Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chips cookies are a fixture at our house. I periodically tinker with the recipe or try new ones just to see what my family thinks about them. Lately, I've been trying out making some of our favorite baked goods with honey. We've been enjoying trying out different flavors of honey, from the mild clover honey to the robust mesquite honey.

For this experiment, I used the Honey Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the Culinary Institute Arts Encyclopedic Cookbook, edited by Rose Berolzheimer. These cookies turned out beautifully with a hint of honey. My daughter was thrilled with these cookies and preferred them slightly warmed.

Recipe

1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp chia seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized bowl, dump in the flours, chia seed meal, baking powder and sea salt. Stir and make sure the chia seed meal is mixed through out.

3. In a small bowl, pour in the honey, egg and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

4. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir together. Dump in the nuts and chocolate chips, then fold them into the batter.

Substitutions

1. You can substitute 1 cup of a gluten free flour mix for the individual flours. If the flour mix has xanthan gum, do not add the chia seed meal.

2. You can substitute 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum for the chia seed meal.

Tiger Cookies - Gluten Free

Each time I get ready to make any baked goods, there is a standard discussion between my children..."I want chocolate," says my daughter..."No, this time it needs to be vanilla," says my son. And on it goes until the discussion ends in the toss of a coin. Only to return again when I begin to gather my baking ingredients together in the kitchen.

Our Sheltie is the ultimate diplomat. She likes to have a taste of just about anything you are eating. She will delightedly remain at your side enjoying your company and whatever tidbits you choose to share with her. When it comes to flavors, she likes chocolate, vanilla, chocolate and vanilla swirled together. Following her example, I wanted to make a gluten free cookie that would please both of my children at the same time.

I have an old recipe for Tiger Cookies made with melted chocolate chips and corn flakes that I thought had the potential to save us from the flavor discussion. The recipe comes from Christmas Cookies by Oxmoor House that I've had for many years. I've modified the recipe to be gluten free and added flax seed meal as a binder so that the cookies will hold together nicely.

The cookies smelled delicious and maintained their lovely shaped look during baking. In spite of children's dubious glances at the multicolored cookies, their first taste showed them that cookies don't have to be just chocolate or just vanilla. Chocolate and vanilla are very delicious all swirled together.

Recipe

9 Tbs (1 stick + 1 Tb) butter
1/2 cup + 1 Tb cane sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp flax seed meal
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup corn flour *
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup frosted cornflakes, crushed **
3 oz. semisweet chocolate morsels

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, dump in the butter and cream. Beat on medium speed, then plop in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in the egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat. Once blended, add the flax seed meal and beat until thoroughly blended. Allow the mixture to sit and rest. This will allow the flax seed meal to begin gelling.

3. In a medium bowl, dump in the flours, baking soda, sea salt and crushed corn flakes. Stir until blended.


4. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until it makes a collection of large and small blobs of dough.

5. Place the chocolate chips in a measuring cup and melt in the microwave or put them in the top of a double boiler and melt them. Pour the melted chocolate around the top of the dough balls. Using a spoon, lightly stir the chocolate into the dough until it makes multicolored dough balls.

6. Using a spoon, scoop out some cookie dough and place into the palm of your hand. Lightly press the dough together until it makes a nice sized ball (approximately 1 inches in diameter). Then set it on the cookie sheet. Continue in this manner until you have covered your cookie sheet with dough balls with a couple of inches between each ball.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

What did my family think of tiger cookies? We all thought they were delicious. This recipe is now a keeper at our house.

* Corn Flour: You can buy gluten free corn flour from Authentic Foods or from Shiloh Farms carried by the Gluten Free Mall.

** Frosted Corn Flakes: I used Envirokidz Organic Amazon frosted flakes cereal which is gluten free. I purchased my box at my local Whole Foods, but they are also available at Glutenfree.com.

Chocolate Chestnut Biscotti - Gluten-Free

The challenge I set for myself was to create a decadent gluten-free chocolate chestnut biscotti that was reminiscent of the ones I used to eat. Plus, I needed a recipe that didn't contain xanthan gum...which I have had to eliminate from my gluten free diet.

Back during the days when I could eat gluten, one of the things I really enjoyed was dipping crispy biscotti into a hot cup of coffee with cream. The flavors would melt in your mouth and the indulgence was divine. My husband and I would to go to a local coffee shop and indulge in coffee and biscotti while we sat outside and watch people go by.

Some of my local favorites came from Whole Foods. They sold a wonderful intense chocolate variety and an almond biscotti with the most heavenly aroma. The biscotti were divine. When I went shopping, I'd buy a small bag and let the kid's nibble on pieces while we went around the store.

