This is going to sound a little bit crazy guys, but this recipe literally just came to me from the creative clouds. I have no other explanation for it. I have dabbled with baked goods a little bit (see: muffins) but never really thought I’d focus too much of my attention on the science and intricacies required in developing baked good recipes. But I recently read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert which is all about grabbing hold of that inspiration that makes its way to you and leaning in and listening to your creativity. So I decided to just go for it and try this recipe out.

ROUND 1:

You can imagine my surprise and slight devastation when my cookies came out and they hadn’t flattened at all and while they were edible (we still ate all of them) they were very dense and far from perfect. My husband LOVES sweets and cookies and milk is right up there with one of his favorite foods ever and I believe his exact words were: “They are so dense they don’t even absorb the milk.” ha! Thanks, dude. But he was right-they needed work.

ROUND 2:

I tweaked things a bit, including trying to leave out the baking soda and a few other things. They still did not spread out and they were so light in color so I knew leaving out the baking soda was a mistake. They tasted a little bit better but they were still a bit dense. Then a light bulb went off! I was using flax eggs as a replacement to using regular eggs thinking that I still needed this binder. But when you think about a flax egg it is so gelatinous and “dense” when it’s been able to sit for a few minutes so I thought maybe that was what was causing my problem…

ROUND 3:

I was right! On my third attempt I left out the flax eggs and out came my perfectly fluffy, slightly crunchy, but still soft, delicious salted chocolate chip cookies! I also adjusted my sugar ratios a little bit and added back in the baking soda. I was SO excited I immediately told my husband to come home so he could eat them. He said no because he was working or something (ha!) but eventually he came home and devoured like 5! I’ve given these cookies to several people to try now and they’ve gotten really great reviews!

I hope you’ll try them out and see how delicious they are! These would be the perfect treat to bring to cookie exchanges and all the holiday parties coming up!

*Note: I would not recommend adjusting the flour ratios here. Gluten-free baking is a bit fickle and I have found that this ratio leaves you with the most non-gluten-free like taste instead of that grainy texture that a lot of recipes leave you with.

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies you’ll ever eat!

Makes: 12 cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 11-13 minutes

Ingredients:

1 ¼ Cups Gluten Free Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour)
¼ Cup Fine Blanched Almond Flour (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
¼ Tapioca Flour
¾ Cup Brown Sugar
class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients"> ¼ Cup Organic Cane Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
8 TBS Vegan Butter, microwaved for 10-15 seconds until just softened. (I use Earth Balance sticks. One stick is 8 TBS)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 TBS Almond Milk
1/3 to ½ Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
Flaky Sea Salt for sprinkling before baking

Instructions:

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. DO NOT preheat oven yet.
Whisk together your dry ingredients and set aside.
Beat your butter in a stand mixer for 30 seconds on medium speed.
Add your sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and airy.
Add your vanilla and mix until combined.
Alternate adding your dry ingredients with splashes of your almond milk until a thick dough is formed.
Fold in your mini chocolate chips. NOW preheat oven to 375 degrees
Scoop 2 TBS sized balls of cookie dough onto your cookie sheet, sprinkle with your sea salt and bake for 11-13 minutes. For smaller cookies (1 TBS size) cook for 7-8 minutes.