Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now, before we begin I have to say I am not one that is prone to having issues with gluten and lay no claims on being remotely an expert in the gluten free livestyle, but I have a dear friend who is. With the holiday's coming quickly and my gift baskets of homemade goodies being put together for friends and family it posed a challenge to find something yummy that I could include in her basket. To be honest, most of what I have experimented with turned out terrible tasting (even the dog looked at me as if I'd lost my mind when presented with them) and used alot of expensive gluten free ingredients. This one, I am happy to say, turned out fantastic and the only ingredient that is 'different' is Quinoa flour... none of the xantham gum, potato starch or other expensive ingredients that normally show up in gluten free baked goods. I wish I could take credit for this recipe but I actually found it here: Momtastic.com

I am making this thread in hopes that it may be of use for those who have to (or want to) live gluten free. I did not hold out much hope in these being very good, I'll be honest, but I was so pleasantly surprised that these may just become a favorite recipe in my house as well. They do have a close taste to the Toll House cookies we all know and love.

GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

Ingredients:
- 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (be sure it's unsalted, see notes)
- 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 Cup light or dark brown sugar (see note)
- 1/3 Cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla extract (McCormick brand is gluten free from what I understand)
- 3/4 Teaspoon salt
- 2 Eggs
- 2 1/8 Cups Quinoa flour (2 Tablespoons = 1/8 cup)
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons baking soda
- 2 1/2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (Nestle, unless stated, is gluten free from what I understand)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I did not line my cookie sheets and they came out just fine)

- In a large mixing bowl, with an electic mixer, cream the sugars and butter until smooth.
- Add the buttermilk, vanilla and salt until evenly combined
- Mix in the eggs until completely blended
- Slowly mix in the flour and baking soda (which I sifted together before adding) and stop mixing as soon as all of the flour is incorporated.
- With a spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips

- With a 2 inch ice cream scoop (which IMO is ridiculous), or using 2 teaspoons to shape dough into balls, place on cookie sheets (I used 2 teaspoons and just 'dropped' them without shaping and they came out just fine). Try to put no more than 9 on a sheet.
- Bake 10-12 minutes. They will be slightly doughy when you pull them out of the oven....that is fine as these are not going to be "crunchy" cookies but rather soft. (I even let one tray go as much as 13 minutes and even today, the day after making them, they are soft)
- Let them stand on the cookie sheet for about a minute after taking out of oven then transfer to a cooling rack to cool down completely.
- Cooks perogative: After 10 minutes while still warm 'sample' with a glass of cold milk.. this step however is completely optional......

NOTES:
- Unsalted butter. Be sure to use this for this recipe because with the buttermilk, baking soda and amount of salt called for in the recipe the batter will be plenty salty. When I taste tested the batter prior to baking I thought even with unsalted butter I had read the recipe wrong and dumped in too much salt ruining the cookies. After baking however, they were not too salty at all.
- Brown Sugar. I make my own and if you do not keep brown sugar in the house you can make your own very very simply (and more cheaply) by combining 2 cups granulated sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses (for dark brown sugar) and only 1 tablespoon of molasses (for light brown). I make the dark brown variety, which I used in this recipe, and it was fantastic.
- The original recipe states it makes 2.5 dozen cookies, but mine came out to be 47 cookies. So either their calculations were wrong or they were making enormous cookies. The cookies I made came out to be roughly 3-4 inches in diameter depending on how much I heaped on the teaspoon before dropping onto the cookie sheet.

ENJOY!!

Thanks for that recipe! I do not have gluten allergies but occasionally dabble in trying gluten free products...the quinoa pasta is pretty good too. And sometime I buy the gluten free muffin mix for muffins in the morning.
I am currently experimenting with raw food recipes too, I made a raw cheesecake a few weeks back, and it was rich. I did have energy after eating it, though! I'm trying raw raviolois next..you shave butternut squah thin( resembles pasta), fill with ground pine nuts ,and walnuts ( resembles chees) and top with purée sundries tomatoes. ...I rwalize the raw foods will not help as a gift for your friends kid...again, thanks for the recipe!

reply to post by Meldionne1


Ahh, you are most welcome. I'll be honest, that cheesecake and ravioli recipe sound terrific! Would love to try them out, especially the ravioli since butternut squash is in season and one of my favs.

Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!

These sound awesome - being from an asian background, I am prone to the gluten (Celiac 'Disease' very mild, but noticeable to me) proteins causing a ruckus in my guts. I can measure my mid section a week after going gluten free and get an almost 2 inch difference...but I digress.

Going to try this cookie recipe this coming weekend - ty for the recipe post.

S&F'd. Please post more gluten free goodies recipes.

-CN

BTW - If you know of any gluten free beers that don't cost 8 bucks per 6 pack, please let us know.

Ohh.......my wife is going to love you.

She is Celiac and loves chocolate (who doesn't).

I am going to surprise her tomorrow and bake these.

Thank-you , I am sure to be "rewarded" accordingly.

Originally posted by ChuckNasty
These sound awesome - being from an asian background, I am prone to the gluten (Celiac 'Disease' very mild, but noticeable to me) proteins causing a ruckus in my guts. I can measure my mid section a week after going gluten free and get an almost 2 inch difference...but I digress.

Going to try this cookie recipe this coming weekend - ty for the recipe post.

S&F'd. Please post more gluten free goodies recipes.

-CN

BTW - If you know of any gluten free beers that don't cost 8 bucks per 6 pack, please let us know.

You are more than welcome and I hope if you try these out, drop a line to let me know how you liked them! Personally now that I've made the recipe following it strictly, I'm going to try it again adding some nuts to see how that goes.

