Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies - Vegan Bakery Style

These bakery style gluten free chocolate chip cookies are made with a couple of special ingredients that make them plant based and vegan.

It wasn’t something I ever planned on, but my chiropractor recently inspired me to try gluten free cooking and baking. I had taken him some traditional cookies for a photo shoot a few months back, and found out one of his daughters was allergic to gluten. So I bought some measure for measure gluten free flour to see if the techniques from making other vegan cookies would make these just as good.

Plant based butter doesn’t exactly cook or bake identically to real butter. Gluten free flour handles moisture a little differently also. Combined together in a recipe that works great for plant based butter, like my The Vegan Chewy Chocolate Chip Recipe, the equal measure gluten free cookies had tops that looked like too much butter. Another experiment balancing the moisture and fat content to flour ratio yielded cookies that didn’t have a normal texture and crumbled easily.

Aquafaba As An Egg Replacement In Baking

Before discovering unflavored pea protein powder as an egg replacement, I tried all of the common plant based substitutes. I was familiar with using aquafaba, or the liquid in a can of chickpeas. I tried it in the past, but I didn’t like it for a couple of reasons. It seemed that cans from different brands would have variable viscosities that made for inconsistent baking results. Sometimes the aquafaba would have a strong smell, I once made some brownies that were too funky to enjoy. I gave up on aquafaba after that, and I’m learning now that I shouldn’t have.

Everything that I was reading about vegan baking brought me back to the greatness of aquafaba. I decided that I had to give it another try. Protein powder worked well and gives me great results so I kept that in. I’d try to just sub the banana and water for aquafaba and see how it went. I also knew that gluten free flour that was prone to flattening more and not holding firm into a cookie. I whipped the white sugar with the aquafaba and a half teaspoon of xanthan gum until frothy hoping to compensate.

More links you might be interested in:

• The Vegan Chewy Chocolate Chip Recipe
• Chewy Bakery Style Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Impossible Pork Copycat - Elevated Plant-Based Protein
• Siete Dairy Free Queso Copycat - Elevated Plant-Based Cheese Seasoning
• Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie Vegan Copycat

Ingredients For Vegan Bakery Style Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Plant based butter
• Light brown sugar
• Organic white sugar
• Aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas
• Pea protein powder
• Xanthan gum
• Vanilla extract
• Measure for measure gluten free flour
• Plant based chocolate chips
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt

I used King Arthur Gluten Free Measure For Measure flour and a little extra xanthan gum for this recipe. The xanthan gum is the key upgrade in making your own gluten free treats hold together. Together with the aquafaba and protein, it’s what takes on the role of the missing egg and gluten and keeps the cookies from crumbling and falling apart.

Instructions For Making Vegan Bakery Style Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Sift the baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the gluten free flour and set aside

Making Egg Replacement For The Cookies

2. Whisk the pea protein powder and the xanthan gum into the aquafaba and set aside

Creaming Plant Based Butter and Sugar

3. The ultimate key to making great vegan and plant based cookies is to cream the butter and sugar together well. Usually, butter is left to come to room temperature for creaming in a cookie recipe. The fat and moisture in plant based butters don’t handle the same. I found that the plant based butter creams best cold, and if you take the extra step of blending the sugar fine beforehand it creams even quicker and easier.

Assembling The Cookie Dough

4. Being careful to not overwork the dough, add the dry ingredients and egg replacement to the mixing bowl and bring together just enough to barely combine
5. Reserve 2 or 3 chocolate chips for the tops of the cookies
6. Fold in the plant based chocolate chips by hand so they don’t get mangled by the mixer

7. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour

Baking The Cookies

8. Preheat oven to 350F
9. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and space out 2oz scoops at least a couple of inches apart
10. Without flattening the scoops of dough, apply two or three of the reserved chocolate chips to the top of the cookie

11. Bake in the upper rack of the oven for 15-18 minutes
12. Allow to cool an additional 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack

Variations and Substitutions

Try adding your favorite nuts for a nutty cookie, or add cocoa powder for chocolate chocolate chip.

If you plan on making gluten free baked goods, deli seitan slices, or salad dressings you will need to pick up some xanthan gum. There isn’t a substitute for the binding quality and texture enhancement it gives these cookies.

Storing Gluten Free Cookies

The xanthan gum helps cookies retain surface moisture and not go dry quickly. Gluten free cookies should be stored in an airtight box or bag. Separating the cookies with parchment paper will also help retain their texture and appearance.

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Check out these other cookie recipes that you’ll love making.

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