Last weekend, I made the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.

Not only that—they were gluten-free and dairy-free, too! Holy cow!

I was invited to a friend’s birthday party at the Boulder Reservoir last Saturday, and it was a potluck. I had just attended my favorite two-hour ashtanga yoga class in downtown Boulder, and had an hour and a half before it was time to leave for this gathering. I knew I wanted to bring something yummy and delicious, but I also realized I didn’t have much time.

So, I chose this awesome gluten-free, dairy-free (vegan, actually!) chocolate chip cookie recipe from one of my favorite gluten-free cookbooks, and I whipped up the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.

You know how chocolate chip cookies are best when they are crispy and melty and chewy all at once?

These were like that.

And more.

They were so good, that—I kid you not—a friend took a bite of one of these cookies and humped me. Seriously. He humped me from the side; it was his gesture of appreciation after he took his first bite.

I’ve had many amusing reactions over the years to my baking—strangers professing love to me, proposals of marriage after eating my chocolate truffles—but this reaction really took the cake (or, in this case, “took the cookie”).

These cookies have special powers (that friend who humped me also ate seven cookies that afternoon!).

Another great feature of these cookies: they’re made with almond flour. So, not only does the natural sweetness of almond flour require less sweetener to be added to the mix, but it also makes it a relatively low-glycemic treat, since almond flour is high in protein—not to mention the cookies are sweetened with agave instead of white sugar.

Instead of the usual blood sugar spike you might get with high-carb and high sugar cookies, you may finish this cookie (or five) and feel like you actually ate something substantial and grounding. Crazy!

So—

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

2.5 cups blanched almond flour

½ teaspoon salt (I always use pink himalayan or celtic sea salt)

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup grapeseed oil

½ cup agave nectar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped dark chocolate (mine is 72%) or vegan chocolate chips

How to make these magical cookies:

I always find that baked goods come out best when you mix all the dry ingredients together first in a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients separately, and then mix it all together—and then add the chocolate chips last.

With this particular recipe, after mixing all ingredients together, refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare two baking pans with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 F.

Once your dough has been refrigerated for the requisite 20 minutes, scoop out a heaping tablespoon for each cookie onto the parchment paper-covered baking sheet, and flatten the cookie dough ball with your hand. Leave an inch or two between cookies.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.

Here in Boulder, Colorado, I wound up baking these cookies the full 10 minutes, and they were perfect.

Experiment with your particular state/altitude/location for the perfect cookie. Remember, too, that these cookies will continue to bake a bit once you take them out of the oven—factor that in when deciding when to remove them.

At this point, you are good to go. You can let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 20 minutes before serving, but—I’m pretty sure mine didn’t make it that long.

Happy summer, and happy cookie-making!

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Relephant Read: 

Summertime is Ice Cream Time, Vegan-Style! {Recipe}

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Author: Rachel Leber

Photo: Courtesy of Author

Editor: Toby Israel

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