Chocolate Chunk and Chocolate Chip Cookies (2 Recipes), Gluten-Free

Recipe #1: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties, by Ina Garten

NOTE: this recipe creates a cookies that is relatively flat–it’s crispy vs. cakey. If your kitchen and or dough is warm, the cookies will spread quite a bit. My kitchen is fairly cool most of the time, so they hold their shape and are buttery and crispy. If you don’t like the way they are spreading, chill your dough before you shape the cookies and put them on the baking sheet.

NOTE: If you want a more crunchy and cake-y cookie, use the Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe below.

Yield: 4 dozen (can be halved)

Ingredients

2 cups (280 g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free Flour mixture

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coarse salt (like kosher salt)

1 cup (2 sticks; 225 g) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup (215 g) dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 extra-large eggs at room temperature

4 cups (24 oz; 680 g) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

1 cup (120 grams) chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4.

-cream butter and two sugars in the mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy

-add vanilla, mixing to incorporate

-add eggs one at a time, mixing after each

-in a different bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt

-add flour mixture to butter mixture on low speed, mixing just enough to combine

-with a spoon, add chocolate

-line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat

-drop dough by tablespoons onto baking sheet

-bake for 16 minutes

-cool slightly in pan and then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

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Recipe #2: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

adapted from David Leite’s recipe, NYT July 9, 2008

NOTE: If you slightly under-bake this recipe, you will get more cake-y cookies. If you bake them as written, they will be more crunchy

Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups (280 g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free Flour mixture (or just regular flour for non-gf)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt (like kosher salt)

10 tablespoons (5 oz; 140 g) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup (110 g) dark brown sugar

1/2 (100 g) granulated sugar

1 extra-large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

12 oz (340 g) chocolate disks or feves (Valhrona makes these), at least 60% cacao content

Sea salt for sprinkling

-cream butter and two sugars together using a mixer with a paddle attachment until fluffy–at least 5 mins.

-add egg, mix to combine

-add vanilla, mix to combine

-in a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt

-add dry ingredients, mix just until combined

-add chocolate disks by hand, incorporate (try not to break the pieces)

-cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Can be refrigerated up to 72 hours (although I went away for several days and came back, made the cookies, and they tasted fine).

-when ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4.

-line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat

-scoop up dough into golf ball-sized amounts (this is hard because the dough will be hard and cold–I had to use a butter knife to carve out chunks of dough to work with. I then shaped these into balls with my hand).

-place on baking sheet

-press down each cookie a bit flatter with the bottom of a glass (not too flat, just so they’re not ball-shaped)

-sprinkle each cookie with sea salt (at first I used flake-type sea salt–I found these to be a bit too salty, though other people liked them. Then I used coarse sea salt–again, a bit to salty for me. Then I used regular-grained sea salt–this tasted best to me).

-Bake for 17 minutes (they will look underdone, but they’re not).

-cool slightly on sheet, then transfer to wire cooling rack.

-These are best eaten warm from the oven. When they are cooled and have been sitting around for a few hours, they get harder and harder–more like a store-bought cookie. Still yummy, but not as sublime as the just-out-of-the-oven cookies.