Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies offer a moist chewy inside surrounded by a lightly crisped outside. Hints of chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla dance at your nose while satisfying your palate. An overture to your senses!
Why Ultimate?
The final point in a journey, the zenith–the best! I have been aching to develop a chocolate chip cookie recipe for years! But I waited until now.
There are so many different recipes available that I wanted mine to add value to the vast selection of this favorite treat. It had to be a:
- gluten-free chocolate chip cookie without losing that perfect chew (no crumbling like saw dust);
- plant-based/vegan chocolate chip cookie that wouldn’t fall apart or sacrifice that buttery, chocolaty taste, and;
- have a delicious sweetness without filling it full of refined sugar.
But still the journey wasn’t over. I wanted this Ultimate Gluten-free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-free Chocolate Chip Cookie to be more allergy friendly–nut free!
Still I wanted more! The zenith–to feel and taste and smell like a cookie that dreams are made of, yet composed of ingredients that add nutritional value! Boom!
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Sweet Potato
Sweeeet Potato!
I hate sweet potatoes! There I said it! Until recently I didn’t think much of my dislike. Who cares, right?! It’s just a tuber. Well, I stand corrected . . .
While completing my coursework for my certificate in plant-based nutrition last year, I had the pleasure of listening to many lectures by Dr. Thomas Campbell (son to Dr. T. Colin Campbell). As he discussed populations with lower rates of heart disease, one item in their primarily plant-based diets stood out. The sweet potato!
Naturally there are other factors contributing to a dramatically low incidence of heart disease (and disease in general) in these populations. But the sweet potato is a nutritional powerhouse.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cookie Dough
Not only is it a phenomenal source of vitamins A , B-6 and C, but also extremely rich in fiber, potassium, magnesium and calcium and antioxidants. It is quickly getting a reputation for making great contributions to weight loss and slowing sugar absorption in the body. For more information check out Dr. Thomas Campbell’s article here.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cookie Steps
Now What?
So, I hate sweet potatoes but I really want to like them because they are SO good for you! What to do? Well, I decided to employ a very loose interpretation of classical conditioning from one of my psychology classes. I would pair the sweet potato with something I really love and hopefully I would grow to like them. As I thought about the dominant flavors in sweet potatoes–a sort of caramel-like sweetness–chocolate chip cookies came to mind.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cooling Cookies
Good News
The good news is that the sweet potato flavor blends so well into my Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! You will never guess there is sweet potato in there!! And remember, that’s coming from someone who hates sweet potatoes.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cooling Cookie
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
I give you a cookie that smells, feels and tastes just like the best traditional version yet naturally sweetened, nut-free, filled with gluten-free grains that are rich in fiber and plant protein, and contains super foods: flaxmeal, sweet potato, and coconut oil. Did I forget anything? Oh, yes, Enjoy!! And if you want to see recipes for my other cookies with interesting ingredients, try my Fudgy Avocado Cookies and Snickerdoodle Quinoa Cookies!
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies offer a moist chewy inside surrounded by a lightly crisped outside. Hints of chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla dance at your nose while satisfying your palate. An overture to your senses!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon golden flaxseed meal (plus 3 tablespoons water)
- Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup gluten-free quick cooking oats
- 1/2 cup white rice flour
- 1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour or starch (they are the same thing)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
- Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cooked and mashed sweet potato
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (I use refined to avoid a coconut flavor)
- 2 tablespoons plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chunks plus more to press in tops of cookies
Instructions
- 1) Bake potato, if necessary, and mash (this can be done the day before and refrigerated). Make flax egg. Mix golden flaxseed meal and water in small bowl and set aside.
- 2) In a medium mixing bowl combine dry ingredients (gf oats, white rice flour, gf oat flour, tapioca flour/starch, baking soda and salt). I use a whisk to blend ingredients.
- 3) In a large mixing bowl whisk together mashed sweet potato and coconut palm sugar. Add one at a time, mixing after each: oil, milk, vanilla and flax egg. Add 3/4 cup chocolate chunks and stir to combine.
- 4) Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until completely combined. Dough will be thick like traditional cookie dough, so I used a metal spoon to mix together.
- 5) Scoop dough and roll between your palms into balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Place on parchment lined baking sheet about one inch apart and press into disc about 2-1/2 inches in diameter and about 5/8 inch thick. (See picture in post). Sprinkle and press additional chocolate chunks on top, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 minutes. Remove immediately from baking sheet and place on cooling rack. Recipe should yield about 14 cookies.
Notes
Baking time does not include time to bake potato.
Cooling Please note that the cookies should be immediately removed from the baking sheet and placed on a cooling rack.
do you have any suggestions for what can be subbed for the coconut (tree nut)? I’m allergic to tree nuts and peanuts and I’m having a hard time finding 100% nut free deserts!
Hi Kristen, If you are looking for substitutes for the coconut oil, I would suggest grape seed oil or avocado oil. For the coconut palm sugar, I would suggest date or maple sugar as substitutes. They are available in the granulated form just like the coconut palm sugar. One of my most popular nut-free desserts is my Allergy Friendly Brookie https://www.nutritionicity.com/recipes/recipe-allergy-friendly-brookies-gluten-free-vegan-plant-based-nut-free-soy-free-refined-sugar-free/ You could also make the same substitutions in this recipe. I hope this helps!! 🙂
I’d like to replace the coconut sugar with liquid stevia. Do you know the ratio I should use? These look amazing!
Thank you!! I’m sorry I haven’t used liquid stevia in this recipe so I’m not sure of the ratio or if it would be necessary to add some dry ingredients in place of the coconut palm sugar. I did find a chart for conversions that may be helpful to you. I hope this helps! 🙂
Any acceptable subs for white rice flour? Excited to try these, but that is the one thing I don’t have.
Hi Jessica, I have not tried any subs for the white rice flour in this recipe. I tested a few times to get the final blend of ingredients so that they really produced a taste and texture of a traditional chocolate chip cookie. From a texture perspective you could probably sub sorghum flour or brown rice flour but they may bring a nutty or earthy flavor to the cookie. Probably the best bet is to increase the gluten-free oat flour to 1/2 cup and only use 1/4 cup of the sorghum or brown rice flour. I hope this helps! 🙂