It’s a pretty big claim isn’t! The perfect gluten free chocolate chip cookies. I mean I would even go as far to say the perfect chocolate chip cookie, gluten free or not! But hey, I won’t get too big a head now! But I am pretty serious here. It’s taken me let’s just say, quite a few years, to perfect this cookie recipe. With many many variations being played with. But here we are. 6 years into my gluten free journey and finally I have the perfect balance of chewy and crispy. Soft and gooey.
But What Makes a Perfect Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie?
Ahhh now that is a tough question to answer. Because it truly does depend on what type of cookie you like!! Are you a dunker? Well then I imagine you prefer a harder cookie so it doesn’t fall apart in your tea. Or are you a melted and gooey, eat them hot out of the oven, cookie person? See that there is where the problem lies. My interpretation of a perfect cookie could be completely different to yours. That’s why these babies were so hard to master! I really did try to create a perfectly balanced cookie that would appeal to everyone. Gluten free or not!
It was through all this trial and error and baking adventures that I came across several little tricks. These are honestly simple things that can make a HUGE impact on your cookie texture. (Yeah wow I really am a baking nerd huh!). If you’ve been following me for a while now then you’ll know I do have a tendency to geek out over this sort of stuff. Which is kinda weird as I hated science with a fiery passion at school. But alas here we are and I can now talk your ear off over the virtues of brown sugar over white sugar or when is the optimal time to add baking powder?! But I digress.
Tips and Tricks For the Perfect Gluten Free Cookie
So enough geeking about the science of it all! Let’s get down to the handy tips!
Tip 1:
Melted Butter. Let’s keep it simple here. Instead of using softened room temperature butter to beat your sugars into, melt it first! This simple change gives you a chewy, tender middle with a just slightly crispy outer edge. Perfect!
Tip 2:
Add an extra egg yolk. This is all about fluff. Adding an extra egg yolk gives your dough more plump and fluff so combined with your chewy and tender middle, gives you a decently chunky cookie to bite into too. It really does make a huge difference! Just watching them rise in the oven is satisfying, let alone when you actually pull one apart.
Tip 3:
Add more chocolate. OK OK so this isn’t really a tip… more like I just fell off the chocolate bandwagon and am currently making up for it by shoving handful after handful of chocolate chips into my mouth. (Stop judging, I know you hide in your pantry and do it too!). So of course I threw some extra chocolate into my cookies. There really is no such thing as too many chocolate chips.
Tip 4:
Use a silicone baking mat. I have sworn by my Tovolo silicone baking mats for the last year now. They make such a big difference to the cookie texture! Especially so on the bottom of my gluten free chocolate chip cookies. They’re now smooth and beautiful. Not holey and sometimes air bubbly. Don’t worry this isn’t an add, I just simply love silicone baking mats. They also mean less wastage (good bye baking paper!) and they are a breeze to clean. If you haven’t tried some already, head to your closest kitchen store and grab one to try!
Tip 5:
Resting your cookie dough. Now let’s be serious here. I love a good gluten free chocolate chip cookie. Honestly. But I also don’t want to have to wait for bloody ever to eat one. Yes sometimes I recommend, neigh demand, you rest your dough in the fridge prior to baking. And for some recipes like my Gluten Free Gingerbread and my Gluten Free Shortbread it is a necessity. So please take what I say next with a grain of salt. Yes chilling your cookie dough overnight wrapped in glad wrap in the fridge will create perfectly perfect gluten free chocolate chip cookies. But hey waiting only 10 minutes before popping them into the oven will still give you a damn good cookie. I mean, who has time for that?
So irregardless of what type of cookie person you are, I can almost guarantee you will love these! And with my handy little list of tips you’ll never make a bad gluten free chocolate chip cookie again! You don’t have to stop here either. Give my Gluten Free Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookies a go too, they are amazing if you’re a peanut butter lover like me. Or why not even try adding half white chocolate chips and half dark to these babies? Or pop in a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and reduce the flour by a 1/4 cup for ultra decadent, double choc chip! They really are a versatile cookie!
Now give my Perfect Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies a go today! and be sure to tag me over on Instagram with #champagneandgumboots when you do!
- 125 grams Unsalted Butter melted
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Caster Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 extra Egg Yolk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 cups Gluten Free Self Raising Flour any brand
- 200 grams Dark Chocolate Chip Bits Nestle are GF
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees fan force - or 200 degrees without fan. I do prefer to cook with fan for these as I believe it really does make a difference! Line two large cookie sheets with silicone baking liners if you have them and pop them aside.
- In a large bowl place the melted butter. Add both sugars and beat with hand held beaters on high for 2 minutes until well incorporated.
- Add in the egg and the extra egg yolk. Beat again and your mixture will become thick and glossy. Add the vanilla extra and beat a final time.
- Toss in the GF flour and mix gently to combine. Be sure to get all of the melted butter mixture from the base of the bowl, otherwise you'll have oily bits in your cookies.
- Separate approx 1-2 tbsp of the chocolate chips and set aside. Add the remaining to your cookie mixture and stir through. Now pop your cookie mix to the side for 10 minutes and let it rest. If you're truly invested in the perfect cookie then go ahead and wrap your cookie dough in glad wrap and pop it in the fridge overnight and bake tomorrow. But seriously... who has time for that?
- While the cookie dough is resting it will harden up slightly. Now scoop a rough tablespoon onto your cookie trays leaving a good 10 cm between each cookie as a minimum. These babies S.P.R.E.A.D! Pop them straight into your moderate oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
- I say 10-15 minutes as it will vary oven to oven and on just how BIG a tablespoon of dough you use. Mine take 12 minutes! So keep on eye on them after the first 10 minutes. You want a generally golden cookie with a little lightness in the middle and darker to the edges.
- Remove from the oven and leave them to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. If you can avoid eating them all in one sitting they do keep up to 5 days in a sealed air tight container!
- As usual, if you need a specific gluten free flour in one of my recipes I always say so. In this case though you can just about use whatever store bought flour blend you like! My go-to for these is the Well and Good Self Raising Flour. Though Orgran and White Wings gluten free flours both work too!
- When it comes to resting your cookie dough for 10 minutes, always keep your ambient room temperature in mind! I know, I know, I'm getting specific again. But your cookie dough will take longer to solidify if it's 45 degrees outside, vs. right now, where it's only a top of 15 degrees, however I have my fire going! So always be sure to check your dough, it only needs to become a solid scoop, not a runny mess.
These were delicious and you can’t tell they are gluten free!
Fantastic Rachel! I’m so glad you loved them, and I know right? Isn’t it awesome when we can treat ourselves and not have anyone else complain about our “special” cardboard biscuits 😉 haha
Thanks so much for commenting and stopping by!
Stacey xx