(Did anybody see this on my other blog? That was an accident. Sometimes there are accidents when you put a 10-minute timer on to leave for preschool and then you decide to write a blog post before heading out.)
I mean to do several gluten-free baking posts this week, sort of preparing myself for next weekend's (sold out) Gluten Free 101 class at Local D'Lish.
First up: COOKIES. Naturally.
These cookies are perfect. Perfect! So easy. So delightful. Thank you, Alton Brown! Thank you, Peas and Thank You!
The oats give them a British biscuity flavor. I used overpriced superfine brown rice flour and went with the vegan variations (Earth Balance butter sticks + flax eggs - not even my labor-intensive flax eggs, just the old school shortcut whisking method described in recipe, which seems to work well in cookies and muffins). I'm going to give them a go with sorghum flour (I have an excess of it and it's way cheaper than the aforementioned option) and coconut oil later this week (for YOU, Lisa!) and I'll let you know how they go.
I have a bag of about thirty of these (thirty-six yesterday) in the freezer and I just keep taking one out at a time, eating it frozen, reminiscing about Nesha's mom's frozen cookies from high school. These are almost as good. Almost.
I didn't alter the recipe at all. I just confirmed that the flax eggs work and made mine a little smaller (so that I made about three dozen cookies, versus recipe-recommended two dozen). Adjust the cooking time to about 8-10 minutes if you want 36 one-tablespoon-of-batter-sized cookies.
Recipe HERE. No wait - it's not anymore! See below....
UPDATE as of 4/20/13: I made these using sorghum flour (7 oz) + ground oats (4 oz) and coconut oil (~3/4 cup) + grapeseed oil (~3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup to compensate for the coconut oil I'd run out of). They are delicious and beautiful, but different.
UPDATE as of 4/27/14: The original website source for the recipe has been shutdown (I couldn't even find an archived version). Fortunately, somebody else saved the recipe so I'm reprinting it here:
The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
Makes 24 large cookies
Adapted from this Alton Brown recipe
1 cup organic butter or non-dairy margarine, melted
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup gluten-free oat flour (finely ground in a food processor or blender)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 organic egg + 1 organic egg yolk or 2 flax “eggs” (2 T. ground flax + 6 T. water, whisked and allowed to thicken)
2 tablespoons organic or non-dairy milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
In a medium bowl, combine the rice flour, oat flour, cornstarch, xantham gum, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together melted butter and both sugars. Add the egg and egg yolk (or flax “eggs”), milk and vanilla and mix well. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, about an 1 hour. Scoop big spoonfuls of dough and shape them into cookies on a baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, until edges of cookies are starting to brown. The cookies will not look set, but will continue to cook on the pan. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely before eating or storing in an airtight container.
The oil made them spread more than the Earth Balance, so they are larger and thinner, crispier around the edges while still pillowy soft in the middle on day 1, evenly semi-crispy on day 2 (mine were stored in a plastic air-tight container, which softens them a little). Sorghum flour has an earthier, slightly fruitier flavor than wheat or brown rice flour. Like many gluten-free grains, this unique flavor becomes more pronounced on day 2. Fresh out of the oven, these taste like delightful Tollhouse treats. The second day they are equally lovely but, for those of us who associate Tollhouse treats with our childhood, might make you stop and think, "hmm... oddly fruity, but good." They have stored beautifully in my Tupperware for three days and the rest are in the freezer, looking good but as of now untouched.
UPDATE as of 4/20/13: I made these using sorghum flour (7 oz) + ground oats (4 oz) and coconut oil (~3/4 cup) + grapeseed oil (~3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup to compensate for the coconut oil I'd run out of). They are delicious and beautiful, but different.
UPDATE as of 4/27/14: The original website source for the recipe has been shutdown (I couldn't even find an archived version). Fortunately, somebody else saved the recipe so I'm reprinting it here:
The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
Makes 24 large cookies
Adapted from this Alton Brown recipe
1 cup organic butter or non-dairy margarine, melted
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup gluten-free oat flour (finely ground in a food processor or blender)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 organic egg + 1 organic egg yolk or 2 flax “eggs” (2 T. ground flax + 6 T. water, whisked and allowed to thicken)
2 tablespoons organic or non-dairy milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
In a medium bowl, combine the rice flour, oat flour, cornstarch, xantham gum, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together melted butter and both sugars. Add the egg and egg yolk (or flax “eggs”), milk and vanilla and mix well. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, about an 1 hour. Scoop big spoonfuls of dough and shape them into cookies on a baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, until edges of cookies are starting to brown. The cookies will not look set, but will continue to cook on the pan. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely before eating or storing in an airtight container.
The oil made them spread more than the Earth Balance, so they are larger and thinner, crispier around the edges while still pillowy soft in the middle on day 1, evenly semi-crispy on day 2 (mine were stored in a plastic air-tight container, which softens them a little). Sorghum flour has an earthier, slightly fruitier flavor than wheat or brown rice flour. Like many gluten-free grains, this unique flavor becomes more pronounced on day 2. Fresh out of the oven, these taste like delightful Tollhouse treats. The second day they are equally lovely but, for those of us who associate Tollhouse treats with our childhood, might make you stop and think, "hmm... oddly fruity, but good." They have stored beautifully in my Tupperware for three days and the rest are in the freezer, looking good but as of now untouched.
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Wait, yes. I was totally confused!
ReplyDeleteYum! I might have to try and make these!! Does the flax over power the other flavors? I've used flax as an egg sub a few times now and had bad luck (I made corn bread with flax and all you could taste was the flax).
ReplyDeleteGood questions, Lis! I can never taste the flax, but it might be because I'm used to its flavor? I have shared these cookies with many people and nobody has mentioned the flax, and most people just want to keep eating them.
DeletePS. Thank goodness Earth Balance has a new non soy product! It's in a tub with a red label (the regular EB in the tub is yellow)! It's improved my life (when I crave treats and fat)! They also have a new coconut (really tropical oil blend) Earth Balance that is 'for baking', it's yummy too!
ReplyDeleteI went back to your link for the flax and I'll have to try it again. I didn't do the stovetop version last time, just flax and water in a cup.