Updated Sep. 14, 2019.  Originally published Dec. 20, 2013.

I am a sucker for chocolate chip cookies.  When it comes to desserts, these and chocolate ice cream are my weaknesses.  We adapted the Toll House cookies (the recipe from the back of the Toll House chocolate chip bag) years ago to be whole wheat.

Of course, when I had to go gluten-free, that wasn’t an option anymore, so I adapted them again.  I like to use brown rice flour for most things because it’s cheap and easy.  But in things like chocolate chip cookies, where the wheat provided a good bit of the item’s actual flavor,  rice flour alone leaves them tasting a little “flat.”  Oat flour, if you can have it, better approximates the flavor of a wheat-based cookie.

It’s very light, though – that is, it takes a lot of oat flour to equate to the same amount as other flours.  So I just use part oat flour, to contribute its flavor, while allowing the rice flour to provide bulk.  (The oat flour has the added advantage of being lactogenic for those of you who are nursing babies.)

Oat flour is very accessible, too – just whirl some rolled oats in your blender.

If you’d like to adapt these to be more Christmassy, you could try these ideas:

• Use Andes Peppermint Crunch* instead of chocolate chips.
• Add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, and use a mixture of creme de menthe drops* & chocolate chips.

*I do not know whether these are gluten-free, so please check before using them if this is an issue for you!

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rachel Ramey

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Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten-Free

Ingredients

  

• 2 c. brown rice flour
• 1-1/4 - 1-1/2 c. oat flour Start with 1-1/4, but add a little more if the finished dough is too soft.
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 c. butter 2 sticks, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips about 6 oz.

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Combine flours, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. (This is where you'd add the extra flour if you need it.)
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop by rounded tablespoons (I use a scoop.) onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let stand for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

If, like me, you spaz and melt the butter instead of softening it, it will be to your advantage to chill the finished dough for a little while before baking the cookies.

Also, this dough freezes nicely. Put your little balls of dough onto a cool cookie sheet - they don't need to have a lot of space between them - and freeze until solid, then dump them into a zippered plastic bag or other container for longer-term freezer storage. When you want to bake them, just put the frozen balls of dough on a cookie sheet and bake (straight from frozen) according to the original instructions. They may require an extra minute or two, but they should require any other adaptation.