Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

My girls and I like these for snacks. They're wholesome-healthy.

1 c. vegetable oil (I use canola)
(for fluffier cookies, you could make half of that amount coconut oil or shortening)
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
3/4 c. white sugar
Substitute for 2 eggs- I use 1 tsp. baking powder + 1 T. liquid and 1 T. vinegar, and then a little more banana than called for.
1 tsp. water
5 very ripe bananas, mashed


1 1/2 c. brown rice flour
1 1/2 c. oat flour(grind rolled or quick oats in blender)
(optional- use 1/4 c. tapioca starch, cornstarch, or potato starch instead of 1/4 c. of the oat flour, to help lighten the product)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. quick oats

12 oz. chocolate chips

Cream oil and sugars. Meanwhile in separate bowl, combine dry ingredients(flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, oats). Set aside. To oil and sugar, add egg substitute and vanilla. Beat. Then add bananas and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix. Then stir in chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets or make bars- spread in 9X 13. Bake 375 degrees. Check at 12 min.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Coconut Cookies

I am so excited about these cookies! I've had a recent quest of making wholesome cookies without oats. These have an excellent texture and are flavorful. I think, "wow!" every time I eat them! They are my favorite gluten-free, oat-free cookie yet! They have a slightly crisp, springy outside, with a moist, tender inside. They freeze well. They do not stick together, and when thawed in the microwave for a few seconds, they still have an excellent texture.

I adapted these from my Mom's recipe for whole-wheat zucchini oat cookies. I love having a variety of whole grain wheat-free, egg-free, nut-free, non-dairy cookies on hand in the freezer- from pumpkin to zucchini to banana... fruit and vegetable purees really help make great cookies without needing wheat or eggs. Having these cookies in the freezer provides quick, nutritious snacks. These cookies are flexible to adaptations- try what I first list, or substitute other items you have on hand. Experiment with various gluten-free flour mixes.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Coconut Cookies

1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup coconut oil*
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce & 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe) OR other egg substitute for 2 eggs**
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon(optional- I forgot it in my recent experiments and they were great without it)

1 1/4 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. millet
1/4 c. potato starch
1/4 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch
0R 2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour mix

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1/2 c. chocolate chips(I use Enjoy Life brand), and/or raisins

Beat oil and sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and flour. Set aside. Add vanilla and applesauce to oil and sugar. Mix baking powder, oil, and water in small container, then add to applesauce, sugar, and oil. Mix together. Add zucchini and coconut. Blend. Add dry ingredients from bowl and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips or raisins last.
Bake 375. Check at 10 min.

*coconut oil is optional- I use it because it adds a delicious dimension to the cookies, and because I think it probably improves texture versus using only vegetable oil- it is more the consistency of margarine than most oil. You could alternately use 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup shortening, or 1/2 cup non-dairy margarine sticks or spread.

*other suggested egg substitutes: 1 T. flaxseed meal + water to equal 1/3 cup; mix with fork and allow to sit and "gel" for 10 min. before adding to recipe; this is a good binder to use alternatively to applesauce. Also add 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe) This provides substitute for two eggs, applesauce is to bind and leavening is to lighten. Another suggested egg substitute: Ener-G Egg Replacer.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Oat Cookies

I adapted these from my Mom's recipe for whole-wheat zucchini oat cookies. I love having a variety of wheat-free, egg-free, nut-free, non-dairy cookies on hand in the freezer- from pumpkin to zucchini to banana... fruit and vegetable purees really help make great cookies without needing wheat or eggs. These are flavorful, moist, and nutritious enough for snacks.
These cookies are flexible to adaptations- try what I first list, or substitute other items you have on hand. What I list first is what I have made and know that I like. For example, for the margarine substitution, I do like the cookies best with some coconut oil substituted for margarine, but there are several other good alternatives.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Oat Cookies

1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup coconut oil*
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup applesauce & 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe) OR other egg substitute for 2 eggs**
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon(optional- I forgot it in my recent experiments and they were great without it)
1 1/4 cup quick oats(use 1 c. gluten-free flour blend if not using oats)
3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour(grind rolled oats in blender)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

2 cups zucchini, grated
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1/2 c. chocolate chips(I use Enjoy Life brand), and/or raisins

Beat oil and sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and flour. Set aside. Add vanilla and applesauce to oil and sugar. Mix baking powder, oil, and water in small container, then add to applesauce, sugar, and oil. Mix together. Add zucchini and coconut. Blend. Add dry ingredients from bowl and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips or raisins last.

*coconut oil is optional- I use it because it adds a delicious dimension to the cookies, and because I think it probably improves texture- it is more solid than most oil, so could allow for more fluffiness. You could alternately use 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup shortening, or 1/2 cup non-dairy margarine sticks or spread.

*other suggested egg substitutes: 1 T. flaxseed meal + water to equal 1/3 cup; mix with fork and allow to sit and "gel" for 10 min. before adding to recipe; this is a good binder to use alternatively to applesauce. Also add 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe) This provides substitute for two eggs, applesauce is to bind and leavening is to lighten. Another suggested egg substitute: Ener-G Egg Replacer.

