These Chocolate Chunk Cookies are a dream come true for us who can not tolerate gluten. They have that classic chocolate chunk quality yet they are on the healthier side. They are naturally gluten, egg and refined sugar-free.
I opened my restaurant when I was 23 and I knew nothing about baking except for cookies. I was obsessed with a triple chocolate cookie I routinely ate at a restaurant in Portland Oregon. I decided to see if I could figure out the recipe. It took a while, but I finally did it. Once I caught the bug, I continued experimenting with other baked goods including muffins, coffee cake, tarts, quiche, etc. I have fond memories of listening to classic old-school French, Italian and Greek music imagining I was baking in a small café in Europe. Running my restaurant was a magical experience and at the same time, it was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done. It was my higher education and boy did I learn a lot!
Later in life, I acquired a gluten allergy, which turned out to be a good thing. It brought a whole new level of creativity to recipe development. It also produced a healthier baked good, which was a win-win situation. At first, it seemed daunting using multiple flours in a single recipe but it turned out to be like adding more colors to an artist’s palette. I could develop textures and flavors by tweaking the mix of the different flours. This creates a lot more trial and error when creating new recipes yet it is so worth it!
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup Oat Flour - packed and leveled - 115 grams
- 1/2 Cup Millet Flour - packed and leveled - 77 grams
- 1/4 Cup Brown or White Rice Flour - packed and leveled - 46 grams
- 2 Tablespoons Tapioca Flour - packed and leveled
- 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds - ground in coffee grinder
- 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 Cup Salted Butter - 1 1/2 sticks - 1/2 cup room temperature - 1/4 cup melted
- 3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
- 1/4 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla or Almond Extract
- 2 oz 85% or 100% Chocolate Chips - you can use the chips as is or make them into chunks as I did.
Instructions
Chocolate Chunks
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Place the chocolate in a small metal bowl that fits in a small pan with an inch or so of water.
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Turn the stovetop onto medium-low heat.
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Stir continually until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted.
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Pour onto parchment paper in the shape of a 3 by 4-inch rectangle. You don't want it too thin.
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Put in the refrigerator for about 10 - 15 minutes or until hard.
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Cut the chocolate into about half inch squares. Don't worry if it breaks unevenly.
Cookies
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Preheat the oven to 375°F
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all the flours, chia, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
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In a food processor or in the bowl of a mixer, add the room temperature butter, sugar, maple syrup, extract and mix together well.
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Add in the melted butter and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
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Add in the flour mixture and mix in well.
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Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix until incorporated.
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Dump the dough into the medium bowl and stir in the chocolate chunks or chips.
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Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop, making sure it is leveled.
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Arrange with about 1 1/2 inches in between each cookie.
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You can leave the dough in a ball and bake or flatten them a little or a lot. The flatter they are, the crispier they will be.
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Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your cookies.
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Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Recipe Notes
For the photos, I placed the chunks on top. You can do the same but there will be about 3 less cookies.