Since becoming gluten free I've missed my little indulgences. There aren't many local places that sell baked goods that aren't made of wheat much less gluten free.

I've been working on a biscotti recipe that was crunchy and deliciously chocolate. They are softer when finished, however they will crisp up as the chocolate on the bottom dries.

Recipe

3 Tb Cocoa
6 Tb Butter, softened
1/2 cup Cane Sugar
1/2 cup Turbinado sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup Chestnut Flour
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2 cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 cup Almond Meal
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Kuzu/Kudzu Powder
2.5 oz dark chocolate
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped almonds or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In your machine mixing bowl, beat two eggs and add kudzu powder. Allow the mixture to sit and the kudzu dissolve. In another bowl, place the cocoa, sugar, flours, almond meal and salt and blend. Add the butter to the mixing bowl and blend. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl while blending. Add your choice of optional ingredients and blend.

Divide the dough in two and make two oblong loaves on the parchment paper. Take a small sheet of aluminum foil and cut into 3 inch wide strips. Connect the strips until they will go around the loaves of biscotti dough and fold the end onto the side of the ring so it will stay in place. The foil bands keep the dough from spreading during baking.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the dough to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a cutting surface and using a sharp knife cut diagonal slices off the loaf. Each slice should be about 1 inch wide. Arrange the cut slices on the cookie tray and return them to the oven for 10 minutes.

Place the dark chocolate in the top bowl of a double boiler that has simmering water in it. Once the chocolate is melted, dip the bottom of the biscotti into the chocolate. Lay the cookie back on the cookie sheet so the chocolate can dry. If you like a thicker layer of chocolate on your biscotti, simply repeat this step.

The biscotti were beautiful and smelled like dark chocolate brownies. It's the kind of smell that has everyone in the house hovering around the oven wondering what you are making and when can they eat it. We ate our first cookies before the chocolate had finished drying and they were a warm blast of dark chocolate. Everyone agreed that they had a wonderful flavor.

The biscotti were so good that the next morning my husband and I decided to start the day with dessert and have breakfast second. The chocolate had completely dried and the cookies were nice and crisp. They were scrumptious with a fresh cup of coffee. Outside it was a frigid 16 degrees so we passed on watching the world go by and watched each other instead. A wonderful way to start the day.

Toll House Kookie Brittle (Gluten-Free)

I grew up loving Toll House Kookie Brittle. While it is baking the house smells so good that you can't wait for the cookies to come out of the oven. My Mom always made these for the holidays or whenever we could convince her to make them. Developing a gluten-free version of Toll House Kookie Brittle has been on my wish list ever since my diagnosis.

We belonged to a church outside of Marquette, Michigan, during the early 1960's. The ladies of the church put together their incredible baking prowess and made a cook book. This book is invaluable to me for the variety and number of fine recipes that it contains. I have made many of them and I will endeavor to bake my way through the others. (I mentioned this book in an earlier post on Pumpkin Bread.)

The origin of this recipe was probably the Toll House folks and it made it's way into the church cook book. Since, I'm not sure who originally created it - I salute them all! This is a fine cookie recipe.

The change to gluten free took a couple of test bakes. The first batch turned out to have too much butter and not enough flours. I added kudzu powder to help hold the cookie together. Since this batch was too oily from the butter, I had to go to batch two. In this one I added more flours and I left out the kudzu powder. I wanted to see if the cookies would hold together without the kudzu. Batch two turned out beautifully and they hold together. So, how did I adapt it to be gluten free? Like this...

Recipe (1/2 recipe made in a 8 x 12 pan)

1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup arrowroot flour
3 oz. mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 12 pan with parchment paper. Soften the butter.

After the butter is softened, put it in a mixing bowl and cream. Then add the sugar, vanilla and salt. Place all the flours in a bowl and mix. Once the butter mixture is blended slowly add the flour mixture. Once blended take the cookie dough and place it onto the cookie pan.

Then break up the dough into bite sized chunks and spread them around the sheet. Begin to press the cookie dough down with your fingers and cover the entire bottom of the pan with dough. (If the dough sticks to your fingers you can dampen them with a little water.) Sprinkle the top of the dough with the mini chocolate chips, spreading them around with your finger tips. Then lightly press the chips into the dough. Next sprinkle the chopped nuts onto the top of the dough and lightly press in.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. After you remove them from the oven, take a sharp knife and gently score the top of the cookies into standard sizes. Or you can let the pan cool and break the cookie sheet into irregular pieces like candy brittle.

