Simple Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies

Who doesn't love chocolate cookies?!

Posted by Sweetness & Bite

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Simple gluten free chocolate cookies - easy to make and perfect for cut-out decorated cookies, or cookie crumb cheesecake and pie bases.

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You Will Need (9 things)

  • 280 g Gluten Free Flour (I used 170g brown rice flour & 110g tapioca flour/starch)
  • 40 g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
  • ¼ tsp Baking Powder
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 125 g Unsalted Butter , at room temperature
  • 175 g Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Egg , at room temperature

Steps (6 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    Sift together the flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine thoroughly.

  2. 2

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand beater) beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy. Beat in the egg until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients. Turn out onto a clean benchtop and knead just until the dough comes together and is smooth. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for half an hour or so until firm.

  3. 3

    Place the dough between two pieces of non-stick baking paper and roll out until approximately 5mm thick. I used two wooden dowels, placed on either side of the dough as I rolled it out to keep the thickness even. Slide the rolled dough (on the baking paper) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm.

  4. 4

    Remove the top sheet of baking paper, and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes from the dough. Place them onto baking paper lined baking sheets, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Chill the dough on the baking sheets for 20 minutes before baking.

    (Alternately, after kneading the dough roll it into a log shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, and then cut into 5mm thick rounds. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and chill as above.)

  5. 5

    While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.

    Bake the cookies for 12-17 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. Medium sized cookies take around 14 minutes. The cookies should be just darkening very slightly at the edges. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

  6. 6

    Notes: If you find that your cookies are a little gritty, please don’t give up! You may need to try swapping one of your flours (often rice flours) for another brand that is ground finer or try a different flour altogether. If you’re using a store-bought gluten-free flour blend, sometimes these can be a bit on the gritty side, so you could try another brand. It’s definitely worth persevering to perfect great basic recipes that you can use as a base for so many things.

    Use a good quality cocoa for the tastiest cookies. I used a natural cocoa, but you could also use Dutched cocoa.