And then I received some lovely samples from Oh! Nuts. You may remember the Cashew Ginger Granola Bars I made with their gorgeous cashews. Well, they also sent me a bag of their blanched almond flour and when I finished off the last of my Trader Joe’s almond meal, I opened it up. I instantly noticed a difference. It was much, much finer and since it was ground without the skins, it was paler in colour. And when I baked with it, I was more than a little impressed. It baked differently and the final product had a much finer, more flour-like texture. Since it doesn’t have gluten, I still had to compensate for that and add more binders and leaveners, but ultimately, it made a huge difference to the quality of my baked goods.
Now that I finally see the difference, I decided to tackle chocolate chip cookies again. The thing about baking without sugar is that it is difficult to mimic some of sugar’s qualities. Replicating the sweetness is the easy part. In that holy trinity of baking, flour, sugar and butter, there is something magical that happens that allows cookies to spread and become crispy and chewy at the same time. I just haven’t found a way to to make anything low carb and gluten free that even compares. Until now.
These were originally conceived to be breakfast cookies, and I thought that the dried cranberries and walnuts would make them more hearty. But I tasted the batter partway through and it was wonderful but rich, so I thought I should make them smaller and more dessert-sized. This is not to say that you couldn’t eat them for breakfast, because I will confess that I did. It’s just that they seemed more like dessert to me. I also used some grain-sweetened chocolate chips I found at the grocery store as I didn’t have the time or the patience to make my own low carb chocolate chips and these had about half the carbs of regular semisweet chips. And at the last minute, I decided to make them with coconut oil in place of the butter.
The Results: These cookies are phenomonal (or were phenomenal, because they didn’t last long). I would be lying if I said they were just like conventional flour-and-sugar chocolate chip cookies. They don’t have the same texture at all, and they don’t spread and get all crispy/chewy. But they are rockin’ their own special thang and it is a very delicious thang indeed. Because of the coconut oil, they almost melt away in your mouth as you bite into them. And the cranberries give a sharp little tartness that offsets the richness of the almond flour, walnuts and chocolate.
If I had more than two thumbs, I would give these more than two thumbs up. They aren’t just great low carb cookies – they are great cookies all around! I will be making these again for certain. Now, the tough part is that unsweetened dried cranberries are hard to come by. You can make your own, as I did before Christmas, with the recipe HERE. And I had some left over, which is what I used in these cookies. But in place of that, consider using fresh cranberries chopped in small pieces. The juice may run a little but I think it would work just as well.
Cranberry Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups almond flour
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
16 drops stevia extract
1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries (or fresh, finely chopped)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup low carb chocolate chips (or chopped high % cacao chocolate)
Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, erythritol, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Stir in egg, oil, vanilla and stevia until thoroughly combined. Stir in cranberries, walnuts and chocolate chips.
Form by hand into 1-inch balls, and place on baking sheet. Flatten with palm. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until just starting to brown on top.
Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 18 cookies. Each cookie has 8.2 g of carbs total, but only 5.2 g if you subtract erythritol.
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what is the nutritional value per cookie? Calories, fat etc?
Thanks
You will have to enter the ingredients into some nutritional software. Thanks.
I’ll check out the different almond flours. I’ve always used Bob’s Red Mill, but maybe that’s too heavy. I made a recipe last night that called for 8 oz. of almond flour…NOT 1 cup. It makes a HUGE difference in the amounts.
Yes, the almond flour makes a huge difference. Honeyville is much finer and your dough would not be dry.
My dough is dry. Is it supposed to be moist and hold together like a “regular” cookie dough?
Any idea about calories/cookie? I may just put it into my cookbook on FatSecret. The site figures it out.
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WORK ON BRINGING US WONDERFUL TREATS!
Thought you’d like to know your image is being used here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/130726121/chocolate-chip-cranberry-cookies-gluten?ref=shop_home_active
Total agreement with Janet and Kicking Carbs–fantastic low carb cookies, the best I've ever made. I love wanuts, I love cranberries, and I love dark chocolate, and they all come together perfectly in this tender little cookie. These rarely last two days in my house since I can't keep away from them. Thank you!
Ahhhhhhhh.mazing!!!!!! These are hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made, regardless of ingredients…totally the best ever! I used Honeyville almond flour, Truvia for the erythritol, and 1/2 tsp Stevia plus for the stevia drops. Dough seemed dry so I added 1 TBSP almond milk…glued it all together perfectly. Your recipes are my favorites – please keep them coming!
I want these! They look spectacular, seriously. Great flavors, too! I need to use more almond flour and coconut oil in my baking!
Oh, wanted to add, I made them bigger ( I think) which may have helped them hold together.
No 1" balls, more like 2".
M
I made them! They are good. I had to adapt the recipe as I didn't have coconut oil (used butter) or xanthan (sp?) gum. I was worried they wouldn't turn out, but they did and they held together well.
I posted a pic and how I made them on my blog if anyone wants to see.
Thank you for the recipe. This is going to see regular use at our house!
M
be careful of making without xanthum! your cookies may end up quite thin and brittle. love this recipe! saving it to my online cookbook at http://cookmarked.com !
WOW. These look amazing!
I am going to make these without Xanath Gum as I don't have any. Either tonight or tomorrow. They look so delish!
I have Honeyville almond flour, I wonder how it compares?
M
I've been loyal to TJ's almond meal for a while, but thank you for the tip on Oh Nuts – I'll have to try it! I've enjoyed their other products.
A beautiful cookie and so colorful. I would have had a couple for breakfast for sure. 😉
I'm going to have to try the almond flour you recommend. I've been using one I find at a restaurant supply store near me and it's from blanched almonds but the grind just isn't fine enough for me, especially when making macarons.
I love cranberries in cookies! These sound awesome.
Beautiful photos as per usual. Good job – sounds lovely!
I love learning about almond flour, I keep learning about it from all your lovely recipes!!! Thank you for this beautiful recipe, it really does sound fantastic:-)
Hugs, Terra
These cookies LOOK phenomenal! I can only imagine how they tasted!