Thursday, March 14, 2013

Yes, I did! Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies



We get a lot of requests from our no wheat friends for gluten free sweets - something with a nice buttery richness and that crunchy crunch that seems to be missing from most wheat flour free baked goods.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have your recipe.

This came about when we received a new cook book pre-distribution for comments and a possible talk up in the blog.  This was our first bit of unsolicited swag, and you may note, we have not talked up a new cookbook of any sort.  The recipes we tried just weren't great.  And we shoot for great.

There were quite a few recipes for gluten free sweets of one sort or another - now this was not a gluten free cookbook, but one all about using an ancient grain from the high desert south of the equator.  Just so happened a lot of the recipes were gluten free.  After trying 3 or 4 of the desserts, and throwing out 3 or 4 of the desserts into the garrrbaggge, I set out to make something better.  Through trial and error, and quite a few taste tests (thank you to those of you who tried the icky ones even when I told you they stunk just so we could agree on it), I have an easy recipe for a gluten free chocolate chip cookie.  They're delicious and easy.

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 2 dozen

1 1/4 cup quinoa flour*
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt or other fine salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for at least 1/2 hour.  Cookies will not be as crispy as they can be if your oven isn't hot enough.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt.  Add egg to the melted and cooled butter and beat well until egg is incorporated.  Add brown sugar and vanilla, stir well to combine and add to the flour mixture.  Mix well and stir in chocolate chips.  Chill dough well - at least 20 minutes and 30 is better.

Dough will scoop easily once chilled.  Roll into 1" balls and place about 2" apart on cookie sheets, flattening slightly with your fingers as dough will not spread during baking.

Bake for 9 minutes, until ever so slightly brown at the edges and top.  If you over bake, you'll get a crumbly dry cookie.  Cool in the pan.  Since these rarely make it out of day one, I'm guessing a sealed container on the counter would be fine for storage.

*****UPDATE on these cookies - I inadvertently over baked a batch by about 6 minutes.  My quinoa go to guru said that if this happened, they would be sandy and dry.  Boy was she wrong!  They got nutty and crispier and didn't dry out.  They were better!*****





*quinoa flour can be made by grinding quinoa in a high speed, high power blender like our most favorite tool, the VitaMix.  They even have a special attachment for making grains into flour.  But should you not have a beloved VitaMix, you can purchase quinoa flour ready to go at most well stocked grocers these days, and my personal favorite is from Bob's Red Mill.  
Made with Love Mondays, hosted by Javelin Warrior

10 comments:

  1. I'm so impressed with your diligence to create an awesome gluten-free chocolate chip cookie without a recipe! I never would have thought to use quinoa, but such a cool idea. Thanks so much for sharing, Al!

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    1. Thanks! My wife made them for a friend of a friend who can't eat gluten and is also lactose intolerant.Took a couple of tries to get them right but it was worth it.

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  2. Those look so yummy! And you know I am a fan of quinoa! I just started watching girls…half way through season 1…and i think I’m addicted. But, still a little bit undecided! :)

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  3. Love this cookies.....Its really inviting me.......
    First time on ur space.....Glad to follow you.Would be glad if you follow me back.......;);)


    x❤x❤
    http://indianveggiesbhojan.blogspot.in/

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  4. It seems to make it not too hard, i will test at home after work.Thanks a lot for the recipe

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  5. WOW!!! My whole family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you! I didnt have the flour and so put the quinoa in my food processor for about 6minutes it was about half flour consistency and half whole quinoa. My kids still ate them and asked for more and my husband loved them! Big surprise there for me. This is a very simple and easy to follow recipe. Thanks again! I will now be following your blog. Cheers to you and your wife!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! I'm glad you and your family enjoyed them. I've been lazy recently about posting but it's comments like yours that may inspire me to start posting again.

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  6. Would coconut oil or olive oil work to replace the butter? Thanks.

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    1. Thanks for asking! Although we have not tried it, we believe that you could substitute coconut oil in a 1:1 ratio. In fact, any fat that is a solid at room temp, like vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated of course) should work. Let us know how it turns out.

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