Chocolate Crinkle Cookies...with Coconut Flour!

The more gluten free baking I do, the more random ingredients I come across.  Coconut flour is kind of exotic and honestly, without Celiacs, I probably never would have used it. However, coconut flour is awesome! First, it's really absorbent so you use WAY less flour than a normal recipe. I've made a batch of cupcakes with only 1/2 cup of flour. Second, it makes the most light and fluffy baked goods ever. And it's pretty healthy! Gluten free or not, you should try some recipes with coconut flour. 

Oh, and conveniently, I am going to give you one. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies! These are so good. The fudgy cookies that are covered in powdered sugar and then when you bake them they get all cracked. I think people make them around Christmas time but I make them whenever I want. I made them for the team a couple weeks ago and they were a hit.

I've adapted this recipe slightly from the one on tropicaltraditions.com. They have all kinds of recipes using coconut flour and they also sell coconut flour that is really good quality. Their recipe creates a gluten free flour blend but since I already have an all-purpose flour, I changed it a bit.


Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Servings: 3 dozen cookies
Prep: 1 hr and 20 min

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup melted butter, coconut oil, or shortening (I used shortening)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-3/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
3-1/2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp xanthan gum (I use guar gum, it's cheaper and works the same)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar

1. Melt chocolate in bowl the microwave. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring well in between until it's all melted.
2. Whisk in oil and sugar. Then mix in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the vanilla extract. The mixture should be thick.
3. Then mix in all the dry ingredients (flours, xanthan gum, salt, & baking powder). The batter will look like brownie batter.
4. Refrigerate for an hour or more, until the batter is firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
6. Put powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take a tablespoon of the batter and roll it into a ball and then roll in the powdered sugar.
7. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies look set. Let cool for 3 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

That's it! Really make sure the dough is cold so that the rolling process is easier. You will have sticky hands but that's ok :) My batch made about 32 cookies. They are meant to be kinda small, only about 2 inches wide. They are soooooooo good! You will need to find a reason to give them away or you'll probably end up eating the whole batch...


Maura