Have you been struggling to find a gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe that you like? I’ve finally figured out how to make perfect gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookies every time.
Want to know what is harder than baking at altitude? Baking for kids who have food allergies at altitude!
I am only at 4500 feet, so the altitude doesn’t impact all of my baking, but it definitely has a negative effect on cookies. Especially if those cookies use butter. If you use butter in a cookie recipe, the cookies just keep spreading and spreading and spreading. If you don’t use a cookie sheet with raised edges, the dough can end up falling off the edges, onto the stove, and burning so bad that it sets off smoke alarms. Or so I’ve been told. 😉
Shortly after moving to Reno, my oldest son was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy. Since butter wasn’t working in our baking it seemed like a good time to completely give it up.
Many of my local friends recommended using I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original Spread in place of butter when baking at altitude. Although I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is a margarine, it is not completely dairy-free, so I was reluctant to use it. I experimented with shortening and coconut oil and developed cookies with a nice texture, but in some recipes, the cookies were missing the “buttery” flavor. So when Smart Balance asked me to try a baking comparison between Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread (which is dairy-free) and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original Spread, I was excited to try the experiment:
I did not expect there to be that much difference between how the two brands performed. I was just hoping that the Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread would perform as well as my friends said the ICBINB did when baking, so I would have a dairy-free option for my son. I was completely blown away with the results! The gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookies made with Smart Balance were amazing. They don’t look like gluten-free, dairy-free cookies and they don’t look like cookies that were baked at high altitude. They look like a chocolate chip cookie should! They are evenly sized, slightly raised, and soft. Even better, they are absolutely delicious!
I think the Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread performed better in the cookie dough because it has less water. It is firmer coming out of the refrigerator and produced a thicker dough which retained its shape. The dough made with ICBINB performed better than butter would at altitude, but not nearly as well as Smart Balance.
This is a game changer in dairy-free baking!
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread, chilled
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup white rice flour
- 2/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Directions:
Heat the oven to 375°F. In large bowl, cream the brown sugar and granualted sugar with the Smart Balance using an electric mixer on low speed. Stir in the vanilla. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy.
In medium bowl, mix the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
On lightly greased cookie sheets, drop the cookie dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown.
Cool for 1 to 2 minutes on the cookie sheets; then remove the cookies from baking sheets and let them finish cooling on cooling racks. Store the cookies in a tightly covered container once they are completely cooled.
Printable Recipe for Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread, chilled
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup white rice flour
- ⅔ cup tapioca flour
- ¼ cup potato starch
- 1½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- Heat the oven to 375°F. In large bowl, cream the brown sugar and granulated sugar with the Smart Balance using an electric mixer on low speed. Stir in the vanilla. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy.
- In medium bowl, mix the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
- On a lightly greased cookie sheets, drop dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown. Cool for 1 to 2 minutes on the cookie sheets; remove the cookies from the cookie sheets to cooling racks. Store in a tightly covered container.
When we do indulge in a treat, I think it is better for my kids to eat homemade goodies where I have complete control over the ingredients. That is why I was pleased to learn that Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread supports healthy cholesterol levels. In our moderate daily use of Smart Balance on toast, sauteing vegetables, and cooking we will be getting the right blend of fats.
Smart Balance buttery spreads support healthy cholesterol levels already in the normal range. Clinical research has proven that the right blend of fats may improve your cholesterol ratio when:
– At least 2/3 of your fat intake comes from these products or the Smart Balance Food Plan
– You limit total fat to about 30% of calories (65g per day)
– You limit saturated fat to 10% of calories (20g per day)
– You limit dietary cholesterol to average 300mg or less per day
– You avoid trans fat
– You exercise regularly
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Smart Balance®. The opinions and text are all mine.
