Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I mentioned earlier that I was contemplating going on a gluten-free diet for a month to see if it helps me with some of my digestive ailments. It's been a little over a week, and it's been great so far. Even if this diet doesn't result in a complete lifestyle change, I'm hoping it helps me think about food a little differently.

Almost every time I look at a menu in a restaurant, I search for a dish that has some sort of bread involved. I usually end up getting a sandwich because I know for sure that the combination of bread, meat, and french fries will stuff me to the gills often resulting in miserable indigestion. This diet has forced me to re-think what I order.

You can live gluten-free (as long as you don't have severe Celiac disease) and still enjoy eating out. I have ordered off of the gluten-free menu, but for the most part have ordered off the regular menu with little to no problem. Most restaurants are now advertising their gluten-free options online. Uno's Chicago Grill even has an entire gluten-free menu. Some gluten-free dieters are concerned with cross-contamination (ie, flour getting into their food accidentally). I try not to think about this too much since I don't have Celiac disease. I don't mind if I ingest a tiny amount of gluten on accident. My goal is to keep my body from having too much. If you are concerned with cross-contamination, you might want to avoid most restaurants or else consult directly with the kitchen staff. My husband, who is receiving Serv-Safe training in conjunction with McDonald's says that the kitchen staff is supposed to thoroughly wash all utensils and dishes when an individual with a gluten intolerance mentions they are trying to live gluten-free. Who knows how often that actually happens though.

Anyways, in my quest to live "normally" during my gluten-free diet I decided that I had to have chocolate chip cookies. I have one recipe that I absolutely love, so I decided to make it gluten-free. I don't know if everything I used is 100% gluten-free. I think it is, but I could be wrong. All I did was substitute regular all-purpose flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour. I also ran out of vanilla, so I dumped in two teaspoons of agave nectar to make up for it. I don't know if it made much of a difference, but it still tasted okay. These are in no way healthy, in case you were wondering. Here's the recipe:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. margarine
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

• I used 2 tsps. agave nectar instead because I ran out of vanilla. This can be found in the sweetener aisle at your regular grocery store.

1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 3/4 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour

• I found this both at my regular grocery store in the gluten-free aisle and at Whole Foods.

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Some might have gluten in them, so check first. Mine didn't, and they were just the store brand.

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine butter and sugars.
3. Add in eggs and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
6. Once all ingredients have been mixed together, mix in chocolate chips by hand. If you don't like chocolate very much, don't use the entire bag.
7. Using a spoon, drop 1 inch balls of dough on a cookie sheet about two inches apart.
8. Bake cookies at 350 for 12 minutes or until golden brown. This time may vary depending on what type of cookie sheet you use and your oven.
9. Cool on wire rack.
10. Yield: depends on how much dough you eat. Probably between 24 and 36 cookies.