Soft & Chewy Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

This quick and easy chocolate chip cookie recipe creates soft and chewy cookies, free from gluten, dairy, soy, corn, nightshades, and coconut!

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Is it too soon for me to declare it hot cookie summer? The Chai Sugar Cookies are definitely what kicked off my cookie-baking ventures this season, but what I was most excited to share was this recipe!

It has been a struggle to make an allergy-friendly chocolate chip cookie that is free from all my allergens and doesn't fall apart at the touch. Originally, we created these Sunbutter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies that held together well but didn't fill the void of just a plain ol' old-fashioned soft chocolate chip cookie. I was able to utilize the techniques I learned from the Sunbutter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies to create this OG chocolate chip cookie recipe that I am extremely proud of!

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The Baking Process

Unlike regular cookies, gluten-free cookies (or maybe it's just my allergy-free cookies) don't tend to spread out and form while baking. Depending on the ingredients you use, the shape you make the cookies in on the baking sheet is the shape the cookies will bake.

I have learned that using cane sugar is the best sugar to use for getting the cookie to spread out on the baking sheet. However, if you have gut issues like me, cane sugar can sometimes upset the gut. That is why I try to use cane sugar sparingly and turn to date sugar more often when baking.

Cookies baked with Date Sugar & Cookies baked with Cane Sugar

What's great about using date sugar is that the cookie can be shaped into whatever you desire. This is convenient if you want to make different shapes using a cookie cutter, but if you are trying to make a traditional circular cookie, you will need to do the following steps:

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Alternative ingredients you can use

Being that all our allergies are different, I wanted to make it easy for you to create the perfect allergy-friendly chocolate chip cookies for yourself! All the ingredients can be easily replaced with ingredients that are safe for you. Here are a few options:

• Sugar can be replaced equally with coconut sugar or the sugar alternative of your choosing.

• Chocolate chips: I adore Enjoy Life's chocolate chip variety. However, if you have another trusted brand you are loyal to, feel free to use them instead!

• Palm Shortening can be equally replaced with dairy-free or regular butter.

Soft & Chewy Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

Free from: gluten | corn | soy | nightshades | coconut

Equipment you will need:

• Kitchen Aid Mixer 

• Cookie Scoop

• Baking Sheet 

• Silicone sheet liner 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup palm shortening or butter

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

• ¼ cup cane sugar

• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

• 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or extract

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

• ¾ teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon sea salt + flaky sea salt for sprinkling

• 1 ¼ cups Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (I mix the semi-sweet mini chips and dark chocolate morsels) + using the semi-sweet mega chunk chocolate chips for topping the dough

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Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with cooking spray, parchment paper, or a silicone mat.

2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the palm shortening, brown sugar, and cane sugar until they form a fluffy, textured batter. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and mix well.

3. Add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pulse the mixer until the dry ingredients begin to blend into the wet ingredients. Then turn the mixer on medium-low, being careful not to overmix the batter.

4. Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

5. Use a medium-sized cookie scoop to portion out equal amounts of dough. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the dough about 2 inches apart.

6. Bake until the cookies have puffed up and are light golden brown around the edges but still somewhat soft in the middle, about 12 to 13 minutes.

7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, sprinkle with flaky sea salt (if using), and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.