Chocolate Chip Cookies for Everyone
Erin Jeanne McDowell, a cookbook author, developed gluten-free and vegan versions of The Times’s famous recipe.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
“Veganizing” the original meant I had to replace the butter and eggs, as well as the granulated sugar, which — don’t shoot the messenger, if you didn’t already know this — uses animal products in the refining process. For the butter, I tried olive oil, coconut oil, vegan butter and shortening. Much to my surprise, vegan butter won out: It provided the best flavor and best replicated the qualities of dairy butter, like browning and spread. For the egg, I tried leaving it out entirely, or replacing it with flaxseed powder, applesauce or powdered egg replacer. The flaxseed powder provided structure, contributed a delightful chew, and didn’t adversely affect the flavor or color of the cookies. Substituting the sugar was the biggest challenge. Vegan go-tos like agave, maple syrup and brown rice syrup required significant alterations because they are liquid, and caused the cookies to brown and spread unevenly. In the end, a combination of unrefined cane sugar and coconut sugar, which makes an excellent brown sugar substitute, produced the best results. As for the chocolate, it’s relatively easy to find vegan chocolate, but check the ingredients to be sure there’s no added sugar or dairy. Once I’d figured out the substitutions, I tweaked the recipe to accommodate them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/dining/chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-gluten-free.html
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie
Developing a gluten-free version turned out to be a surprising process. My goal was to create a recipe that required just one type of flour, rather than several, as is the case with a lot of gluten-free baked goods. Honestly, I thought I’d end up resorting to a blend, but after trying a number of flours (white rice, brown rice, potato, chickpea, coconut, store-bought gluten-free all-purpose blends and almond), I was shocked (and thrilled!) when every taste tester preferred the same cookie: the one made with store-bought almond flour. It created a cookie that was beautifully chewy and golden brown. All that was left were some tweaks — like reducing the ratio of butter and eggs — to get it closer to the original recipe.
(If you want a gluten-free and vegan cookie, substitute the all-purpose flour with 2 ¾ cups/310 grams finely ground almond flour in the vegan recipe.)
Two things to note: Neither of these recipes benefits from the 36-hour aging period that’s called for in the original. In the gluten-free recipe, the almond flour won’t absorb moisture the same way wheat flour does, making chilling unnecessary. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to chill the vegan dough, but I found no significant difference in the texture when I did so. Also, unlike the original recipe that called for two types of flour, the vegan cookie ended up using only all-purpose flour; for some reason (science!), in that version, the two flours yielded cookies that were consistently dry and crumbly. In the development process, the constant tweaking of ingredients also altered the yield slightly, which is why the recipes produce a different quantity than the original.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/dining/chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-gluten-free.html
gluten free;
INGREDIENTS
2 ¾ cups/310 grams finely ground almond flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 1/4 sticks)
½ cup/110 grams light brown sugar
½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces/340 grams bittersweet chocolate feves or chips, or coarsely chopped bar chocolate
Sea salt, for finishing (optional)
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PREPARATION
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the almond flour, salt and baking soda to combine.
Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until very light, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the egg and mix on medium speed to combine. Scrape the bowl well, then add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl well and mix on low speed to ensure the mixture is homogenous.
Add the chocolate and gently mix to incorporate it. Scoop the dough into 10 3 1/2 ounce/100-gram mounds of dough the size of generous golf balls, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Stagger the rows to allow the cookies room to spread.
Gently press the cookies down slightly with your fingers until about 1 1/2 inches thick. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, if using. Bake the cookies, switching racks and rotating the sheets halfway through, until they’re golden brown around the edges and just barely set in the center, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cookies with a spatula onto another rack to cool a bit more.
Vegan:
REDIENTS
1 ¾ cups/225 grams all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
5 ounces/140 grams vegan butter or margarine, at room temperature
½ cup/125 grams cane sugar
½ cup/75 grams coconut sugar
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces/340 grams vegan chocolate, chopped, or feves or chips
Flaky sea salt, for finishing (optional)
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PREPARATION
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda to combine.
Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter or margarine, cane sugar and coconut sugar on medium speed until very light, 3 to 4 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with 2 tablespoons room temperature water to combine. Add this mixture to the mixer and mix well on medium speed to combine. Scrape the bowl well, then add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl well and mix on low speed to ensure the mixture is homogenous.
Add the chocolate and mix just until incorporated. Scoop the dough into 8 (3 1/2 ounce/100 gram) mounds of dough the size of generous golf balls, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Stagger the rows to allow the cookies room to spread.
Gently press the mounded cookies down slightly using your fingers until about 1/2-inch thick. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, if using. Bake the cookies, switching racks and rotating the sheets halfway through, until they’re golden brown around the edges and just barely set in the center, 18 to 21 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cookies with a spatula onto another rack to cool a bit more.
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