Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I don’t know much about palm sugar except that straight out of the package, it has a sandy texture and a caramel-like flavor. I had heard about coconut sugar from a friend in Toronto, who sent me a bag to experiment with.
I used my Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe from my book, Cooking for Isaiah, as my benchmark.
“The rest is sweet cookie history: They had a distinctively grown-up quality—kind of like a fine wine.”
After tasting the palm sugar, I decided to tweak my recipe by reducing the sugar. Then, I upped the gluten-free flour quantity slightly to compensate for the reduced dry ingredients. I did everything else just as written in the original recipe.
So, what were the results? The first thing I noticed was that the cookies were more cakey than chewy, and more rounded than flat.
And the flavor? There was a distinct molasses taste. While not classically chocolate chip cookie-like, the cookies were a nice surprise. Different, but nice! As for the coconut flavor I worried about taking over, I didn’t notice a thing.
Have you baked with coconut sugar? I’d love to hear how it’s worked for you and your family!
Makes: 16 cookies
1¼ cup Silvana's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter or all-vegetable shortening, at room temperature
½ cup coconut sugar (also called palm sugar)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup dairy-free semisweet chocolate chunks
1. Preheat the over to 375º. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large bowl and using a fork, beat together the butter (or shortening) and coconut sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually mix the flour mixture; stir in the chocolate chunks.
3. Using a rounded tablespoon, drop the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Baking until golden at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool for about 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool.
16 Comments: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chunk Cookies
These sound so yummy, and easily made egg-free with only 1 egg! I love using coconut sugar. Totally agree about the molasses taste but find it is a great replacement and much easier on me than cane sugar. I think it works well when you want a brown sugar kind of thing going on. Know what I mean? Can’t wait to try these!
Silvana I just watched the video of you and Isaiah on your side bar. So awesome to see him rocking that whisk! Oh my goodness, gotta get my kids helping me in the kitchen more often.
I love this type of sugar, but haven’t used it to bake with. Thanks for showing me how.
Been playing around with coconut sugar myself, love it! I want one of these cookies right now!
HI,
I am a type one diabeteic and my husband is gluten intolerant. I have found all the “gluten-free, sugar-free recipes” to actually contains sweetners that are equivalent to regular sugar. Have you ever tried Splend, Splenda blend, or Xyitol instead of the different sugars??? I find using splenda blend works well, gives me a little sugar, only half as much as regular sugar.
I love coconut sugar! These sound tasty. Great way to get used to baking with an alternative sweetener – by using a tried-and-true recipe and tweaking.
I just made these – my first baking experience with your all-purpose flour blend & they are GREAT! I am imagining adding things like oats & crystallized ginger. I really like the effect of the palm sugar. Thanks!
hmmm…. I’ll have to see if I can get my hands on some here in Oz as I haven’t seen if round, but I’ve heard lots about it! delicious cookies, love a good chocolate chunk!!
I made these for my family and they adored them! Never knew the difference, and the coconut sugar gave them a nice crisp edge.
I made the chocolate marble pound loaf from your book with coconut sugar last week and it was delicious! The color was a little different than the picture but still looked tasty and even better, tasted amazing!
Hi, I just won coconut sugar from a giveaway and am excited to bake with it! I LOVE Enjoy Life chocolate chunks so this is one of the recipes I’ll try first! I have one question: I have a GF flour blend I made with rice flour, tapioca, and potato starch, but WITHOUT xanthan gum. Will I need to add xanthan gum to this recipe? How much? THANKS!!
i half the sugar in all recipes and use coconut sugar for the remainder. all the donuts from your cookbook taste great following this method!
Hi Misty, that’s great to know. Thanks for sharing!
I used a combination of coconut sugar and honey when making a sweet chilli sauce today and it was very yummy!
Hi Jo-anne, thanks for the tip…I never thought about using coconut sugar!
Leave a Reply
Cooking for Isaiah
My Gluten-Free Flour
Newsletter
Testimonial
"We recently converted our family to gluten and dairy free for my son's diet. I love your cookbook. Recipes are great, favorite is your flour blend. Your introduction in the book brought me to tears in a, "She gets it," sort of way. Thank you, and bless you." —Jolene S.
Featured In
Love you book and palm sugar too
I don’t use regular sugar at home.