What did my tough critics have to say? My son couldn't stop bouncing around the kitchen asking me, "Are they cool yet?" Once they were cool, he zoomed in for the attack and raced off with two cookies. He came back a minute later and asked if he could have some more. "So? What did you think?" I asked him. He started bouncing up in the air touching his heels together, saying "I like 'em!" Now my daughter (who is now The Toughest Critic in the house) looked at him trying to gain real altitude and said, "Really?" "Yeah!" he replied. She went to get a cookie and bit into it. She sat back down and quietly started chewing. She kept eating. I couldn't take it anymore... I blurted out, "So?" She put her thumb up and said, "Mmmmmm...good." Still airborne, my son said, "Really?" She smiled.

The kid judging was over. Well...except for the dog who very very patiently followed my son around picking up every single crumb that fell on the floor. As I put away a few cookies for my husband to try when he got home, I wondered if there were any clues to be hand in this sibling exchange. Let's see....good food causes my son to go airborne, if brother goes airborne then the food is really good, "I like 'em" is more emphatic than "Umm...their good," less talking and more eating means it better. I guess I could explore the sibling nonverbal signals next.....

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about the pictures. There are nuts only one half of the cookies - it's the adult & Sheltie side. The chocolate chip only side is for the kids & the Sheltie.

Chocolate Chip Muffins Gluten-Free

My kids are very considerate. They always offer me tastes of their gluten bakery items, even if they know I will need to turn them down. Unfortunately, most pastry shops don't service gluten-free customers.

The last time we were at a local pastry shop, my children wanted to try some of their chocolate chip muffins. My daughter was worried that I wasn't going to get anything, but this particular pastry shop is a veritable bonanza of wheat - it's even in their meringues. So she made me promise her that I would make chocolate chip muffins that I could eat too.

On our previous visit to this pastry shop, I asked the clerk if they had anything that did not have wheat in it. She said, "No." They had meringues in the case, so I asked her if the meringues were wheat free. She said, "Yes." Hmmmm..... So, I bought one just to check it out. The clerk was right the first time. They put wheat in their meringues. Ignoring gluten and focusing on taste alone, a meringue cookie with wheat and nuts and then sprinkled with wheat (no, it wasn't powdered sugar) is pretty disgusting. It makes you want to act like your kids and wipe your tongue with a napkin. Yuck.

So, on to tastier things. After looking through my cook books, I selected the Fanny Farmer Cookbook as my source of inspiration. Their basic muffin recipe is an excellent base that allows the extra ingredients to shine. Hoping that this same quality could be transfered to my gluten free version, I set to work. This is what I did:

Recipe

2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup almond meal
3 Tb arrowroot flour (You can use almond meal instead)
1 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp kudzu powder, dissolved in the milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, regular sized
(Optional: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, add to dry ingredients before adding liquids)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the insides of a cup cake pan with paper liners. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Remove it from the heat and add in the milk, beaten egg and kudzu powder. Make sure to blend the kudzu powder. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Pour the liquid mix into the dry ingredients and blend. Do not over mix. Keep it a bit lumpy. Resist the urge to blend well.

Fill the cup cake papers 2/3 full. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the tops of the muffin batter. Press lightly to make sure the chips stay attached to the muffin tops. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

How did they turn out? Beautifully. They are a lovely golden brown with just a slightly sweet taste, which allows the topping (chocolate chips or crumb) or filling (such as nuts or fruit) to shine. My daughter didn't really care for the muffins. She wanted them to be sweeter and have chocolate chips inside the muffin, not just on top. My husband and son thought just the opposite. They liked the chips on top and weren't too sweet. I agree with them. They are delicious...just like a muffin is supposed to be.

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies - Gluten Free

One of our native flours is Mesquite, which has the added benefit of being gluten-free. I have been reading various articles and recipes about Mesquite flour and wanted to give it a try. After looking at the various companies that carried the flour, I decided to give order mine from Native Seeds out of Tucson, Arizona.

According to Native Seeds, the flour is a good source of calcium, manganese, potassium, iron and zinc. Additionally, it has the ability to stabilize blood sugar. It's taste is fruity or a caramel-like flavor. I found the flour to have a very pleasant taste which is mild. My kids liked it too.

I took my basic Chocolate Chip Recipe and modified it so that the flavors blended with the Mesquite flour.

Gluten-Free Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup Brown Rice Flour

3/4 cup Oat Flour

1/2 cup Sweet Rice Flour

1/4 cup Mesquite Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 cup Organic Butter

3/4 cup Organic Cane Sugar

3/4 cup packed Organic Brown Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Flavoring

2 large Organic Eggs

2 cups Chocolate Chips

Optional: 1 cup chopped Pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then combine the flours, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Then add the sugars and vanilla flavoring. Add the eggs, beating well after each one. Slowly add in flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto the parchment paper. Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before removing from the parchment paper. (Check the consistency of your batter once you've add all the flours. I added an additional 2 - 3 Tbs of sweet rice flour to make the batter firmer.)

