Gluten-Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crunchy outside, chewy inside, 
gluten-free vegan chocolate cookies.

Double Chocolate Yum

(and some gluten-free baking advice) 

I have a new cookie recipe to share today. A cocoa infused cookie studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips. A cookie that tastes like a brownie- if a brownie was slightly crispy and crunchy on the outside, and chewy soft on the inside. You could say, it's a brownie with a cookie texture.

Chocolate cookies that remind me of brownies. Vegan and egg-free.

Karina's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - A Vegan and Dairy-Free Recipe

Recipe originally published April 2011 by Karina Allrich.

I used a mild organic cocoa in these chocolate chocolate chip cookies. The cookie's flavor is subtle, like cocoa, with lovely bittersweet bites of dark chocolate chips. The men in the house like these babies straight from the freezer, ice cold.

Ingredients:

Whisk together:

1/2 cup GF buckwheat flour or certified gluten-free oat flour

1/2 cup sorghum (jowar) flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour!)

1/3 cup organic cocoa

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup organic cane sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

Add in:

1/2 cup organic coconut oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening

1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract

1/2 cup vanilla rice milk, coconut milk, or almond milk- more as needed

As you beat the dough pay close attention to the consistency. Add more rice milk a tablespoon at a time, and beat to combine, until you achieve a smooth but sturdy cookie dough. I added two more tablespoons of rice milk to my dough.

Add in:

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper or an Exopat liner.

Stir in the chocolate chips as best you can (the dough is stiff).

Roll a golf ball sized wad of dough between your palms, and place the ball on the lined baking sheet about two inches apart. Repeat this process to make 18-24 balls. Use your palm to press down on the dough and flatten slightly- not too much- unless you like your cookies thin. Press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies, if you like.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the cookies are set. They will still be slightly soft in the center. If you bake two pans at once, rotate the pans half way through baking.

Remove the pans from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool and "set" for a few minutes; then use a thin spatula to move the cookies to a wire rack. The cookies will get crisper as they cool.

Cook time: 15 min

Yield: 18-24 cookies

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

Karina's Notes on Baking:

In this recipe- use eggs, if you prefer.

Texture is a big deal in gluten-free baking. It's no secret that giving gluten the boot also means giving texture, stretch, and structure the old heave-ho, right along with it. First timers bite into gluten-free goodies and pause. They chew. Their eyes widen and dart to the side as they search for a word to describe exactly what it is they are chewing. The word most often used to describe something gluten-free? Gummy. Or worse. Hockey pucks. Cardboard. Dirt. Attributes one does not necessarily associate with um, pleasure. With nourishment. With flavor.

Which is why I am here.

It was nearly ten eleven twelve thirteen years ago (December 2001) when I broke up with the abusive protein known as gluten.

Our love affair had been a passionate, tumultuous ride. Thrilling and deliciously seductive. From twirling garlic laden Italian pasta to rustic bread baking, we had nurtured a decades long love affair. Four and a half decades, in fact. And I'm not embarrassed to admit, I was deep into it. Head over heels. And dizzy in denial. Until symptoms could no longer be ignored.

And it turned out I felt better without gluten. Not just better. Transformed. 

So I bought a gluten-free cookbook and started baking (and no offense to the wonderful woman who was- literally- a gluten-free pioneer and wrote several best selling gluten-free cookbooks, but). I determined- quite quickly- that white rice flour and starches do not a gourmet treat make.

Truth is, ten years ago, baking gluten-free meant using rice flour and starches, or just plain cornstarch (this was Julia Child's advice). We didn't have the higher protein, whole grain gluten-free choices we have today. Oh, they were there, lurking. Buckwheat flour and almond meal have long, delicious traditions in the old country (I loved the cookbook Fabulous and Flourless). But packaged blends and gluten-free mixes favored cheaper rice flour and starches (and even today, most g-free mixes rely on this old school stand-by, with predictably gummy results). So the cardboard moniker stuck.

And me?

My hopes for baking without gluten deflated like a sad little souffle.

Until Bob's Red Mill brought us whole grain gluten-free grains. Grains with protein and fiber. Grains with nutrition. Grains with flavor. And yes- texture! Milled with artisan care in a gluten-free facility. And no, this is not a sponsored endorsement. This is personal.

By now you should know I'm not the kind of blogger who can be seduced by a coupon offer. Or a free t-shirt. I've been doing this awhile, Darling.

I have an opinion. An informed opinion. Based on thirteen-plus years of gluten-free baking (which ought to be worth more than a coupon or a  five dollar sample).

So I tell it like it is.

