Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies - finally successful




My quest for a delicious gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookies has been somewhat labored. I'm sure my husband, at one point, was wondering where all these ingredients were going and why I always needed more chocolate chips.

You wouldn't know it from my previous blog posts (because I'm too prideful to post my disasters to the whole world) but I have learned some umpteen different ways to make gross, flat, oily vegan, gluten-free cookies. One batch my husband asked me straight faced "Is there sand in these?" Sigh and single tear. 
A few posts ago, I made Cinnamon Quill's Vegan, Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls and they were amazing (see my earlier post) so I went back to the well to see if I could be inspired by her cookie recipe.

So I present to you the first gluten free, vegan chocolate chip cookie that I did not throw away (hehe - fellow gluten free bakers will commiserate with me on that one).

1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato starch    
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (or almond extract)
3/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
A few pinches of course sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Add oil, maple syrup, and vanilla (or almond), mixing by hand. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts and let the cookie dough rest for about 10 minutes to allow all the flours to soak up the oil and wet ingredients (don't skip this part). Save the sea salt for after the cookies are out of the oven.



Drop dough by tablespoonfuls (as a dietitian I do recommend using a smaller scoop so you can portion your cookies) onto the parchment paper. Bake for about 10 minutes–cookies will look a little gooey but they'll finish cooking while they are cooling. Let cool on sheet for about 5 minutes. This is when I top each cookie with a few granules of sea salt. I then even proceeded to put them in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then you can transfer them to a cooling rack. If you try to pick them up before they are cool they will fold over and crumble.

Store in airtight container in a cool place. We keep ours in the freezer or fridge. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies, depending on how big you scoop your cookies.





*I recommend for people who are initially trying to reduce their gluten intake but may not necessarily be celiac or gluten intolerant to use 1/4 cup flour (unbleached, non-bromated) instead of the brown rice flour. It allows them to start practicing with gluten free flours without being too discouraged with the different texture that sometimes comes with gluten-free baked goods.

1 comment:

  1. These are definitely the yummiest gluten free vegan choco chip cookies I have seen ! They look like the real thing !! Good job girl ! I like it how you use canola oil, which I always have on hand:-)

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