Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF) (Egg Free)

Tis the season.

The holiday season. And with that (for me at least) comes a huge desire to bake. I want my house to smell like a French bakery, with notes of sugar and butter and spices. Yeah, the candles are nice, but sometimes I just want the real deal.

And same goes for diet. Usually I like to adhere to a pretty low sugar lifestyle, but I like to treat myself and if there's one time of year to do that- it's absolutely the holiday season.

So behold...my chewy gooey chocolate chip cookies. The answer to your "I want a gluten free cookie but I don't want to eat cardboard" prayers.

They contain a secret ingredient..almond milk cream cheese. This makes them soft and gooey without the crunchy stale taste many gluten free cookies have. 

I used this this recipe as a foundation and adapted to make it a little more #LFA friendly. My recipe uses no refined sugars and I halved the butter and added some almond butter in there for a nice nutty texture. My recipe is also egg free so it's perfect for those with egg allergies or sensitivities. 

It is a little step intensive so make sure you follow each step carefully for the best possible results- and watch the cookies to make sure they don't burn! Happy baking, ya'll!

Loosely adapted from My Gluten-Free Kitchen

Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (I use Trader Joe's or Cup4Cup)

• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if gluten-free flour blend has xanthan or guar gum already)

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)

• 2 ounces almond milk cream cheese, room temp (sub with vegan or dairy cream cheese if you'd like!)

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter (sub vegan if dairy-free)

• 4 tbsp almond butter, room temp

• 1 1/2 cup packed maple sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder (or extract)

• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax seed, 4 tbsp water. mix in bowl, let sit five minutes)

• 3.3 oz of chopped up no added sugar Eating Evolved chocolate bars, or chocolate chips!

Instructions:

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk gluten free flour, xanthum gum (only if your GF flour doesn't have it already in the mix), salt and baking soda. Set aside.

2. Melt butter

3. Place cream cheese into the stand mixer bowl. Add butter and almond butter over cream cheese. Add maple sugar and mix on medium to for 2 minutes.

4. Add vanilla bean powder and flax eggs. Mix low until well combined.

5. Add flour to mixture and beat on low until well mixed.

6. Add the chocolate chips and continue to mix.

7. Cover the bowl with a cloth and place in fridge for 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven to 375F.

9. Remove from fridge and let sit for 20 minutes.

10. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (do not use cooking spray!)

11. Using your hands or a cookie scooper, scoop mounds of cookie dough to the parchment paper. 10 cookies per sheet works great.

12. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes. Remove. They will still be super soft and undercooked but they harden within minutes.

13. Eat and enjoy within 2 days (but definitely best enjoyed immediately with a tall glass of hemp milk)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!