These thin and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of brown sugar, and an extra egg yolk. They’re simply perfect for snacking in bed. No crumbs!
Now it’s not like I’m advocating eating cookies in bed. But if you’re going to do it, at least be smart about it. Thin and chewy CCCs don’t leave a trace!
Chocolate Chip Cookie School
Now if you want to know all the details about what makes one chocolate chip cookie crispy, another chewy, one thick and another thin, this post on gluten free chocolate chip cookies is a must-read.
For those of you who are interested in developing your own gluten free recipes, chocolate chip cookies are a great place to start. Changing cookie texture and thickness with just a slight change in the balance of what start out as super simple ingredients is a real life education in baking chemistry. ?
By the way, the most important flavor in a chocolate chip cookie (besides the chocolate chips, of course) is molasses. There isn’t a lot of it. In fact, there’s just the amount that you find in the brown sugar. But it’s there.
Try making chocolate chip cookies with just granulated sugar, and no brown sugar. They won’t even smell like chocolate chippers. The dough for these cookies is soft, but not quite as soft as it is with thin and crispy gluten free chocolate chip cookies, which are made with more butter.
The quick-study version of the secret to making these cookies thin and chewy instead of thin and crispy is in the balance of ingredients. Instead of 8 tablespoons of butter, we use 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of shortening. Shortening doesn’t spread like butter does, but butter has the best flavor.
We also add an egg yolk to the batter, along with one whole egg. The egg yolk doesn’t create rise. It just adds tenderness to the cookie.
Watch this 1 minute video
Just push play ▶️ and watch me make these perfect gluten free chocolate chip cookies. Then it’s your turn!
These cookies remind me of Archway brand chocolate chip cookies. You know, the kind that comes in a cardboard sleeve, covered in plastic? I used to absolutely adore Archway chocolate chip cookies and Archway oatmeal cookies.
My gluten free son can’t have Archways, but he sure can have these. They’re his favorites.
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, unless I specifically state otherwise, I haven’t tested these cookies with any substitutions. These are just my best-educated guesses. Feel free to experiment and share your results!
Dairy-Free: My oldest child is currently dairy free (which is, as I’ve always maintained, harder than gluten free!), so I made her a batch of these with Earth Balance in place of butter, gram for gram. They were o-k, but not great in texture, I’m afraid. Since these cookies are all about texture, that’s kind of a problem.
Dairy free butter substitutes have so so so much moisture, which leads to a crispier texture and more spreading, almost no matter what you do. But it’s better than no cookies at all! Just be sure to also use dairy free chocolate chips.
Egg-Free: The whole egg can be replaced with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water mixed and allowed to gel), but I’m afraid I don’t know of any proper substitution for the egg yolk. You might try pureed silken tofu!
Sugar-Free: Swerve sweetener makes an effective substitute for both granulated sugar and brown sugar. I haven’t tried them in this recipe, but if you’re avoiding sugar, that’s what I’d recommend trying.
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!