I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like a chocolate chip cookie. Literally. No one. Especially not any kids. Now what if I told you that you could make a much healthier chocolate chip cookie with no compromise on taste that is refined sugar free, packed with protein and just happens to be gluten free? The gluten free thingy is just a mere coincidence as this recipe uses chickpea flour which, is of course gluten free as its derived from a chickpea! No rocket science there 🙂 This type of flour works well in some baked products and biscuits and is loaded with protein which just adds to the nutritional cache of this scrumptious cookie. Now that doesn’t mean you can eat hundreds of them, but it does mean when you do enjoy it as a treat, or your kids do – you can be sure they are getting a much better nutritional experience.
They are SO easy to make, and you can add spices, raisins, cranberries or seeds if you don’t want chocolate. You can also replace the coconut sugar (which granted isn’t cheap) with unrefined brown sugar. There isn’t allot in this recipe anyway, but I just love the natural caramel flavour of coconut sugar. Because it doesn’t come cheap we use this natural sweetener sparingly, as one should with all sweeteners anyway, natural or refined.
Excuse the pics of these cookies… we made them rather late on a Saturday as a sort of midnight “snack-attack” solution 😊 so the light is a little off….. But I think you will agree they still look droolworthy.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (125ml) coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (125ml) coconut sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla seeds from a pod
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ cup dairy free/raw chocolate chips/chunks
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together melted and cooled coconut oil, coconut sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Tip: Make sure your coconut oil is not HOT. It should be liquid but on the cooler side so that your egg won’t cook when you mix everything together.
In a separate bowl, whisk together chickpea flour, baking powder and salt. Add chocolate chips & dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined.
Use a tablespoon to scoop dough into your palms and roll into balls and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten the tops of the cookies with a fork.
Bake at 180C for 9-11 minutes or until edges are slightly golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool as they need to harden up. Makes approx 12 cookies.