Using King Arthur cookie mix these Simple Crispy & Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies are exactly as they sound. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. A quick way to enjoy cookies that taste homemade.
There is a backstory to these unbelievable crispy & chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and I have no other choice than to share it with you. In order for you to understand the reason why these have been made now even though they contain ingredients I can no longer eat, and why these Crispy & Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies are making an appearance on the blog.
These cookies are ONLY Gluten-free, Nut-Free & Soy-Free, and made from a cookie mix by King Arthur.
HOW I BECAME NAMED “THE COOKIE GIRL”
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. It was a sunny day and hot as hell. Pool floats were everywhere, bottles of vodka by the lounge chairs, and me with my famous guacamole and chocolate chunk cookies.
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 by King Arthur, 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.
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 teens. Not one person at this party was gluten-free.
I remember hearing his friends 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 that went into my guacamole.
Little did I know that from there I was coined “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…
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 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 how it tasted and how it made them feel, forever.
Gluten-free can taste amazing, you just have to know what you are doing in the kitchen.
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! I was known without being known.
Since I haven’t baked from a mix in years, I barely remembered what the mix even called for. I just remembered swapping ingredients like coconut milk instead of water. Before I realized what I was doing I was offering her friends a batch of these chocolate chunk cookies for free. Then I could blog about it.
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!
And here we are.
I made a batch for Rob & Dan. 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 delicious!” – Dan Steinberg
LET’S TALK KING ARTHUR GLUTEN-FREE BAKING MIXES
- As far as gluten-free baking mixes go King Arthur is the best of the best.
- King Arthur has the greatest taste and texture when it comes to their mixes which makes gluten-free eaters across the globe very happy as this is something that is hard to find.
- 1790 King Arthur was born as the first flour company ever, using wheat flour in America and only available to select states.
- 1800’s-1950’s King Arthur becomes the main distributor of flour for all bakers around the globe from pie crusts to chocolate chip cookies, to sourdough bread to pizza dough and banana bread and eventually cake mixes used by bakers in New York City restaurants.
- 1960’s King Arthur becomes the main bakery supply distributor in New England.
- Eventually, after celiac Disease became more widespread King Arthur Baking Company decided to move towards a dedicated gluten-free line of flours, mixes, and recipes because their motto was “Everyone should be baking” and “We are a baking supplier”.
- What took years to develop has become one of the best brands out there that provide for the Celiac community. They wanted their mixes to not just be good but be GREAT. And stars were born.
- Diagnosed Celiacs from all over, kids included choose King Arthur over any gluten-free brand.
- I was diagnosed in 2006. Many years into my diagnosis I found King Arthur and never looked back. You won’t be able to taste the difference and that is the point of this blog post.
HOW TO SWAP OUT INGREDIENTS FROM A GLUTEN-FREE COOKIE MIX
- Stick to the smaller ingredients like extracts
- If there aren’t any extracts you can add them in, this will not change the texture or consistency of the recipe just the flavor
- If the box calls for the water you can choose your own plant-based milk or dairy milk
- It’s all about the little tweaks
- If you start changing the eggs you’ll have a different texture and flavor that you’ll need to play with
- If you cannot have butter you can always use avocado, mashed.
**Instead of asking you to follow the King Arthur Cookie Mix directions and ingredient list exactly, I ask that you follow my directions and my ingredients choices to get these Crispy & Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies to look and taste the way I photographed them.
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Crispy & Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Equipment
- Electric Hand Mixer
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 box King Arthur Gluten-Free Cookie Mix
- 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
- 1 large organic egg
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp chocolate extract
- 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, gluten-free
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks, gluten-free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Put about half the cookie mix in a large bowl, and beat in the butter with an electric mixer.
- Beat in the egg, unsweetened coconut milk until the mixture becomes fluffy and turns toward a lighter color. Beat mixture for about 5 minutes or until the batter feels and looks effortlessly light in texture and color.
- Add in the remaining cookie mix, xanthan gum, vanilla, and chocolate extract, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl while mixing. 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.
- Add in the chocolate crushed chunks and chocolate chips 1/2 cup at a time and keep mixing until all chocolate is mixed in.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto ungreased baking sheets lined with foil or parchment paper leaving at least 2-inches of space in between each cookie.
- Gently flatten cookies with your hand or spatula to 1/4-1/2 thick. If the batter gets too sticky simply run the spatula or your hand under cold water and flatten.
- Bake until just browned, 10-12 minutes. Swap over 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 the time.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before attempting to transfer to a cooling rack.
- Store on the kitchen counter in a container.
Notes
- If you cannot find chocolate extract, just use double the amount of vanilla extract.
- If you cannot get So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, just find another brand of unsweetened coconut milk or sweetened coconut milk.
- Use whatever chocolate chunks and chips you want as long as they are gluten-free and contain no dairy.
- Chocolate brands I love: Lily's, Hu Kitchen, Enjoy Life, Endangered Species.
- If you cannot find chocolate chunks buy chocolate bars and break them down.
For the love of healthy cookies
Love & Chocolate Chip Cookies!
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