Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

This may seem surprising when I tell you that I've never made made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. It's true, I wouldn't even know where to begin. So when a friend asked me to make them with walnuts as it was his favorite cookie ever, I ended up spending an entire afternoon sifting through recipes before I able to put together something that may just work with gluten free flours.

I'll go out on a limb here when I say that I think the first batch was amazing! I ended up eating 3 cookies as they came out of the oven... whoops probably should have saved some for the person that requested it....

There may be a few things I may substitute or change later on but for now I think this is a solid chocolate chip walnut cookie recipe that everyone should try!

{First batch!}

{I didn't used parchment paper the first round, but did the second time around. NOTE: USE PARCHMENT PAPER. Results will be much better.}

{Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts}

Ingredients:

- 1 stick of unsalted butter, soften

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 cup of gluten free all purpose baking flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum

- 1 egg

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (dissolved in a teaspoon of hot water)

- 1 cup of chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

- pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla.

4. Add dissolved baking soda. 

5. Stir in flour and xanthan gum

6. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.

7. Bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Banana bread with chocolate chips and walnuts

This week was the week I was going to come up with the best banana bread recipe ever! In the past I have tested out a few recipes but they always fell short of being great. The recipe that I tested out this week is now my go to recipe and one I will pass on to people cause it is THAT good. Non gluten free people everywhere will love this as well. In fact when my friend Kelsey was in the kitchen I asked her if she noticed that I baked some banana bread and she replied that she sure did and it was great and then paused to ask me "wait, was that gluten free?" That is the kind of response that makes me smile for days. 

First thing's first, survey all the gf ingredients that I currently have before assuming that I have everything to make this amazing banana bread. Looks like I didn't have as much brown rice flour as I anticipated but worked with the flours that I did have and it was a gamble that paid off!

* Please note that you can play around with different kinds of flours that you prefer as long as it adds up to 2 cups of sugar. You can easily just use 2 cups of gf all purpose flour. 

All ready to go in the oven!

Nice and brown crust.

Good looking loaf right there.

After the first slice. 

Banana bread with chocolate chips and walnuts

- 4 eggs

- 1/3 cup of canola oil 

- 3 or 4 ripe bananas

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of brown rice flour

- 1 cup of sorghum sweet flour

- 1/2 cup of tapioca flour

- 3 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum 

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 cup walnuts

-1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1. Lightly beat eggs with a mixer. 

2. Add bananas, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla and mix. 

3. Add flour (one cup at a time), salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum. 

4. Mix for a few minutes until well blended and all the ingredients are moist.

5. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

6. Lightly grease loaf pan and lightly coat the bottom with corn flour (any gf will do).

7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about 70 minutes. Until bread is no longer wet in the middle. Use a toothpick to gauge doneness. 

8. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes and then remove from from pan and let cool on wire rack. (I left the banana bread in pan and it was just fine.) Enjoy!