Gluten-free Fall Cookies

One day as I was staring at the Chocolate Chips in my hand and weighing the options - whether to eat the bag itself or make something of it- I decided to try to adapt an existing recipe to a gluten-free one: the classic American treat-  Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Trying to be gluten-free and include items that somewhat resemble the food that the rest of the population is eating (like bread, pasta) is time consuming if you start from scratch.  It's nice, once in a while to not have to reinvent the wheel-  so where I can, I improvise and substitute ingredients of regular meals with gluten free ones.   I'm a much better "adapter" than a "creator".  While not perfect, it gets the  job done!

I don't handle measurements very well- I avoid truthful, exact measurements where I can-  including parts of my body that have enlarged over the years and.... ingredient quantities.  I'd must rather add a "pinch" of something than have to measure it out.  My dad has successfully cooked this way as long as I've known him and has been very successful at it.   I haven't found this to be true of baking unfortunately.  Many a time, I've "adjusted" the quantities of salt or sugar to the point that it's inedible. So I'm sorry to disappoint, but this recipe has measurements.  Sometimes, you just can't mess with science.

 And that's why I adapted this classic chocolate chip cookie recipe to something that us food-allergic/intollerant individuals can be excited to make.  I'm sensitive to dairy, sugar and for sure corn.  Where I can, I avoid gluten as I'm not sure what the culprit is of my dietary dilemma.   And it helps that my picky husband enjoyed them, too, and can attest for choosy family members everywhere that it does not kill you to eat healthy once in a while....  Even if it's packaged in a cookie.   

  I find pictures are helpful. If you're off the mark, it can help you determine by how much.  And here's what the finished product looks like so you can see that it actually can turn out normal.

Oh sorry.... there's a puppy in that one. He's not for sale or edible.  And guessing by his smell, he's probably not sweet anyways.

So here it is!  My gluten-free fall cookie recipe- complete with white chocolate, pumpkin seeds and canned pumpkin.  Enjoy!

Bon appetit!  
~Kaaren 

Kaaren's "Too Good to Be Gluten-Free" Cookies
 *   2 1/4 cups various flours (below is my favorite combination, but really there are many combinations of flours you can do):  - 1 cup Quinois Flour (I prefer Bob's Mill)  -1/2 cup white rice flour  (Bob's Mill)  -1/2 cup: garbanzo/fava bean flour  (Bob's Mill)  -1/4 cup ground flax seed  (Bob's Mill)
 *   1 teaspoon baking soda
 *   1 teaspoon salt
 *   1 cup Coconut Oil (solid at room temp)
 *   3/4 cup granulated sugar
 *   3/4 cup packed brown sugar
 *   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 *   2 1/2  large eggs (2 eggs and one yolk)
 *   1 cups (12-oz. pkg.) White chocolate chips (or as many as you want, but this is less sugar than most cookie recipes include)
 *   1 cup pumpkin seeds
 *   Opt: add up to 1/4 cup canned pumpkin (if adding pumpkin, see how consistency is after 2 eggs instead of 2 1/2 and add egg if it seems dry)
 *   Optional substitution: You could substitute some of the sugar for natural peanut butter- just keep same measurements.



A few fun additions I thought of but have not yet attempted, but may in the near future:

Directions: 
Add wet ingredients together and beat until combined - coconut oil, vanilla, eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, white sugar.