Readers sometimes ask me for recipe substitutions. These can be grouped into a handful of popular themes: 

1. I use too many different flours- they want to use one (or a baking mix).
2. I use buckwheat flour- they wouldn't touch buckwheat flour like they wouldn't wear Crocs.
3. I use sorghum flour- they can't find sorghum flour (for that, I am truly, sympathetically sorry!).
4. I use almond meal or coconut flour (fabulous protein and fiber)- and they are allergic (once again, profoundly sorry!).

So they sub. They use rice flour and starches in my recipes. And return to tell me the texture is gummy. Or as dense as cardboard.

Exactly.

Flour choices matter.

And so does execution.

So I thought I'd address this today, and offer some quick, short advice on gluten-free baking- and substitutions.

Truth? Gluten-free baking is more of an art than a science.

What this means- there is no one perfect, exact, preset formula for a gluten-free recipe. And you don't need a scale to measure things in grams.

Why?

Without stretchy gluten, flours can be finicky, and far less forgiving.

There is weather, Bubela. You know, humidity. And winter heat dryness. And there is how you store your flours (in the cold fridge- or in the cupboard next to the stove?). Dampish flours need less liquid added. And some g-free flours are super thirsty (coconut flour grabs on to fat and liquid like a parched and greedy camel).

With gluten-free baking, the relationship of dry ingredients to wet is crucial. Even two tablespoons more/or less liquid can make the difference between a gummy center, and a fluffy crumb.  

Here's what I do- I add my liquid to the whisked dry ingredients slowly, a little at a time, and beat until it comes to the right consistency. Don't dump all the liquid in at once. Sometimes you need a tablespoon less liquid. Sometimes, a few tablespoons more.

Then there is temperature. The temperature of the ingredients themselves (ice cold eggs?). The ambient temperature of your kitchen (is it drafty and damp, or hot and humid, or do you use air conditioning?). And then, perhaps the most influential of all, there is the temperature of your oven-- which, surprisingly, can actually vary. Not only for those of us using cheap stoves in rental apartments, but also in your shiny newly installed appliance-- it may not be calibrated correctly. This is a big issue for many a reader, by the way). Which is why I recommend using an oven thermometer, and checking your 'preheat' temperature. Temperature influences baking time, big time. 

How to judge the right consistency?

Intuition and experience helps. But in general, cake and cupcake batters are slightly thicker than wheat based cake batters. You're not looking for velvety thin ribbons of batter like the old days. I find the best gluten-free cake batters tip toward a muffin batter consistency.

Bread dough and pizza dough is more like muffin batter. 

G-free cookie dough is stiff and sturdy and a bit sticky. Roll it into balls with wet or oiled hands.

For baking substitution help (because of course, I know how hard it is to bake gluten-free with allergies- you know I love you, my multi-allergic sisters and brothers, I'm one of you!) please use my post on Baking Substitutions and Help as a guide to subbing problematic ingredients in my recipes.

And for vegans, and non-vegans, I have found my recipes perform well with eggs and without, using an egg substitute. For a powdered egg sub I use Ener-G Egg Replacer- if you use a different one, you may need to adjust starches/liquids. Many readers report good luck using flax seed gel; I have limited expertise with flax, but I do think it adds a nice touch to gluten-free baking. And yes, for dairy and non-dairy, I find it's an easy one-to-one sub. (I must be dairy-free, so I write up recipes that way, but if you prefer using butter and milk in my vegan recipes- that will work just fine; my husband and sons have tried them both ways, with success). 

For detailed info on gluten-free flour choices and how to make your own g-free flour blends that don't suck, see my Gluten-Free Baking Tips post.

Finally- to repeat it--- experience counts.

Even our failures bring us one step closer to better results. They teach us. Baking gluten-free is a process. It is not a finite, closed experiment. It is more like jazz than strophic form. Learning an intuitive sense of improvisation is worth the effort.

So, go bake some cookies with whole grain flours and share them with someone you love, okay?

Kale + Quinoa Salad with Tangerines

Kale salad with tangerines, quinoa, and almonds.

My Kale Crush

Something has frozen over. Or maybe pigs are flying. I actually, um, like kale. After all my mocking, my nose crinkling, my eye rolling. After tweeting disparagingly about the taste of this dark leafy green (I believe the word I used was swampy). Behold. I am converted. I have seen the light.

The turning point? Lacinato kale (also called Tuscan black kale, or dinosaur kale). The long, slender leaves are delightfully un-swamp like. And unlike many good-for-you greens, there is little bitterness to harsh your mellow. Lacinato (like its curly kale cousin) does benefit from massage- especially in silky extra virgin olive oil.

