These gluten-free chestnut cookies take advantage of that rich chestnut flavor. If you have ever wondered what to do with roasted chestnuts, why not try a fun roasted chestnuts recipe?
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❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
These gluten-free chestnut cookies have a delicate sweetness and a soft, buttery texture that really lets the roasted chestnut flavor shine. If you’ve ever roasted chestnuts by the fire or picked up a box from Trader Joe’s, this recipe is a delicious way to use them. They’re perfect for winter baking and even better dipped in a little dark chocolate.
These gluten-free roasted chestnut cookies are perfect for the holidays or any time you want a naturally sweet, nutty flavor in your baking. Check out my best gluten-free holiday cookie recipes!!
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Roasted Chestnuts – I only tested this recipe with the vaccum sealed pre-roasted chestnuts. I found them at Trader Joe’s and they had the perfect moisture level for this cookie recipe.
- Gluten-Free Flour Blend – I tested Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 in this recipe, but many other brands should work. Adjust the moisture level with more butter if the dough seems dry.
- Xanthan Gum – Add 3/4 teaspoon if your gluten-free flour blend does not contain a binder. Read Why Gluten-Free Flour Blends Vary to learn more about this.
- Butter – I tested unsalted butter. Use vegan butter if you would like these cookies to be dairy-free
- Pure Vanilla Extract – Some recipes you can’t tell the difference, but in this recipe you can definitely tell if imitation vanilla was used.
Make them egg-free!
This morning we went for a walk and found chestnuts across street. Came back home, roast them, found this recipe and voila! Learned xanthan gum’s sub is an egg white. Also melted a sneaker bar for the chocolate.
Nancy L. Pinterest User
How to roast chestnuts in an oven:
If you decide you do want to roast your chestnuts, this is the easiest way:
- Preheat your oven to 400º F.
- Get your chestnuts out of the bag.
- Take a sharp knife and slice a + at the top of each chestnut. This is SUPER important so that the steam can be released during cooking. Exploding chestnuts can be dangerous and messy!
- Bake with the + side up on a
cookie sheet for 30 minutes.
How to roast chestnuts over a fire:
This is for the brave at heart. You will need a special basket to roast your chestnuts in. I have this vegetable grilling basket that I like to use.
- Preheat your grill (or start a campfire, fire in a fire pit, or another safe fire.)
- You will want to use a sharp knife and slice a + at the top of each chestnut, as described above.
- Put the chestnuts into the grill basket.
- Cook until the chestnuts start to open around the + sign.
A Note From My Kitchen
I am not sure what I was thinking when I created this gluten-free roasted chestnut cookie recipe, but whatever it was, I am sure glad I decided to give it a try. This recipe comes together easily and has a wonderful sweetness from the roasted chestnuts.
Adjust the cookie dough with more flour if the dough seems wet and add more butter if the cookie dough seems dry or crumbly. These types of adjustments are normal for gluten-free baking because every flour blend is so different.
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How to Make Cookies with Roasted Chestnuts (Step-By-Step)
Step 1: Prepare your chestnuts using one of the methods above. Next, grind them into small pieces. It should resemble coarsely ground almonds.
I used my Cuisinart Immersion Blender attachment to grind the chestnuts into a coarse mixture. (This is one of my favorite and most used kitchen gadgets. It whips, grinds, blends, and is easy to clean up!)
You can see the ground texture I used for the chestnuts in these cookies. It is fine to have some larger chunks of chestnut…it gives the cookies a little texture.
Step 2: Put the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to blend.
Step 3: In a smaller bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour your liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Step 4: Mix the wet and dry ingredients into a soft cookie dough mixture like the photo above.
Step 5: Use a medium
Step 6: Optional – Dip cooled cookies in dark chocolate. To do this, melt dark chocolate in a microwave-safe dish. Dip the bottoms of the baked cookies and set them onto wax paper to allow the chocolate to harden.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I found my pre-roasted chestnuts at Trader Joe’s. They are vacuum sealed to stay fresh and to keep the moisture in. Many Asian markets also sell freshly roasted chestnuts in the winter months.
You can easily make this chestnut cookie recipe dairy-free by substituting vegan butter.
These cookies will be kept for up to 4 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Place the cooled cookies into a zip-style freezer bag and place them in the freezer.