Whole Grain Coconut-Zucchini Cookies, discussion

Last summer I adapted my mother's whole wheat zucchini-oat cookies recipe to be wheat, dairy, egg, and nut free, and my kids and I really enjoyed the result. These were a favorite while we had zucchini. However, I didn't get the recipe posted on this blog, and I lost my notes. So this summer, when I had zucchini once again, I experimented again with the recipe. This time, I tried four different adaptations- two options were made without oats. #1 made with rolled oats as called for in recipe, and oat and brown rice flour to substitute for the wheat. #2 Same as above, except 2 T. tapioca starch added in place of 2 T. of the oat flour. #3 wheat flour and rolled oats substituted with Living Without Magazine's High Fiber Blend gluten-free flour blend(with teff flour, millet flour, brown rice flour, and some starch) #4 wheat flour and rolled oats substituted with 50% brown rice flour, 25% millet flour, and 25% starch(half of that was potato starch and half was cornstarch).

I love both the oatmeal versions and the brown rice millet version! I am amazed at how good these cookies are for having no wheat, dairy, eggs, or nuts! #3 disappointed me, but my husband enjoyed them. I think they're okay, but a bit bitter. My girls love the zucchini-oat cookies. Experiment #1 and #2 seemed the same, except for the tapioca ones having a slight off taste(the tapioca starch I get from Bob's Mill, for some reason, tastes off to me each time, is it just me?) Experiment #3 is okay, but both the tapioca and teff are strong. Living Without does recommend light teff flour, and I used regular or dark. Experiment #4 is very invigorating to see the results, it's a great cookie with perfect texture, without oats, and wholesome! I know that some have issues with oats, so I am very happy to have a cookie that tastes great, is wholesome, and is wheat and oat-free! Choose a recipe and try it out!

If you can have oats, I do recommend #1- with the wheat flour being substituted by brown rice flour and oat flour. This is my personal favorite, and is also the cheapest option. Well, I know it is, anyway, by FAR, if you have a grain grinder and grind your own brown rice, and blend your own oats to make oat flour. (If you need gluten-free certified oats, perhaps this option isn't the cheapest?) If you are avoiding oats, I think the millet version ranks just barely behind the oat version overall...I think the oat version tastes more delightful("fabulous!" came to mind when I sampled the oat ones, and YUM!!! comes to mind with the millet ones), but the millet version boasts an excellent texture one step above the oat version(the oat version is a bit gummy, and the millet version is perfect in texture, I think). I am amazed each time I eat the millet version how good they are! You'll be happy with either recipe! I'll have individual posts for the oat and millet versions. On this post, however, I'm first copying my mom's recipe, so you can understand how the recipe was adapted. Then you can feel free to adapt the recipe for your needs- and share with me if you come up with another great option!

Whole Wheat Zucchini-Oat Cookies, with comments on how I adapted it:

1/2 cup margarine: substitute 1/4 cup (canola)oil and 1/4 cup coconut oil*
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs: 1/3 cup applesauce, and 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon(optional- I forgot it in my recent experiments and they were great without it)
1 1/4 cup quick oats(replace with 1 c. gluten-free flour blend if not using oats)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour: choose a wheat-free or gluten-free blend
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum**
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1/2 c. chocolate chips(I use Enjoy Life brand), and/or raisins

Beat margarine(oil) and sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and flour. Set aside. Add vanilla and applesauce to oil and sugar. Mix baking powder, oil, and water in small container, then add to applesauce, sugar, and oil. Mix together. Add zucchini and coconut. Blend. Add dry ingredients from bowl and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips or raisins last.

*coconut oil is optional. I like it because it adds a delicious dimension to the cookies, and because I think it probably improves texture- when it is solid room temperature it probably helps make fluffier cookier than oil. You could alternately use just vegetable oil(like canola), shortening, or non-dairy margarine sticks or spread.

**1/2 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour is a common rule of thumb. I used 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum in the recipes that used oats and oat flour(because oats already have binding properties). I used 1 tsp. xanthan for the recipes that didn't have oats(the millet version and the high-fiber blend version). This is because I used 2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour in these recipes.

Sugar Cookies from Living Without Magazine

The Living Without magazine December/January 2009 issue has a great recipe for sugar cookies! My toddler enjoyed decorating and eating these cookies so much that she requested them for her birthday instead of a cake! For her birthday party, we let her friends each decorate and eat their own cookie.

You can find the article online at http://www.livingwithout.com/2009/decjan09_holiday_cookies.html

Or go to http://www.livingwithout.com/, click on Articles, then Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes, then Holiday Cookies, then Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

The cookies and frosting are gluten-free, dairy-free, and have instructions to adapt cookies to be gluten and dairy-free.

I will paraphrase the directions in places, and have adapted the recipe a bit.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

1½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
1 egg (or 1½ teaspoons egg replacer* mixed with 2 tablespoons rice milk or water)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups gluten-free cookie flour mix (see below)
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Icing
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
4 tablespoons dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
2 egg whites(see below for "Vegan Icing Variation")
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring and colored sugars, optional

homebaker's note: this recipe has ended up too thin every time I've made it; I've ended up adding more flour. You can do a "test cookie"- just bake one on a tray to see what consistency you have.

