This recipe has been adapted from an Scharfen Berger chocolate recipe. I didn’t have their chocolate, but I did use the 72% Belgian chocolate bar I talked about in an earlier post. And of course, I converted it from gluten-full to gluten-free.

Today has been an interesting day. First, two failed bread recipes. That was a real bummer. Then, I tried to convert Paula Deen’s chocolate chip cookie recipe and that was also a total fail. I won’t bore you with those pictures. They looked like melted pancakes on the baking sheet. But, I persevered because I wasn’t about ready to have a complete flop of a baking day.

Boy am I glad I hung in there! These are wonderful. My newly gluten-free husband will be thrilled that I’ve converted a great chocolate chunk cookie recipe. They are very lightly crisp on the outside, and gooey and soft in the middle.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/2 Cups Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 1/2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

3/4 Cup Dairy Free Butter (I use Soy Free Earth Balance)

1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed

3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Large Eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 Cups Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped (at least 72% and dairy free)

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees ( I use a convection oven)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Measure the flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, cream the butter and sugars until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Blend well and scrape down sides.

With mixer on low, add the flour mixture and beat just until fully incorporated, scrape down bowl and add chocolate chunks. Mix until fully incorporated into dough, about 20-30 seconds.

Drop rounded Tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart (I did 6 per sheet) and bake for 13-15 minutes. Do not over bake, as they will become too crisp and you will not have the soft middle. Cool on wire racks and store at room temperature in airtight container.

You can trust me when I tell you that these are good, really good. Because I could pretty much live my whole life without eating a chocolate chip cookie. I’ve never really liked them. They are either too soft, too crisp, or have too much chocolate and I end up eating around the chocolate chunks and throwing them away.

But these – these are delicious, I’m shocked, and pretty happy with myself considering the bread fiasco and failing at converting Paula Deen’s cookies. Ha!

For those of you who might be considering trying the gluten-free lifestyle, I thought I would let you know how it’s going for my husband.

He is a pretty healthy 44-year-old who exercises on a regular basis. He also has Hashimoto’s disease (thyroid) which is known to be linked to gluten intolerance and Celiac’s. He has exercise induced asthma (sometimes worse than others)  which is difficult when he loves to run, mountain bike, and ski. For the past two to three years he has also had some issues with inflammation in his back that is exasperated by exercise, sometimes forcing him to take a break from activities that he enjoys. Within 1 week of going off of gluten he had zero tightness in his lungs while running (even long distance – over 10 miles), he felt more energetic, and after two weeks off of gluten all pain in his back was gone. Going off of gluten isn’t a cure-all for everything that ails you, but it’s certainly something to consider. He’s had one or two bouts when his back pain has returned…but, that was after ingesting gluten while he was traveling out of town.

Inflammation in the body causes all kinds of issues. If you can tackle it, it’s worth it. It’s linked to heart disease, auto immune diseases, intestinal issues, and many cancers. It’s also painful. Swollen joints, stiff joints, headaches, migraines, skin disorders…I could go on. If you’re having any of these issues, I challenge you to go allergen free – gluten first for 90 days, then dairy and gluten for 90 days, 180 days total. You will learn a lot about how what we ingest on a regular basis takes a toll on our bodies. Things we think we can digest and process just fine end up being the root of many of our medical issues. We’ve just been putting those things in our bodies for so long it’s difficult to see it. Once you’ve been off of it for a few months, then try to add it back into your diet, if it’s bothering you, most likely you will notice a reaction within the hour and certainly by the next day.

For me, with gluten it is within 60 minutes. Stiff neck, tight joints, headache, feeling like I’ve been drugged with a sleeping pill, and extreme lethargy the next day. With dairy, it’s within 30 minutes. My whole body swells up as if I’ve eaten a weeks worth of salt, stomach is bloated – like Thanksgiving dinner bloated, breasts are sore within 30 minutes, and I am almost guaranteed 3 days of being sick and at least one day with a major migraine.

Sounds extreme, I know. And you may think it’s all in my head or allergen free living is a new “trend” now. But believe me, I kept a food diary for a year and a half. Was plagued with shingles every other month for two years (food allergies tax your immune system), vertigo, migraines, and felt horrible until I slowly started to figure out what was going on and changed my diet.

If you’re suffering, take control of your health. Ignore all the hoopla and the eye rolling from friends and family  when you take a chance and change your diet (there will be some of that and yes, it’s very frustrating)  .

But guess what? They don’t live in your body. Get strong and healthy.

You owe it to YOU to have a healthy, happy, life!