Alton Browns gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

[ebrbetty]

Hi, I have a few questions for those of you who have baked these, the measurements don't add up, he says to use [11 ounces brown rice flour, approximately 2 cups ] but 2 cups is 16 ounces, thats a big difference...same thing with the sugars.

I've read great reviews on these cookies but don't know which measurements to use.

heres the recipe:

Thank you for the help!!

The Chewy Gluten Free Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Show: Good Eats

Episode: Sub Standards

8 ounces unsalted butter

11 ounces brown rice flour, approximately 2 cups

1 1/4 ounces cornstarch, approximately 1/4 cup

1/2-ounce tapioca flour, approximately 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup

10 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

[Fiddle-Faddle]

All I can think is that with the brown rice flour, there will be a difference in weight based on how fine the grind is. Did he say what kind he uses?

You might look at the gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe on www.foodphilosopher.com, which tastes as close to Tollhouse as I've ever had. See if the proportions are similar to Alton Brown's recipe (BTW, isn't he a hoot?!)

[ebrbetty]

thanks, I thought of that but the sugar measurements are off too..weird! thanks for the webiste and tip on the other cookies, going to grab it right now

he is a hoot!!

[arc]

AB is really big on cooking by weight rather than measuring, due to the differences in density. A little digital food scale works great for this.

FWIW, my wife makes the regular tollhouse recipe, replacing the flour 1 to 1 with featherlite mix and they come out fantastic, just as good as the "real" ones. People that have eaten them have had no idea that they were different from normal cookies.

[ebrbetty]

thank you, do you have the featherlite recipe?

[Fiddle-Faddle]

It's a bit difficult to navigate the foodphilosopher website.

Here is the page for the chocolate chip cookies: Open Original Shared Link (To get there from the home page, click on "gluten-free recipes," then "gluten-free archives" then "3 foolproof recipes to get you started." They COULD organize that part a bit better, I think, but the recipes are so good, I don't want to complain.

This page has the brown rice flour mix that they use: Open Original Shared Link (Click on "our gluten-free philosophy" at the top of the gluten-free recipe archives.)

[ebrbetty]

thank you

[arc]

thank you, do you have the featherlite recipe?

1 cup rice flour, 1 cup tapioca starch, 1 cup corn starch, 1 tablespoon potato flour (not starch)

My wife has had really good luck replacing flour in recipes with this on a 1:1 basis. She adds 1/2 tsp of xantham gum per cup at the time of baking.

For quick breads (zucchini bread) and muffins, she uses a mix of featherlite and Bette Hagman's gluten free mix (6C rice, 2C potato starch, 1C tapioca starch) in a 3:1 ratio of featherlite to gluten-free mix. It comes out great.

[melrobsings]

I have made these and they turned out GREAT.

just use normal rice flour in stead of wheat flour, same measurments.

Then use soy milk instead of milk milk. they are GREAT!

[melrobsings]

i meant white rice flour

and it's all about the timing, 7 min, turn 180 for another 7 min and let sit out for 5 min

[Cam's Mom]

Hi, I have a few questions for those of you who have baked these, the measurements don't add up, he says to use [11 ounces brown rice flour, approximately 2 cups ] but 2 cups is 16 ounces, thats a big difference...same thing with the sugars.

I think I can help clear up the original question: 8 ounces is 1 fluid cup. So you can use that measurement when measuring liquid but solids are a completely different matter because they have different densities. For example, 1 C. of tapioca flour weighs a very different amount than 1 C. of brown rice flour. Just like a cup of lead marbles will weigh significantly more than 1 cup of feathers.

The reason someone like Alton Brown will give you the measurement by weight (because he's a total food science geek - I say that with all due respect) is because with any flour, but especially gluten-free flour, there can be a significant difference depending on how you pack the cup. If you sift the flour then scoop and measure, you will get a lighter cup than if you reach directly into a firmly packed bag of flour with your measuring cup. So weight is the way to go if you want to be specific in telling some one a recipe. I think this is particularly true with gluten-free cooking - and certainly with chocolate chip cookies. If you use a "heavy" cup of flour you could get quite puck like cookies (dense). If you use a "light" cup of flour, they will run all over the pan. My rule of thumb is to gently tap the measuring cup (with a knife or spoon) when measuring so as to settle the flour but not pack it or fluff it.

Okay - can you tell I'm an Alton Brown wanna be? Enough of that!

Barb

[MNBeth]

Well, bless Alton B's geeky little heart - this makes me really happy! I've been so frustrated that NONE of the gluten-free cookbooks I've looked at do anything by weight, and the crazy way that these gluten-free flours and mixes behave makes them a pain to try to measure accurately. Plus, I know he's a great cook, so I can expect these to be good. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I got Shreve Stockton's book from the library, and read in her introduction that she *almost never cooked* before going gluten-free. I never did try any of the recipes - they may be really great. But that intro just did not inspire confidence!

[ebrbetty]

thanks everyone for the help

Arc, for the measurements

Barb, for clearing that up lol

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Well, bless Alton B's geeky little heart

:D