I was in charge of planning a co-worker’s birthday celebration Monday.  Work birthdays are always the same: squeeze people into small office, half-heartedly sing Happy Birthday, eat cake.  I hadn’t done a work birthday since going gluten-free.  This posed a predicament.  Do I make something gluten-free and serve it to everyone or buy something glutenous (i.e. cake from Whole Foods) and miss out?

I actually tried to do both.  Sunday night I tried out a recipe from the Whole Foods website that my roommate, Stephanie, found because it didn’t have xanthan gum in it.  She really hates xanthan gum.  Whole Foods calls these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I think they are more like a hybrid of cookie and brownie bites.  Still delicious.  So delicious in fact, that all but 4 disappeared Sunday night to my boyfriend and his friend.  Scratch birthday plan #1; I ended up buying cupcakes from Whole Foods anyways on Monday. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

makes 18 1.5” cookies bites

adapted slightly from Whole Foods.

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons Egg Replacer, 4 tablespoons water (this replaced the 2 eggs, I’m experimenting with egg-free)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1/4 cup coconut flour

heaping 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper, the grease will help the paper stick to the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then mix in the egg replacer (or one at a time, add each egg).  Add the vanilla.  Combine these well until you have a smooth consistency.

In another smaller mixing bowl, combine the coconut flour and cocoa powder until they make a lovely light brown color. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until you have a dark brown dough.  This dough is a little wet, don’t be alarmed.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  I used semi-sweet, but dark would also be delicious.

Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.  The coconut flour will absorb the wet ingredients and thicken.  Roll slightly larger than tablespoon sized dough into balls and plop on cookie sheet.  These cookies don’t expand much, so don’t be too concerned about crowding.  Bake for 15 minutes. 

When they come out of the oven, let them cool for 7 minutes to harden, then remove from pan, or they’ll stick. 

These cookies are fudgy, rich, and addicting.  Don’t leave them unattended.