These cookies are hypo-allergenic. They are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and contain very little sugar; and the sugar comes in the form of maple syrup and the little bit that's contained in the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips, by the way, are Cocoa Camino's 71% dark chocolate chips. They are naturally vegan and, therefore, safe to use here.
Before we really dig in, we've got to make our eggs.
Flaxseed Egg Replacement
I've created a child-sized blogging monster
If you're into vegan or allergy aware baking, you've used this egg replacement before; but for those who haven't, ground flaxseeds combined with a bit of water will thicken up and do the same things that eggs do in recipes like this. They contribute to a fluffy texture and help to bind everything together. We need two "eggs".
To make one egg, combine 1 tbsp of ground flax with about 3 tbsp of water and set aside for about 10 mins.
It's ready to use when the ground flax has absorbed most of the water. Easy.
The Cookies
We're adding one cup of coconut oil to our mixing bowl. Now, I usually take regular old recipes that I've had good results with and change the ingredients to improve the quality and to suit my needs. This recipe comes from a very old Mennonite cooke book recipe that calls for lard (I actually have no qualms with a good quality lard). Lard and softened butter are both very soft and generally don't need beaters or a mixer to 'cream' but coconut oil occasionally need this step (especially if it's cold).
Go ahead and give it a good whirr on med or high for about 30 seconds. This will soften the coconut oil and make it nice and fluffy. Much easier for little hands to stir!
And to this, we will add our 2 eggs.
Give this a good stir.
The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar. 1 cup of white and 1 cup of brown. I've reduced that to 1/2 cup of maple syrup and these cookies are very sweet. We could probably go down to 1/3 cup. That can be up to you to decide.
Cream all of that together with about 1 tsp of vanilla and set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, add 1 3/4 cups of brown rice flour. The original recipe called for 1.5 cups of all purpose flour and a whole whack of oats. I've completely omitted the oats and upped the flour by 1/4 cup. This worked perfectly.
Stir in 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of sea salt.
Pour the dry into the wet. Now, you'll notice that the wet looks like it hasn't combined very well, and that is typically what happens with flaxseeds, they don't bind quite as well as eggs do. Don't worry, though, it's normal and it will work out just fine.
Stir it all together.
We can see from this shot that it has all incorporated very well. Looking and tasting delicious, actually!
We've added about 1/2 cup of our chocolate chips - about 1/2 the bag. Remember to check the ingredients when buying your chips. If they claim to be bitter sweet or dark, but contain milk solids, the quality just isn't there. It's just so much better to buy quality chocolate. It'll go from being a candy to something that's half way nourishing.
After stirring in our chips, we roll them into little balls. This part is fun!
However, someone's too busy for fun!
Press the cookies with a fork for even baking.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
I like them best when they're slightly golden on the bottom and ever so slightly golden on top. This generally guarantees a soft and kind of gooey inside. It's best to let them cool for a few minutes before digging in.
These cookies are soft, chewy and melt in your mouth. For real! They are school safe and I feel no guilt about letting my kids have seconds.
And just like our banana bread, if I can give my girls a break from all that wheat, dairy and sugar once in a while, why not! These cookies aren't just for those with allergies or sensitivities, they are for all!
Ada's Free For All Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 flaxseed eggs (see above)
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups brown rice flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (Cocoa Camino)
- Prepare the flaxseed eggs and set aside
- Blend coconut oil on medium to high with electric beaters to soften
- Add 'eggs' and mix well
- Add maple syrup and vanilla, mix well and set aside
- Combine dry ingredients
- Add the dry to the wet, stir well
- Add the chocolate chips, stir to combine
- Roll into balls or simply drop by spoonful onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment
- Bake at 350 degrees C for 10 minutes
