Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are some things in life that are just non-negotiable. Try as I might, I cannot live without chocolate chip cookies. That’s why, when I recently embarked on a soul-crushing elimination diet to try and determine whether I have some food intolerances, I started having withdrawal. I mean, I got a serious jonesin’ for a pastry of any kind. (Y’all who read my recent anti-dieting post have my permission to ridicule me now.)

To make a long story short, I’m temporarily (hopefully) off wheat, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, coffee (ouch!), nuts, and probably some other things I can’t think of at the moment. What else is there, you may ask? Well, let me tell you, there’s not much. So, yeah, I’m eating pretty healthy these days and I’m hating life. When life gets hard, I usually turn to chocolate chip cookies.

I knew what I had to do. I had to find some chocolate chip cookies! But since I refuse to believe that I’m going to be off gluten permanently, I didn’t want to run out and buy $30 worth of supplies like xantham gum that you usually find in gluten free recipes. So I used what I learned over years of adjusting recipes for my allergic kids, and came up with this yummy recipe. I’ve already had 4 of these cookies today, and I can tell you I feel much better already!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Gluten Free Baking Flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 cup Gluten Free Quick Cook Oats (again, Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2/3 cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 2 Mashed Bananas
• 2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Dairy & Gluten Free Chocolate Chips (I like Costco’s and Trader Joe’s)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.
2. Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, flax, soda, salt) in a large bowl.
3. Add coconut oil, bananas, and vanilla. Mix well. The batter will be a bit goopy. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons on cookie sheets, with at least 2 inches between each cookie, as they will spread.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and let cool thoroughly before stuffing your face with the chocolaty goodness!

These cookies are soft and do tend to fall apart a bit, but that doesn’t bother me one bit. Next I may try making mini-muffins with this recipe. It’s almost healthy enough to eat for breakfast!