Comments (2)

By Cassie Rice, February 24, 2010 2:01 am

Sometimes it’s nice to have a sweet treat….actually, it’s always nice – especially when it’s chocolate. How about a gluten free double chocolate cookie?–The perfect gluten free double chocolate cookie.

It is hard to come up with the perfect recipe. Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen claims to do this with their recipes; although, I have tried some of their recipes and have not been impressed with them all. The last recipe I tried was their “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe. It was good. The chocolate chip cookies had the sugar and butter flavor that you would look for in a chocolate chip cookie. But all in all, they were just another version of your typical chocolate chip cookie, nothing stupendous. I was fine with just one cookie. I think the best sign of a good cookie is when the combination of the taste and texture is so desirable that one is nowhere near enough. The cookie should create a craving for more cookies because they’re just THAT good.

This past weekend, I really wanted chocolate, but something really worthwhile eating. So I decided to create “the Best” Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe that just happened to be gluten free.

Last week, I was browsing the LA Times website and came across a recipe for a double chocolate cookie imitation from the restaurant, Milk, in Los Angeles. I figured the recipe had to be good since their ice cream and milkshakes are pretty decent.

I’ve put together other gluten free chocolate cookie recipes before, but none came even close to this one in taste or texture. What makes the cookies so different is the combination of the three types of chocolate added to the cookie: unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate. It creates a soft, chewy decadent double chocolate chip cookie like no other. If you eat the cookies 5 minutes or so out of the oven, it is like eating a chocolate soufflé. If you wait to eat the cookies a few hours later, the cookie is soft in the inside but has just a bit of a crunch from the combination of the mini chocolate chips and the soft crust around the cookie. If you like chocolate, you will not just like these, you will love ‘em!

These are the type of cookies to start a bakery with.

Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Cookies

Makes 24 Cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 10 – 20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 pound semisweet mini or regular size chocolate chips**

**If you don’t have this flour on hand, here’s the recipe to make it on your own. You can use this flour as a substitute for wheat flour in any recipe as long as it doesn’t contain yeast. Just substitute 3/4 cups of the Multi-Blend Flour for 1 cup of wheat flour and double the baking powder/soda. You will never know there is no wheat in there.
*This may seem like a lot, but it’s totally worth adding them all!

Directions:
In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the unsweetened chocolate and unsalted butter together. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour, cocoa powder, Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder, baking powder and salt together. In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. Then whisk in the melted chocolate, followed by the flour mixture. Finally, pour in all of the chocolate chips and mix until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.

Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place parchment paper over enough cookie sheets to hold 24 cookies spaced about 2 inches apart. Divide the cookie dough into 24 cookies using a spoon or ice cream scoop and place them on the parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Flatten them just slightly before baking.

Place the cookies in the center of the oven (1 tray at a time). Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Wait about 5 minutes and then place cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Comments (8)

By Cassie Rice, December 7, 2009 5:35 pm

What is your favorite candy?

One of my favorite candies is Junior Mints. I’ve always been addicted to chocolate, especially in combination with peppermint.

Since the holidays are just around the corner and peppermint is one of the big holiday flavors, I thought I’d put together a chocolate peppermint recipe that is different from recipes containing candy canes or peppermint bark. What I came up with was chocolate peppermint thumbprint cookies. They’re basically cookies, rich in chocolate flavor, with a dollop of a smooth, peppermint icing in the middle. The combination of the rich chocolate and the peppermint icing remind me of the holiday season, getting together with family and relaxing by the fireplace each time that I take a bite.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies

(Printable Page)

Makes: 40 – 50 cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Bake Time: 13 – 17 minutes

Ingredients:

Cookies
1 ½ cups Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour (if you don’t have this flour on hand, you can make your own with this recipe)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder or 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¾ teaspoons salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted in microwave for 1 minute
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Peppermint Icing
1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ – ½ teaspoon peppermint extract (use ¼ teaspoon if you do not want the peppermint flavor to be too strong)
1 ½ tablespoons water

Directions:

Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour, cocoa powder, Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder, and salt until fully combined. In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the unsalted butter and granulated sugar together. Then mix in the flour mixture, the melted semisweet chocolate chips, and the eggs. Mix until a dough forms.

Make 1 inch balls out of the dough and place them on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Then use your thumb to make a thumbprint in the center of each ball. Bake the cookies in the oven for 13 to 17 minutes or until the cookies are crisp on the outside. Let the cookies cool on a rack for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Then place a dollop of peppermint icing on the thumbprint of each cookie.

Peppermint Icing
Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Use a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off or a pastry bag to pipe out the icing onto the center of each thumbprint cookie.