Chewy Gluten & Dairy-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I might just have to claim it. These have got to be the easiest chocolate chip cookies ever to make, and it’s a bonus that they’re gluten & dairy-free, so suitable for those with dietary restrictions also. I’ve tweaked and tweaked this recipe and then quite happily tried it over many cuppas (tough gig…somebody’s gotta do it!) until I was happy that I’d landed on the perfectly soft and chewy chocolate chunk cookie. These throw-it-all-in-one-bowl cookies are fantastic lunch box fillers as you can confidently pack them off to school knowing their lunchbox treat is going to help keep them sustained for longer, with the almond meal packing a powerful protein punch.

Ingredients:

2 cups of almond meal or almond flour

⅓ cup of coconut sugar

½ teaspoon of baking soda

¼ teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 large free-range egg

2 tablespoons of room-temperature coconut oil (butter can be used if you would prefer)

½ cup of roughly chopped dark Whittakers chocolate (or any other dairy-free chocolate)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper
2. Combine the almond meal, coconut sugar, baking soda and salt
3. With a fork, mix in the vanilla, egg and coconut oil until fully combined.
4. Stir in the chocolate chunks
5. Scoop approximately 1 tablespoon of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Continue, making sure that the cookies are at least an inch apart from each other.
6. Press the cookies down lightly with a fork
7. Bake the cookies for approximately 9-11 minutes, or until the sides and tops are just starting to lightly brown.
8. Remove from the oven and after a couple of minutes, place onto a cooling rack.
9. Store in an airtight container or you can make a double batch, and freeze them for even easier lunchbox snacks come Monday mornings!

Nutrition Bite: Dairy-Free Chocolate: To make these cookies dairy-free, I use Whittakers dark chocolate. Not all dark chocolate is dairy-free, but it’s good to know that the Whittakers range of dark chocolate with 50% cocoa content and above are dairy-free, making them also suitable for vegans! You can also buy dairy-free chocolate chips from the supermarket, but I just personally prefer the richness of the Whittakers dark chocolate range. If you’re not dairy-free, any dark chocolate chunks or chips will also work beautifully in this recipe!