Chocolate Chip Cookies
½ cup butter or 1/2 cup shortening (if you want dairy free)
2 tbsp white sugar
½ cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp GF vanilla
¼ tsp cold water
1 egg or egg substitute (amount as directed on container) or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (if you want dairy free)
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour or 1 cup + 2 tbsp Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 1 cup + 2 tbsp of your favorite GF flour blend + ¼ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your GF flour already contains)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk or dark chocolate will work – use whatever your favorite is!)
Optional: ½ cup chopped nuts (see notes)
Whisk together flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking soda & salt. Set aside.
Combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla & water in bowl. Beat until creamy.
Beat in egg.
Add flour blend & mix until well combined.
Stir in chocolate chips & nuts (if using).
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet (with or without parchment paper).
Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. The cookies should be a nice golden brown.
Remove from pan & cool on wire rack. If they seem too fragile to remove right away, just let them cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes, then remove & finish cooling on a wire rack.
Notes:
Optional nuts – you can used pecans, walnuts, or whatever your favorite nuts are. I don’t use nuts because of allergies in my family. I do add ¼ - ½ cup extra chocolate chips instead. My thought is you can never have too many chocolate chips! But you can just stick with the 1 cup called for in the recipe.
For dairy free options, shortening works in place of butter. The egg substitute vs applesauce will give you different textures & slightly different tastes. My taste-testers liked both versions.
Applesauce on left, egg substitute on right
Applesauce on left, egg substitute on right
This is adapted from my mom’s recipe. It’s a simple, but delicious basic chocolate chip cookie. They keep well in an airtight container (or sealed plastic bag). And they freeze well! Just in case you have a taste for some homemade chocolate chip cookies, but don’t want to eat the entire batch. If you freeze them, you can just take out a few at a time. You can also pop them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds for that warm, right out of the oven treat!