But then Darling- what doesn't?

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Gluten-Free English Muffins Recipe

Lovely, toasty gluten-free English muffins. I kid you not.

Tea Worthy English Muffins

After four attempts we have a wheat-free gluten-free English muffin we can toast with pride. An English muffin worthy of jam. Worthy of peanut butter. Or a sit down breakfast. Heck, worthy of breakfast in bed. These warm and golden little babies are too crispy-tender good to munch running to the bus stop or strapped in your car, thinking about the onslaught of your daily tasks. 

These muffins deserve a proper plate. A mug of tea. Your Sunday morning iTunes playlist.

I'm not sure why a simple English muffin is so tricky to recreate gluten-free (and in my case, also vegan- no milk and eggs to help the stubborn gluten-free flours fluff and rise). I thought it would be a snap. So I perused Alton Brown's recipes for inspiration. Using Alton's basic template the first batch turned out very dense, with no rise and no crunchy edges- though the dough looked promising (pictured above, rising). Dense was not a quality I wanted in my muffin. So I tried again, this time using my own original Gluten-Free Bread recipe as a template (I'm loving the combo of sorghum, potato starch and millet as a flour base for yeasted breads these days). The result was better- but still not quite there.

After a third attempt I realised that the issue might be moisture. I was creating a dough that resembled wheat dough, and I could shape it a bit and pat it into the English muffin rings, but the result was heavy and more resembled a gluten-free hockey puck.

The fourth try was the charm (sometimes perseverance pays off). I added more warm water to the dough (than seemed wise), until it was more of a thick cake batter than a stretchy playful dough.

And sweet bi-locating John from Cincinnatti! It worked.



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Roasted Banana Squash and New Potato Salad

Lovely new potato salad- gluten-free and vegan.

Warm roasted potato salad with fresh greens. Happiness.

Karina's Roasted Butternut Squash and New Potato Salad Recipe

Recipe posted by Karina February 2010.

We found these tiny potatoes at the local organic market. Gold, red and purple bites of root vegetable goodness. If you cannot find such petite potatoes, use the smallest gold, blue and red potatoes you can find and cut them into halves or quarters to make them bite size. As for the squash, I used banana squash (see more on banana squash here), but butternut or even acorn squash would also be delicious.

First: Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

In a roasting pan combine:

Stir the winter squash and potatoes together and coat the squash with the olive oil and seasonings. Place the roasting pan back into the hot oven and roast until the potatoes and squash are fork tender and the squash is caramelized- about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir half way through to help brown all sides, and keep the squash from sticking.

1 bag (1 1/2 to 2 lbs.) tiny young potatoes or small fingerlings

Olive oil

1 clove minced garlic

1 teaspoon thyme

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Note: Slice the potatoes in half if they are larger than bite size.

Stir the potatoes to distribute the olive oil and seasonings. Roast for 15-20 minutes or so- till tender but not quite done- you're going to add in the squash and cook them longer.

Add in:

Half a banana or butternut squash, peeled and cubed

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

A drizzle of real balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Note: Size matters. Larger potatoes and cubes of squash will take longer to cook than their petite cousins, so test with a fork and keep an eye on them.

When the potatoes and squash are tender, remove the pan from the oven and cool it on a rack while you wash and dry the salad greens.

Plate a mix of fresh, crisp baby spinach and spring greens.

Spoon the warm roasted squash and potatoes onto the greens. Dress lightly with a dab of your best extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with fresh ground pepper.

Note: For those enjoying cheese, add a sprinkle of fresh organic goat cheese or a shaving of Parmesan.

Serves 4.

Tiny potatoes are a favorite addition to fresh greens.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

Homemade Gluten-Free Granola

Low sugar, homemade gluten-free granola.

How to Make Homemade Gluten-Free Granola 

(pssst- it's easy!)

You're going to think this is silly. What I have to confess. And it is. Quite silly. It's one of those sticky, pesky truths that clings to you and won't let go, wreaking not anything dramatic, like pure havoc (or worse). No, nothing life threatening, or socially isolating, or disturbing, or even controversial, for that matter. So I'll just say it.

I've been too scared to make my own granola. Well, maybe scared is too strong a word. Color scared with a hint of lazy and you might have a more accurate hue of where my head's at, granola-wise. And making your own granola always seemed a trifle precious. A tad earthy-crunchy (duh). Slightly over the top. And rather unnecessary. It's not like granola isn't widely available- in an array of flavors- since Jesus was in Hebrew school. It's a serious, bonafide hit. A blockbuster cereal. For, like, evah.

