I almost fell to the floor when my husband said, “I would eat these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies over regular ones any day!” Just so you know, I have been cooking gluten-free recipes and having my husband taste them for almost thirty years. And he is very particular when it comes to comparing gluten-free to gluten. When he made that comment, I knew I had a winner! These chocolate chip cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I made this recipe to not only be gluten-free but dairy-free as well. I have replaced the butter with coconut oil. If you happen to be one who uses margarine in your recipes, I want to give you some information that I hope will change your mind. Even though it is cheaper to purchase, this is one area I won’t skimp. Margarine and shortening both are hydrogenated, meaning they are normally a liquid that has been turned to a solid at room temperature. To produce margarine or shortening, manufacturers combine a cheap oil, usually corn, soy, or canola, and mix it with small metal particles, often nickel oxide. Hydrogen gas is then pressurized into the oil. Next, they add soap-like particles and some form of starch to improve the consistency. Bleach is added to remove its unappealing grey color, then dyes and flavors are added to make it “seem” like butter. I’m not sure what other explanation you would need to stop using margarine and shortening, but that one about turns my stomach!
I use a lot of coconut oil in my cooking. One main reason is the high amounts of lauric acid found in the oil, which contains strong antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties. You can click here for all the reasons why coconut oil is good for you. Many years back, coconut oil received a bad wrap and was blamed for causing heart disease. There have been studies done on tropical islands where no heart disease was present during the use of coconut oil, until the introduction of hydrogenated oils were added to the diet. There have also been studies done where coconut oil (at least 2 Tbsp per day) helped improve brain activity for patients suffering with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Coconut oil is definitely worth looking into.
The Best Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can purchase ultra-fine brown rice flour here:
The Best Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3/4 cup Organic cane sugar
3/4 cup Organic brown sugar
1 cup coconut oil (or butter if you are not dairy-free)
1 egg (or equivalent egg replacer)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup ultra-fine brown rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
Place coconut oil, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a medium size bowl and beat on high for two minutes. Mix in brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and baking soda until thoroughly blended into sugar mixture. Add chopped nuts and chocolate chunks to batter and mix until well incorporated. Spoon a large amount into your hand to form a two-inch round ball. Place 8 balls on parchment paper and place in a 375 degree oven for 12 minutes or until edges begin to turn a golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
This recipe was also shared on the following blogs: ThisGalCooks, RealFoodForager, SimplySugarandGlutenFree, GlutenFreeHomemaker, LadyBehindtheCurtain, VegetarianMamma, AnnKroeker
It sure is a great feeling when you make something gluten free and other people like it better than the regular version. I feel just as happy if I make something vegan and others really enjoy eating it.
This recipe is a keeper – I enjoyed every bite I had after I made a batch!
Thanks, Megan! My husband nearly fought me over the last cookie, so we shared. 🙂
These look so good that I think I will finally “bite the bullet” to buy some new gf baking ingredients.
I recently starting using coconut oil, but I have a question – where am i supposed to store it? When I bought it, and had it unopened and still sealed, I put it in my cabinet. Then because of the summer heat we’re experiencing, I noticed it completely turned to liquid – so I transferred it to the fridge. It’s now solid and kinda a pain to dig out the amount that I need for many baking recipes.
Do I just need to plan ahead and take it out of the fridge an hour ahead of time to get it soft again? And last question, in recipes, unless otherwise noted, is the amount needed supposed to be in it’s slightly more solid form vs. it’s liquid, melted state?
Coconut oil does melt at 76 degrees. In the tropics, coconut oil is generally used in its liquid form, but I like to keep mine in a solid form for baking. You certainly can keep it refrigerated if needed, and like you said, just take it out a little early to soften it. For your last question, I use it in its hardened stage for baking, because I am generally substituting it straight across for butter. If a recipe calls for oil or melted butter, then I will melt the coconut oil before adding it. Hope that helps! 🙂
These look awesome! As soon as it cools down enough to turn the oven on, I’m gonna try them 🙂
Found you through Gluten-Free Wednesdays!
I agree with the cool down! Sometimes it is way too hot to heat up the kitchen even more. That’s why I love baking in the fall; crisp autumn days and comfort foods!
Laurie, these cookies look great! Have you ever made cookies using tehina? I know it sounds weird but they are really amazing. Tehina is 100% sesame and is gluten-free! You can also use tehina to bake cakes, muffins, breads…so many things! Here are some of our recipes: http://pinterest.com/soomfoods/soomtm-recipes/
Hi Amy, No, I have never tried tahina. Do you grind your own or buy it somewhere? I’ll check out your pinterest. Thanks!
It sure is a great feeling when you make something gluten free and other people like it better than the regular version.Just wanna say thank you for the information that you have been shared on your site. well it is more betterÂ
Hi Laurie, these looked really good so I decided to try them out and they are delicious! Despite this, I encountered some ‘hiccups’ along the way and was hoping you could answer a couple of questions. I didn’t use the superfine brown rice flour but used Bob’s Red Mill instead. I know this must make a difference. After blending the wet and dry ingredients, the batter looked pebble-y and because I didn’t think it should look like this, I added more coconut oil and blended it again. The batter got thicker. Then I added the nuts and chocolate chips, but I think the batter was a little too thick because it didn’t incorporate very well with the nuts/chips. I was able to form my rounds, but found that I didn’t have enough dough (maybe I used too much dough and not enough chips/nuts in my first batch), but I ended up with about 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup nuts/chips left over. Then when I took the cookies out of the oven, the edges were not thin and crispy, but instead, the same height as the middle of the cookie. The cookies didn’t look as flat as the cookies in your picture, but were still crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. So questions – 1) is the batter supposed to look pebble-y and 2) other than not using the superfine brown rice flour, can you tell me if I should do something differently?
Hi Michelle, yes, mine did turn out pebbly. That’s why rolling them with your warm hands is key. The coconut oil softens during this process and allows the ball to be formed. I’m not sure if super-fine flour vs regular rice flour makes a difference in the batter. I use it because I prefer the less gritty texture. I hope this helps.
Thanks Laurie, I will try that next time!
Hi Laurie,
May I know, if I don’t have potato starch and tapioca starch, can I replace it with other starch flour?
At the moment, I have corn flour and arrowroot flour.
I would replace with arrowroot, but not corn flour. The consistency of arrowroot is similar to tapioca and potato. I haven’t tried replacing those starches with arrowroot before, so I can’t guarantee the outcome, but it’s worth a try!