Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Recipe is below if you want to skip my long drawn out explanation of why I chose to make a gluten free vegan cookie.
I don’t talk about my health often, but I’ve seen some differences and have experienced some positive change from just eliminating certain things from my diet. I would be lying to say that it has been easy. Try being a baker and not being able to indulge in all the things that you bake!!! I’m hoping that I will be able to reintroduce these items back into my diet someday, but for now, I’m testing out all kinds of recipes, to see which ones I can alter to replace the crunchy, decadent buttery flavors that I am craving!!!
For those of you who have known me for awhile, you know how much trouble I have had with excema. It started about 15 years ago when I decided to stop taking allergy shots that I had been taken for over a year. It was getting more and more difficult to go to the allergy specialist office regularly, and I really had not seen much results. Little did I know that it had actually been helping all along.
My excema had gotten so bad that I couldn’t wear shorts or even short sleeve shirts and I would wake up in the middle of the night itching like a dog. It was and sometimes still can be so unpleasant! I’m still in the healing stages. Just last night I introduced orange juice and I had a reaction. 🙁
So after many years of feeling the itch, seeing allergy specialist, and several dermatologist, I decided to try an elimination diet. I cut out everything except turkey, lamb, veggies (except tomatoes and potatoes), fruit (except citrus), herbal teas and honey.
I had also been suffering from tightness in my shoulders and upper body and both my hands were completely numb when I woke up in the morning. In just a few days of being on the elimination diet I noticed that these things disappeared. I think that cutting out sugar had a huge part in this and maybe by eliminating things that I was sensitive too made the inflammation in my body disappear. I’m not a doctor, but I feel like food can really play a big part in how you feel!
So after figuring out the things that I was sensitive to, I decided to leave them out of my diet for awhile. At least until my skin heals. (I used the app mySymtoms to keep my diary)
Sorry for the long post to get to the recipe. I felt I should share as to why I’ve chosen to make a gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie. Maybe some of you have had a similar experience, I would love to know that I am not the only one that has had to figure these things out. Modern medicine has its place, but figuring out what your own body needs and doesn’t need is something we should all do.
I think it’s very tasty cookie and turned out much better than I had expected! Even my very picky 10 year old likes it!
So here it is…
GF Vegan Chocolate Chip Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 F.
1 1/4 cups of oat flour
1 cup brown rice flour 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. potato starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
4 oz. organic coconut oil (melted)
4 oz. organic shortening (melted)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tb flaxseed soaked in 5 Tb. water
( I also added 2 Tb flaxseed chai and Cocoa mixture with the flax seed water mixture, but it’s not nessasary)
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
Soak flax seed with water.
Combine the flours, potato starch, salt, baking soda, and xanthan gum in a bowl and mix with a whisk.
In the kitchen aid or large bowl mix melted shortening, coconut oil, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in flaxseed and water mixture. Stir in the flour mixture until combined. ( the more you mix the flour mixture in the chewers do less crunchy your cookie will be. This is from activating the xanthan gum, I personally like crunchy cookies, so I didn’t mix it too much.)
If possible let dough sit an hour or two or refrigerate overnight. I couldn’t wait than long, so I went ahead and started baking immediately!
I used an ice cream scoop to scoop out the cookies and I rolled them into a ball shape then flattened the into 2 1/2 to 3 inch cookies and placed about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Cookies will be delicate straight out of the oven, so let them cool on the cookie sheet a couple minutes then transfer to a rack to cool. They may be kept in airtight containers for several days.
Enjoy!
This recipe was inspired from Alice Medrich’s chocolate chip cookies recipe.