gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for all ye dietarily restricted

well, the loverboy has surprised me yet again. he's gone gluten free (or mostly gluten free at least). and since i love a dietary restriction baking challenge just as much as the next nearly-all-white, poor-middle-class-rich girl (isn't this article hilarious?), i decided to make him some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. so there i was, perusing the gluten-free section (that's when you know your neighborhood can't be all that bad) of our kroger, and i came across this recipe. i had heard about babycakes. of course, i also heard that if you don't have to be gluten-free and vegan why would you? however, i was itching for something to do because it was a wednesday and a not really exciting wednesday at that. you know how it goes. or perhaps you don't? perhaps your wednesdays are fraught with more interesting adventures than chicka chicka! boom boom! will there be enough room in that coconut tree? and can i get away with not washing my hair for the fifth day in a row (yes, i can!). (this post is becoming one long aside! which reminds me, you know, that moment in the new star trek movie where captain kirk asks bones what he's doing with that pygmy puff and bones says that he's injecting it with kan's blood and it was really awkward but you knew it was going to become important later? that was a really awkward aside. and also, apparently "aside" is an endangered word. try and use it in a sentence sometime and just see how many crickets chirp. tangent out.)

anyways, i weighed the cost of xanthan gum (holy dollar bills!) against the cost of my becoming even more bored, and decided to go for it. but, as one is wont to do when one has just halfheartedly (on account of the not actually being rich) become dietarily restricted, i refused, just plain refused, to buy arrowroot starch—and also i couldn't find any—and then i thought that well if you're going gluten-free then by all that's decent in this world, don't give up the butter too! so, i took a few other recipes and smashed them together.

here is what i got:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies*
1 c. bob's red mill GF all purpose baking flour
1.5 c. GF oat flour
1/4 c. cornstarch
1.5 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. melted butter
1/3 c. white sugar
2/3 c. dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. milk (or half water, half half-n-half;)
1.5 tsp. vanilla
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir together first 6 dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixer, blend together sugars and butter. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and blend well. Gradually add in dry mixture until it is all incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill in fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto baking trays. Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on trays for another 2 minutes or more before removing.

presto! you are now dietarily challenged. they are nearly perfect. i mean, almost like regular cookies. but please, they never really are, you know? that's okay. it's part of their non-poisonous charm. and really though, they are not half bad. ;)

happy gluten free baking! 

*this recipe is best enjoyed by the (dietarily restricted) sleep-deprived moms of non-napping babies. happy sleepless afternoon activity time to you!