Help With Cookies

[elsie]

I have tried baking chocolate chip cookies just substituting a gluten-free baking mix for the flour in the recipe. They taste OK but very flat and crunchy. Any secret ingredients that will help give cookies some additional texture? I was wondering if adding a little xanthum gum would help.

[JennyC]

Yes, you should use xanthan gum when you bake, 1 tsp for each cup or 1.5 cups of flour. Are you using a flour mix? This happens to me too, and I fix it by adding more flour. I usually end up adding .5-1 cup more flour than the recipe calls for. Add flour until the dough is thick. Test the amount needed by baking a couple cookies at a time until you get enough flour in. This always fixes the problem for me.

[suepooh4]

I have tried baking chocolate chip cookies just substituting a gluten-free baking mix for the flour in the recipe. They taste OK but very flat and crunchy. Any secret ingredients that will help give cookies some additional texture? I was wondering if adding a little xanthum gum would help.

Hi,

I found a WONDERFUL gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe at www.recipezaar.com it is recipe # 121714. I have made these several times and they taste just like the tollhouse chocolate chip cookies.

Here is the recipe

1/4 cup softened margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup rice flour

3/4 cup soy flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup nestle chocolate chips

1. By hand blend margarine, sugars, egg & vanilla until creamy

2. In a separate bowl blend flours, baking soda, salt. Combine both bowls and mix well. Add chocolate

chips and mix. Roll into balls.

3. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes on a lightly greased preheated cookie sheet.

This is a really good recipe, but doesn't make a lot so you might want to double it.

Sue

[bakingbarb]

I have tried baking chocolate chip cookies just substituting a gluten-free baking mix for the flour in the recipe. They taste OK but very flat and crunchy. Any secret ingredients that will help give cookies some additional texture? I was wondering if adding a little xanthum gum would help.

I had the same thing happen. I used a trick that bakers of gluten flour use....

Freeze the cookie dough.

Bake them frozen at 350

[melrobsings]

I happen to know A LOT about cookies! I bake all the time and have done a lot of testing with different flours and trying to find a "cheap" way to do it. I have found with cookies only you can just use plain old rice flour. I get mine from Goya and it's about $2.50 a bag!!! With cookies there are a few things that I have found works the best. Call me crazy but I have tried different pans and techniques and found what work the best for me and my taste buds! For cookies I use the glutenous recipes and replace the wheat flour with rice flour, same amount and everything. I have also found that the air bake pans with a baking mat works the best for baking and removing. IF you are using the air bakes I highly recommend letting them sit on the shet for 5 min after you remove them from the oven. I have also found turning the cookie sheet 180 degrees 1/2 way through the baking time bakes them the best. Also, kosher salt is the way to go and ALWAYS unsalted butter.

Here are 2 recipes that I have that are the neighborhood favs.

The Chewy Chocolate Chip

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups rice flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups DEEPLY packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons soy milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (feel free to add a few extra drops.

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:

Ice cream scooper

baking mat

air bake sheets

Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over ultra low heat, do NOT bring to a boil or it kills the texture and taste. As soon as the butter is totally melted remove from heat. Mix or sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and

set aside.

Pour the hot melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on

medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly

incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for at least 3 hours, then scoop one ice cream scoop full of dough onto the baking sheet, only putting 6 cookies on the sheet at a time.

Bake for 14 min or until a golden brown, rotate the baking sheet 1/2 way through. Let sit on baking sheet for 5 min before moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely and

store in an airtight container. Do NOT put in fridge.

Sugar cookies

1 cup butter, unsalted

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups rice flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a second bowl, combine and mix well the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour into butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Chill dough for 3 to 4 hours. Let them sit out about 30 min before rolling them out.

Roll out dough and cut into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Brush with soy milk (keeps from burning and browning). Place on an airbake pan with a baking liner. preheated 350 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the cookie. Remove cookies to a rack to cool completely. Rotate 1/2 way through cooking.

Hope this helps!

[elsie]

Thank you all for your recommendations. I have been using Bob's Red Mill All Purpose baking flour in my past attempts. It sounds as if adding the xanthum gum may be the key to getting softer cookies but the more I research this and see all the varied opinions the more confused I become!

[Guhlia]

Try this recipe. The pudding mix keeps them soft, even after days in the pantry.

Open Original Shared Link

I use french vanilla pudding mix and they always turn out amazing!!! I use the following flour blend: 3 parts white rice, 2 parts potato starch, and 1 part tapioca starch. I add about 2 tablespoons of xantham gum too. They turn out amazing and the dough is VERY easy to work with. I would try using that flour mix in your current recipe as well with the xantham gum added. I generally don't think the premixed flours work very well.

[elsie]

Success!!!! I want to thank you all for your recommendations - I made a really great batch of chocolate chip cookies this weekend, I was dancing in the kitchen ( you have to celebrate the small victories)! I used my 'old' recipe with a gluten-free all purpose baking mix but this time added the 1 tsp of xanthum gum for every 1- 1.5 cups of flour, a package of french vanilla instant pudding mix and also refrigerated the dough over night. I found that a temperature of 375 was a bit high so I backed it down to 350. I still can't believe how great they came out compared to the flat brittle ones I had made previously.

[fitgirlie]

Thank you so much for the link to the Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies .Wow,they are awesome. I even had my husband (a gluten eater) gobbling them up and he couldn't even tell the difference. I knew they were good when the kids shared some at school and all the kids didn't know they were gluten-free. The texture was very cakey unlike alot of failed flat dust attempts. I used mini choc. chips instead.Yummy!

[bakingbarb]

So that old recipe I used to make for the choc chip cookies with the pudding mix is a recipe I need to dig back out? We loved those cookies. I wonder how about peanut butter cookies. Dang it I have had a cookie craving for a couple of weeks but I keep buying chocolate instead. I was going to bake cookie today but something got in the way.

I will be trying this.

[larry mac]

.....3/4 cup rice flour

3/4 cup soy flour.....

Sue,

That's a very unusual recipe. I've never seen a gluten-free recipe call for that much soy flour. Plus, no starch flour either.

best regards, lm

Jenny,

I also agree about the need for additional flour. And I put the metal mixing bowl in the fridge for a while, and between batches.

best regards, lm