The best part of Christmas at my family's house is the cookies. Each year, my family cranks out dozens of homemade cookies for a Christmas party, and then more for Christmas Day (because there are never enough left after the party).
When I was diagnosed with celiac disease in March 2023, when December rolled around, I was sad that my favorite tradition was never going to be the same. Making those family recipes gluten-free, while feasible, never had the same texture or taste. While certain cookies have improved over the years (Andes mint chip cookie recipe - the key was reducing the flour 10%), others remain difficult to convert to a GF version.
By far, the most elusive cookie has been a solid classic chocolate chip cookie. One ends up flat and overly crunchy, while the other ends up too cakey and dense. These used a flour blend that didn't taste quite right, and those definitely didn't need all that liquid.
In an effort to find the perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookie, I've decided to run an experiment (not a very scientific one) trying different recipes for a classic chocolate chip cookie, made gluten-free. My methodology involved using the same chocolate chips for each recipe (unless specified otherwise), same GF flour blend (Bob's Red Mill 1:1) aside from any specific flour requests (ex. almond flour), and if the recipe calls for refrigeration, at least 3 hours. I then had all of my family members who were home try a cookie, rate it 1-10, and describe the texture and taste. My brother, Anthony, is a cookie connoisseur (picky eater), so while his ratings are lower than everyone else's, it's because he has a precise sense of taste and tells the truth (which, as someone who hasn't eaten a gluten cookie in 2 years, is a helpful perspective!). Despite these low ratings, the average rating tends to give a good idea of the general consensus on the cookie.
You can see the distribution of everyone's individual ratings of the cookies below.
Meaningful Eats - 8.3/10
The first cookie recipe I tried was the Meaningful Eats recipe online. The recipe has over 1,000 reviews and an average rating of 4.98, making it an impressive contender for the most popular GF cookie recipe on the internet. We gave this cookie a solid 8.3 on average, with Anthony having the lowest rating of 5 and my mom with the highest rating of 10.
Anthony described it as having a nutty flavor (likely the combination of brown butter and extra almond flour), while my mom described it as a rich flavor. In terms of texture, when it came right out of the oven, it had a nice crunch on the outside and was gooey on the inside.
All in all, a solid cookie, I would maybe just substitute some of the almond flour with a more neutral-tasting flour!
Gluten Free on a Shoestring - 7.8/10
Next, I made the Gluten Free on a Shoestring recipe. Anthony liked this one better, mainly because it lacked the nutty flavor of the Meaningful Eats cookie. However, he said the texture was a bit too cakey for his liking. Personally, I liked this one more than the first one, I think mainly because of the texture, these were crunchy but also softer on the inside! My dad rated this one the same as the last, which he said was because "he just likes cookies."