I have not posted a dessert recently but I thought I would go with something that was healthy but that did not lack in flavor or taste.
When I saw this recipe on one my favorite blogs, I knew it was time for me to make another gluten-free cookie. When Ryan asks me like he is feeling like a cookie, I tell him I am making something new and not his regular recipe. I was not in the mood to do any butter or egg substitutions so I decided to go with this NEW recipe.
I knew that my pantry had all the necessary ingredients to make this cookie recipe happen so I was excited. If you are interested in dairy-free and gluten-free baking it is important to have the essentials in your pantry. Here are some of the items I have:
- Brown Rice flour
- Chickpea flour
- Tapioca flour
- Xantham gum
- Guar gum
- Maple syrup
- Palm sugar
- Buckwheat flour
Maybe you look at the list and wonder what delicious and moist baked good can come out of this, but it is amazing the recipes that are being created among those who CANNOT tolerate wheat.
Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free has GREAT recipes and has her own book deal coming soon.
Alta at Tasty Eats At Home has lovely gluten-free every day meals.
And then there is Alisa at One Frugal Foodie who I recently discovered. She founded informational site Go Dairy Free in 2004, wrote the limited edition guide Dairy Free Made Easy in 2006.
She has wonderful recipes for any person who is gluten-free, vegan, or for specific allergies.
This is how I came to find this great recipe for these chocolate chip cookies. I had a craving but I did not want something ladened with fats or sugars, so I decided to make this QUICK cookie recipe that had me eating one within 45 minutes. How about that? The original recipe is found in The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.
The recipe was slightly adapted since I found out I ran out of cashews and maple syrup but I easily susbtituted and the cookies came out great! Enjoy with a glass of almond milk tonight!
Maple Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 18-20
1/2 Cup Raw Almonds (substituted for cashews)
1 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch or Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, softened
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
4 Tablespoons Palm Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice (Sucanat) or Brown Sugar (I used the Palm Sugar from Navitas Naturals)
2 Teaspoons Warm Water
1/4 Cup grain-sweetened Chocolate Chips
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Place the nuts in your spice grinder (or food processor) and pulse until you get a powdery /coarse flour-like consistency. It is okay if a few little almonds bits remain, but if you go too far with the grinding, the almonds will turn into a nut butter.
In a mediume bowl, combine the almond flour, brown rice flour, tapioca, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Briefly set aside.
In a mixing bowl, blend the oil, maple syrup, sugar, and water. Blend in the flour mixture until you get a nice dough. Stir in the chocolate chips.
The dough may seem a bit sticky / greasy, but I still found it fairly easy to loosely shape into balls and place on the cookie sheet (I line mine with a silicone baking mat). If the dough is just too much to handle, pop it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes, it will firm up quickly. Flatten the dough balls a bit – these cookies don’t spread much as they cook, so what you see is what you get.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Remove them to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. If your husband’s greedy hands try to pop them off the baking sheet while hot, they will be crumbly, but they do firm up quite a bit as they cool.
