Now a days there are a lot of people that have food allergies or food preferences. A lot of the time when you are vegan or gluten free you can't enjoy deserts freely like everyone else. I always try to make sure to bring something for just that reason. I remember when dairy use to make me deathly ill. I would have to avoid a lot foods, which sucks when you are at any party. These cookies are perfect. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like chocolate chip cookies...well except one girl who was allergic to chocolate, poor thing!
Now, I'm not going to lie, but these cookies were a little tricky. I was really worried that they would be too hard and then no one would like them, but they ended up coming out perfect!
Prep time: About 30 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes
Here's what you need:
- 1/2 cup vegan or dairy butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg or 4 tbs of avocado
- 1 cup gluten free baking mix*
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used vegan Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips)
- Using a mixer, or by hand, cream butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl.
- Add egg (or avocado) and vanilla and beat again until well combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
- Add gluten free baking mix in two batches and mix again. It shouldn't so thick that you can't continue mixing it, but it should appear "doughy." If it seems too wet add 1/2 cup more of flour very slowly until doughy.
- Stir in chocolate chips, cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4-6 hours until thoroughly chilled. You should be able to roll the dough into balls before baking.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).
- After they are chilled, scoop out rounded Tablespoon amounts of dough, roll them into balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. If you are using avocado you will have to flatten or press the cookies with the round side of a spoon, because they will not spread.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. We didn't have any leftovers but if you do you can store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to several days. You can also put thme in the freezer for longer term storage.
Optional:
I melted 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1 tbs of vegan butter in a double boiler and then drizzled the melted chocolate over my cookies just to give them an extra chocolate kick!
*Make sure that you use a gluten free mix that has Xanthan Gum. I found that most gluten free cookie recipes required it.
xoxo,
Eeka
