Fear not, I have not gone Gluten Free. But the good news for the gluten-free people of the world is that I have quite a few gluten free recipes on my site. My Mother is staying at my house right now, she is gluten-free, and I have to be mindful of that and make her some delicious things that she can eat. Amidst my other evil baking ventures, I made her some Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Gluten-free “baking” is a little bit new for me. I’m not super familiar with how to mix all of the alternative flours to make gluten-free stuff taste like it’s not gluten free. I often ask my GF twitter and blog friends for assistance. Jeanne from Art of Gluten Free Baking helped me out with my questions the other day. And she’s currently writing a gluten-free baking book too, so I figured I could trust her advice! I developed my recipe using Jeanne’s recommended blend of GF flours (brown rice, white rice, tapioca, sweet rice + xanthan gum). Thanks to Jeanne, because those flours worked out perfectly!
Since going gluten-free, my Mom has had a hard time with things made with GF flour. She loves her cookies and she hasn’t had much luck with baking her own gluten free cookies. She says they’re too soft or too crumbly or they just don’t taste right. Guess what? These tasted right!!
They’re not crunchy, but they’re not break-apart soft or crumbly either. I’d describe them as a fairly sturdy-but-soft cookie that is chewy and very much like a regular old chocolate chip cookie made with regular flour. We served them up at a football game party yesterday (without revealing the fact that they were gluten-free), and no one even noticed a difference.
A funny side-note… when I told my husband I was baking Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, his immediate reaction was, “Ick.” When he tasted the cookies, his reaction was, “Wow, these are good!” Many people have the misconception that eating gluten-free means that you don’t get to eat any good food or that all things that are made to be gluten-free are disgusting and icky. You may be surprised just how well you can eat living without gluten. I hope I don’t ever have to do so, but I know that if someday I have to give up gluten, life can still be pretty delicious. P.S. I was able to find most of the flours in the recipe at my regular market (made by Bob’s Red Mill), but the sweet rice flour I found at Whole Foods.
Do you have friends and family who have to live a gluten free life? Make them some cookies 🙂
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons white rice flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- ½ cup sweet rice flour
- 1 (scant) teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) salted butter
- 1¼ cups light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- One 12 ounce bag chocolate chips (see *Tips below)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats, or spray with nonstick spray.
- Whisk together dry ingredients (rice flour through salt) in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine eggs, milk, butter, sugars and vanilla. Continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop teaspoonfuls of cookie dough 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are cooked throughout.
Notes
- Scant"... as in 1 scant teaspoon means "barely a teaspoon," or a little bit under.
- For gluten free chips, I used Enjoy Life brand mini chips (found at my local market that carries a lot of GF/health foods).
- All of the flours in the recipe are made by Bob's Red Mill- I was able to find most in my regular market, and I found the Sweet Rice Flour at Whole Foods.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My best friend has celiac disease so I am always looking for gluten free things to make when she comes for dinner. The last time I had a dinner party I made cheesecake and she got no dessert =( I’ll have to try these out for her. Thanks!
Meagan, these are great, and I bet your other guests won’t even knownthey arengluten free. Also wanted to let you know that you can buy gluten free graham cracker crumbs for cheesecake crust, also.
Yay! The cookies look awesome! And I’m so glad the flour mix worked well for you! Great job, Lori!
Thanks- huge thanks to you!
these look great and i can’t believe they are GF!!! they look delicious.
The cookies look great! I will have to try them!
Great recipe! Cookies are definitely one of the hardest to imitate the real version of but these look amazing. I could see why no one would be able to spot the difference.
Cookies look super but gosh that sounds complicated to have to blend your own flours like that. We actually have a great brand in the UK that sells preblended gluten free flours in various varieties; plain, self raising, for bread etc and it does take the hassle out of it.
Yeah, they sell plenty of gluten free flour blends here in the US, but most people I know are not entirely happy with how they work in homemade baked goods. My Mom has tried them all with no luck. This blend of flours though- luck! I guess it doesn’t seem like a hassle if the end result is so good!
“My other evil baking ventures” lol! It’s great to find ways to accommodate others’ diet needs and still be tasty!
great work on these…GF baking can be tricky, i.e. gritty, crumbly, taffy-like, etc..but you clearly nailed these. YUM!! Your mama is lucky she got to taste-test 🙂
Although I do a fair bit of gluten free baking as my dad is a celiac, I’m not sure that I’ve ever made cookies. I will have to change that soon because these look delicious!
Awesome recipe Lori!