Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

On a whim, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies — always a favorite.  I’ve been tinkering with the Freezer Cookie recipe posted before on this blog – the orange-ginger variation is very popular – and today I decided to use some of the gluten-free techniques I have been learning around GF bread and pizza dough.  I added some almond flour, and made a few other adjustments, and the cookies turned out very well! Of course, you can’t go far wrong with chocolate chips …

Prep time is 20 minutes, cooking time is 14 minutes, and this quantity makes about 20 cookies.

Ingredients:

200 g (1 cup) organic light brown sugar
340g (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 medium egg (or you can use a ‘flax egg’)
30g (2 Tbsp) liquid – I use coffee liqueur, plant milk, or whatever’s on hand
32g (1/3 cup) almond flour
160g (1 1/3 cups) gluten-free flour mix
1-2g (½ tsp) xanthum gum – available at your local health store or Target
2g (½ tsp) baking powder
A generous pinch of salt – no more than 1g

And, of course, 150g (6 oz) chocolate chips, or whatever quantity works best for you!

Method:

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add the egg, liquid, almond flour, GF flour mix, xanthum gum, baking powder, and salt;  beat thoroughly, adding just enough liquid to make a batter.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Let the batter rest while you prepare the oven and baking sheets.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment.   Use a medium-sized portioner or ice-cream scoop to make 1½” balls, laying them out on the baking sheet with 2” between each to allow for spreading).  I find ten per sheet works well.

Slide the cookies sheets into the oven and bake for 14 minutes total, swapping their location at the 7-minute mark.  The cookies should be golden-brown around the edges.

Cool on a baking rack – or eat warm with a dollop of ice cream.  Personally, I love Talenti’s dairy-free coffee sorbetto (and I use the clean empty containers to store yarn!)  However, high-quality vanilla ice cream would also go well with these cookies.

Store in an airtight container; I usually put them in the fridge so that I’m not as easily tempted.  You can also freeze these cookies with great results, and thaw them for 15 seconds in the microwave to eat warm!

Tip:  Using a little more liquid and letting the batter sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the pans and heat the oven leads to a softer texture – the almond flour soaks up the moisture, you see.

Here is the printable .pdf file for GF Chocolate Chip Cookies.