note: My recipe for these Chestnut Cookies was published in the American Chestnut Foundation Magazine.
More delicious chestnut recipes:
- Chestnut Butter
- Roasted Chestnuts
- Cream of Potato and Chestnut Soup
- Braised Chestnuts and Pearl Onions
Chestnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup golden brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (5-ounces) chestnut flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and prepare the baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the butter with the sugars, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add the egg and mix on a low speed for 1 minute. The batter should be smooth and light. Measure the chestnut flour and then sift it into the batter with the baking soda. Mix just until the flour is fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Shape the cookies. Use a 1¼-inch cookie scoop to shape your cookies, placing them on the parchment-lined baking sheets as you go. There should be at least 2-inches between them.
- Bake. Bake the cookies in the preheated 350°F oven until they're golden along the edges, about 10 minutes.
- Cool. Let them sit for about a minute on the baking sheet, and then carefully use a flat-bottomed, metal spatula to move them to a cooling rack. (They will look plump when you take them out of the oven, and then flatten out as they cool.) Serve at room temperature.
Notes
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Angie Halten
I haven't heard of chestnut flour before, but your recipe sounds so good I'm going to try and find some!
valentina
Hi Angie! You can get chestnut flour here. Hope you make and enjoy the cookies! Happy holiday's! 🙂
Erica
Hi- I came upon your blog and recipe a while ago, but finally got a chance to try it! These are the first GF ones I've tried that have the perfect texture. They have a mellow sweetness from the chestnut (which I like). I put a bunch in the freezer. Sometimes frozen GF goodies can end up with a weird or pasty texture after being thawed, but these didn't! I just popped a couple in the toaster oven on low heat and it came out tasting and feeling exactly like they did fresh out of the oven. Perfectly crispy on the outside, and soft and gooey on the inside. Had to write and thank you!
valentina
Hi Erica, I'm so glad you tried these cookies! My recipe for them is now in the American Chestnut Foundation Magazine. 🙂 Happy to hear they froze well, too. Thank you for visiting my site and sharing in my love of cooking. ~ Valentina
Amy
Ciao Valentina, I'm a gluten-free American expat living in Italy, where chestnuts are like the national nut. I can't throw a pizza without hitting a bag of chestnut flour, one of which has been sitting around my place since a failed experiment with banana bread many moons ago. I must say, these could be the very best chocolate chip cookies I've ever, ever had. The nutty, creamy flavor from the flour takes this classic to a completely different place. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!
valentina
Thank you so much, Amy! Last year this recipe was featured in the American Chestnut Foundation's magazine. 🙂 My gluten-free son loves them, too. How lucky you are to be in a place a beautiful as Italy -- with such delicious food!
Dana
Hi Valentina,
I love this recipe you've shared, I had 1.5kgs of chestnut flour and wasn't sure what to do with it! I made one batch as a test run and loved them so now I'm making 3 batches for Thanksgiving this weekend. They are sooooo delicious! I am making them vegan and substituted the egg for 3tbsp's ground flax mixed with 5tbsp's water (I also tried out using oil instead of butter). They came out perfect and taste amazing- no one in my family would've guessed that they were gluten free & vegan. Thanks for the recipe!
valentina
Hi Dana, Thanks so much for the lovely comment! So happy you found a way to make them vegan, too. I was so excited when I discovered chestnut flour . . . so many possibilities! 🙂
Jerri-Lynn DeGayner
Hello
Just stumbled across this recipe, trying to find an alternative to almond flour all the time.
I'm trying to stay away from refined sugar, do you think it could be replaced with honey or maple syrup and if so, how much? Would it be still the 1/2 brown + 1/4 white so 3/4 total of honey or maple syrup? Thanks for any input.
valentina
Hi there -- I would use honey rather than maple syrup, and I would use 3/4 cup. Lower the oven temp to 325 degrees F because honey browns faster. I haven't ever done this, but it's my best guess. (You could also try agave -- if you do, use 2/3 cup as it's slightly sweeter than honey.) Thanks for visiting my site! 🙂
Jerri-Lynn DeGayner
Thank you very much!
Gabriele
Valentina,
We have a rather large chestnut orchard here in middle TN and make our own chestnut flour. I followed the recipe word for word. Cookies taste great, but I think I'll cut back on the chocolate a bit. My cookies looked a bit darker than your and seemed to flatten to semi-transparent. Wonder what I'm doing wrong. Thoughts
valentina
Hi Gabriele,
How fantastic to have a chestnut orchard. Love it. I'm so happy you tried this recipe. Some things to try . . .
