There’s a great little bakery counter within walking distance from my house that has the most delicious chocolate chip cookies. They’re the size of your face, golden brown on the edges and soft and gooey on the inside. It takes a lot of self discipline to not walk over and get one every day!
Unfortunately, that self discipline doesn’t extend to my home, where (thanks to my love of baking) I make cookies with increasing regularity. Since my husband and I can’t shouldn’t eat them all, we end up sharing with lots of happy friends.
I recently noticed there was always at least one friend with a sad face letting me know, “I really wish I could have one but I’m [insert dietary restriction here]”. And, well, that made me sad too. Everyone deserves to enjoy a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookie.
So, I decided to embark on a journey to create a vegan, gluten free chocolate chip cookie that would satisfy everyone’s craving for a classic chocolate chip cookie no matter their dietary restrictions. And I’m happy to report that I succeeded.
Unlike other vegan, gluten free cookies I’ve tried, this one doesn’t taste like weird gluten free flour, it doesn’t have flax seed in it, and it doesn’t leave you saying “this will do.” Instead, these cookies will leave you convinced they’re the real deal and will all but certainly have you reaching for more than one.
A gluten free flour blend was not used because I think they leave a funky aftertaste. So I used my favorite alternatives: almond and oat flour. Those two flours need something to bind it all together, so I added cornstarch.
One of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes uses brown butter, and I think it adds an incredible depth of flavor to the cookie. I wanted to replicate the nutty flavor of brown butter, so I infused the cooking oil with chopped pecans. When they begin to simmer, you can smell the pecan flavor mixing with the oil. Yum! Note that this is totally optional, but I highly recommend it.
To replace traditional butter, I used a mix of cooking oil and all-vegetable shortening. Since I wanted to use melted butter, cooking oil made a great replacement. Something a little fattier was needed, though, which is why I opted for shortening as well.
The egg replacement was a mix of applesauce and baking powder. The applesauce offers a similar moisture to the eggs, while the baking powder helps keep the texture of the end product light.
I know it’s hard to wait an hour for cookies, but the final step is to freeze the dough before baking. This is absolutely necessary to help them hold their shape and keep from spreading too much. If you don’t freeze the dough, your cookies will still taste amazing, but will turn out completely flat. If you just can’t help yourself, I understand if you skip this step. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all.
These cookies are simple to make and feature ingredients commonly found at a normal grocery store. And bonus: cleanup is a breeze since they only require using two bowls. Enjoy!!
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The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description
Look No Further For The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/8 cup pecans (roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoons all-vegetable shortening
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 ounces baking chocolate (roughly chopped)
Instructions
- Whisk oat flour, almond flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda together in a small bowl.
- Place vegetable oil and pecans in a small saucepan on medium heat. When pecan pieces begin to bubble, watch for when they start to darken and then remove from heat.
- Using a fine mesh sieve or colander with small holes, strain the oil into a heat proof bowl to remove the pecan pieces. Let cool for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Cut the shortening into small pieces and add to the oil. The oil should be warm enough to melt the shortening, but not so warm that it bubbles when the shortening is added.
- Once the shortening is melted, stir in both of the sugars until it looks like wet sand.
- Measure out the apple sauce, add the baking powder to the apple sauce and stir.
- Once the baking powder is incorporated into the apple sauce, add this mixture to the sugar and oil mixture. Whisk until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Whisk in vanilla.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. You’ll just mix until all the flour is incorporated.
- Fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and place in freezer for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- When an hour is up, measure out 2 tablespoons per cookie and place on baking sheet. Cookies will spread. Keep dough in the freezer between batches.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!
The Best Gluten Free & Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Serves 16 cookies
FOUND: The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Categories
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/8 cup pecans (roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoons all-vegetable shortening
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 ounces baking chocolate (roughly chopped)
Instructions
- Whisk oat flour, almond flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda together in a small bowl.
- Place vegetable oil and pecans in a small saucepan on medium heat. When pecan pieces begin to bubble, watch for when they start to darken and then remove from heat.
- Using a fine mesh sieve or colander with small holes, strain the oil into a heat proof bowl to remove the pecan pieces. Let cool for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Cut the shortening into small pieces and add to the oil. The oil should be warm enough to melt the shortening, but not so warm that it bubbles when the shortening is added.
- Once the shortening is melted, stir in both of the sugars until it looks like wet sand.
- Measure out the apple sauce, add the baking powder to the apple sauce and stir.
- Once the baking powder is incorporated into the apple sauce, add this mixture to the sugar and oil mixture. Whisk until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Whisk in vanilla.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. You'll just mix until all the flour is incorporated.
- Fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and place in freezer for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- When an hour is up, measure out 2 tablespoons per cookie and place on baking sheet. Cookies will spread. Keep dough in the freezer between batches.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!!
Is there something to use that would be as good as oat flour that could make them
Gluten free? Oats are too close to wheat for most people that are gluten feee and even the gluten free oat flour is not a good substitute. They look delicious though!
Hi Laura – good question! If the certified gluten-free oat flour doesn’t work for you, you could try replacing the oat flour with rice flour. I haven’t experimented with rice flour in the recipe, but it has some similar qualities to oat flour, so it might work! You may also be able to replace the oat flour with a gluten free flour blend. Again, I haven’t experimented with it, but it’s worth a try! Good luck!
If I’m good with butter instead of oil and shortening.. what is the measurement? Thank you!
I would do the same measurements to not throw off the liquid to dry ratio. So, 1/4 cup brown butter and 2 tablespoons regular butter melted in to the brown butter.
I would make sure to mention the almond flour and nut-infused oil to your friends. You never know who has a nut allergy, and the absence of visible nuts in the final product could pose a problem.