Gluten-free Vegan Kitchen

My very first effort into gluten-free baking. What better choice than chocolate chip cookies? These are wonderful cookies. Crispy and golden on the outside, soft on the inside, with plenty of glorious chocolate. I had planned to freeze some for later, but they were so good they were gone almost immediately!

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My cookbook warned me that all gluten-free baking was going to be a bit grainier than that which used regular flour. After all the dough does have ground flaxseed in it, which is so healthy, but it is a bit grainy. I'd had friends mention that gluten-free cookies tend to crumble and fall apart, so I was prepared for poor results. The texture of these are a bit grainier than the regular version, but not by much. They were soft, almost melt in your mouth, but held together while biting them just fine. Not crumbly while holding them. I did read a tip that using an electric mixer while making them helps gluten-free baking hold together better, so I made sure to beat the dough with my mixer well. I think that these cookies would never be detected as gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan by an omnivore eater. They are that good.

This little baby is an ingredient hog. I'm guessing all gluten-free, vegan baking uses a lot of ingredients. Some of these ingredients were a little pricey, but it was worth it. The most expensive items used only a little, so the bag should go a long way. All of my flours and starches are Bob's Red Mill brand, which I found at Whole Foods Market. And with the holidays upon us, I figure I'll get some good use out of these new baking supplies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies GF

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two large baking sheets. (I used one, and a silpat mat, which I did lightly grease with canola oil and a basting brush.) In a mixing bowl, combine:

3/8 cup almond or coconut flour
½ cup white rice flour
½ cup millet or quinoa flour
¼ cup plus 1½ tsp tapioca flour
1½ tbsp ground flax seed
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, combine:

½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (or soy, rice, etc)
1 tbsp tapioca flour

Mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until the mixture resembles smooth caramel. This step is very important, so don't get lazy! Mix in:

2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract

Add 1 cup of the flour mixture. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in:

¾ cup chocolate chips

The dough will be a little stiff, so use your hands (or a wooden spoon) to really work the chips in. (I used the dough hook on my stand mixer.)

For 3-inch cookies, roll the dough into balls about the size of ping-pong balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 ½ inches. As they cook, they will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes—no more than 9 minutes—until they are just a little browned around the edges. Makes about 16 cookies.

For 2-inch cookies, roll the dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 ½ inches and bake for only 6 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies.

(I used a medium portioner and baked for 10 minutes. Next time I'll smoosh my dough balls down a bit so my cookies are less rounded, since the dough did not spread very much while baking.)

adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.