I found myself mowing down on the perfected gluten and dairy free chocolate chip cookies recipe, and for a while that was enough. Then the hunger for more arose again and the spirit of culinary and pastry exploration arose like a flame lit Oregon Trail in my body. More chocolate. There cannot be enough chocolate for those of you who are very dairy intolerant, as I am. The hunt for pure and safe chocolate has been five years in the making and has culminated in these baking experiences that I share with you in this series of GFCF baking articles.
Before you start to worry, I will unveil my recipe at the end of this soy-free GFCF chocolate chip cookies recipe. To lead off, though, I will leave you with a few tips. First, I recommend hunting for the perfect chocolate chips and chunks no matter how long it takes you. I have three or four brands and types that I have collected over the years, but I prefer the Enjoy Life chocolate chunks.
The Soy-free gluten-free and dairy-free ganache drenched chocolate chip cookies recipe:
COOKIES:
Ingredients
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup quinoa or millet flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
Pinch of sea salt
2 cups gluten free, soy-free, dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the shortening, white sugar, and brown sugar until very smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then stir in the real vanilla extract. Dissolve baking soda in the very hot water in a little cup. Add to the cookie dough along with a pinch of sea salt salt. Stir in your gluten-free flours mix, chocolate chunks, and any other flavourings you would like to add. Drop by large spoonfuls or balls onto parchment covered baking sheets.
Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are browned. Do not leave in too long or they will end up hard.
Let the baked cookies cool for a half hour to an hour. Towards the end of this time, you can prepare your ganache.
GANACHE:
Ingredients
9 ounces GF SF dairy-free chocolate chunks or chips
one half cup coconut cream (see directions below for how to get this)
one half cup vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
Directions
Place the chocolate into a bowl and heat it all in a small pot over low heat stirring occasionally. Do not boil or you might burn the chocolate. You don’t even need to let it simmer since it will all melt on low.
Allow the ganache to cool for a couple of minutes then use a fork to place a cookie into the pot. Flip to cover the other side (if desired). Hold it against the wall of the pot for a moment to let the excess chocolate drain off. Place the dipped cookie on a parchment covered plate. Repeat. When finished, place the plate in the refrigerator and leave to chill for at least a half hour to an hour.
Coconut cream directions: this is an easy trick I use almost every day for baking, ice creams, coffee cream, etc. Just place some regular (not light) cans of coconut milk in the fridge. I am not sure of the minimum time required but I would leave them in overnight at least. Open a can and you will find beautiful coconut cream on the top. You can scoop some out for this recipe. If you like you can carefully drain out the coconut water into one container and then remove the rest of the coconut cream with a spatula into another container for later use. Put it in the fridge to maintain the creamy consistency.