The cookies turned out beautifully. The kids liked them and thought they were a great addition to our range of chocolate chip cookies. I agreed with them. My husband, who hadn't eaten anything gluten-free for awhile, thought that the cookie texture was a bit grainy. I agreed, however, the texture wasn't bothersome like it can be with other flour mixtures. We all agreed - these are worth making again.

Where I bought my mesquite flour:

Native Seeds/SEARCH

526 N. 4th Ave

Tucson, AZ 85705

1 lb Mesquite Flour @ $13.00

www.nativeseeds.org

Chocolate Chip Cookies Gluten Free - Version #3

The gluten-free chocolate chip cookie is a required staple at our house. I've made this recipe more than any other. Since it is one of my children's favorite cookies, it does require continuous baking trials to tweak the recipe to get a finer taste.

I think this version will become the staple at out house. They were perfect. Beautiful on the baking sheet and scrumptious to eat.

Here's what I did:

Recipe - Version #3

2 sticks organic butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp kuzu powder dissolved in 1 Tb water
1/3 cup Montina flour
1/2 + 1 Tb sweet rice flour
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 cups chocolate morsels
Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts

Beat the butter until creamy, then add the brown and granulated sugar. Add vanilla flavoring. Add one beaten egg at a time. Add the dissolved kuzu. Slowly add flours, soda and salt. Once blended add chocolate morsels. Place cookie dough into the refrigerator to chill down.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place spoonfuls of chilled cookie dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes or golden brown. Allow to cool before removing the cookies from the baking sheet.

This variation was an instant hit. I made them on Wednesday and by Friday they were gone. This version got four yes votes. I think given the speed that the cookies disappeared...it's a keeper.

What makes this the best version yet? This version lacks xanthan gum. The kuzu powder adds just that bit of cohesion and improved texture that the cookies needed. Using more oat flour than brown rice flour helped to keep the cookie texture smoother and less grainy. Plus, the cookies didn't have the lingering after taste of rice flour. The taste isn't that bothersome unlike the xanthan gum. However I've been trying to achieve that pure rich lingering taste that you got when you had a wheat chocolate chip cookie....rich and chocolatey. I think this version comes the closest so far.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Gluten-Free - Version #2

I was beseeched by my kids to make cookies today. They needed to be gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies, like the ones I had made before that were so good. Oh, that made my heart swell...my children were requesting gluten-free cookie rather than the spelt version.

I had made a spelt version of these cookies using brown rice flour, Montina flour and spelt for my family . Since they were low gluten and not gluten-free, I didn't get to try them. This combination of flours got high ratings from my family for taste. Since then, I have been trying to recreate the richness these cookies had using only gluten free flours. I've come close, but haven't quite hit it yet. Try, try, again....

This version looked good on the cookie sheet as they came out of the oven. They held their edges and retained a little loft. This recipe is based on the traditional Toll House Cookie recipe. The main modifications are made in the use of the various flours and adding a binding agent.


Recipe - Version #2

1/4 cup Montina flour
1/2 cup Almond Meal
1 cup Brown Rice flour
1/2 cup Sweet Rice flour
1/2 cup Oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp kuzu (kudzu) powder, softened in 1 tsp water
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter. Add the sugars and vanilla flavoring and cream again. Add the eggs and blend well after each one is added. Add the rest of the ingredients gradually as you blend. Add chocolate chips and nuts.

Bake on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet for 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Both of my kids said that these were the best yet of all the chocolate chip cookie versions I've made. My husband and I think they're great too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies & Montina Bread - All Gluten Free

For our planned weekend of yard work, I made up several gluten-free recipes ahead of time - chocolate chip cookies and Montina rolls.

We spent the weekend working in the yard trying to tame the overgrowth from all the rain we had in July. We were victorious! The jungle has been tamed! At our house, yard work requires constant infusions of ice tea and fruit pops so we can survive the summer heat. Another yard working necessity is grilling while we work...the aromas of cooking hot dogs and buffalo burgers will keep your mind thoroughly occupied on something other than how your body is reacting to the heat.

To reward us for all our hard work, I made a variety of things this weekend to go with our organic Applegate hot dogs and buffalo burgers. I tried an alternate version of my Montina rolls, made chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.

