I did my holiday baking this week and substituted coconut oil for the shortening in recipes that called for it. Nobody noticed the difference. This is one of my favorite cookie recipes and I was thrilled to be able to adapt it to my new diet. The only thing you may notice with the coconut oil is that the edges of the cookie may get a little dry and crumbly. I just flake those bits off as I pull them off the pan – the health benefits are worth the slight mess to me. Don’t let these overcook or spread too thin on the baking sheet.
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, softened (not melted)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup gluten-free flour blend (I use this one)
1 package (12 oz) dairy-free chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Cream together first six ingredients until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix to combine. Fold in chocolate chunks, stirring just to mix evenly. Drop dough in even mounds onto cookie sheet, about a heaping tablespoonful per cookie. Bake 10-13 minutes – if they look brown when you take them out you’ve left them in too long. Makes 18 cookies (can be doubled, tripled, etc.)
Dale
Where do you get dairy free chocolate chunks?
Andrea Post author
I found mine at Whole Foods, Dale =)
Don Jacobsen
If you haven’t tried baking on stoneware try it. I bake on nothing else it’s awesome and very forgiving.
Andrea Post author
Thanks so much for the tip, Don! I’m going to look for some stoneware baking sheets – where do you get yours?