Only Sometimes Clever

I have a new favorite gluten-free flour mix, and I’ve been experimenting to see if it’s truly “all-purpose.”  I haven’t yet tried it in yeast bread, but everything else I’ve made with it has turned out great.

I made these yesterday, and my husband — who doesn’t even really like sweets — said, “Those cookies ROCK!  They’re the best g.f. cookies I’ve ever tasted.”  And, he took two with him for breakfast this morning. 

This recipe makes a “classic” soft chocolate chip cookie:  A tiny bit crisp on the outside, and chewy and soft on the inside.   I made them yesterday, and they still have their great texture today (anyone who has baked g.f. before knows that, unfortunately, many goodies that taste great straight from the oven may not even be edible the next day).

NOTES:  If you don’t have insulated pans, get two jelly-roll style cookie sheets, and place crumpled and slightly flattened aluminum foil between them, to create a bit of an air gap.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend Reynold’s Non-Stick Foil.  It eliminates possible contamination if you have used your pans for “regular,” gluten-containing baked goods.  And, simply, nothing sticks to it!

For inexpensive dairy/casein-free chocolate chips, check out your local grocery store’s generic brands!  I shop at Fry’s, which is a Kroger affiliate.  They supply FMV brand generics, and the FMV brand is entirely dairy-free:  no butter fat or milk!  And, at only $1.17 a bag, that’s a LOT cheaper than specialty-branded dairy-free chocolate chips, which are typically around $4 for an 8 oz bag.  (However, FMV does have soy lecithin in them, and have vanillin, which is an artificial flavor.) 

Lastly, although Bob’s Red Mill does make a sorghum flour, I buy mine at a local Asian food store, in the Indian foods aisle.  It’s a lot cheaper that way, around $2-3 for a 2 lb bag.  It will likely be marked as “jawar” or “juwar” flour.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (GFCF)
Makes 36 large cookies

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup sweet rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup white rice flour
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup shortening*
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup rice (or other) milk
12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (or fewer, for less chocolatey cookies)

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line insulated baking pans (see note above) with nonstick foil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream both sugars, eggs, shortening, vanilla and rice milk.

To the shortening mixture, add half of the flour mixture, and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Then, add the rest of the flour mixture, mixing completely.  This will make a stiff dough.  Stir in the chocolate chips, mixing well.

With your hands, make medium-sized balls of dough, about 2 Tablespoons each.  Place dough on cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar.  (Cookies will spread only a small amount.)

Bake for 26 minutes, or until cookies are slightly browned (switching oven racks midway through, if you’re baking two sheets at a time).

Remove from sheet with a spatula, and cool on racks.  (Or, do it like I do, old-school-style, cooling them on cut-open brown paper shopping bags.)

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While I have qualms about rain forest being destroyed for ever-increasing demand of palm oil (Spectrum is produced in Colombia), I am also very grateful for an organic, non-hydrogenated, naturally-produced, peanut-free facility to produce the shortening that I use.  Crisco, btw, is also a peanut-free company, but their shortening is partially hydrogenated, and contains some transfat (though much less than it used to).