I took the traditional Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and then played with the "flour category" by try a different combination of flours and meals. The recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups of wheat flour which I substituted with 1 cup of brown rice flour, 1/2 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup tapioca flour and 1/4 Montina flour. I didn't use any xanthan gum in the recipe. After mixing up the cookie dough, I put it in the refrigerator to cool over night. The next day, I placed small spoonfuls on parchment paper to cook in a 350 degree oven. Instead of the usual 8 to 9 minutes per batch, this flour combination took 10 to 11 minutes to brown. Needless to say, this combination got four happy votes.

Next came the Montina rolls, I played so much with this recipe that I felt more like a mad scientist than the family cook. I started with the basic Montina Rolls recipe in the Montinia Recipe Booklet by Montana State University at Bozeman by Betty Drummond. After playing with it several times, I've remade these rolls a variety of different ways, one version I've posted earlier. What follows is my attempt at making a rich tasty roll that doesn't have lingering tastes of a bland starch (tapioca or potato) or of xanthum gum (which doesn't agree with me in larger amounts). The resulting roll wasn't large (I hoped they would rise a bit more...but considering the flour combination it is a dense rich bread).

Montina Rolls

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 package Rize Yeast (an organic yeast by Rapunzel)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup ground oats (ground in my coffee grinder)
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup Montina flour
1/3 cup ground white grits (ground in my coffee grinder)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (ground in my coffee grinder)
1/3 cup or less whole oats (enough to make the dough firm enough to make into rolls)
2 Tb agar agar
1/2 tsp kuzu powder (kudzu)
2 tsp baking powder

Place into a sauce pan the coconut oil, milk, sugar, agar agar, kuzu, and salt. Heat to a low rolling boil for about 3 minutes. This allows the agar agar to begin gelling. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then add the dry yeast and stir. Give the yeast time to begin to work. Add to the bowl with your flour combination the beaten egg and then the liquid mixture. Add as much of the whole oats until you get a manageable dough. Form into rolls and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Allow to rise in a warm place until the dough leaves a dent. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Notes: I used agar agar because of it's jelling properties and I want to see if I can substitute it in some recipes for xanthan gum. Yes, you can use agar agar instead of xanthan gum. Agar agar does have nutritional properties (contains iodine) unlike xanthan gum which doesn't have any. I added the kuzu root to see if the bread would hold together better with two jelling agents rather than one. It did do this nicely, however I could have used more kuzu powder and achieved the same results.

What did my poor guinea pig family think about my edible science experiment? I got 3 thumbs up. What did I think? It was a bit more work to put things together, but the result was a rich tasting roll. It was very satisfying with it's slightly sweet and rich undertones without any funky after taste that you get from xanthan gum.

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Pamela's Gluten Free Pancake Mix

Since we were trying out Chocolate Chip Cookies mixes, I picked up a bag of Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking & Pancake mix on my last trip to Whole Foods. The Pamela's mix can make a variety of things, such as chocolate chip cookies, muffins, cake, and pancakes. You only need to add different ingredients in order to make the item you choose.

I decided to try out the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on the bag. The recipe on the makes about 1 1/2 dozen to 2 dozen cookies. After adding the extra ingredients, the cookie batter had a nice soft yet firm texture and had a good taste in dough form. I dropped the batter on a parchment lined cookie sheet and baked at 350 degrees for 14 minutes as recommended on the package. The cookies turned out beautifully and had a nice flavor. They were crisp at 14 minutes of baking time, but softer and chewier at 13 minutes in the oven.

These cookies were well received by most of my family, except for my son who thought they had a gingerbread type flavor and didn't care for them. The cookie mix is a good one since it lacks the bland rice white, tapioca, potato flour taste of many gluten-free baking goods. The day after baking the cookies are softer, but had a blander flavor. Not the basic bland white rice taste, but more like I made cookies using pancake mix. These cookies are best when fresh from the oven.

Gluten Free Pantry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

With our dinner on Saturday, I tried out The Gluten Free Pantry's Chocolate Chip Cookie mix. The mix makes around 2 dozen small cookies. I dropped the cookie dough by spoonfuls on cookie sheets that I had lined with parchment paper. They held their shape during baking and had nice clean edges. This recipe has the dough cooking at a lower temperature (325 deg.) for 12 to 14 minutes rather than 8 to 9 minutes (like the traditional Toll House recipe).

The cookies were well received by my family taste testers. The most critical (the kids) of the group, thought they were great! Nice crisp cookies and tasty semi sweet morsels that weren't bitter. My husband enjoyed them too, but he prefers the softer chewy richness of the traditional Toll House recipe.

Overall, this is a great cookie mix to have around when you just need to make some chocolate chip cookies. But as my family's resident baker, I've been asked to play more with my alternative flours and try to come with with a chewy rich cookie. What sweet diversions......