In honor of Celiac Awareness Month, we are sharing some of our favorite gluten-free and dairy-free recipes actually made in our bakery. When Crave opened, it was still generally accepted in the GF community that all oats were gluten contaminated. Our solution to this problem- we developed a recipe with a workaround that created an oatmeal texture using almond meal and shredded coconut instead of oats. These days you can find oats that are safe but we still like the chewy, flavorful result of our non-oat version. Check out our suggestions for favorite Baking Tools. Enjoy!!
Gluten-Free “Oatmeal” Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Corn-Free
Prep Time: 15 min
Bake Time: 10 min
Makes: 608 g, Enough for 24 Cookies
Tools
✓Mixer or Beaters
✓Paddle Attachment
✓Two Bowls
✓Rubber Spatula
✓Cup Measurers
✓Spoon Measurers
✓Whisk
✓Baking Sheet
✓Coffee Grinder if you need to grind Flax Seeds
✓Scale if you have one (for measuring by weight)
Ingredients
✓1/2 cup +3 Tbsp. Brown Rice Flour (103 g)
✓1/2 tsp. Baking Powder (1.3 g)
✓3/8 tsp. Salt (1.9 g)
✓3/4 tsp. Cinnamon (1.8 g)
✓1/4 tsp. Nutmeg (1 g)
✓1/8 tsp. Allspice (.3 g)
✓2 1⁄2 Tbsp. Flax Meal (24 g)
✓1 Egg (50 g)
✓2 Tbsp. Apple Sauce (33 g)
✓3 Tbsp. Almond Meal (17 g)
✓1/4 tsp. Baking Soda (1.3 g)
✓5/8 cup Palm Shortening (141 g)
✓5/8 cup Sugar (125 g) [you can also use Sucanat or unrefined sugar if you prefer]
✓3/8 cup Shredded Coconut (33 g)
✓1/2 cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chips (75 g)
✓Gluten Free Baking Spray
Let’s Get Baking
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Measure out all dry ingredients- Brown Rice Flour, Bak- ing Powder, Salt, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice. Whisk together to break up any clumps and set aside.
- Grind Flax Seeds if necessary to make the Flax Meal.
- In mixer, beat Egg, Applesauce, Flax Meal, Almond Meal and Baking Soda with paddle attachment on low.
- Add Shortening and Sugar into mixer until well combined. Beat on low.
- Slowly add dry ingredients, half at a time. Mix on low and then medium until fully combined.
- Fold in Coconut, then Chocolate Chips. Beat on low. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and mix one last time until Coconuts and Chips are evenly distributed.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray lightly with oil.
- Scoop rounded Tablespoon (25 g) balls of the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Feel free to drop larger scoops for bigger cookies.
10. Bake for 8 ‒ 10 minutes until edges are golden and cookies are set. Remove and cool to room temperature before wrapping and storing.
Read more about Crave on our website.
Daily tips for your gluten-free baking adventure!
Today’s Tip:
- Finer grained flours work the best for gluten-free baking. Not all flours are created equal. The finer the grain is milled, the better the final baking result. One of the nicest gluten-free flour brands we’ve found (that is available to consumers) is Authentic Foods Superfine line. Try their Sweet Rice Flour or Brown Rice Flour. Or you can easily do your own test on your flour. Rub the flour between your fingers and even put it on your tongue. If you feel a smooth texture, that means it has a fine grain. If you feel a gritty texture, it has a larger grain and the end result will be a grainier dessert. The reason we choose a fine grain – we want to mimic wheat in our gluten-free baking which also has a fine grain.
Please visit us on our website for more Crave Bakery info.
Crave’s Favorite Tools for Gluten Free Baking
The third phase of the baking process is, well, the baking itself! We have put together a list of our favorite gluten-free baking tools. These are quality tools that make the process more precise, easy and fun. After you’ve measured and mixed, you are ready to bake your dessert or snack. The following are tools that we use for our own baking. Hopefully these suggestions will save you some time in your search for good, gluten-free baking tools.
Baking
- Oven Thermometer - Home ovens often aren’t calibrated properly and can give you an unexpected result, using an oven thermometer helps you compensate for any differences. This guy hangs easily off your oven rack with large numbers for easy viewing.
- Candy Thermometer - Perfect for pasteurizing eggs or candying, this thermometer gives you an analog temperature read.
- Washable Silicone Oven Mitt - Super easy to clean, you can throw it right in the dishwasher. It also has a cloth liner that makes it really comfy and goes past the wrist.
- Pyrex 8 x 8 Glass Dish - This pan is the standard size for lots of brownie, cookie bar, quick bread and even cake recipes if you like the square shape. Good old, reliable Pyrex- lasts forever.
- Tart Pans with removable bottoms - Perfect for making cute 4″ Tarts! The removable, non-stick bottoms make the removal and cleanup go really fast.
- 6” Springform Cake Pan - This non-stick pan makes it a cinch to pop your little cake out without it sticking to the sides.
- 8” Springform Cake Pan - Same with the larger sizes, non-stick finish makes it easy to get your gluten-free cake out easily and with minimal cleanup.
- Muffin Pan - We love these flexible, colorful 100 % silicone muffin or cupcake pans.
- Mini Muffin Pan - Mini muffin version of this pan is great too. Easy cleanup and little muffins pop right out.
Please visit us on our website for more Crave info.
Daily tips for your gluten free baking adventure!
Today’s Tip:
- In our experience, the Enriched version of milk alternatives tend to be thicker than the Original style. This means that they work more like milk if you are making your recipe dairy-free. This is true for Soy, Almond, and Rice Milks. However, if you have a corn allergy, it’s important to keep in mind that the enriched versions usually also contain corn.
One of our favorite’s- Rice Dream Enriched.
Please visit us on our website for more Crave Bakery info.
Daily tips for your gluten free baking adventure!
Today’s Tip:
- There is a difference between your liquid measuring cup and your dry measuring cup. One cup of each is a slightly different weight. If you want to be as precise as possible without using a scale, definitely use the dry and liquid cups as they’re intended.
Please visit us on our website for more Crave Bakery info.
Crave’s Favorite Tools for Gluten Free Baking Preparation
The second phase of baking is preparation. You don’t have to be a professional pastry chef to use quality tools that make baking easier. We have put together a list of our favorite tools for your gluten-free baking adventure. The following are baking tools that we use in our own baking and gluten-free dessert prep.
Prepping
- KitchenAid Mixer - The classic silver KitchenAid completes any kitchen. These reliable things last for years!
- Whisk - This whisk is great because the wires don’t get tangled or bent like the traditional whisk design.
- Bowl Scraper - This design gives you more leverage to scrape the bottom of your bowl than a regular spatula.
- Micro Plane Zester – For zesting lemons or oranges, easy to handle little tool.
- Lemon Squeezer – Quality, colorful tool for squeezing lemons or oranges.
- Heat Resistant Spatula Set – Stir hot liquid in a pot or double boiler and you don’t have to worry about these spatulas melting.
Read more about Crave on our website.
Gluten Free Baking Tip of the Day – Whisk Dry Ingredients
Today’s Tip:
- Always whisk all your dry ingredients together to break up clumps before adding them into your mixer. There’s nothing worse than a white clump of baking soda in your chocolatey brownie bite! And since there are usually multiple flours and xanthan gum in gluten-free recipes, you need to make sure these are evenly distributed to get the best, even bake.
For more info about Crave, visit our website.
