There are so many recipes for chocolate chip cookies. There are recipes for crunchy ones (I don't care for these), for chewy ones (that would be my preference), and for those that claim to have a crunchy exterior and chewy interior (never achieved this, really).

That is only the beginning...

There is also cookie thickness to consider - do you like yours thin (not me) or thick (yes!)?

And what type of chocolate chips do you use - milk? (no) Or semi-sweet? (well, in part, yes). Or do you forego chips all together and use chunks? (again, in part, yes).

Of course, this doesn't begin to take into consideration any necessary adjustments for gluten-dairy-egg-soy-nut-free diets like mine.

There are so many wonderful recipes on the web - food bloggers everywhere have contributed to the ever-growing bounty of recipes in their search for chocolate chip cookie bliss.

For example, take a look these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies by Maggie at She Let Them Eat Cake. They look divine, and I love the short & sweet ingredients list.

And what about No Worries Chocolate Chippers from Nancy over at The Sensitive Pantry? I couldn't upload her pic, but you should check these out - Nancy always presents the most elegant recipes, and these cookies are no different.

Oh, and for a chocolate chipper that gets added sweetness from dates, check these out over at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs - yum! Ricki presents some of the healthiest recipes on the web!

You get the idea, right? No single chocolate chip cookie can satisfy all. And while I have my preferences when it comes to this age-old treat, I rarely turn down a chocolate chip cookie...if it's gluten-dairy-soy-egg- and nut-free, that is. With those criteria (notice we are NOT saying restrictions because when you eat these cookies you'll forget about what's not there!), it takes a bit more effort to craft the "perfect" cookie.

And I'll tell you straight up - I used sugar. Brown sugar - no apologies. I like the rich flavor and the moisture that it adds, and I'm not leaving it out...just yet. I love the use of dates for a sweet, moist texture, but for this cookie, I wanted the brown sugar to remain.

The recipe is simple, the ingredients list is short, and the final product is a dense, chewy, chocolate-laden dream. These cookies do not fall apart or crumble, and they are rich enough to satisfy with only a couple. Um...ok, I ate more than a couple, but I was satisfied way before that - they were just too good! And it was ok to over-indulge just a bit with these because the entire batch, which is nearly 2 dozen cookies, only contains 2 Tablespoons of oil - that's right no butter, no buttery spread. You won't miss it. Now, turn on the oven and get the milk...

Gluten Free Gigi's Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup gluten free flour blend* (below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons light oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup light brown sugar (loosely scooped)
Prepared egg replacer to equal 1 large egg
1 Tablespoon rice (or other plant) milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks (if desired)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and soda; whisk to blend.

In a smaller bowl, combine oil, vanilla, sugar, "egg", and milk. Stir and add to dry ingredients.

Stir dough by hand until it comes together and no dry areas appear. Add chocolate chips and chunks (if using).

Scoop tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined pan and bake for approximately 10 minutes. The cookies should turn a bit golden, but not dark around the edges and they will remain rather soft on top for a few minutes after removing them from the oven.

Cool on pan for 15 minutes (seriously) and serve warm. Enjoy!

*Gluten Free Flour Blend
2 cups white rice flour
1 cup sweet sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup millet flour
4 teaspoons xanthan gum

This recipe is linked to Simply Sugar & Gluten Free Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays

Ok, I know Valentine's Day is over, but I'm still feelin' the love. One of my favorite foodie Valentines this year was from Sunbutter - what a sweet treat to receive a jar of Natural No-Stir Creamy delicousness, packaged with adorable heart-shaped cookie cutters! (Thank you, Sunbutter, for the free product, about which I am happy to blog!). I decided to make a simple cutout cookie that nearly everyone could eat, and they turned out great! This is by far one of the easiest cutout doughs that I've ever worked with. I had some free time on Sunday, so decided to mix my dough, then refrigerate it until I was ready to bake. Monday's festivities didn't allow for cookie time, so the dough chilled until this morning. I wrapped it tightly in clear wrap so that it wouldn't dry out, and I'm happy to say that it was as pliable and moist as when I put it in the fridge. There was; however, an interesting (and shocking!) development...

