Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies... with almond flour.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies... with almond flour. I'm always looking for good gluten-free desserts, GF desserts that can easily pass for regular desserts. Recently I thought of making some GF chocolate chip cookies.... just because cookies are always a dessert that most folks enjoy. But when looking to make a gluten-free version, I wanted the cookies to taste like real chocolate chip cookies.... and I also wanted them to look like chocolate chip cookies. 

Immediately I thought of the big bag of almond flour I had in my freezer. Why not substitute the all-purpose flour in a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe with almond flour? It should work, as almond flour works extremely well in most cake and cookie recipes. And since I was still playing around with the ingredients, I decided to substitute the butter with coconut oil... lowering the coconut oil a tad bit, as I felt there was plenty of "fat" in the almond flour.

In general, cookie dough benefits from a resting time... especially so when working with nut flours. Decided to implement the idea in this cookie dough recipe as well. After mixing the dough, I let it rest in the freezer for a few hours, giving the almond flour plenty of time to absorb the liquids. The dough would also be firm enough to scoop and form into cookie dough balls. I did end up tossing in some chopped pecans, because I love the textural difference nuts provide, but it's definitely optional. 

Initially, I had meant to bake the cookies at 350 deg F., but somehow had my oven heating at 375 deg. F from another baking project... and forgot to lower it. I guess 375 deg F it was... but 350 might be better:). And so my experiment baked up beautiful gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Slightly crispy, yet chewy... with loads of chocolate and no white flour. They were delicious! Sorry about the lighting in the pictures... baked these at night:). Hope you enjoy...

You will need:

1/3 coconut oil, room temp. solid, not melted 

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

1 ex-large egg

2 tsps vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/4 cups almond flour

1 cup hand-chopped dark chocolate (or chips)

1 handful chopped pecans, optional

Directions:

1. Beat together the coconut oil and sugars until combined thoroughly and smooth.

2. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

3. Whisk together the almond flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated.

4. Add chopped chocolate and fold in.

5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight... or freeze for a couple of hours.  

• Preheat oven to 375 deg F
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper

6. Remove cookie dough from fridge (or freezer). Form in 1 inch balls. Place cookie dough balls on parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten cookie balls slightly.

7. Bake in pre-heated 375 Deg F oven for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden. 

8. Remove pan from oven and allow cookies to cool somewhat in pan( cookies can be fragile when hot) before lifting them off the sheet pan... and cooling on wire rack completely.