I realized the other day that I’ve never actually posted a plain ole’ cookie recipe on here. I guess it’s because any cookies I test and bake are primarily for my shop and my blog has thus far been for pretty much everything else. By the time I get to baking for my blog, my brain goes in every other direction but cookies. I’m glad to say that changed this past weekend.
It’s no surprise if you read the title of this post which cookie direction I chose to go in. I took a classic, made it vegan and gluten free, and added a little hazelnutty goodness. These cookies won’t really be winning any beauty contests. But, I’ve never been one to rule out a cookie based on its looks, and neither should you. Looks aside, these cookies manage to be buttery without butter. They have the slightly crisp/slightly chewy texture that I love, plus, they have a lovely hazelnut undertone.
Do yourself a favor and make these cookies. You won’t be disappointed and your tummy will thank you for it!
Gluten Free/Vegan Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
if you can’t find coconut sugar, you can use organic raw cane sugar, also known as evaporated cane juice
50 grams millet flour
50 grams sorghum flour
50 grams hazelnut meal
60 grams arrowroot or tapioca starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup carob chips or any GF/vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut sugar
Preheat your oven to 325F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or by hand), mix the flours, hazelnut meal, arrowroot, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and carob chips on low until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla. and coconut sugar until combined and uniform. With the stand mixer on low (or by hand), gradually ass the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Once the dough comes together, stop the mixer. It will be quite moist. Let it sit there for a few minutes for the dry ingredients to absorb the wet ingredients. After it has rested for about 5 minutes, give it one more mix to make sure the dough is fully combined and uniform. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop heaping spoonfuls of the dough and place them on the lined sheet about 2 inches apart. Gently flatten the mounds of dough a bit with your fingers (they will spread further in the oven). Continue until all of the dough is gone. Bake the cookies for 14 minutes, making sure to rotate the pans halfway through. After 14 minutes they should be golden and still somewhat soft. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool them on the sheet for 15-30 minutes. Do not skip this step or they will fall apart when you try to remove them. After they have cooled a bit on the sheet, transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
**makes 16 medium sized cookies
This rainy weather is a perfect time to do some baking! I wish you were here to have a baking day with me!
These look so yummy- hazelnuts are my favorite with anything chocolate, good idea!
I just found this recipe and am very excited! I'm not gluten-free but do tend to use a lot of g-f flours when I bake because I love the taste and varieties of textures. I also never bake with regular sugar as it makes me fairly ill – low-glycemic sweeteners (like coconut sugar!) are perfect for me :).
I have a quick question for you though – as I don't need to make these 100% gf is it okay if I sub the millet flour with spelt flour? I have sorghum flour but don't have millet. I DO have tapioca and arrowroot but perhaps would need to omit if I am using spelt flour which contains gluten. Or should I simply use twice the amount of sorghum flour instead of the millet?
Ooh and one last question – sorry! I do have a friend who can't have nuts, so if I wanted to make a regular choc chip cookie recipe from this would I just make up the hazelnut meal by upping the flour quantities?
Hi Anna! I created this recipe based on weights so you can easily mix up the different flours. The total weight for the flours is 210 grams. Since I made them gluten free, I used 70% whole grain flours and 30% starch so they would stay together due to the lack of gluten. If you are using spelt flour as part of the 210 grams, you may not have to use a starch such as arrowroot or tapioca, but it depends on how much you use. If you are using spelt flour as the majority of your flour (based on weight), you wouldn't need to use a starch since it contains gluten. If you wanted, you could use all spelt flour (210 grams) and they should be just fine.
As for the hazelnut meal, it is just part of the 210 total grams of flour, so it can be left out completely to make them nut free. As long as you keep the flour total at 210 grams, the cookies will be fine. Hope this makes sense and answers your questions!
Thank you so much for taking the time! I am very excited now – I would love to make your recipe just as it is of course, but it's always nice to know the substitutions. I for one will be making a version for myself with hazelnuts, that just sounds heavenly! So glad to have found your blog Courtney 🙂
Let me know how they turn out!