Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love trying all kinds of imaginative clean desserts, but nothing rivals the chocolate chip cookie. It's one of humankind's greatest achievements. These vegan and gluten-free cookies were inspired by the choco chip cookie recipe from BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery. Most of the ingredients that I used were organic.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup xylitol (or other natural granulated sweetener, like erythritol)
2 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour*
¼ cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 cup vegan dark chocolate chips (I used Camino's bittersweet chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix coconut oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla and natural sweetener. In another medium bowl, whisk flour, flax, baking soda and xanthan gum. Slowly add wet mixture to dry one and stir until a dough is formed. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. With your hands, form dough into cookies and place on sheets, spacing them (at least!) 1 inch apart. Bake for 23-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Let cookies stand on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
*This is the blend that I use for my all-purpose flour mix, courtesy of Gluten-Free Gigi: 1 1/2 cups amaranth flour, 1 cup gluten-free oat flour, 1 3/4 cups brown rice flour, 3/4 cup sweet sorghum flour, 1 3/4 cups tapioca flour and 3/4 cup potato starch.