Combine 1½ cups confectioner’s sugar and 1 cup shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth and slightly fluffy. Add egg replacer mixture and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine flour mix, xanthan gum, baking soda and cream of tartar.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating on low speed until thoroughly combined.
Gather up dough into a ball and chill it for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. Using a thin spatula, transfer cookies to cookie sheets. Gather up remaining scraps of dough and roll out again, cutting and rolling until you’ve used it all.

Bake cookies 10 minutes. Then cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

To make icing, combine all icing ingredients and mix until smooth. For colored icing, add a few drops of food coloring. Ice cookies while they’re still slightly warm. Then sprinkle immediately with decorative sugars. Cool completely to set.

Vegan Icing Variation

For vegan icing, combine 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, 4 tablespoons rice milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth.

TIP: If you use egg replacer instead of eggs to make cookies, follow directions up to step 4. Roll out soft dough between two sheets of parchment or wax paper until the dough is ¼-inch thick. Transfer the dough, still between parchment paper, to a cookie sheet and chill for 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let sit about 5 minutes. Remove top sheet of parchment paper. Cut out cookies with your favorite cookie cutters. Egg-free dough is slightly more crumbly, so use your hands to pinch the edges together as necessary. Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Once you’ve cut out the first round of cookies, proceed as the recipe instructs, gathering up scraps of dough, lightly flouring your work surface and rolling pin, and rolling out remaining dough and cutting cookies.

Gluten-Free Cookie Flour Mix
Makes 6 Cups

4 cups superfine brown rice flour
1⅓ cups potato starch (not potato flour)
⅔ cup tapioca flour/starch
Combine all ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This article was featured in the December/January 2009 issue.

homebaker's note:
For superfine brown rice flour, Living Without lists http://www.authenticfoods.com/. I simply use flour that I've ground from brown rice in my grain mill(Magic Mill III) at home- the mill grinds it very finely. The recipe turns out great.

Pumpkin Cookies

Adapted from my sister's collection of pumpkin recipes, "No Egg Pumpkin Cookies" I just replaced the flour cup for cup with rice and oat flours, and added tapioca flour and xanthan gum.

When I pulled these out of the oven, my kids ate lots of them! Delicious! I made one huge batch and froze them. We enjoyed them for several snacks. They are wholesome, flavorful, have a nice crispy/springy outside, and a moist, tender inside.

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed(I actually prefer a little less, maybe 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons oil

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin(or pumpkin puree)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c raisins or non-dairy chocolate chips

Beat together wet ingredients and sugar. Sift together dry ingredients, then stir into wet ingredients until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips or raisins. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 350 12-15 min. Makes around 3 dozen.

A variation:

The recipe above turned out just slightly gummy, I thought(sticks to teeth and top of mouth a bit). Great cookies, but I wondered how I could improve the cookies to not be gummy at all. Here's a variation that didn't stick to the top of the mouth. I added some precooked white cornmeal. One drawback for me- the corn flavor occasionally comes out a little too strong.

For dry ingredients: cut oat flour down to 1/2 cup. Then in a 1 cup measure, add 1/2 cornmeal, 2 T tapioca starch, 1 tsp xanthan gum, and enough rice flour to fill up the cup. Add spices and baking powder/soda in same amounts as above.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I just adapted my mom's recipe of choc chip oatmeal cookies to be wheat, dairy and egg free. It doesn't have nuts, either. I encourage you to experiment in turning favorite recipes into something you can eat without the allergens you react to. It's very satisfying and inspires hope! I'm beginning to feel that most any recipe is adaptable. Some more than others.
It looks to me that oatmeal cookie recipes are good canditates for adapting to be wheat free. Rice flour and oats bake well together, especially when additional ingredients help to lighten, moisten, and flavor the mix. I use canola oil instead of margarine, rice flour instead of wheat flour, 1/2 very ripe banana instead of egg, and add a couple teaspoons tapioca flour to help make up for lack of gluten in the rice flour. I get a nice chewy cookie with a slight banana flavor that complements the vanilla and oats. Enjoy!

3/4 cup canola oil(or other vegetable oil)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 extra ripe banana
1/4 c water(may not need this, check consistency of dough and add this at the end, testing consistency after a tablespoon or two at a time, if the mix is too dry or falls apart too easily)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cup quick oats
1 c rice flour (I use brown rice, it's much more nutritious than white rice flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz. non-dairy choc chips

Cream sugars and oil. Add banana and vanilla and beat. Mix together oats, flour, b soda and salt, then add to the sugar mixture. Add water if needed. Dough won't be as thick as most cookie doughs, and is a little prone to falling apart. Just drop dough into little mounds on baking sheet. Bake at 375 8-10 min. Cookies will be crisp if baked longer. Take out the cookies when they still appear slightly "wet." The taste and texture are very delicious! Amazing they are wheat free.