Yummy Good for You Chocolate Chip Cookies- Egg Free

If you have been gluten free for a while you know that making a good gluten free chocolate chip cookie is not as easy as it seems it should be. I have adapted a recipe from this month's Vegetarian Times magazine and the results are some of the best we have gotten, with the added bonus of being loaded with all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and good fats. I think this would make a great breakfast cookie if you left out the chocolate chips and added raisins or other dried fruit as well as whole nuts such as pecans.

Yummy Good for You Chocolate Chip Cookies- Egg Free

2 C walnuts

3 Tbsp canola oil

1 C light brown sugar

1/2 C water

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c gluten free flour mix( you can use premixed bought stuff here or mix you own- I will put our formula in a separate post)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional- I don't happen to like cinnamon with my chocolate chip cookies but given the oaty type texture I see where you might like it)

2 C quinoa flakes

about 10 oz. dark chocolate- chips or broken bars

Preheat oven to 350

Spray oil on 1 cookie sheet. *Somewhere along the line we learned that patience is a particular virtue for GF cookie baking. Some recipes the cookies did not hold together properly or went to dust if not baked in the center of the oven. As a result we bake one sheet at a time on the center rack.

Place walnuts in a food processor and process until they are a pasty consistency. Add oil and process 2-3 minutes more. It should look like a natural nut butter. Move to a hat resistant bowl.

Mix brown sugar together with water in a small sauce pan using a wire whisk. Bring to a boil. Once done, pour it over walnut paste. Add vanilla and mix until smooth.

Mix the GF mix, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Add to walnut mixture. make sure dough is cool before moving on to the next step.

Fold in quinoa flakes. Fold in chocolate.

Form into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten with a wet glass.

Bake 9-12 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown. Cool 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to cooling rack.