Gluten Free Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies are a healthy dessert or snack, sure to please your sweet tooth.
Is there such a thing as a healthy cookie? I don’t know, but I can tell you that the Gluten Free Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies that I’m sharing today are healthier than most. Leaving the healthy talk aside for a second, let me tell you that these cookies are really good, and will satisfy just about any sweet tooth without the guilt. I made these for my kids as an afternoon treat last week and they loved them, and I have to say I didn’t feel half that bad giving them cookies as a snack because I knew they were full of good ingredients.
So, what makes these cookies healthier than most chocolate chip cookies?
Whole grains + Fiber – These cookies are packed with heart-healthy whole grains. Proportionally, whole grains make up most of the flour/grains in this recipe. I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-purpose Flour Mix which is made with both brown and white rice flour, and rolled oats, so these cookies have more fiber than the average cookie.
Healthy fat + Less fat – This recipe uses just 6 tablespoons of heart healthy olive oil compared to many popular chocolate chip cookie recipes that use up to 2 sticks of butter.
Less sugar + More flavor – Dried cranberries help add natural sweetness (and fiber) to these cookies, so less sugar is needed than the typical chocolate chip cookie recipe. Also, bittersweet chocolate has about half the sugar of semi-sweet chocolate, but has a more intense chocolate flavor.
Heart healthy nuts – I added heart healthy walnuts for crunch, added fiber and minerals.
Give theseGluten Free Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies a try and let me know what you think.
Today, Food Network and a group of bloggers is featuring Chocolate Chip Cookies for this week’s Comfort Food Feast event. Please stop by and see what everyone made:
Adapted from Cooking Light. These cookies are chock full of whole grains, dried fruit, nuts and dark chocolate. These cookies have more fiber and protein, and less fat and sugar than many cookie recipes, perfect when you're craving something sweet.
Prep Time25minutes
Cook Time12minutes
Total Time37minutes
Servings3dozen
Ingredients
2/3cupgluten-free flour mix
1 1/2cupsgluten-free rolled oats
1teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonsalt
6tablespoonsolive oil
3/4cuppacked organic light brown sugar
1teaspoonalmond extract
1large egg
1cupdried cranberries
1cupchopped walnuts or pecans
1cupbittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Add oil, brown sugar, almond extract and egg. Beat with electric mixer until well blended.
Add dried cranberries, walnuts and chocolate chips and mix well.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, form cookies on baking sheet, making sure to leave 2 inches in between the cookies.
Bake 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool on pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
It might sound scary, but xanthan gum is key for successful gluten-free baking. It helps bind together the ingredients, preventing your cookies from falling to pieces. Be careful to not use too much; no one likes gummy baked goods.
Use a Binder. Binders like xanthan gum and guar gum provide structure in gluten-free baking to make up for the missing gluten. This prevents cookies from being too crumbly plus it also helps with freshness.
Further, gluten-free baked goods can lose moisture and quality quickly. After baking and cooling, wrap them tightly and store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container to prevent them from becoming dry and stale.
Scoop the cookie dough into an airtight container then chill in the refrigerator for 24 — 48 hours. If you just can't wait, let the dough chill for at least 2 hours.
Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.
Oat Flour. With its creamy, earthy flavor and delicate texture, gluten-free oat flour is a staple of my gluten-free baking recipes. It bakes up soft and smooth, adding necessary starch to many GF baked goods and keeping them moist and tender due to its high fat content and stable protein structure.
Instead of proceeding directly to baking, let the gluten-free cookie dough rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. This resting period is crucial for hydration, not leavening. During this time, gluten-free flours absorb moisture from the wet ingredients, altering the dough's texture and consistency.
Xanthan Gum adds thickness and viscosity to gluten-free breads and other baked goods. Without xanthan gum, your gluten-free baked goods would be dry, crumbly and flat. Because xanthan gum is gluten-free and vegan, it's the preferred thickener for those home bakers with food allergies.
Binding agents (such as xanthan gum, guar gum, or flax) help give gluten-free baked goods the elasticity needed to create structure — so if your favorite gluten-free flour mix doesn't contain one, you'll probably want to add one.
2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening. Baking soda and buttermilk can be used to leaven instead of baking powder, but 1-1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar should be added for each 1/2 teaspoon baking soda used.
Removing gluten makes cookie dough less springy. So the cookies spread as they bake. And then they spread some more. This is why my gluten-free cookies in the first experiment were so much wider than wheat-based cookies.
Another reason is that gluten-free flours, such as almond flour or coconut flour, can behave differently than wheat flour in baking. They may absorb more liquid, for example, which can result in dry or crumbly cookies.
Gluten-free flour is not a perfect substitute for wheat flour. Each mixture out there is designed to mostly work in certain kinds of recipe, but not in all of them. And yes, it is perfectly normal for a gluten-free cookie to be crumbly, since it is the gluten itself that holds wheat cookes together.
Moisture – for some reason gluten-free cakes tend to get a little dry. Any gluten-free cake will dry out super-fast and get hard on the outside if it's not properly refrigerated and covered. I swear by always using buttermilk and adding a little more fat into the batter to compensate for the dryness.
It serves many roles in gluten-free baking. Because gluten-free flours have less protein than wheat flours and are not capable of forming the same network required to stretch and surround starch granules, they need reinforcement. Xanthan gum strengthens these networks and also makes them more elastic.
Put the cookie pieces together on the baking sheet.Gently mush the edges together to "glue" the cookies into each other as they bake. Sometimes gluing the cookies together is enough, if they are interlocked and share enough edges. Sometimes though... you need to add some "tape."
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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