These soft chocolate chip cookies were one of those recipes that took unexpectedly longer to perfect than normal. On reflection, I think it was because I was trying to incorporate too many elements into one cookie.
Last week I tried some new gluten-free, vegan, chocolate chip cookies at our local coffee shop and they were surprisingly good! I don’t usually go for soft cookies, but these had a perfect soft pillowy texture with a little bit of bite and lots of chocolate chunks. The only downside was they were pretty high in sugar (no doubt why they were so delicious!) and they also contained a mixture of gluten-free grain flours.
This of course naturally inspired me to try and reproduce them myself, and in doing so, make them bigger and better! By which I really mean, lower sugar, more protein and grain-free.
My first batch of cookies using entirely ground almonds instead of flour were delicious, especially eaten straight out of the oven! However, by the next day they’d all gone soft and had more of a whoopie cake quality than a cookie. This sent me down a trail of grain-free flour trials only to arrive back at the ground almonds because they taste the best and do create a great, soft cookie texture. I realised I just needed to add something to crisp the cookies up a bit which ended up being a small amount of gluten-free flour. The exact one is flexible depending on your tastes. If you don’t mind the taste of buckwheat then this is a great option, otherwise rice flour works well as does cornflour.
Six batches and WAY too much cookie tasting later, I had the recipe!
These chocolate chip cookies are definitely best straight out of the oven when they’re all soft in the middle, crispy round the edges and have chunks of melting chocolate. Once cool, the cookies stay soft in the middle and will slowly start to lose their outer crispness (and obviously melted chocolate quality) and by the following day they are soft all over and slightly chewy.
Looking back at my original inspiration for these cookies, they’re not very similar at all. Proof that flour really does make quite a difference to a cookies texture. But if you’re after a delicious recipe for low sugar, vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie then you’ve found it!
Did you like this soft chocolate chip cookie post? Any questions or comments about the recipe? Leave me a comment in the section down below!
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free & vegan)
Makes: approximately 18 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes
100g coconut oil
40g almond butter
60g almond milk
100g ground almonds
50g rice flour or buckwheat flour or cornflour
50g coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate, chopped (60-70% cocoa solids,dairy free)
sprinkle of himalayan pink salt for tops
Preheat the oven the 180ºC and line 2 oven trays with baking paper or silicone baking sheets.
Melt the coconut oil then combine with the almond butter and milk, stir well to mix.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the ground almonds, rice flour, coconut sugar, baking soda and powder and mix to combine.
Chop the chocolate into small chunks with a large knife, ideally you want a mixture of chocolate chunks and small shavings as this will add to the cookie texture and taste.
Stir the coconut oil mixture into the dry ingredients until well combined. Add the chocolate and ensure everything is evenly mixed.
Drop tablespoonfuls of mixture onto the prepared baking trays, leaving room for spreading. Press down lightly and shape into round cookies. Sprinkle freshly ground himalayan pink rock salt or flakes over the tops.
Place cookies in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. These cookies will rise a little and then spread and are ready when the edges turn a golden brown colour. Remove the cookies from the oven and leave on the trays to cool as they will still be quite delicate.
When cool enough to handle they are ready to be eaten! Any leftovers can be stored in a sealed container for up to 5 days but they are best eaten on the day they are baked.