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes:
To see all of the cookie recipes on my blog, click here for my gluten-free cookie recipes.
- Gluten-Free Cranberry Shortbread Bars
- Gluten-Free Vanillekipferl Cookies
- Gluten-Free Nutella Stuffed Linzer Tart Cookies
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten-Free Chestnut Cookies (Easy Winter Treat)
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
Ingredients
- ¾ cup ground roasted chestnuts * see note
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend *see note
- ½ cup cane sugar feel free to use less if you plan to dip these in chocolate
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
- In a grinder or food processor, grind 3/4 cup ground roasted chestnuts to medium texture blend. Add them to a large mixing bowl.
- Add 1 cup gluten free flour blend and 1/2 cup cane sugar to large the dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup unsalted butter (partially melted), 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1 large egg. Use a wire whisk to whip the wet ingredients.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well.
- Drop by cookie scoop onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until done. Baking time can vary depending on the size of the cookies. The cookies will set more as they cool.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and slide the cookies on the parchment paper onto a cooling rack.
- Optional, dip the bottom into chocolate. I used this Wilton chocolate.
Notes
- I tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free blend. Other blends should also work. If the dough seems dry, add more butter and if the cookie dough seems wet, add more flour.
- If your flour blend has no binder added, add 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
- Use a Cuisinart, food processor, or Vitamix to grind your roasted chestnuts into a fine grind. It should look like coarse chopped almonds.
- These cookies will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an airtight container or for up to 4 months in the freezer.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
This post was updated from a 12/2015 post
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
I enjoyed the flavor of these cookies, and they were very easy to make. I used Bob’s Red Mill (Unbleached, All Purpose) Flour, brown sugar, and fresh chestnuts from Italy via Trader Joe’s that I roasted and ground. The final cookie was dipped in Baker’s German’s Sweet (48%cacao) Chocolate. For the next batch, I may cut back the butter slightly, add a touch of baking powder to help them rise a little bit, and switch to milk chocolate for dipping.
Hi Lynda, I am so glad you loved these cookies. I just saw chestnuts at our market and have been planning to roast a pan full of chestnuts soon.
The flavor of these was good, but the texture was strange. I think I needed less butter with my gluten-free flour mixture. I’ll try again.
Hi Christy, did you use already roasted refrigerated chestnuts, or freshly roasted?
This was a second try for me. last time they were a bit dry and land. This time I used French vacuum packed whole chestnuts. Made a world of difference. Very tasty….quick and easy to do. Used King Arthur Measure For Measure.
Thank you so much. I tend to get the vacuum packed chestnuts at Trader Joe’s. They are definitely softer and better than freshly roasted for some reason.
I made these cookies to use up some roasted chestnuts we had from Christmas. They are quite good, and go together quickly. I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate to dip them in which complemented the flavor of the cookie very well.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Deb. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
This looks delicious Is there anything that can replace the xanthan gum?
Thanks,
Angela
Hi Angela, you could try guar gum or some psyllium husk. I haven’t tested these but they usually perform in a similar way.
How would I modify this recipe if I wanted to use regular all purpose flour instead of gluten free?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t used wheat flour in about 10 years so I am not 100% sure but I see no reason regular flour wouldn’t work.
I have chestnut flour. Can I use that instead? I adore chestnuts. Thank you!
Hi Alene, I am not sure that chestnut flour would work the same as ground chestnuts because the ground chestnuts are moist and the flour is dry and absorbs more liquid. I do have a delicious chestnut flour scone recipe. If you try the flour in cookies, please let us know how it turns out.
I lost my chestnut Cooke recipe. So happy to find this one. And gluten free as well. Thanks!
I am so glad you are going to try this recipe :-).
Either I’m really tired or it’s just not written on the recipe…how many cookies does this recipe make? TFS!!!
Hi Laura, when I make this recipe, I get 16 cookies. It will depend on how big you like to make your cookies 🙂 Have a great weekend. Sandi
Hi Sandi,
I made these a few times now because my family and friends love them so much!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Wow Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. My family loves them too!
These were delicious. i always try a new Christmas cookie every year hope my friends love them as much as me.
I am so glad you liked these Charly. I also love new cookies and when I saw the roasted chestnuts, I had to try something new. Thank you so much for your kind words. Sandi