There is a backstory to these unbelievable crispy & chewy Gluten-Free chocolate chunk cookies, and I have no other choice then to share it with you, in order for you to understand the reason why these were made now, and making it to the blog.
These cookies are ONLY Gluten-free, Nut-Free & Soy-Free.
In 2013 my step-sister and I went to my brother’s pool party. He was home from college, and my parents were away in Europe. Can you say P-A-R-T-A-Y? My step-sister brought a crew of friends, and I came solo. It was a gorgeous weekend, not a cloud in the sky, and I wanted to bake! So I hauled ass to Whole Foods and picked up my favorite gluten-free cookie baking mix, coconut milk, a few favorite extracts and in addition and not part of this cookie recipe – avocados, lime, Cilantro and Celtic Sea Salt. I was going to make guacamole and cookies! Such a weird combo, I know, but it was a pool party! And what is a pool party without good food?
What has stayed with me throughout nutrition school, through all the elimination diets, medical issues and through all the years I have existed on this planet is the continuous urge to bake, cook and feed people.
So I offered my brother my home baked treats and dips for his party, and he declined. He was convinced his friends wouldn’t need food. “As if!” – Clueless
Not one to listen, I made my goodies anyways. And while I baked I smiled, and poured all of my joy and love into what I was creating. I swapped a few ingredients, and I ended up with the best gluten-free cookies on the planet that were the perfect amount of crispy on the outside, and just the right amount of chewy on the inside! And! All from a box, with my own twist that served an entire Summertime Pool Party of gluten loving kids. Not one person at this party was gluten-free.
I remember hearing this crew say “These are the BEST cookies ever!”
And even though they loved them, there was alcohol involved, so I couldn’t know for sure if these were truly the best gluten-free cookies, or if was the alcohol talking. So I took the compliments with a grain of salt.
Little to my knowledge I was forever named “The Cookie Girl”.
*******
I had been called cookie girl before, when I used to make my famous super crispy gluten-free cookies and bring them to parties only to see my fellow peers stuffing them in their pockets because they couldn’t get enough, as if there was a drought in the cookie department…
And if my dates were lucky, they would get a box too. It was then I was called cookie girl.
Flash forward to the present 2016, just last month I was at my Step-Sister Lindsay’s engagement party and was approached by quite a few of her friends saying:
“O-M-G!! You’re the cookie girl!”.
“I have been talking about your cookies since you made them 3 years ago!
“I LOVE your cookies!!”.
The crew at Lindsay’s engagement party raved. And I mean RAVED. I guess when your tastebuds know a good cookie, they will remember it forever.
I laughed. I laughed because duh! Gluten-free can taste amazing, you just have to know what you are doing in the kitchen. I hate that Gluten-Free has gotten such a bad rap, it’s so silly.
I thought to myself and said it out loud, that these cookies were from a gluten-free mix, and that I had just done a few simple swaps, and added my own twist to this cookie mix. Nonetheless they raved.
I don’t mind this title, heck it takes a lot of creativity to make delicious cookies, I would be honored to hold that nickname, but I had no idea that this crew even remembered the cookies let alone had a nickname for me! It was kind of hilarious!
Since I haven’t baked from a mix in almost 3 years I barely remembered what the mix even called for. I just remembered swapping out the water for coconut milk, and before I knew it I was offering to make them a batch for the sake of the blog. Since all of my baking is from scratch, baking from a mix would be a blissful few hours and I was stoked to recreate the cookie of their dreams! It was on!
And here we are.
I made a batch for Rob & Dan, the ones who raved the most, my sister and my mom. I was expecting tweaks and suggestions and in return they said these cookies were exactly as they remembered.
