Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I woke up yesterday needing a new challenge. I found one when I clicked on the food section of The New York Times and discovered. 24 Days of Cookies, just what I needed. Christmas is only a few weeks away, and it’s time to bake a whole lot of cookies.

On the spot, I challenged myself to make all 24 recipes between now and Christmas Day. Except my versions will be made without gluten, without dairy and without refined sugar. This will require some tweaking, but I’m up for it. Last year’s busted Christmas will not be repeated.

Thankfully, the first recipe, Eric Kim’s M&M cookies, is simple. The hardest part was waiting for the dairy-free butter to warm up to room temperature. I made a few substitutions, but kept the recipe nearly the same. I didn’t have any dairy-free M&M-type candies, so I substituted semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

The rest was a simple whirring of the mixer, then dropping the batter in spoonfuls onto a parchment-covered baking sheet. Baked at 350 for 12 minutes, and Cookie Day 1 was finished. It’s my Cookie Advent Calendar. The cookies, which are quite sweet, disappeared a few minutes after I pulled them from the oven. I had time to snap a photo (above), but they were devoured shortly thereafter.

Springhouse Turtle

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Sweet and filled with chocolate chunks, these simple cookies are easy to make and easy to eat! Try them with a big glass of dairy-free milk!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon non-dairy butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup xylitol or erythritol
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used Diamond Crystal brand)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour mix (I used a light cassava, rice and garfava mix)
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or dairy-free M&M-type candies)

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3

Put the dairy-free butter, sweeteners, egg, vanilla and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.

4

On slow speed, stir in the flour, baking soda and xanthan gum, mixing gently.

5

Stir in the chocolate chunks.

6

Put the bowl into the fridge for a few minutes.

7

Take the bowl out of the fridge, and drop rounded teaspoons of dough two inches apart onto a parchment covered baking sheet.

8

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.

9

Remove from oven and allow to cool on the pan.

Springhouse Turtle