Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been playing with this recipe since the summer, and I think I'm finally going to call it good. I started with the following recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but I modified it to suit our taste and to make it corn-free. I'm really happy with how my recipe turned out -- these cookies are amazingly good for not having any butter or egg. What I'm still mulling over is the fact that the cookies are great when they're eaten warm, right out of the oven, but they're not nearly as good the next day. Don't get me wrong, the cookie are still good the second day, but they're not that warm cookie perfection. I need to keep in mind that this is only a flaw if you can't eat all of the cookies in one day. :)

My other quandary has been at what temperature and how long to bake the cookies. I've decided just to leave the decision up to you. If you like the cookies to be a little crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, then bake them at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, until just golden brown. If you like your cookies a bit crunchier, then bake them at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. And if you prefer your chocolate chip cookies to be "soft baked," then use just 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, instead of 1 teaspoon, and bake them at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I used Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup Spectrum organic shortening. I use this palm shortening because we still react a bit to regular shortening, which is made from soybean oil.
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2/3 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or 375 degrees if you want crunchier cookies). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Whisk in the flax seed meal, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside. Into a small bowl add the white sugar, applesauce, shortening, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and sea salt. Whisk these ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined and the mixture has become light and fluffy. Pour the sugar and shortening mixture into the flour mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop (which holds about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of dough), scoop balls of cookie dough and place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies spread quite a bit, so be sure not to place the balls of dough too close together. I usually bake just 9 cookies per baking sheet. Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool for about 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack.

The cookies are best eaten while still warm. If you have any leftover, place them while still warm in an airtight container. This helps to prevent them from becoming stale.