Thanks for reading and leaving a comment and I hope you enjoy!

Originally posted by Sublimecraft
Ohh.......my wife is going to love you.

She is Celiac and loves chocolate (who doesn't).

I am going to surprise her tomorrow and bake these.

Thank-you , I am sure to be "rewarded"

accordingly.

Celiac, or even being gluten intolerant, really does change a persons life. I do not have a problem with gluten, but I am diabetic, so I know how difficult it is to live with a restrictive diet and how fantastic it is to find something you can have as a treat. Quinoa, which is something I am experimenting in my own dietary adventure (grain and flour forms) as it is low on the glycemic index, seems to be a super food and one that I was so pleased to find out about. Since I am a self proclaimed bread-a-holic, my next attempt is to make bread with the flour.

I hope that if you make these your wife (and you too), enjoy them as much as I have. As I said in the post above I will be trying the next batch with nuts, since they are naturally gluten free.

I do sincerely hope that you are 'rewarded' for your effort.

I am intolerant to gluten and have been dabbling in cookie recipes, although I wouldn't be able to use the OP's as I am also allergic to milk. however I would recommend making cookies with buckwheat flakes. They are gluten free and taste great. Other flour options are: potato, tapioca, rice, gram (chickpea), and buckwheat. Amaranth is also great but hard to find.

yum!

Originally posted by Dr X
I am intolerant to gluten and have been dabbling in cookie recipes, although I wouldn't be able to use the OP's as I am also allergic to milk. however I would recommend making cookies with buckwheat flakes. They are gluten free and taste great. Other flour options are: potato, tapioca, rice, gram (chickpea), and buckwheat. Amaranth is also great but hard to find.

yum!

From the powers of Google, that and my wife hates dairy, use unsweetened Coconut milk (Orchids Brand is best imo). Doesn't say unsweetened on the can, but it sure tastes that way. Would give the chocolate chip cookies a twist.

I'll do that, thanks

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


She loved them, so did I.

Cheers mate, very much appreciated.

Indeed!

reply to post by Sublimecraft


Frantastic! I'm glad they turned out well for you and your wife (and you) enjoyed them. I'll consider the thread a success then as it has helped someone out.

See you around the boards!

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


I have no issues with gluten either, but if you put these cookies out for me, I’ll be visiting your home for sure.
If you put out some milk for me, I like it sweet with a bit of vodka. To keep me warm, you know.

Ho Ho Ho

reply to post by Dr X


Forgot about the butter - from my old days of cooking cakes and cookies, I'd use regular veg oil for my fats as per my Fannie Farmer cookbook suggestion. I'd imagine using the oil and coconut milk (or almond milk) the recipe would do fine...just won't have that 'wholesome' flavor that comes with butter and cow milk. Could even sub goat milk instead - if the cow milk protein is your allergen instead of the lactose (which some people have and associate it with lactose).

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn

I'm not much of a baker MyMindIsMyOwn - and that's a little bit like saying I'm not much of an astronaut

But - I've always wanted to be (that goes for both)

I miss wheat

:-)

I saw this the other day - thought this might be a good place to share it
Removing ‘Sacrifice’ From ‘Gluten-Free’

And inspiration for gluten-free gluttons like me isn’t hard to find anymore, thanks to all the inventive cookbooks and instructive blogs with gorgeous recipes tempting enough to draw a crowd.

glad you started this thread - I hope it continues

reply to post by Spiramirabilis


Hi there and thank you for a great addition to the thread! That article is a good read for sure and that lead picture of a hazelnut cheesecake set my mouth to watering and may be worth the search for the recipe for (as well as the almond flour crab cakes) I had no idea there was a new magazine (1st published this month I believe the article said) all about the gluten free life....that may be a great holiday addition to include in my friends gift basket as well.

I'm sure you do miss wheat. While I've noted I don't have a problem with gluten I've also made an attempt to limit wheat/wheat products in our diet and I have to say that it has helped to make my family feel healthier overall with some other minor changes in our diet as well.

I mentioned I've been experimenting with Quinoa as a flour and a grain. I would urge anyone to do the same. The grain is one of the most versitile ingredients in my pantry. You can throw it in soups, make it as you would oatmeal or rice. I've found that you can add savory ingredients to make it a side dish or sweeten the cooked grain for a healthy dessert. Currently my favorite way to perpare it is as a breakfast dish to substitute for Cream of Wheat (which is an addiction for me.) The following is more than plenty for 2 people as Quinoa will fill you up and keep you satisfied with only a little used:

1/2 cup of Quinoa grain
3/4 cup of Milk (I like my end result to be thick and creamy, use a full cup if you like it a little 'soupy')
1-2 chopped Apples of your choice, I like the sweet/sour apples like Cortland or Empire for this
Nuts of your choice and to your taste (I always have pecans so thats what I used)
Honey to suit your taste

1. Heat milk to almost boiling
2. Add grain and cook approximately 20 mintes stirring frequently to prevent burning
3. Add apples, nuts and honey and stir well to incorporate
4. Enjoy! (And be prepared for an energy burst!)

Again, thanks for stopping by and leaving response. Feel free to drop in again with more good info!

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


that sounds amazing

I love quinoa - and it makes for a really good tabouli - something I love

there is a definite gluten free movement underway - and while it's not important for everyone to go on a gluten free diet, this trend is a wonderful thing for those that depend on it

I loved that article too - creativity in search of excellence :-)

Thanks so much! I usually just buy gluten free gift baskets, but I'm definitely going to try these cookies this year!
www.glutenfreepalace.com...