These Gluten Free Mega Chocolate Chunk Cookies are my first attempt at making a gluten free dessert!
Happy Sunday!
Today I’m taking a break from my normal Caribbean-inspired recipes to give you…dun-dun-dun… GLUTEN-FREE mega chocolate chunk cookies! My mom has been asking me to post gluten-free desserts on the blog, so this is long overdue. I’ve never worked with gluten free flour before, so I decided to play it safe today and start with a simple chocolate chunk cookie recipe.
I really should rename this post “Dani’s first attempt at a gluten-free dessert” since that’s exactly what it is! I’m really glad I did something simple because I learned a lot about working with gluten-free flour. It took a few tries, but this recipe turned out delicious!
What is gluten free flour?
Most baked recipes call for white or wheat flour, both of which contain gluten. While these flours are normally harmless, they can be dangerous for individuals with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or other health issues. These people should use gluten free flour instead.
Gluten free flour is exactly what it sounds like, its flour made without gluten. Gluten free is not the same as grain free. There are a number of gluten free flours that are made from grains!
One thing I didn’t realize at first is that there are a number of different gluten free flours. I thought there was just one gluten free flour I could just pick up at the store, but when I went to my local store, I found an entire shelf filled with various flours, all marked gluten free. There’s tapioca flour/starch, almond flour, buckwheat flour, and even teff flour (used to make the Ethiopian bread, injera). Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed.
Each type of gluten free flour has a different texture and consistency, so they can be used in different ways. Since my mom now has to avoid regular flour for health reasons, we have been experimenting with a lot of different flours to try and find substitutes for everything from our traditional Caribbean recipes (turns out buckwheat flour is not great for dumplings!), and desserts.
For this recipe, I decided to use a 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour. The flour I chose contains xanthan gum, which is a thickening agent made from fermented plant bacteria. I have come across xanthan gum in non-gluten free products and found that I don’t react well to it, so I generally try to avoid it. But it seems like every gluten free flour has either xanthan gum or guar gum, which makes sense as these agents help to mimic the stretchy and sticky qualities of regular flour. So I gave it a try.
The recipe…
This is about the simplest cookie recipe you can get! I followed the recipe on my package of gluten-free flour almost exactly, with a few minor substitutions to reduce the amount of sugar and sodium. Because hey, we still have to try to be healthy even when making desserts!
Just like with regular chocolate chunk cookies, start by creaming together sugar and butter. Then add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in your gluten free flour and chocolate chunks and the batter is ready to go!
Scoop cookies out onto a lined baking sheet using a 1/4th cup cookie scoop. Top with more chocolate. Yes, these cookies are ginormous, but who’s ever turned down a mega cookie?!
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edged brown but the center is still slightly under baked. I found I had to bake these cookies longer than I would if I used AP flour, which I talk about in the next section. Remove from oven and let the cookies rest for 5 minutes, they will continue to cook.
I didn’t notice any negative side effects from the xanthan gum, so that was great!
Differences between gluten free cookies and regular cookies
Honestly, since I used a 1-to-1 gluten free flour (meaning the flour can be used as an exact substitute for regular flour), I didn’t notice much of a different in taste.
However, there were some differences in texture and cooking time.
First, cooking time. I don’t know if it’s just me, but these cookies took longer to brown than regular cookies. I usually bake cookies for about 12-15 minutes to get a perfect chewy center and nice brown crust. These cookies took at least 5 minutes longer in the oven. I was surprised because the recipe included with the gluten-free flour said they should take the normal 12-15 minutes, but that wasn’t true for me. Not a huge deal, but definitely something worth mentioning.
The biggest difference for me was the texture. These gluten free chocolate chunk cookies were very crumbly. They were also very dense. This makes them perfect for an ice cream sandwich!
Substitutions
Obviously, you can use regular flour instead of gluten free flour. I would bake for 12-15 minutes if using regular AP flour.
You can also try baking with gluten-free flour that does not contain xanthan gum. Gluten free flour tends to be pretty expensive, and those without xanthan gum are even pricier (I’m talking almost 10x more expensive than regular AP flour)! But if you don’t bake often, or are adverse to using xanthan gum like I am, this might be a good option.
Lastly, you can turn these cookies into an ice cream sandwich (rum and raisin ice cream sandwich cookies anyone?!)
Looking for more delicious recipes? Try:
Coconut Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Dark Chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars
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Mega Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla extract, beat until combined. Next, add gluten-free flour and baking soda, beat until combined. Add chocolate chunks, beat on low for a few seconds to distribute throughout the batter.
- Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, place cookies on a lined baking sheet, about 4 inches apart. Place a chunk of chocolate in the center of each cookie and press down lightly.
- Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cookies rest for 5 minutes. Consume while warm.
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