I have thought about trying to make a GAPS chocolate chip since the very early days, but since chocolate wasn't strictly legal back then, and since I hate to waste a lot of food on experimenting, I never did get around to it. Thankfully, the folks over at Our Nourishing Roots did the job instead. I tried their recipe (linked below), but I used unsweetened chocolate in lieu of the cocoa butter/cocoa mixture. I'm not sure if that is why my chocolate came out sort of chewy, like a stiff caramel, or whether it's because I kept adding honey until the chocolate tasted bittersweet to me. Either way, it turned into a delicious and functional chocolaty substance. I left it to cool overnight at (Pacific Northwest, winter, unheated) room temperature. The next day, I cut it into strips and kept it refrigerated. I really needed to work quickly with this stuff to prevent its melting, but it held together beautifully in the cookies.Do try the coriander. It is a secret little trick that I used to use with my old white flour recipe.
Did I mention they're delicious? They are only very lightly sweet, but my recently off-the-wagon kids gobbled them up as happily as they had done with premium conventional ice cream merely days before.
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups almond flour
1 tsp. ground coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp. baking soda (optional)
2/3 cup GAPS chocolate chunks, cut into small pieces
Method
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut up butter and place it in an oven-proof bowl, and melt butter in oven while it heats. When butter is melted, remove bowl and add honey. Carefully mix in honey. At this point your bowl will probably be cool enough to touch. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add in salt and mix. Add in almond flour and optional coriander and baking soda. Stir well. Dough will be slightly stiff. Add in chocolate chunks and stir through. Place heaping tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet and press to flatten* (and round if necessary). Bake for about 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Using a very thin offset spatula, carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Once they are cool enough to touch, eat them and enjoy. They hold up well, at this point. When they are thoroughly cooled, I recommend storing, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator.
*This dough does not spread, so you can place them close together, but you need to make each round as flat as you want the finished cookies to be, keeping in mind that if they're too thick, they won't cook through. I go for about 1/2 an inch high.
mmmmm these sound so good!
ReplyDeleteI'm working on a chocolate chip cookie recipe too, but it's hard with the almond and/or coconut flours. I'm going to try yours and see how it goes :)
ReplyDeletecant use almond flour so what can i use for a substitution ??
ReplyDeleteYou could try any nut or seed flour. Be careful with coconut flour though, because it's super absorbent, so it would need modifications. Any others should work in a one-to-one substitution, but the flavors tend to be stronger. I would try hazelnut flour first, if that's on your acceptable list. A mix of soaked sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds would be good too, but more "healthy" tasting :)
DeleteThese sound great, but one problem is the cost of almond flour, even in bulk. My local rates mean a batch of cookies is $10+. Do you have any alternatives for almond flour in recipes? Or a reliable source for less expensive almond flour?
ReplyDeleteHi Scott,
DeleteWow! That's expensive! Our bulk almond flour is not terribly expensive. I have bought this (http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/glutenfreeproducts.aspx) before, and it's about $6/pound. It is a very nice, very fine almond flour, but our local bulk is slightly cheaper.
Something to keep in mind is that these cookies are far more nutritious and filling than the regular, gluten type. I do not make these frequently, because they are pretty labor intensive, so I look at them as a very special treat.
You could try any type of nut or seed flour in this recipe, but the flavor of others would be much stronger. Coconut flour would need quite a few adjustments, so keep that in mind if you decide to experiment with it.
Let us know if you come up with something you like that doesn't cost so much.
I made these with my 2 yr old last night for her big brother's preschool picnic today and they were a huge hit. (I did have to cheat and use commercial chocolate chunks, they were soy free, but contained a small amount of cane sugar. I can't wait to try your homemade chips when I have more time next time!) DH couldn't believe they were GAPS friendly and our plate of cookies (one of the only homemade options, and the only GF one) was the first item to "disappear" at the picnic. My children can't wait for me to bake them again, they LOVED the cookies. I couldn't really taste the coriander at all, should I add more next time? Thank you for the great recipe!!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Thank you so much for the feedback!
DeleteI am actually planning to make these today at my son's request :)
Regarding the coriander, it does add a subtle flavor that enhances the chocolate, but doesn't compete, so it's not necessarily obvious. On the other hand, spices do lose their flavor over time and can naturally vary from batch to batch. I wouldn't hesitate to try slightly more next time--maybe a teaspoon and a quarter or a teaspoon and a half. Spices can be bitter if used too heavily, so it won't hurt to start with the smaller amount and work your way up a bit. I wouldn't go over two teaspoons in this recipe.
I hope that helps! Have fun with those cookies :)
What about using garbanzo bean flour? Is it ok to consume ?
ReplyDeleteGarbanzo bean flour is not GAPS legal. I have however, made chocolate chip cookies using it before, especially in a blend with other gluten-free flours. It works beautifully and tastes delicious in the final product. But do *not* eat that dough raw, lol. It tastes like sweetened hummus, yuck!
DeleteLooks interesting, I'll try this recipe soon :)
ReplyDelete