Do you wish you could eat chocolate chip cookies? Do you look into enviously at those chocolate chip cookies in stores?
Chocolate chip cookies are packed full of allergens. Dairy, gluten, soya and more can all be in ready-made cookies.
How do you make chocolate chip cookies without the conventional ingredients of gluten and dairy?
Most recipes for chocolate chip cookies involve gluten flour, butter, and dairy chocolate. You can swap these for safe alternatives.
- Substituting the gluten flour for a gluten-free self-raising flour blend.
- Swapping the butter for dairy-free margarine.
- Also, swapping the dairy based chocolate chips for dairy-free chocolate chips or a dairy-free chocolate bar.
To create safe chocolate chips or chunks from a safe chocolate bar:
- Get a dairy-free chocolate bar and break it in half.
- Place it into a plastic food bag or wrap it in baking paper.
- Seal the bag or fold the paper so the chocolate is contained.
- Grab a rolling pin and bash the chocolate into chunks.
What can you use instead of chocolate chips?
Dairy-free chocolate chips can be hard to come by. And those that you do find, might contain soya or have a may contain nuts warning which can be a problem if you have allergies to soya or nuts. This can make it next to impossible to find chocolate depending on where you live.
There are other options if you can’t find safe chocolate:
- Cacao nibs
- Carob drops
- Chia seeds
- Diced glace cherries
- Flax seeds
- Gluten-free, vegan marshmallows
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
Why use bicarbonate of soda rather than baking powder?
Bicarbonate of soda and baking soda are the same thing. I use the term bicarbonate of soda because that’s what I’m used to hearing in the UK.
Both are leavening agents which cause air bubbles in the batter. They both make baked goods have a light and airy texture.
Bicarbonate of soda needs to be mixed with an acidic ingredient for it to work.
Baking powder already has an acidic ingredient in it so it only needs moisture to make it work.
If the wrong quantity is used, bicarbonate of soda can taste tangy, metallic and unpleasant. However, baking powder has no taste.
Bicarbonate of soda starts to work immediately. Whereas double-acting baking powder (this is the most common type of baking powder) has 1 reaction when it is mixed with moisture and a 2nd reaction when it’s cooking.
You cannot use them interchangeably. If a recipe calls for bicarbonate of soda, you need to use it. And if it calls for baking powder, you need to use baking powder, not bicarbonate of soda.
To find out more about baking powder and bicarbonate of soda click here.
Testing to see if they still work:
Bicarbonate of soda
Mix ½ tsp with 1 tsp lemon juice or gluten-free vinegar and if it bubbles, it still works.
Baking powder
Mix ½ tsp with 1 tsp boiling water and wait for it to froth.
ACIDIC INGREDIENTS
- Brown sugar
- Dairy-free buttermilk
- Dairy-free cocoa powder
- Dairy-free yogurt
- Gluten-free vinegar
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Lime juice
- Molasses
- Orange juice
Can you use white sugar instead of brown sugar in cookies?
Brown sugar holds more moisture than white sugar. And this creates a softer, chewier cookie.
After a couple of days, cookies that have used brown sugar will soften as they’ll have absorbed moisture from the atmosphere. But cookies made with white sugar will crisp up after cooling as the sugar crystallises.
Brown sugar is acidic, so when it’s mixed with bicarbonate of soda, it will activate the bicarbonate of soda.
In cookies, if the ingredients contain bicarbonate of soda, the brown sugar will cause them to be thick, puffy and soft. If you used white sugar instead, the cookies would be thin, dense and crisp as it will not cause a reaction with the bicarbonate of soda.
When creaming sugar with dairy-free margarine:
- White sugar will make the dough light and fluffy.
- Brown sugar will make them chewy and moist.
When mixing sugar with melted dairy-free margarine:
- White sugar will make the dough spread more.
- Brown sugar will make the cookies thicker.
How do you make chocolate chip cookies egg-free?
As the egg in this cookie recipe is used for binding, it should be fairly easy to substitute.
I haven’t made these chocolate chip cookies with an egg substitute but I should imagine it would work well. Let me know in the comments if you try it with an egg substitute.
- ½ banana mashed
- 1 tbsp chia seeds with 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds with 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp tapioca or potato starch + 3 tbsp water + ¼ tsp baking powder
For more egg substitutes, check out my post on baking substitutions here.
Chocolate Chip Cookies | Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Soya-free
Ingredients
- 85 grams dairy-free margarine
- 100 grams brown sugar
- 180 grams gluten-free self-raising flour
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda A.k.a baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 25-30 grams dairy-free chocolate chips See the top of this blog post for alternatives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 trays with baking paper.
- Place the dairy-free margarine in a saucepan and melt over a low heat.
- Weigh the sugar into a bowl.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and add the sugar. The sugar should melt and be the consistency of runny honey.
- Mix the gluten-free flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl.
- Add the egg to the dairy-free margarine in the saucepan and mix until it's combined.
- Pour the dairy-free margarine mix into the bowl with flour in it.
- Add the dairy-free chocolate chips and mix it together. It should be a wet dough. You shouldn't be able to roll it.
- Place spoonfuls of dough onto the tray. Leave space between them as they'll spread.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Until golden, crispy.
Conclusion
Dairy-free, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are delicious and easy to make. And you don’t even need to use chocolate chips to enjoy these cookies.
For more baking substitutes for dairy, gluten, eggs, and nuts, sign up to my newsletter. In the 1st issue, you’ll receive an allergy baking substitutions guide to download and print off.
In the newsletter, you’ll also get exclusive baking tips and advice as well as my latest recipes and articles.
Do you like soft or chewy chocolate chip cookies?
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