Since going to BabyCakes every week for your baked good fix would be impractical and expensive, learning to bake becomes a necessity.  I was never the baker in the family; that is Madeline, my younger sister, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.

I got this recipe from a cookbook called Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly; it was a present from my friend Caitlyn, who helped me with these cookies.  In the book the recipe is called “Tollhouse Cookies”, and it surprises me that there isn’t some copyright law infringement there.  I’ve made some alterations to get rid of the xanthan gum aftertaste that I find in most GF cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (the necessary evil)

2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature, so its easy to mix)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons honey (this is what got rid of the xanthan gum aftertaste)

1 egg

2 1/2 teaspoons gluten free vanilla

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix together in a bowl the dry ingredients: GF flour mix, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.  Mix these well so that the xanthan gum is spread evenly throughout.

I have a food processor, so I mix my wet ingredients there, but if you don’t, use a larger bowl.  Cream the butter so that its smooth, and then add the two sugars.  Beat these until they are fluffy, really fluffy, this helps keep gluten-free baked goods from getting too dense.  When I made these, I had forgotten to store my brown sugar airtight, and it was hard.  I had to use my Magic Bullet to break it up, it was quite the ordeal.  Then, add the honey, egg, and vanilla.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the larger wet ingredients bowl.  Finally, add the chocolate chips.  Make sure you mix these in well, so that they don’t get clumped on the top.  The batter will be pretty soft, which is why it needs to be refridgerated for at least an hour before baking.  While you’re waiting, preheat the oven 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper (this isn’t really necessary, just quickens the clean up and is less messy).

After you take it out of the fridge, wait about 20 minutes.  It needs to soften enough to handle it.  Scoop the dough whatever size you’d like, but make sure you leave enough room for each cookie to expand (these expand a lot!).  Bake them for 12 minutes, less with leave you with crumbly cookies.

Ta da!  Delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

You can replace the chips with m&ms and they are delicious too.