It’s an easy scenario to imagine: in anticipation of houseguests, you’ve spent hours in the kitchen preparing a delicious snack. Always mindful of your guests’ dietary needs and preferences, you’ve ordered vegan chocolate chips, tracked down a recipe for vegan cookies, and made all the necessary substitutions in your recipe. But once your guests arrive and it comes time to sample your snacks, several of them are forced to pass, citing a strict gluten free diet.
Today, more people than ever are coming to appreciate the potential benefits of a gluten free diet, including those concerned about daily carbohydrate counts, allergies to wheat, gluten intolerance, and sufferers of celiac disease. In response, health and specialty stores across the country have begun to carry gluten free foods, including gluten free chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes, though, these products can be difficult to track down, especially for those of us who don’t live in major metropolitan areas.
Fortunately, the online marketplace allows even the newest cooks to bake their own gluten free chocolate chip cookies with a minimum of fuss. Recently, several crucial products that are essential to this process have become more readily available through specialty websites. First and foremost are vegan chocolate chips, which are certified animal product and gluten free, and retain the same great taste as their milk chocolate counterparts. Second are products designed to get around gluten’s natural role in the baking process. White rice flour, brown rice flour, potato flour and coconut flour, among others, can all achieve a traditional, chewy texture in a gluten free chocolate chip cookie.
So the next time you bake, either for guests, or family, or just for yourself, why not take the extra care to ensure your chocolate chip cookies are gluten free. You never know who might drop by for a bite! And, if you are a celiac, or are trying to aviod gluten for whatever reason, you are sure to be surprised at just how delicious these gluten free cookies can be! Try the following recipe out in your own kitchen. You are certain to be pleased with the results!
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter or vegan butter substitute
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 oz vegan chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
- In a large bowl, mix butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
- Mix in egg and vanilla. In another bown, mix flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- Slowly add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture.
- Finally, fold in chocolate chips.
- Place tablespoons of dough on to a cookie sheet that has been greased with butter or butter substitute.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are dark brown.