These whole grain treats are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. A firm and slightly crunchy bite on the outside gives way to a soft center full of feels-so-good-to-eat, healthier buckwheat, brown rice, and quinoa flours. My experiences with different diets over the years taught me that my body needs healthier carbohydrates along with healthier fats and proteins so that I have steady physical and mental energy.
I’ve made tons of cakes, ice creams, cupcakes, and muffins but I’m just getting my toes wet with cookies. So, I’m taking big cues from one of the gluten-free masters – Karina. Her Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies are the inspiration behind my adapted version below. After three batches, I was thrilled with the flavor and texture. They’re best the same day but are still very good if stored in an airtight container for a couple of days. Wrap and freeze them in twos or threes for a perfect afternoon snack with coffee, hot cocoa, or a hot chai latte.
I used unsweetened carob chips and raisins. Be careful when buying carob chips – sweetened carob chips are usually ‘malt sweetened’ with barley, which contains gluten. Feel free to vary this to suit your tastes…walnuts, figs, dates, or if you can eat sugar – use chocolate chips.
What are your favorite cookie making tips?
This is linked to What Can I Eat that’s Gluten Free? and Real Food Wednesday.
This recipe is adapted from Karina’s Kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 2 rounded teaspoons espresso powder
- 10 drops clear, liquid stevia
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup organic agave nectar
- 1 large, free-range brown egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
- 1 cup organic buckwheat flour
- 1 cup organic brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup organic quinoa flour
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon good quality cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unsweetened carob chips
- 1/2 cup organic raisins
Instructions
- Place 1/4 cup filtered water in a glass measuring cup and pop it into the microwave. Bring to a boil, then stir in espresso powder and stevia. Set aside. Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Place melted coconut oil and agave in the bowl. Mix on medium high speed for 3 minutes, until lighter in consistency. Add in egg, vanilla, and cooled espresso. Mix on medium until combined.
- Combine buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, quinoa flour, arrowroot, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Change mixer attachment to the paddle and add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. With mixer on stir, combine until just mixed scraping down as needed. Dump in carob chips and raisins. Mix on stir until just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, form dough into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, placing wrap directly on the surface of the dough. Chill for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a light-colored baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a spring-release cookie scoop to form even-sized dough balls. Roll and place on cookie sheet, pressing down to flatten slightly. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes until cookies are lightly browned. Let cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container or wrap in twos or threes and freeze for the perfect snack with coffee, hot cocoa, or a hot chai latte.
Enjoy!
Alta
posted on December 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Congrats! Your persistence paid off. These look and sound scrumptious. Can we have some for breakfast tomorrow morning? Cause these would taste awesome with coffee.
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Katrina (gluten free gidget)
posted on December 16, 2009 at 8:18 am
I LOVE your use of whole grains!
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Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen
posted on December 16, 2009 at 10:26 am
Those sound really good Amy! They are really cute, too!
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Stephanie @ glutenfreebynature.com
posted on December 16, 2009 at 1:55 pm
amy
these look fabulous. love that they are whole grain. And have some protein too. can’t wait to try them
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James Sklar
posted on December 16, 2009 at 2:34 pm
This is not sugar free. Agave is a sweetener which is broken down as sugar in the body. So the claim of “sugar-free” would not apply here. Additionally, there is a lot of fruit sugar in raisins.
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Amy Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
@James Sklar, Welcome to my blog, James. If you poke around a bit, you’ll see that I don’t use refined sugar, which is what I call ‘sugar free.’ It couldn’t imagine getting away from all of the nature-made sugars. They’re in milk, fruits, and even veggies. Thanks for stopping by.
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James Sklar Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
@Amy,
Agave is a refined sugar/sweetener. I have been to Mexico and have tasted raw agave. It’s nothing like what one would buy in a Whole Foods. Labeling that recipe “sugar-free” is simply incorrect.
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
@James Sklar,
The Agave issue has been a tricky one for me, too. It helped when Sally Fallon weighed in on the issue: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/04/sally-fallon-on-agave-nectar.html (Also at that post there’s a link to an earlier post on that topic which is FULL of Agave info in the comments.)
Thanks for joining in on Real Food Wednesdays, Amy!
Kelly
The Chocolate Priestess
posted on December 16, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Oh, while I love the idea of more variety especially for people who can’t consume gluten and need to watch sugar, I was deeply disappointed that these don’t have any chocolate in them at all.
I don’t consider carob the same as cocoa, sorry. I’m sorry to sound rude but maybe you could rename them “Carob” instead of “Chocolate Chip Cookies”? Just so it isn’t miss leading to anyone?
I completely understand why you are using carob here instead of chocolate.
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Lauren
posted on December 16, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Yummy! I love cookies, and these look perfect =D
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Simply Life
posted on December 16, 2009 at 6:12 pm
oh wow, this sounds wonderful! I’d love to bite into one of these!
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Linda
posted on December 16, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Those look delicious. I think I would have to leave out the espresso powder as I am very sensitive to caffeine. You do a great job of adapting recipes to your needs, and making them healthier.
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Iris
posted on December 16, 2009 at 6:34 pm
As always, your recipes inspire me to find healthier ways to bake. Thanks Amy!!
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SnoWhite
posted on December 16, 2009 at 8:11 pm
oh, man. Another one I have to copy to a recipe card for my MIL. These look wonderful.
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gfe--gluten free easily
posted on December 19, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Beautiful! Now I need to get some espresso powder!
Shirley
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Amy Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
@gfe–gluten free easily, Some people use finely ground espresso beans…I haven’t tried it yet though. I have the beans in my pantry and need to remember to whirl them up to see how it works.
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Amanda
posted on December 20, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Wow they look wonderful!
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Mary
posted on August 16, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Hi Amy – I made these cookies and they were good but kind of dry? Any thoughts on what I may have done wrong? Thanks for these great alternatives.
Mary
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Amy Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
@Mary, It’s hard to tell what happened if I don’t have any information about how you put the recipe together. These cookies aren’t super moist like some chocolate chip cookies but if they’re dry they could have been over baked. Every oven is a little different so you have to test the cookies, or anything you’re baking, a few minutes before the baking time stated in the recipe. Another thing that can cause a dry cookie is the oven temperature – I have a thermometer in my oven to make sure that it’s at the correct temp. Most ovens aren’t calibrated correctly. Hugs to you.
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Melody
posted on November 6, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I am wondering what a good substitute is for rice flour? I cannot eat rice and I find it in most gluten free recipes. I have made some carob chip cookies w/other flours, but they just fall apart although they taste good!
Thanks! I am so glad I found you!!
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Amy Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
@Melody, Do you mean brown rice flour, Melody? Try sorghum flour or even look at my Sorghum-Garfava flour blend – it’s great. You can find it here: http://newsite.simplysugarandglutenfree.com/my-basic-flour-blend/
Hugs,
Amy!
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Carrie
posted on November 7, 2010 at 10:42 am
Teaching my clients and friends how to eat gluten/sugar free and enjoy healthy living foods! I will def. refer them to this great website!
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Kir
posted on December 11, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Just a head’s up for people like me who are sensitive to sugar, my understanding is that agave, though not actual sugar, still can have the negative affects of sugar, for people who are dealing with candida. Not sure about diabetes though.
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