Giant, Chewy, Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, the forecast is set…we’re supposed to get over an inch of ICE in the next 24 hours. The freezing rain has already begun. Several athletic events and church activities in our area are already being cancelled, the grocery store was nuts last nigh, and my newsfeed on Facebook has been nothing but radar images for the last day and a half! Ah, the beauty of living through a Midwest winter. 🙂

I knew it would be disastrous if I left baking ingredients and pre-baked goodies out of my storm prep, so in the spirit of being storm-ready, I made these today!

Thanks to our library haul on Wednesday, now I’m successfully stocked up on cookies and library books! 🙂

Most chocolate chip cookies call for butter, that’s creamed together with the sugar before you add the dry ingredients. BUT this recipe has no butter! Not really because I wanted these cookies to be super healthy, but mostly because I already did my winter-storm-prep shopping trip and didn’t want to go back for butter. On the plus side, no butter + an unsweetened applesauce substitute = much healthier cookies! 🙂

*1 hour, including chilling time, makes approximately 2 dozen large cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. white granulated sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. gluten free all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 c. chocolate chips

Grease a large baking sheet. (I wait to preheat the oven due the chilling time for the dough.)

“Cream” the applesauce and sugar with a rubber spatula. Add the baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the flour and beaten egg, and stir gently until just combined. Add the vanilla, stirring again. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the dough has chilled, it will be sticky, but not hard. Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet. I used a large sheet and exactly 12 cookies fit. These get really fluffy and big, so make sure to space them apart! 🙂

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow a few minutes to cool before testing them out.

The hungry Bundle patiently awaited these!

And they were worth the wait!

My cat actually ended up tasting these before I did…(cue the angry face emoticon). But once they were finally cooled and stored where he couldn’t find them, I delved right in. The edges have a tiny bit of crunch to them, and the rest of the cookie is soft, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweet. Hubby told me he was afraid of how much butter was in them, and was shocked to find out there wasn’t any!

I only made a dozen this afternoon, but the dough is still safely stored in the fridge, ready for another batch tonight! Covered, the dough can last in the fridge for a couple of days. I always recommend storing gluten free baked goods in the fridge as well, as they keep for longer (in our area), so putting the cookies in an airtight container next to the dough might be a good idea too.

So even though that rain keeps pelting down, I’m thankful to be indoors and fully prepared for an oven-less (cookie-less!) power outage. 😀

 

Stay warm this weekend!

❤

 

 

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