Best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

There is perhaps nothing quite as nostalgia inducing as a warm, homemade chocolate chip cookie. Chewy, buttery dough dotted with melting chocolate chips…add a glass of milk and you’ve achieved perfection. But if eating gluten-free has meant abstaining from such things, we have a sweet treat to share: our gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. While some gluten-free baking falls flat in the taste and texture departments, these cookies are divine – made with a variety of flours to help mimic the mouth feel of gluten, they can easily stand up against their wheat counterparts. Plus, once you have the ingredients (all simple to find at your local Bulk Barn) they’re easy to whip up, and can be pre-made and frozen for future baking.

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the cornstarch, brown rice flour, sorghum flour (a millet-like grain that gives a good flavour boost to gluten-free baking), ground almonds, flax meal, baking powder and soda, salt, and xanthan gum (a thickener that helps bind gluten-free ingredients).  Set aside.

Step 2:

In a medium bowl whisk the egg with brown sugar, room temperature butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet sugar mixture into your dry flour mixture, and combine. Then add your chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips, depending on what you have handy in the pantry) and stir. Note: It may not look like enough dough to make 24 cookies, but we promise it is!

Step 3:

Scoop out 1 tbsp of the dough and roll into a ball, placing on your parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart (you can get 12 per baking sheet). Note: These cookies do not spread much during baking.

Step 4:

Bake cookies in the centre of your oven until the edges are golden, between 7-8 minutes. The cookies will appear slightly undercooked, but once you take them out they will keep baking as they sit (leave them for another two minutes). Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely … or risk the heat and enjoy one (or two) while they’re still warm. Tips: Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for best results. Also, if baking from frozen give cookies 9 minutes in the oven.

Try this recipe: Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup brown-rice flour
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 2 tbsp flax meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1  egg
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 140 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1 cup dark-chocolate chips