gluten-free almond chocolate chip cookies

Here's our latest recommendation in the SideSwipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Month bakeoff. ​Almond flour is the secret ingredient in these "healthier" crisp and tender chocolate chip cookies from King Arthur Flour. The texture is a bit grainy like a pecan sandie; a non-greasy shortbread. This is a good cookie, never mind that it's gluten free! We're definitely going to add it to our rotation and use it as a base for other cookies.

To play up the almond meal, we substituted almond extract for half the vanilla and added a few chopped, toasted almonds. We also used Guittard's super cookie chips for a fun, bold look. They're non GMO, peanut and gluten-free. The sprinkle of salt was just for the photos. It doesn't enhance the flavor.

You can make these cookies dairy-free by using coconut oil in place of the butter, but you should chill it to get a good creaming, which creates the structure of the cookie. Coconut oil produces a cookie that is more dense than butter, but still tasty.

For the chewiest cookies, eat them warm from the oven. Store any remaining cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Makes about 24-30 mini cookies (pictured) or 14  2.5-inch cookies. We think it tasted better in its 2-bite mini size.

ingredients

• ​1/4 cup (53g) brown sugar, light or dark 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons (28g) butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract or combination
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups (191g) almond flour, blanched or raw
• 1/2 cup (85g) dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds, optional

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directions

1. Combine the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter in your mixer bowl; mix until smooth, light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the vanilla, egg, and almond flour, stirring to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix for 1 minute at medium speed.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Scoop the dough into one level tablespoon portions (we used a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop)  and put on parchment-lined small baking sheet or plate. 
5. Chill for an hour or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, line it with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
7. Gently flatten the cookies to about 3/8" thick.
8. Bake the cookies for 9 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Don't overbake, as it dries out the cookies.
9. Remove the cookies from the oven. Allow them to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

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