My daughter, while drooling over the Sunbutter cookie dough resting in the fridge, noticed something green on the dough. How could that be?? All my fresh ingredients, my precious Sunbutter dough, how could something green  be lurking in there?? Instead of tossing the dough, I decided to investigate via Google, and I'm so happy that I did. It seems that those nice folks over at Sunbutter have addressed this issue (read about it here), and basically the chlorophyll in the seeds reacts with baking soda resulting in a green color. This can be remedied by adding a splash of lemon juice or by reducing the amount of baking soda in the recipe. I did notice that this took a day to occur in my dough, so perhaps would not be an issue had I baked on day 1. I also noticed that kneading the dough caused the color to go away almost completely. I'm not bothered by this, and am actually looking forward to utilizing this property in mid-March for St. Patrick's day...a natural green coloring - I love that!

So, here's your recipe for an allergy-friendly cutout cookie that you can share with almost everyone! Enjoy!

Sunbutter Cutout Cookies
1/2 cup Sunbutter spread
1/3 cup brown sugar, (not packed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg or egg replacer powder prepared to equal 1 large egg
2 Tablespoons water
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup white rice flour

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine ingredients in order given and stir until a stiff dough forms. If baking right away, wrap dough in clear wrap and chill for approximately 30 mintues, then roll between sheets of wax paper to approximately 1/8-inch thickness, cut into desired shapes, then bake for 8-12 minutes, depending upon the size of your cookies. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then decorate as desired.

If you're waiting a while before baking, I've kept the dough chilled for 3 days with success. Remove the dough from the fridge about 15 minutes prior to rolling out, then proceed as detailed above.

Ok, so you already know by now that I'm no decorator; however, I couldn't resist making some sports-themed goodies for this weekend's Big Game! My household is a-buzz with talk of how The Pack will fare against the Steelers - it will admittedly be a tough game, but we're hopeful that our team will prevail! And even if they don't, we'll be snacking on some primo gluten-free game day treats - including these sugar cookies! They are gluten-dairy-soy-nut-egg-free, and they have a nice "buttery" flavor. I do have a few tips for you, as this is not a "foolproof" dough:
1. Be sure to chill the dough to prevent the cookies from spreading too much during baking.
2. The baking temperature is important - I tried 375 and 350, and the spreading was too great - 325 was the ideal temp.
3. Roll the dough between sheets of wax paper to avoid using extra flour or starch when rolling. The addition of extra flour/starch actually leads to more spreading of the dough during baking.

Game Day Cut Out Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread (soy free)
1 teaspoon Egg Replacer powder (NOT mixed with water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
pinch salt

Preheat your oven to 350 and lightly spray a a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine flour, starch, salt, and egg replacer powder and stir with a wire whisk. Set aside.

With mixer, cream sugar, Earth Balance and vanilla. Slowly add flour/starch and mix until a dough ball forms. Chill the dough until firm, then roll between wax paper to approximately 1/8-inch thick. (I made my jersey template and layed it over the dough, then trimmed out my shapes with a paring knife).

Transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not brown cookies. Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Frost and decorate as desired.

Frosting
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons water
desired food colorings

Combine sugar, honey, and water to form a smooth, pourable glaze. Add colors as desired and decorate to suit your team preferences.

Recently, I discovered a new-to-me gluten-free blog, The Baking Beauties. I immediately loved the site and felt that I somehow knew Jeanine! Her down-to-earth recipes and commentary, I found engaging, and I knew that I would adopt The Baking Beauties for this month's Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger, graciously hosted by Sea of The Book of Yum.

There were several recipes of Jeanine's that I wanted to try (her Snickerdoodles, Cinnamon Sticky Buns, Hamburger Buns, ... and the list goes on), but in the interest of time during this holiday season that is flying by me like tiny reindeer, I decided to select a single recipe to try. I enlisted the help of my younger daughter in the decision-making process. It took about 30 seconds to decide that we would make Oreo Cookies. Gluten-free Oreo Cookies (find the recipe on Jeanine's site by clicking the link).

The recipe was simple to make, lots of fun, and it really delivered on taste! I cannot remember what a "real" Oreo tastes like - it's been over a decade since I've eaten one; however, my kiddos can remember, and these cookies of Jeanine's have their seal of approval in the "tastes like a real Oreo" department. And Mr. Gluten Free Gigi? Perhaps he paid the highest compliment of all by saying, "these are better than real Oreos - a truer chocolate flavor". Need I say more? Well, I will...these are SO good! I'm talkin' break out the rice milk good!

And speaking of my non-dairy milk beverage of choice, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to tell you that I used Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread in this recipe instead of butter in the cookies and in place of shortening in the filling.

Go check out Jeanine's site, and make a batch of these cookies for your holiday cookie tray. I love that the dough logs go into the freezer