Smart Cookie: A vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe

I have a sweet confession — I love cookies. I’ll take a pass on cake and I have no time for muffins, but cookies are my kryptonite. Hmmm, delicious cookie krypto. But because wheat, barley, and rye are off the menu for me (and for those with gluten issues) I’ve had to feed my cookie addiction with gluten-free alternatives, which are often far more expensive.

My favourite gluten-free bakery is a place in Toronto’s Junction called Bunner’s. It’s a tiny hole in the wall but they make this delicious thing called The Supersonic Cookie which contains oats, chocolate chips, cranberries, pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds.

The cookie is awesome. What’s not awesome for gluten-free cookie addicts (like me) is the price — Bunner’s Supersonic sells for $2.83 per cookie. Doesn’t sound like much, but at three bucks a hit my cookie fix was costing me.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles! Or so I thought. When Bunner’s published their amazing cookbook, Bunner’s Simple & Delicious Gluten-Free Vegan Treats, I thought I had my pricey addiction licked ’cause baking at home would be cheaper.

Not so fast. Those sneaky sneakers packed that recipe book with everything BUT their famous Supersonic. Since those smart cookies must make a lot of dough off their secret Supersonic recipe, I decided to build my own version — and so The Squawksonic was born!

I started my adventure by eating cookies. Then weighing cookies. Then researching GF cookies. Then making and baking GF cookies. Then calculating the cost of homemade vs. Bunner’s. Then eating more cookies.

By the time I was done I was baked. I also made a few changes based on what I like in a cookie so The Squawksonic isn’t an exact copy of The Supersonic. The biggest difference is cost — despite the ridiculous price of gluten-free ingredients you’ll pay around 55-cents per cookie — an 80 per cent savings over the bakery version.

In true Squawkfox fashion I got nerdy over something simple like cookies by making a spreadsheet. Doing the math based on my ingredient cost, you’ll pay around $8.85 for a 16-count batch of Squawksonics. Making these large cookies smaller will save you some dough.

Other differences include: The Squawksonic has no added sugar/sweetener, contains less molasses so it’s lighter in taste and colour, contains a lot of coconut, and uses full-sized chocolate chips. I do like the Enjoy Life Semi Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips because they are allergy friendly and vegan, but the cost is insane so I use the Kirkland brand of chips sold at Costco.

Enough of my crazy gluten-free cookie cost and composition chatter. Get baking!

Getting Baked: The Gluten-Free Squawksonic Chocolate Chip Cookie

This recipe makes around 16 cookies at around 330 calories a piece. To cut the cost or calories, reduce the size of the cookie (’cause they’re big) or reduce the cup size of chips or nuts or raisins. The only thing you cannot cut from this recipe is the xanthan gum — that’s the binding ingredient holding the whole thing together!

I stick to Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free ingredients. Bunner’s Bakery uses Bob’s Red Mill and I have zero issue spending the money on stuff that keeps my Celiac Disease from being bothersome.

Enjoy the Squawksonic for breakfast or dessert. I won’t tell. Smile.

Ingredient list:

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats
• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut (I prefer unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup Thompson raisins
• 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free xanthan gum
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Six steps to gluten-free cookie delicious-ish-ness

I’ve probably eaten this cookie recipe (myself) 125 times since last year. Heck, sometimes I even bake the dough. If you’re into raw gluten-free cookie dough — well, kudos. If you prefer a baked goodie, well I’m with you too. Variety people.

STEP ONE: Preheat your oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with a Silpat Silicone Baking Mat, (this set of Silicon Baking Mats branded by Amazon is a better value) or simple parchment paper.

STEP TWO: In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients: oats, flour, flaxseed, coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, salt, cinnamon, and xanthan gum.

STEP THREE: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, coconut milk, and fancy molasses. I like to make a spiral, because I’m weird.

STEP FOUR: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Try not to eat the dough.

STEP FIVE: Using a cookie scoop or a 1/4 cup measure, scoop 16 balls of dough and place on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie to about 1/4 inch thick and 3 1/2 inches in diameter. I like mine a little crunchier so I press out my balls to 4 inches. Yes, I just wrote about my balls. Sigh. Anyways, keep those cookies spaced around 1/2 inch apart.

STEP SIX: Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 20 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. To be honest, mine never make it to a cooling rack. Sigh.

Enjoy the gluten-free yum.
Love love love,
Kerry