Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

/ Chocolate, Cookie, Dessert, Gluten Free, Recipe / 11 Comments

Please welcome guest blogger Dawn from Kitchen Travels! She is a fellow Sacramento food blogger that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at several local events. She’s incredibly sweet, easy to talk to, and fun to be around. Her blog is all about food and travel. I particularly enjoyed these photos of the signs of spring and her post on raspberry and fig jam. Dawn brings us her answer to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge:

Ever since I began experimenting with gluten-free recipes, it seems like everyone I know, knows someone who is gluten-intolerant or celiac: friends of friends, my favorite local hairstylist, and – I recently found out – Stephanie’s sister.

So when Stephanie asked if I’d like to guest-post and share a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with her readers, this one immediately came to mind, and I happily agreed.

It’s everything I think a great chocolate chip cookie should be. The gooey, not-too-sweet dark chocolate complements the soft, brown-sugary-tasting dough, which in turn contrasts nicely against the salty crunch of the fleur de sel.

In addition to being the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookie I’ve tried, this is also simply one of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had… period. I did a taste-test with my twins, my husband, my 11-year-old son and his three friends who happened to be at our house for the afternoon, and they all gave these cookies rave reviews. None of them noticed the absence of traditional wheat flour, and neither will you.

 I hope you will give these cookies a try, and that you enjoy them as much as we do. Thanks to Stephanie for inviting me to guest-post!

Recipe:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tried a few different flour combinations while developing this recipe, and this one was the best. The cookies come out a little crisp on the outside, soft and cakey on the inside. Bonus: you can also make these cookies dairy-free (by eliminating the butter, upping the shortening by an equal amount, and using gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate like this or this) and even cane sugar-free (by using grain-sweetened chocolate)! Lastly, note that the salty sprinkle really makes these cookies special… don’t skip it.

Use organic whenever possible.

Ingredients:

  •  1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons almond flour
  • 2/3 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or tapioca starch – same thing!)
  • 1/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour – not the same thing!)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon xantham gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (OK to sub sea salt, but not table salt)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts *
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons fleur de sel, for sprinkling

Make it:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Sift together the flours, potato starch, baking soda and xantham gum in a medium bowl; whisk in 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer), beat together shortening, butter and maple syrup at high speed until pale and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture a little at a time, mixing just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. The dough will be a bit softer than traditional wheat-flour cookie dough.

4. Place heaping tablespoons of dough two inches apart on baking sheets (I like to use a 1 1/4″ scoop). Sprinkle each ball of dough with a good pinch of fleur de sel.

5. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 9-12 minutes, just until golden. Cool cookies on baking sheet 1-2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a rack and cool completely.

6. Continue baking cookies, alternating baking sheets. You do not need to change the parchment paper between batches, but do allow the baking sheet to cool a bit before scooping the cooking dough. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week.

Yield:  4 dozen

* If you prefer to make these without walnuts, increase the chocolate chips to 2 cups.

Click here to learn more about the CCC Challenge and how you can participate!

11 Comments on Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

    • Stephanie
      August 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm (12 years ago)

      @Anna – I agree! Dawn did a great job with these cookies. Baking with GF flours can be really tricky and it’s something I want to get better at too.

  3. Christina
    September 15, 2012 at 8:21 pm (12 years ago)

    My daughter is allergic to tree nuts. Could I sub Sorghum flour for the Almond flour?

    Thanks you, this recipe looks great!

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      September 15, 2012 at 9:05 pm (12 years ago)

      @Christina – Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of expertise in using gluten free flours, so I’m not sure how substituting sorghum for almond will work. Sorry I can’t be more help!

  4. Dianne
    October 25, 2012 at 10:59 am (11 years ago)

    I can’t believe it! I made these a couple days ago thinking that I would be the only one eating them because they aren’t your typical chocolate chip cookie. Every time someone wanted to try one I said, “You probably won’t like it,” but everyone did! All three of my picky teenagers and even my husband who only likes “just plain ole chocolate chip cookies,” as he calls them, liked them. I left out the nuts and had to use cornstarch instead of potato starch since I didn’t have any potato starch. Oh, also ran out of maple syrup so had to use half agave nectar and still great. Almost didn’t put the salt on top but decided to try it and everyone liked it! The best gluten free chocolate chip cookie I have found so far!

    Reply
  5. Dawn | Dawn's Bella Via & C.
    February 25, 2013 at 2:57 pm (11 years ago)

    Oh dear! I just realized that I missed a couple of these comments! Even though I am months late, I’m posting my responses just in case another reader might benefit. 🙂

    @Christina – Subbing in sorghum flour for the almond flour will slightly change the taste (and possibly the texture), but I bet these would still be great. I hope you’ll see this and give the recipe a try!

    @Dianne – Great! So glad you and your family liked the cookies. It’s been so nice (and enlightening!) to hear how readers and friends have changed up the recipe and still had success with it. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Althea
    February 25, 2018 at 1:34 pm (6 years ago)

    BEST. (non paleo) gluten free chocolate cookie EVER. And I’ve thrown away a lot of gluten free cookies. These have crispy edges! I made a half recipe, in fear of once again wasting ingredients. I’m glad I did only because I only put 1/4 the maple syrup instead of 1/2. I thought it was too little, but instead of just rechecking the recipe, I added a Pyure. Still not sweet enough, but crisis averted at least! THANKS!

    Reply
  8. Althea
    February 25, 2018 at 1:45 pm (6 years ago)

    …I realized almond and potato flours are what missing from 99.9 percent of gluten free flour mixes. I would have thought that the gluten-free world would have caught on by now! I Google “almond flour potato starch muffins” and your muffins came up on Feastie. I made those a long while ago and they were great too. Somehow totally forgot about them. I have no idea why it’s taken me so long for me to try another recipe. ~Althea

    Reply

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    August 15, 2012 at 8:02 am

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