The Very Best Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guys, stop what you're doing because I made the absolute very best gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies in all of the world. I have very little experience with gluten-free baking and up until now I've avoided it at all costs. I had my jar of all-purpose wheat flour, so why would I go out and buy 10 different gluten-free flours to make a cookie that would more closely resemble crumbly cardboard than a cookie? Now that my cupboard is full of all sorts of flour alternatives and my husband was craving some chocolate chip cookies, I figured I'd give it a try.

I decided to start off with my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and make substitutions rather than find an existing recipe online. Mostly since I knew I've perfected my chocolate chip cookies to exactly suit my tastes. I threw in all sorts of gluten-free flours in a somewhat educated manner and oddly enough, my concoction worked on the first try (which never happens) and the cookies turned out great.

This recipe makes super soft, non-crumbly, perfect cookies that you wouldn't even know were vegan, let alone gluten-free. They have even been likened to a "chewier Chips Ahoy" (direct quote from my husband).

Heart Windowpane Cookies - Gluten-free and Vegan

You could make a simple jam thumbprint cookie and call it day, but why would you do that when you could make painfully adorable heart windowpane cookies instead? Assuming you're not too sick of Valentine's Day mush yet, I think these cookies would make a perfect gift for anyone on any day. That is, if you don't eat them all before they make it out your door, which tends to be my problem.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe got its beginnings up in Troy, New York while my mom was getting her Masters in math (she's a smarty). She bought a bag of Price Chopper store brand semi-sweet chocolate chips and because she was away from home decided to use the recipe for chocolate chip cookies on the back of the bag rather than trying to hunt down the one we normally used. As luck would have it, the cookies ended up being way better than the ones we normally made. As soon as she got home, the old recipe was out and the Price Chopper chocolate chip cookies were in. We've since then made some modifications and improvements making it what it is today: the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies you'll ever have...added bonus: they're cholesterol free!  

Gluten-Free Vegan Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies with Muscovado and Fleur de Sel

It will probably take you about 2 seconds of scrolling through this blog of mine to see that I have zero problems with gluten. So why, you may ask, has there been a significant increase of gluten-free posts recently? The answer is simple, a good friend of mine is gluten intolerant and she's coming to my wedding, which means it's time to figure out how to make gluten-free, vegan desserts that don't taste like they were made out of sand! And lucky for you, dear reader, I will be posting about this fun learning process along the way.

For these cookies, I started with the recipe for the supposed "Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies You'll Ever Have," which Joanna Goddard posted on her blog, A Cup of Jo. However, as you'll see if you navigate on over to the original recipe, it's gluten-free, but not vegan. But since the only non-vegan ingredient was the egg, that was easy enough to substitute out with my tried and true egg substitute. Other than that little vegan modification, I stayed true to the recipe. In the end, they had a great flavor, but still had that crumbly, kind of grainy texture to them.

So I thought and I thought and then I saw Bake or Break's post for Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies and wondered if cream cheese might save my grainy gluten-free cookies.

So I tried it and...........it worked! I still think my non-gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are better, but these ones I would say are in about the 90th percentile of all chocolate chip cookies, which I think is pretty good, especially for gluten-free.

I might still play around with the proportions a bit to see if I can make them even better. Or I might just call this a win and advance into the gluten-free cakes. 

Pinwheel Cookies

The official name (and I use that term loosely considering this is a family recipe) of these are "Candy Cane Cookies," because the original recipe instructs the baker to intertwine the red and white dough into the shape of a candy cane before sprinkling with actual crushed candy canes and baking. However, for a myriad of reasons, one being that it is no longer at all close candy cane season, I am calling these pinwheel cookies.

You can dye the dough any color you'd like, or not dye it at all and treat it as you would sugar cookies. But considering the fast approaching February 14th holiday, I think it is still quite appropriate to use red food coloring. You could even make them into heart shapes rather than circles. Go on and get creative.

Vegan Samoas/Caramel deLites

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who does not look forward to Girl Scout Cookie-Selling Time. While everyone is raving about how he/she would sacrifice his/her first born child for a Tagalog, I'm sitting there munching on the Lemonades. Don't get me wrong, I'm appreciative that they have some vegan options at all, but those lemon shortbread cookies are a far cry from the others that are smothered in caramel, chocolate, coconut, mint, and peanut butter goodness.

In honor of Girl Scout Leader Appreciation Day today, and because I wanted to see if I could tackle these coconutty, caramely, chocolatey creations, I bring to you Vegan Samoas a.k.a Caramel deLites. 

I also wrote a post over at Joonbug.com about these. The recipe is exactly the same, but I've included more pictures here, because like my mama always said, they're not going to buy the cow if they can get the milk for free. That saying's applicable here, right?

Holiday Treats - Sisterly Love

I have my sister to thank for this delicious vegan holiday dessert plate. There's almond toffee, sugar cookies, peanut butter cups, caramel chocolate covered pretzels, turtle thumbprint cookies, and almond candy cake cookies. Or in other words, a lot of yummy stuff.

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think this recipe started out as something from Better Homes and Gardens or Betty Crocker, but it has gone through many modifications since then to make these vegan treats. They are pretty tasty and definitely a favorite around these parts.