Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am on a never-ending quest to create nourishing treats. We all love a good cookie, but what if it was packed with nutrients to fuel your day!? For me, eating something that resembles my favorite indulgence but offers additional nutritional benefits actually makes the food taste better. These cookies are the perfect example. I used coconut sugar which offers a rich, toasted flavor and contains more nutrients. I also opted for two types of gluten-free flour. I used Trader Joe’s all purpose gluten-free flour as well as Caulipower baking mix (although you could omit this). The Caulipower baking mix has added nutrients from the cauliflower and is lower in carbs than regular flour. I also used grass-fed butter which is a healthy fat, Eating Evolved chocolate bars which are free from refined sugar, vegan almond cream cheese which adds healthy fat, and “flax eggs” to incorporate more fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.

I adapted the recipe from Lee From America’s recipe.

With gluten-free baking, a leavening agent is important to help your baked goods rise. I used baking soda in this recipe. When baking soda reacts it produces a gas that gets trapped in the cookies causing them to rise. Using baking soda in this recipe creates the soft, fluffy cookie at the end. The xanthum gum helps trap the air bubbles created by the baking soda and also helps thicken the cookie so that the end result is dense instead of dry and crumbly (which gluten-free baked goods tend to be).

Here is everything I used!

Recipe

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (I use Trader Joe's)

  • 1 cup Caulipower baking mix

  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if gluten-free flour blend has xanthan or guar gum already)

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)

  • 2 ounces almond milk cream cheese, room temp (I used Kite Hill almond cream cheese)

  • 8 tbsp unsalted grass-fed butter (sub vegan if dairy-free), melted

  • 4 tbsp almond butter, room temp

  • 1 1/2 cup packed coconut sugar

  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

  • 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seed + 4 tbsp water. mix in bowl, let sit five minutes)

  • 3.5 oz Eating Evolved chocolate bars, chopped (or your favorite chocolate chips)

  • sea salt for sprinkling on top

Instructions:

  1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk gluten free flour, Caulipower baking mix, xanthum gum, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

  2. Place cream cheese into the stand mixer bowl. Add butter and almond butter over cream cheese. Add coconut sugar and mix on medium to for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary.

  3. Add vanilla extract and flax eggs. Mix on low until well combined.

  4. Add flour to mixture slowly, 1/2 cup at a time and beat on low until well mixed.

  5. Fold in chocolate chunks with a spatula until well combined.

  6. Cover the bowl with a cloth and place in fridge for 1 hour (you can leave the dough in the fridge until you are ready to bake, just make sure to let it sit for at least 20 minutes before forming the balls.

  7. Preheat oven to 375F.

  8. Remove from fridge and let sit for 20 minutes.

  9. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (do not use cooking spray!).

  10. Using your hands or a cookie scooper, scoop mounds of cookie dough to the parchment paper. 10 cookies per sheet works great.

  11. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes. Remove. They will still be super soft and undercooked but they harden within minutes.

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Finished!

Mia Trost