If you’re still reading this after seeing “gluten-free” in the title, then welcome. Many people don’t make it this far. During my food allergy food cleanse, I discovered that I’m gluten sensitive. Not celiac or anything serious but after ripping into anything wheat-based, I get bloated and feel crappy. So I started eating as gluten free as I can. And that ain’t easy in our culture. As a former pastry chef who studied and used gluten for a living, it has been a tough, lonely road. But I’m learning to bake GF (as it’s called in this world and you’ll see on labels) while trying to avoid the scary sounding ingredients like xanthan gum, which acts as a thickening agent in the absence of gluten. Avoiding the inflammation-causing ingredients is easier than you might think and you’ll hopefully feel more comfortable after scarfing a few of these decadent gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
I developed this recipe for xanthan gum-free, gluten free chocolate chip cookies a bit by trial and error, but its base is the good, ole-fashioned Nestle Toll House recipe, without the bloat. I use coconut sugar for a softer cookie. And, although you likely won’t need to, they also freeze quite well. Just pop one into the microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy like you worked out for an hour that morning.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen, depending on how big you make them
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup coconut sugar (you can use regular white sugar but this lends a deliciously chewy texture)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sorghum flour (look for Bob’s Red Mills)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon coconut flour (available at most grocery stores now)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired (there’s quite a nuts versus no nuts argument out there, isn’t there?)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using a stand up or hand held mixer, beat butter with sugars until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well mixed.
3. In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda and salt.
4. Add flour mixture in two batches to the liquid, mixing well between batches.
5. Fold in chips/chunks and nuts.
6. Place in rounded Tablespoons on an ungreased baking sheet and bake 9-11 minutes or until the tops and sides are a little brown.
7. Enjoy with abandon.
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