After you shape the balls of dough on the baking sheet - cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Make sure not to press the balls of dough down after you shape them -- they should should be like a ball.
If you still have problems with them being too thin, you could add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the recipe.
Hope this helps! 😀
Onur
Hi, I have chestnuts, picked them today from a forest 🙂 How can I use them to make this cookie? I have boiled them and now they are in the fridge.
valentina
How incredibly cool that you picked your own chestnuts! I love that! While I haven't tried it, I think that you could roast the chestnuts (here's how), you could grind them in a food processor to make the chestnut flour. Just be careful not to grind for too long, or it'll become a "butter."I hope this helps. Have fun and thank you for checking out my recipe! 🙂
Renee
I made my own chestnut flour from our chestnut tree harvest, so perhaps that skewed the recipe, but my cookies turned out very, very flat. I noticed the “dough” was very wet, so perhaps it needed more flour? Perhaps a weight measurement would be more accurate. Otherwise, they had very good flavor. I also used half the amount of chocolate. It was more than enough.
valentina
Hi Renee, Thanks so much for writing in. First of all, I love that you have a chestnut tree. Lucky you! My best guess would be that the difference was in the consistency of the flour. My chestnut flour is quite dry -- a similar, if not the same, consistency as an all-purpose flour. I have just weighed 1 cup of the chestnut flour (5-ounces), and edited it into the recipe. (Good idea - thank you!) They are a flat cookie -- every time I make them, the look almost exactly like those in the pictures. As for the chocolate -- I tend to always use a lot because I like a chip in every bite. 😉 Adjusting the chocolate to how you like it, is great. I so much appreciate feedback like this, and I'm sorry they didn't turn out better for you. Thank you for visiting my site and trying the recipes. 🙂 Warmly, Valentina
Emily
I absolutely love this recipe! It’s impossible to have any self control with these cookies. I will admit I’ve never made them exactly as written 😐 I leave out the chestnuts themselves, and I use a blend of puréed honey dates and coconut sugar instead of white and brown sugars. I’ve also made a version with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries which was fantastic. One thing to note is it seems chestnut flour goes rancid very quickly and is best stored in the freezer.
valentina
Hi Emily, Thanks so much for writing. The white chocolate and dried cranberries in this cookie sounds so delicious! That would be so festive for the holidays. 🙂 And thank you for pointing that out about the chestnut flour. I do keep mine in the freezer, and I'm going to edit that into the recipes notes. If you love chestnuts, I recently made this chestnut butter, you might like. I appreciate you visiting my site and reading and cooking my recipes. 🙂
Alene
I just made these because I was so happy to see a use for my chestnut flour. Mine didn't spread after took them out of the oven. I may try them again with a fresh package of chestnut flour. This one has been hanging around for awhile. I do love chestnuts in any form! Thank you for the recipe. And so easy! I love that too.
valentina
Hi Arlene. I keep my chestnut flour in the freezer and it keeps really well. I'm glad you like the cookies, and maybe you will even more with a fresh batch of flour. Thank you! I love chestnuts, too. Especially their scent while roasting. 🙂 ~Valentina
Alene
Guess what! I froze them and just remembered them today, several weeks later. They are delicious reheated quickly in my toaster oven. I am going to make them again soon! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Valentina
Hi Arlene. Thank you so much for this note. I'm so happy the cookies held up so well after being frozen. And what a great idea to warm them quickly in the toaster oven. I love it! I hope you're having a great weekend. 🙂 ~Valentina
angiesrecipes
These cookies sound and look incredible with chestnut flour. Love the crisp edges and soft chewy center. A winner and keeper!
valentina
Thanks, Angie! Enjoy. 🙂 ~Valentina
Jeff the Chef @ Make It Like a Man!
Those cookies look delicious!
valentina
Thanks, Jeff! 🙂
David Scott Allen
I have so much Italian chestnut flour in my freezer — so glad to have another recipe other than castagnaccio! These sound amazing, Valentina!
valentina
Thanks, David! So fantastic you already have chestnut flour. I finally found it at a local Italian Deli near us. I try to make sure it's always in the freezer. Hope you and and Mark have a wonderful Thanksgiving. xo Valentina