Why bother making it when you can buy it by the Trug load?

I've got two reasons.


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Millet with Carrots, Mushrooms and Mint

Gluten-free millet makes a tasty grain side dish.

Fairy tales can come true...

To be honest, the only thing I knew about millet was what I read in fairy tales. You know the drill. Some evil, jealous stepmother or warty witch in the spooky woods would capture our plucky heroine- some flaxen haired, peaches and cream Princess down on her luck, misunderstood and pining for true love. The innocent and modest maiden would then be forced to find golden needles in haystacks or pluck pinches of wool off surly sheep or sort buckets and buckets of miniscule millet seeds. Tasks any one of us can relate to, right?

I mean, who doesn't relate to the tedium of domestic chores?
Just when you finish matching the last pair of spring mountain fresh tube socks, the hamper begins to fill again in all its stinky glory. Mysteriously. It is never empty. Never. And the floor you finally got around to wiping clean and polishing until it gleams- if not twinkles- in the afternoon sunlight gets mauled by muddy rubber soles before you can count two shakes of a lamb's tail. And we won't even hint at the horrors that perpetuate in the so-called powder room.

Mrs. Meyers isn't rich by accident.

Fairy tales about feminine obedience and compliance in practicing our household chores (a skill set highly valued prior to Helen Gurley Brown) instructed us (pre-kindergarten) that the dutiful are not only more comely than their whining, uppity, stubborn counterparts, in the end (when push comes to shove) the gallant and toothsome Prince will actually prefer duty, modesty and obedience. We are persuaded that if we are patient and kind and willingly clean out the ashes in the fireplace, he will pick us. The good girl. 

The exiled Princess missing a slipper. 

His tender kiss will awaken us. His gaze becomes our  prize.  Our ultimate reward. So we can follow him back to the castle. 

And wash his dirty underwear.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies

Quinoa chocolate chip cookies. A gluten-free favorite.

Have I Got a Faux for You

My last cookie post stirred up a veritable stew of feelings. From oat-loving high fives and boogie till the cows come home oatmeal cookie bliss, to very sad, That's okay, I'll sit this one out in the corner moping. Because oatmeal? It's not for everyone. Apparently, oats can be unkind to sensitive celiac tummies. So while many celiacs celebrate the availability of certified gluten-free oats (thank you, Bob's Red Mill!), just as many shun this humble cereal grain for the sake of symptoms or safety.

Avena sativa? Not welcome in many a gluten-free kitchen.

Some believe the trouble starts with its globulin or legume-like protein called avenalin. Some think it's the soluble fiber factor. Others believe that the prolemine in oats called avenin triggers a celiac-like response. The debate rages on. And I'm no scientist, I'm sorry to tell you, so I'll sit this one out. But.

The truth is, Babycakes, you don't want to be around moi after I've eaten too many oats- gluten-free certified or not. Although I tested negative for oat allergy, if I over indulge with my Homemade Gluten-Free Granola or those aforementioned oatmeal cookies, yours truly produces enough, um, wind in my nether regions to keep Wyoming powered for a week.

It ain't pretty, is all I'm saying.

So of course I had to play around with the oatmeal cookie recipe. I couldn't leave my oat-shunning peeps out in the cold without a chewy golden cookie of their own. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I stirred up some quinoa flakes, quinoa flour, sorghum flour, organic brown sugar, and olive oil and vegan chocolate chips and guess what?

I think you know what.

In fact (shhh- don't tell those lucky oatmeal cookie folks), this cookie is even better than its oatmeal cousin. It is, I swear, my new favorite cookie. I am Patsy Cline Crazy about it.

Quinoa flakes rock.


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Gluten-Free Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Warm from the oven "Irish" (not really) Soda Bread Buns.

Spring Recipes for the Irish in Us All

I am ignoring the thermometer reading this morning. Looking on the bright side. Daylight Saving brings an extra hour of daylight tonight! The recent rain has melted the duvet of snow. And I am imagining Spring. Soda bread and St. Patrick's Day. Daffodils and robin's eggs. The Vernal Equinox is nigh (allegedly). And I am not looking back. 

I am ready for forward motion. 

T-shirts and blueberries.

To celebrate the wee bit of Irish in all of us- be it by blood or kindred spirit- I thought I might gather my gluten-free recipes inspired by Celtic tastes. Yes, Lass, that means potatoes. And cabbage, too. Soda breads, salmon, eggs, cottage pies and Spring soups. 

The Vernal Equinox is just around the corner. Flower beds will soon be sprouting tiny green shoots.

Add some Van Morrison to your playlist. Raise a glass.

Sláinte!

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