CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Think of your mom’s chocolate chip cookies, can you smell them coming out of the oven? Can you taste the warm chocolate? Mmmmm. Oh i’m sorry, am I making you hungry for cookies? Teehee my bad, my sweet tooth tends to take over these dessert posts. I know everyone says that their mom has the best chocolate chip cookies, but in my family three generations have been able to say that about the same recipe. My great grandmother, on my mom’s side, Evelyn Odegaard-Howard passed down her recipe and it has been used ever since. It’s important to note that I have no clue where Great Grandma Evelyn got her chocolate chip cookie recipe. My Grandma, Evelyn’s daughter, doesn’t even know, but if you ask anyone in the family we all agree her recipe is by far the best. Now I am not saying drop all that you know about chocolate chip cookies and immediately convert to my family’s recipe, but if you ever want to branch out and try a new one I am the first to say: “Give this one a try.”
Like many recipes in our family this one was not originally gluten free. As we do with most recipes, we simply made a few conversions to make this recipe gluten free. These cookies are incredible! They get a little crunch on the outside, but are soft and gooey on the inside. To make them gluten free, all you have to do is substitute the regular flour for gluten free flour. An added bonus is that instead of butter we use Crisco in our cookies. If you substitute dark chocolate chips for the semi-sweet on the recipe, then the cookies are 100% gluten free and dairy free. These cookies are a great example that through a couple easy substitutions anything can be made gluten free. As Mom always says: “Don’t mourn what you can’t have, just find a way to make what you love gluten free.” By doing so you will be able to live your best gluten free lifestyle.
So often I find myself searching for new dish inspirations, and I come across these gluten free recipes with so many random ingredients that can only be found in niche grocery markets. I see these ingredients and think to myself about when I would ever use them again, unless to remake the recipe. I think this is wasteful of energy, time, money, and at the end of the day the other 3/4 of that random ingredient you bought and never used again. Simplicity is key, work smarter not harder. You don’t always need that one crazy ingredient the gluten free version of your favorite food calls for. If you have a recipe you really love and want to convert it to gluten free, use it! Just look for places substitutions can occur. Cooking and baking, like art, requires creativity and heart no matter the recipe. Have fun in the kitchen remaking what you love, gluten free. This is how my family knows that everything can be made gluten free. Enjoy the pictures of our cookies below, and if you have questions about getting the recipe please feel free to reach out.
Until next time,
Brynn
