flourless chocolate cookies

these can be vegan and gluten-free, or not. it comes down to the chocolate chips. i discovered that most chocolate chips contain milk fat, and i made these with Ghiradelli 60% caco semi-sweet chips, which are not vegan/g-free. so the most i can say for my batch is that they’re egg-free. you could use eight 1-ounce squares of baking chocolate instead, if you have those on hand.

these are more like thin brownies than cookies. they definitely spread out, so make sure you allow space between them on baking sheets. you might have to slice them apart with a spatula if they run together. original recipe here, from Oh She Glows. i left out her coconut, but i would add it next time to give them some more thickness.

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (like almond or coconut)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 375 F. boil a cup of water. mix 4 tablespoons of this water with the flaxseed in a small bowl. set aside to gel.
2. in a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients, sugar through salt.
3. in a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: flax/water, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla.
4. add wet to dry. stir well and add the chocolate chips.
5. place spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheets sprayed with canola cooking spray. i got 36 cookies out of this. bake 25 minutes. cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. be careful, as these are a little fragile before cooled.

homemade gluten-free pizza crust

in the interest of being economical, i wanted to see how far i could stretch the gluten-free flours i bought. the brown rice flour, nearly gone, looks like it may have to be replenished most often.

i found this pizza recipe here, apparently from a book called Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus by Carol Fenster. note- don’t use vanilla almond milk and hope that the flavor will be disguised. it won’t.

1 tablespoon dry yeast
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder
1 teaspoon Italian herbs
2/3 cup warm unsweetened non-dairy milk (like coconut or almond), microwaved for a minute
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
extra brown rice flour

1. preheat oven to 425 F. in a mixing bowl, mix the yeast, flours, xanthan gum, gelatin, and herbs. then add milk, sugar, oil, and vinegar.
2. mix well. add water if it needs it, a tablespoon at a time.
3. roll out the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured cutting board. transfer to a greased pizza pan. pinch the edges.
4. bake 10 minutes. remove, add sauce and toppings, bake 20-25 more minutes.

EDIT: so these do have gelatin… i wasn’t too concerned at the time about it. i’m not sure what would be a good substitute…