Monica (mom) says:

Why are cookies so addictive and celery sticks aren’t? It’s just not fair!

Even though I don’t bake anywhere near as much as I used to, I can’t tell you how many different gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes I have collected over these 12 years of living gluten-free. I guess you can almost call me “recipe crazy” because I am always on the lookout for a good recipe!

Since many of the gluten-free cookie recipes call for what we considered “strange” flours in the early days, I can now say that I am well versed in the alternative flours and understand when and why to use most of them. And if I get stuck, I just ask my resident pastry girl, Daria!

But I still seem to have my “go-to flours” that I know won’t let me down.  Among my favorites are brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot starch, and sorghum. Don’t worry…if you’re new to gluten-free living, you will learn about these!

The biggest difference in learning to bake something that’s gluten-free is that you need to combine several different flours to get the desired taste (if the recipe is from scratch.) When we were first diagnosed back in 2002, we made a mix of several flours almost every week to use in my everyday baking! Thank goodness for the author, Bette Hagman, and her gluten-free cookbooks.

Bette’s original formula to make 3 cups of all-purpose baking mix was to mix 2 cups of rice flour, 2/3 cup of potato starch, and 1/3 cup of tapioca starch/flour. These flours were only available at the health food store and it seemed that we were always making the trip there. Once we started making 9 or 12 cup batches it got much easier….thanks to my hubby (the official GF flour mixer)!

Now there are many GF all-purpose mixes available in the grocery store, so you don’t have to do the work….so lucky!

In addition to collecting recipes that I store in a recipe file online, and the ones I’ve cut out of the doctor’s office magazines (with permission, of course!) and the countless gluten-free cookbooks that Daria and I own and share, I have three favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies. I call them my “ultimate three!” And since I really don’t need to bake three batches of cookies on any given day, I have taken those three recipes and come up with one that I would like to share (as promised).

The cookies come out so lovely….I use dark chocolate chips (yes, Hershey’s has a “special dark”). And I love to make them big and chewy! Daria taught me to use an ice cream scoop to keep the size uniform, too! Just love that girl!

So, as promised, here is my official chocolate chip cookie recipe!

 

Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies to Die For

DRY INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ cups brown rice flour

½ cup sweet rice flour

¼ cup arrowroot starch flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

 

WET INGREDIENTS

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of dark chocolate chips (12 oz.)

¾ cup of chopped walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk all dry ingredients together in large bowl.

In another large bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. If you are using an electric mixer, use medium speed for about one minute.

Next, add eggs one at a time, making sure that the mixture is well combined between each one.

Now add in dry ingredients and vanilla. Mix until a nice dough forms. Then add in your dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.

Using an ice cream scoop, place rounded mounds of dough onto your parchment paper making sure to leave at least a 2” space between cookies, since they will spread during baking!

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until you see that the cookies are golden. Ovens vary so keep an eye on them!

Remove cookies from oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely….or eat them slightly warm!

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies, if you use an ice cream scoop. Store in an airtight container.

 

Baking Note:

I use brown rice flour because it has a slight nutty flavor but you can use white rice flour instead. The sweet rice flour can be found in Asian markets or online and is sometimes labeled “glutinous” rice flour. Don’t be scared! That’s what you want!

Happy Baking!

© 2014, Monica of glutenfreedoubletalk  

 

Now go and enjoy some cookies and milk (Lactaid, for us, of course!) And forget the scale!