“They don’t even taste gluten-free, they just taste amazing!” – Rob Calabretta
“Totally crispy and chewy and amazing!” – Dan Steinberg
**Instead of asking you to follow the King Aruthur Cookie Mix directions and ingredient list, I ask that you follow my directions and my ingredients choices.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
1 box King Arthur Cookie Mix
1/2 cup soft butter
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons of Unsweetened Coconut Milk (I love the brand So Delicious)
1/4 Xanthan Gum
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Chocolate extract
1 cup of dark chocolate bar chunks 72 percent dark
1 cup of dark Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips 69 percent dark
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put about half the cookie mix in a bowl, and beat in the butter with an electric mixer. Add the egg and the unsweetened coconut milk and beat until the mixture becomes fluffy and turns a lighter cooler color. This is my secret to an amazing cookie. Beat the mixture for about 5 minutes, until the batter is effortlessly light.
3. Beat in the remaining cookie mix, Xanthan gum, vanilla and chocolate extract, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Do this for an additional 5 minutes. The batter will change color and form soft peaks, and this is what you want. It will go from dark to light. Beating your batter for this amount of time, you know the time where you feel like your arm is falling off will be the one factor that makes or breaks your cookie. Below is a picture of how light your batter color should be, and how easily it should be to create peaks.
4. You will want to break the chocolate bar into chunks to meet 1 cup. Then put the chunks in a sealed zip lock bag and with a can, hammer or meat pounder, crush the chunks into smaller chunks.
5. Add in the chocolate crushed chunks and chocolate chips 1/2 cup at a time and keep mixing until all chocolate is mixed in.
6. Drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheets (about 3-4 with either foil or parchment paper), leaving at least 2-inches of space in between each cookie. Gently flatten cookies to 1/4-1/2 thick with the palm of your hand. If your hands get sticky have a cup of cold water nearby and dip your fingers in them, and then flatten the cookie dough.
7. Bake until just browned, 10-12 minutes. I like to swap oven racks. Let each tray of cookies get time on the bottom rack and on the top rack. So that means setting your timer for 5 minutes, swapping and then setting your timer for the remainder of time.
8. Remove from the oven, let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Yield: about 25 cookies
TIPS:
-If you cannot find chocolate extract, just use double vanilla extract.
-If you cannot get So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, just find another brand of unsweetened coconut milk.
-Use whatever chocolate chunks and chips you want as long as they are gluten-free. I like Endangered Species and Enjoy Life. The darker the better.
- 1 box King Arthur Cookie Mix
- ½ cup soft butter
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons of Unsweetened Coconut Milk (I love the brand So Delicious)
- ¼ Xanthan Gum
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Chocolate extract
- 1 cup of dark chocolate bar chunks 72 percent dark
- 1 cup of dark Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips 69 percent dark
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put about half the cookie mix in a bowl, and beat in the butter with an electric mixer. Add the egg and the unsweetened coconut milk and beat until the mixture becomes fluffy and turns a lighter cooler color. This is my secret to an amazing cookie. Beat the mixture for about 5 minutes, until the batter is effortlessly light.
- Beat in the remaining cookie mix, Xanthan gum, vanilla and chocolate extract, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Do this for an additional 5 minutes. The batter will change color and form soft peaks, and this is what you want. It will go from dark to light. Beating your batter for this amount of time, you know the time where you feel like your arm is falling off will be the one factor that makes or breaks your cookie. Below is a picture of how light your batter color should be, and how easily it should be to create peaks.
- You will want to break the chocolate bar into chunks to meet 1 cup. Then put the chunks in a sealed zip lock bag and with a can, hammer or meat pounder, crush the chunks into smaller chunks.
- Add in the chocolate crushed chunks and chocolate chips ½ cup at a time and keep mixing until all chocolate is mixed in.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheets (about 3-4 with either foil or parchment paper), leaving at least 2-inches of space in between each cookie. Gently flatten cookies to ¼-1/2 thick with the palm of your hand. If your hands get sticky have a cup of cold water nearby and dip your fingers in them, and then flatten the cookie dough.
- Bake until just browned, 10-12 minutes. I like to swap oven racks. Let each tray of cookies get time on the bottom rack and on the top rack. So that means setting your timer for 5 minutes, swapping and then setting your timer for the remainder of time.
- Remove from the oven, let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Love & Chocolate Chip Cookies!
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