I've tried a lot of gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes, and this is one of my favorites. It calls for a homemade gluten-free blend made of white and brown rice flours, potato starch, tapioca flour and dry milk powder. Xanthan gum, which helps make chocolate chip cookies chewy, is not in the blend but rather added separately, so if you make these with a packaged blend you can leave it out. But recipes where xanthan gum is added separately give you more control over how much goes into the recipe and you can be a little more creative with your flour blend. Or in some cases, you can leave the xanthan out and use psyllium powder. I haven't tried that with these, but will update when I do.
No Mixer Required.
Hopefully I haven't scared you off with all the flour blend talk, because aside from mixing the four different flours (which you don't even have to do), these cookies are easy. They are made with melted butter, so once you've got your flour blend ready all you have to do is stir everything together. Just put melted butter in a mixing bowl and stir in some vanilla, the sugars and egg. Mix your flour blend with some cinnamon (if using), baking soda and salt, then stir into the batter. Add the chocolate and nuts, and chill the dough for about an hour. Scoop it up and bake in a convection oven at 350F or in a regular oven at 375F.
Flavor and Texture of Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip
One of the reasons I love this blend is that the flours add their own flavor to the cookies. That, plus the dash of cinnamon, vanilla and butter work together for tastiness! Like the packaged blend Cup4Cup (which also makes great cookies), the milk powder in the gluten-free blend and the milk you pour into the dough keeps the cookies from having a grainy gluten-free texture. A little dairy really does a lot for gluten-free baked goods.
Where to Buy Special Flours
But back to the flour, because it's the only "complicated" thing about the recipe. You can skip blending different flours and just use 228 grams of any packaged xanthan gum free gluten-free blend. Or you could use one with xanthan gum and leave it out of the recipe, though it might affect the texture. I recommend creating your own blend. If you are new to baking gluten-free, you can buy all of these flours on Amazon, but there's also an online store called Vitacost which has good deals on ingredients. For rice flour, be sure to buy extra or superfine, as it blends better and is less gritty. If shopping on Amazon, I usually look for Anthony's brand. On Vitacost, the the Vitacost house brands of flour are very good.
Recipe
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 228 grams by weight gluten-free flour blend without xanthan gum
- 1/16 teaspoon cinnamon (just a tiny pinch!)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (114 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar (150 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tablespoons whole milk
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (more or less as needed)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Set aside.
- Mix together the melted butter, vanilla extract and both sugars. Stir in the egg.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until blended, then stir in the chips and nuts. Cover bowl and chill for an hour.
- Scoop dough using a medium size cookie scoop. You should get about 18 to 20 scoops depending on whether or not you used the nuts.
- Bake one sheet at a time at 375 degrees F. for 10 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges. If using a convection oven, bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until cookies appear done.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. These are best when completely cool.
Notes
- 260 grams white rice flour
- 85 grams brown rice flour,
- 75 grams potato starch,
- 30 grams tapioca starch
- 8 grams (1 tablespoon) nonfat milk powder.
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