Delicious Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been working on perfecting a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for the last two years.  I have tried many a flour, fat, and sugar and have finally come up with the winning recipe.

Three things I was considering in settling on this recipe:
Texture: chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside.
Taste: sweet, but not too sweet, I want to highlight the dark chocolate chips.
Difficulty Level: easy to moderate.  The 'moderate' only because it requires more ingredients than the average joe cookie recipe requires, but the procedure ain't nothin' at all.

Dry Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
5/8 teaspoons baking soda (1/2 tsp. + 1/4 tsp.)
5/8 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

Wet Ingredients:
1 organic, pasture-raised egg - room temperature
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
8 tablespoons of grass-fed butter - room temperature and soft
1 tablespoon vanilla extract - alcohol free
3/4 cup coconut sugar

Add-Ins
1 cup organic dark chocolate chocolate chips (70% cocoa)
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.  In a separate larger bowl, beat together butter and coconut sugar with a hand mixer until well blended.  Continue to beat mixture while adding the egg, brown rice syrup, and vanilla extract until well blended.

Bit by bit, add the mix of dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring with a spoon.

Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Spoon out tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto a non-stick baking sheet leaving 2 inches of room between the balls.  Slightly flatten dough balls with the back of the spoon.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 9 -12 minutes.

This recipe should yield about 18 cookies.

My next endeavor is to create a gluten-free and grain-free chocolate chip cookie with a maximum of 10 ingredients, maybe less.  Stay tuned!!!

Turkey Stock

 Do not throw away that turkey carcass!  The greatest gift your Thanksgiving turkey has to offer lies within its bones....

High-quality homemade stock and broth is a valuable culinary ingredient to have on hand in your kitchen.  Meat stocks add wonderful flavor to stews, soups, gravies, and sauces and are rich in valuable minerals, amino acids, and bone-building calcium. Meat stocks are known for their immune boosting properties.  For centuries, cultures all over the world have used stocks to fend off or fight the common cold and flu. Meat stock is easily digestible.  The gelatin released through the slow and gentle cooking method heals and soothes the lining of the intestines, and protects the gut from further damage due to dysbiosis.  Sipping on warm stock throughout the day or with meals can promote healthy digestion and ease digestive disorders.  If you suffer from food allergies or are healing from Celiacs disease, incorporating homemade meat stock into your diet can promote the healing and regeneration of the intestinal lining.

To read more about the health promoting benefits of meat stock go to: http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/why-broth-is-beautiful

Or check out:
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Natasha Campbell-McBride
Nourishing Traditions, Sally Falllon

I have put together a very simple and easy-to-follow, step-by-step turkey stock recipe.  It is easy, delicious, and perfect for sipping on a cold December day....

Ingredients:
1 roasted left-over turkey carcass from Thanksgiving Day (if stuffed, rinse the cavity clean)
4-5 carrots
4-5 ribs of celery
1-2 onions
5+ garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
3 sprigs of thyme
1/4 bunch of parsley
1/4 cup of raw apple cider vinegar
sea salt
black pepper
filtered water

Getting Started: Roughly chop all of your vegetables.  If you think you might  make turkey soup from this stock, be sure to remove most of the meat from the carcass and put it aside in the refrigerator for later use.

Put it all together: Put the whole picked-over turkey carcass into a large stock pot with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves (everything, but the parsley).  Fill the pot with filtered water so that the carcass and vegetables are completely covered, about 1 gallon or so.

Suggested Add-Ins: 

Skin, Neck, Giblets, and Dark Meat

When I make any poultry stock, I always make sure to add some of the skin and meat for flavor (dark is best).  If you haven't utilized the neck or the giblets, you can add these to the stock as well.  Just throw them in with the carcass - roasted or raw.

Leeks, Celery Root, and Onion Skins

These vegetables add an earthy element that compliments the flavor of the turkey.  Add these to the stock or save them later for a turkey soup!

The Magic Step (do not skip!): Add 1/4 cup of raw apple cider vinegar to the water, turkey carcass, and vegetable mix and let sit for 1 hour before cooking.  This is an important step as it draws the minerals out of the bones and the vegetables making them available in the stock.

Boil.  Then Simmer:  Bring the stock mix to a boil over medium-high heat, and skim off any scum that rises to the top. After ten minutes at a rolling boil, cover the stock, turn down to a low heat, and let it simmer for 12-48 hours.  I suggest at least 24 hours of cooking to get a flavorful and nutrient rich stock.*  One hour before you're ready to call it done, add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

*If you live at an elevation higher than 3,000 ft., you may want to consider simmering your stock at a slightly higher heat and for a longer period of time to obtain the same amount of extracted minerals and amino acids that you would get if you were at sea level.


Drain the Stock: When the stock is finished cooking and cooled to a point where comfortable to handle, drain the stock through a fine mesh strainer so that that meat, bones, and vegetables are separated out from the liquid.

Jar the Stock: Pour the stock into quart mason jars and let cool to around room temperature.  If you plan on freezing your jars of stock, do not fill them to the brim.  Leave about 2 inches of room from the top of the jar to allow for expansion.  

Skim the Fat?: While you cool your stock, the fat will rise to the top, solidifying.   Simply skim the fat off the top with a spoon, either disposing of it or keeping it for later use.  By the way, you don't have to skim the fat off the top.  You can choose to leave it in.  The fat from the turkey has many nutrients in it.  It's all up to you.  I usually skim about 80% off and leave the rest.

Freeze it.  Use it.  When the jars of stock have cooled to about room temperature, cover them and either put them in the freezer for later use in soups, sauces, or gravies, or put them in the refrigerator to use within 4-5 days.  I usually freeze all but one, which I warm up and sip on with meals to promote digestion.  Yum!