My youngest daughter asked to make cookies the other day. Only she is very detail-minded, so it wasn’t just a simple request. They had to be animal-shaped, chocolate, and no frosting or sprinkles. I wasn’t quite sure I had a cookie recipe that would meet all those requirements, so we improvised.

My version is based on an Elizabeth Barbone recipe for Chocolate Graham Crackers. We opted to make ours cut-out cookie-style, as opposed to the traditional rectangle graham cracker size and I changed the ingredients up a bit.

As I pondered out loud whether I should substitute honey for the corn syrup in the original recipe, my daughter responded, “Corn syrup isn’t healthy, so we should just use honey.” She’s obviously paid attention to our effort to exclude high fructose corn syrup from our diets. It made me laugh to get nutritional advice from the 3 year old, but I figured she had a point, so we opted for honey.

This recipe is super easy to throw together in a food processor, although if you don’t have one I think a stand mixer or a lot of stirring with a wooden spoon should suffice. I didn’t bother to refrigerate the dough, and it was very easy to handle. In fact, my daughter did most of the rolling and cutting by herself. If you use very intricate cutters you might want to refrigerate the cut outs 10 minutes or so before baking, just to keep their detailed designs while baking. But we aren’t that picky or patient at my house.

These are fun cookies to make with the kids and with no raw eggs, eating the cookie dough isn’t a concern. If you use mini cutters (I found Wilton Mini Noah’s Ark Metal Cookie Cutters
at a craft store) they are very reminiscent of the store-bought animal shaped crackers that aren’t gluten-free.

I like to bake them on silpat mats, but parchment or a well-greased cookie sheet should work too. These can be baked until just evenly browned, producing a soft cookie or baked a few minutes longer, resulting in the traditional graham cracker texture.

I think these would make great crumbs to use for a chocolate crust for your favorite desserts. Yummy!

Chocolate Graham Cracker dough cut into shapes.

Mini Chocolate Graham Crackers, a hit with the kids!

Chocolate Graham Crackers
Don’t go too far from your oven, especially if you make small crackers, as they burn quickly.

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1/4 cups cornstarch
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons honey
• cocoa & cornstarch mixed for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
2. Play all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor; pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse several times or until there are no large clumps of butter remaining. Add the milk and honey and pulse until a soft dough forms.
3. Place a piece of parchment or silpat mat on the counter and lightly dust with the cocoa/cornstarch mixture. Place dough on top and roll into a rectangle to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles or using cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Place on prepared pans and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on size and desired crispness (but be careful not to burn them). Remove pan from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Cooking With Kids, Desserts egg-free cracker, gluten free chocolate cookies, gluten-free chocolate graham crackers

My youngest sister loves to bake, so when she recommends a recipe, I am pretty sure it’ll be a hit.  Recently she emailed me a recipe for what she termed “the best chocolate cookies I have  ever made.” Although she had my complete attention at “best chocolate” there was one problem, this was a Southern Living recipe, full of gluten. She figured I might be able to adapt it for my family.

With three kinds of chocolate, I was a bit skeptical of attempting to create a gluten free version. I mean, who wants to waste chocolate if things go awry?

Well, guess what folks? I was successful. And let me tell you, these are the best chocolate cookies I have ever made. They are part brownie, part cookie, entirely delicious. I love brownies and I love cookies, so it’s a win-win dessert in my book.

My kids loved them, but I must admit, my husband said they were a bit too chocolaty for him. Oh bother. Too chocolaty? Isn’t that like saying too many pairs of shoes or something? Ridiculous.

These really are wonderful cookies, even warm right out of the oven. My oldest daughter called them “comfort cookies.” One bite and I am sure you’ll agree.

The original recipe was called Double-Chocolate Brownie Cookies, but I really don’t understand why, as there are three kinds of chocolate; so I renamed them accordingly.

If you need a chocolate fix, fire up your oven, grab a glass of milk and enjoy.

Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies, pretty and delicious.

Tripe Chocolate Brownie Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate squares
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
2. In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Cook over medium-low heat until melted and smooth; stirring often. Set aside to cool; about 20 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar; mix well. Add vanilla, baking powder and salt; mix until combined. Gradually stir in rice flours, cornstarch and xantham gum until blended. Pour in melted chocolate and mix well. Add milk chocolate chips, and walnuts if using, and stir to incorporate into batter.
4. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes, do not over bake. The cookies may look gooey in center. Allow to cool 2-3 minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Desserts gluten free brownie cookies, gluten free chocolate cookies

With September just around the corner, I am guessing everyone is in Back to School mode and needing some gluten free snack and lunchbox ideas. So I thought I would post a fabulous lunchbox treat, chocolate pixies.

Chocolate Pixies are old-fashioned, classic cookies. They are a lot like a brownie, but shaped like a cookie. They have slightly crisp edges, soft and chewy in the middle, with plenty of sweet, chocolate flavor. And they are rolled in confectioners’ sugar to boot.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, so it will take a few minutes to roll all these cookies. They are a bit messy to make, so kids will love to help! And they look very cute. They’ll stay soft several days if stored in an airtight container, if your family doesn’t eat them all first.

This recipe is almost identical to the other chocolate pixie recipes I have seen, of course the all purpose flour has been replaced with gluten free flours, but the remainder of the recipe is unchanged. You’ll have a very traditional tasting chocolate pixie that the whole family will enjoy. And they make a great rainy day or weekend project with the kids. Happy gluten free baking.

The dough rolled into balls and then coated in powdered sugar.

Chocolate Pixies after baking, aren't they cute?

Gluten Free Chocolate Pixies

I have made these without the sweet rice flour, just add 2 more TB of white rice flour. And although they taste wonderful as written, chopped walnuts or mini chocolate chips would be great additions.

• 1 1/2 cups white rice flour (I like to use superfine rice flour)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 TB sweet rice flour
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) or shortening
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate and butter or shortening, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.
2. Using a stand mixer or wooden spoon to stir by hand, add sugar and blend until smooth. Add eggs and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. The dough should look like thick brownie batter.
3. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours or overnight (I speed up this process by throwing it into the freezer for a few minutes)
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Roll dough into tablespoon size balls, roll each ball into the confectioners’ sugar. Place on cookie sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch and cookies have a crackled appearance.
6. Allow cookies to cool 3-5 minutes before removing from sheet; allow to cool on wire rack.  Store in airtight container.

Cooking With Kids, Desserts gluten free chocolate cookies, gluten free chocolate pixies