Monday, October 27, 2014

Crispy Style Chocolate Chip Cookies - Low Carb, Grain & Gluten Free

Yesterday I decided to experiment a bit with my chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. I wanted to see if I could tweak it a bit to create a crispy style chocolate chip cookie. I absolutely love my regular Chocolate Chip Cookies but I've had several requests from folks about a crispy version, too. Some like their chocolate chip cookies nice and soft and others like them more thin and crisp. So, here's my version of a more crispy style chocolate chip cookie!

I tweaked the balance of cream cheese and butter and boosted the almond flour a bit. I test baked several to get them "just right." Whenever I am testing a cookie type recipe, rather than bake an entire sheet of them, instead I bake a couple at a time to adjust temperature, bake time, flatten vs not flattening, etc. This time, I also baked them on different baking sheets to see if that made any difference. I baked a batch on my USA Pan baking sheet which created nice crisp golden brown cookies in about 13 minutes at 350 degrees. It's surface is corrugated so air can circulate underneath them because they don't sit on a totally flat surface. I did not have to grease the USA pan (its very nonstick naturally). I also baked a dozen on a standard heavy weight baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It took about 15 minutes to create a nice crisp golden cookie. There was not a significant difference between the two pans but the USA pan version might have been a tad more crisp. I baked a couple cookies at 350 degrees and a couple at 375 degrees. They did best at 350 degrees because the bottoms browned too quickly at 375.

I used a 1-tablespoon retractable scoop to scoop my cookie dough onto the pans and then pressed the dough to about 1/4-inch thick with my fingertips. The cookies don't spread much and will be very close in size after baking. Using the retractable scoop gave me 3 dozen medium sized cookies. This time I also used my new Equal Exchange organic 70% chocolate chips in my cookies instead of chopping a chocolate bar into chunks. I picked up a bag from Whole Foods not long ago and then found them a bit cheaper at Amazon. I liked them so much I ordered a box of 12 bags...LOL. If you haven't tried their chocolate bars yet, they are worth trying. They are awesome and are currently my new favorite chocolate bar. I have tried their 71% bar and their 80% and both are good but I prefer the 80%. It's organic and fair trade. I am able to find these chocolate bars at my local grocery store but for some reason they don't carry the chocolate chips. While I don't mind chopping a chocolate bar to make my cookies, I won't lie, it was quite convenient having the chips to just measure and dump into my dough. I have enough chips with the 12 bags of them to carry me completely through baking season and probably then some! I snapped a few photos of the crispy chocolate chip cookies for you to see below as well as the recipe. Enjoy!












Chocolate Chip Cookies - Crispy Style

Ingredients:


2-1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup Swerve sweetener (or preferred granular sweetener)
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 ounces cream cheese (brick style), softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (70-85% cacao) or 3.5 ounce chocolate bar, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and Swerve sweetener (or other granular sweetener).  

Make a well in the center of the bowl and add softened butter and cream cheese and cream together with wooden spoon. Stir in egg and vanilla extract and mix until blended. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips or chunks and mix just until blended.  

Drop by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls (or use a 1-tablespoon sized retractable scoop) onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet; press down with fingertips to approximately 1/4-inch thick rounds. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cookies are soft when hot and crisp as they cool.  Let sit 5 to 10 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen medium sized cookies.

        

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23 comments:

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

These look positively delightful! I've noticed that when I bake stuff on my ancient, dull baking sheet, the crusts get a deeper color than when I use my much newer shiny one.

I'm not sure whether I like soft or crispy cookies more ... better bake a batch of each and "experiment"! :-) Note to myself: better stock up on the chocolate chips ... and the cranberries,too!

Anonymous said...

These look very good, and I am in the crispy, thinner cookies camp. I just baked some peanut butter cookies this afternoon so these will be made next week.....thank you for doing the experimentation for me, you have a wonderful blog and I pin your recipes all the time!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the recipe, they are baking now. I was wondering if you had the nutritional value (carb count mostly). Thanks again!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Robin,

I haven't calculated it on this specific recipe but I know its low (based on very similar recipes I've made). This is the recipe calculator I use here: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

If you have trouble calculating it, let me know and I'll run it through for you! Hope you enjoy these. :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

If you asked me before, I would have told you I prefer the soft style cookies. But, I am really enjoying the crispy version...so I think I like both, depending on my mood (which has been known to change on a dime on occasion...LOL). I'm definitely buying a couple bags of cranberries just for the freezer this week! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Anonymous,

Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy the cookies when you get a chance to make them. So happy you are enjoying my blog and pinning recipes, too! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Ayla - I've been making your Choc. Chip Cookies with Toasted Walnuts and Ricotta ever since I went grain free/low carb. They are my 'go to' cookie and I love them! Now I'm anxious to try these as well. I'm wondering if there is a reason you do not cream the butter/cream cheese with the Swerve in a mixer as is the norm with most cookies I'm familiar with?

Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes, another favorite of mine is the Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Herb Crust - will make that again soon now that the cooler weather is here.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Andi,

So happy you are enjoying the cookies. I need to make the Chicken Pot Pie again soon, too since it's finally chilly here!

Regarding creaming the butter and Swerve...I have actually done it both ways and I don't see enough difference in the finished product to keep that extra step. I tried to keep the recipe as simple as possible to make and still have it taste good. Let me know your thoughts if you think it makes a difference. If so, I might revisit that step. :-)

Leslie P said...

Hi GG - I'm making these right now! Thanks for great recipes!!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Leslie,

Hope you enjoy them! :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! I made these yesterday and they are WONDERFUL! I did it just the way you said except I reduced the Swerve to 1/2 cup and only used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. I LOVED the crispy edges and think these will hold up better when hubby takes them on his hunting trip. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Andi

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks Andi!

You are very welcome. So glad you liked them and hope your hubby enjoys them while hunting, too! :-)

BTC said...

I recently stumbled across your fabulous blog and am saving your recipes to try, starting with this one this morning. I have been LC since August and am loving it, and have lost 24 lbs so far. I would like to lose about 10 more but it's getting more difficult now. Also, drinking wine 🍷 doesn't help - LOL. I clicked on the link for the chocolate chips and they are noted as unavailable. Any other sources you are aware of?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi BTC,

I checked 2 places. I found them for sale online directly from Equal Exchange. Their price was $5.49/bag BUT to send it to me here in GA, it would be $7.50 shipping for one bag which seems ridiculous to me. You might be able to find them at Whole Foods if you have one nearby. I found another place on Amazon where you can buy them for $10.55 for one bag with free shipping (while cheaper than the previous option, still a lot for a bag of chips). This is the link to the other Amazon place: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GPQCS8K?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B00GPQCS8K&tag=gougircoo-20

You also could just buy a dark chocolate bar and cut it up into chunks. I did that for quite a while before I found these chips. Here in GA, our Kroger sells the Equal Exchange chocolate bars but not their chips. So, it's possible you might be able to find them locally where you are. Hope that helps! Oh...and welcome! :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels may be easier to find in the stores. They are all I use now and I find them at a local health food store, where they are less expensive than Amazon. I've seen them elsewhere, too. Our Kroger's has the bars (but not the morsels.)

The dark chocolate ones are 69% cacao and contain only *two* ingredients ... unsweetened chocolate & cane sugar. They're also *certified* gluten free and non-GMO verified. AND they are delicious! :-)

Here's the address for the product web site for anyone who may be interested:
http://enjoylifefoods.com/our-foods/chocolate-for-baking/chocolate-for-baking-dark-chocolate-morsels/

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

Thanks for the suggestion...hope it will help others find "chips". How surprising that a local health food store actually has a better price on them than Amazon, too. It's usually the other way around! Isn't that funny that your Kroger carries the bars and not the chips with the Enjoy Life brand and they do the same thing with the Equal Exchange brand (bars, not chips). You are right...69% vs 70% is really the same. Thanks for sharing the web site address, too!:-)

Grill Valley said...

These came out soft and kind of crumbly for me but the flavor is outstanding!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Grill Valley,

Glad you enjoyed the flavor and wonder why they turned out soft and crumbly for you. Did you use blanched almond flour or almond meal? If you want, let me know if you might have made any substitutions so I can help you troubleshoot. :-)

Christie said...

Was really excited to try these. I have discovered since going gluten free that i appear to be much more textural than the average palate. Anyways they have some crisp to them, but still end up with that not wheat flour mushy texture for the finishing sensation. I used super fine blanched almond flour, because I read on another of your recipes coarseness can play a role.
Made them on my go to heavy jelly roll pan with a silicone mat.

That being said, they are hands down the most delicious gf cookie recipe I have made.
Sadly my kids love them too. Lol.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Christie,

Thanks so much. I'm so happy you and your kids enjoyed them so much. That makes my day ! :-)

Maria said...

Just baked the cookies and flavor is amazing. I used the Lillys chips, but they are still not crispy enough for my husbands liking. I made 21 and need to know how to best store them and keep for a few days. Also, wanted to ask if the shortbread cookies would be more or less crispy. Please let me know, need to find something my husband likes so I don't have to cook real crispy sugar cookies for him. Thank you,
Maria

Maria said...

Hi Christie,
I just made this cookies and flavor is delicious, unfortunately not crispy enough for my hubby. I need to know how to store them and how long I can keep them for. Also, would you let me know if the shortbread cookies would be crispier? I don't want to have to cook a sugar crispy cookie recipe for him.
Thanks,
Maria

Anonymous said...

Hi the directions say to "add softened butter and cream cheese AND CREAM" However, CREAM is not listed in the ingredients????

Am in the midst of making the recipe and am confused....... is cream added to the mix... and if so, ho much?????

Thank you