Coconut Flour in my Cookies

I have been dying to try baking with some almond flour. Unfortunately, the cheapest i've found it has been about $4.24/lb. Really?? So instead, I opted on Coconut flour which is about $3.15/lb at Winco. Still pricey for my tastes, but for those times when I want to go without gluten for a few days, it could be worth it. Little did I know how differently coconut flour reacts from almond flour! You can't substitute coconut flour for wheat flour by a 1:1 ratio. It's finicky, slow to react and unpredictable. Like my daughter right after nap-time.

Yesterday, I decided to try some cookies. Here is the recipe I used. I am not great at following directions. Especially when i'm cooking and baking. I like to switch things around and am constantly trying to improve on things. The only problem with this is that sometimes I don't know what the heck i'm doing and meals turn into things like "oops soup" and  "pasta brick" and "cookie bombs" (actually, that one was kindof yummy). So where this recipe called for a 1/4 c. of coconut oil, I subbed 1/4 c. butter. Only because coconut oil is pricey and I didn't want to use what I had. I also subbed date sugar for raw sugar and used normal-sized chocolate chips instead of minis, because I don't like minis. They never give me enough chocolate.

I have no pictures, but I can explain what happened. I mixed up the eggs, butter, sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Then I stirred in the flour. This is where things got...runny. It was like when you mix your wet ingredients for regular chocolate chip cookies, before the flour. It was not pretty. So I turned my back on it and started reading through some comments to see if I could get any tips. WAAAAY down at the bottom, there were 3 or 4 people that had my same problem. It sounded like adding more flour was the key. So I turned around, measured out 1/3 c. more flour and was about to dump it in, when...AHHHH! Guess what? The dough was thick! In the 3 minutes it took me to do some research, the flour had absorbed most of the moisture! I left a quick comment to share the info, I was so excited! What a weird substance. See what I mean about "finicky"?? and "unpredictable"? and "slow to react"??? I added about 1-2 Tbsp more flour, because it was still a tiny bit soft. But not too much! Since it's coconut flour, the dough needed to be softer than normal, but not runny. Things were looking promising! And guess what......

.....they turned out yummy! They aren't normal chocolate chippers (really, can anything compete?) but they're a really good substitute! Matt went back for seconds, and my Charlotte and nephew had 4 each. They are especially great for those who have to be gluten-free for health reasons.

So here is my modified version of the recipe. You may prefer the original, though, if you are super healthy or can't have the dairy in the butter. Happy experimental baking! :)

One more quick note: I noticed that the cookies I left on the pan for longer than about 20 mins, began sticking. So I would say to make sure you transfer them to a cooling rack or towel after they cool for a few minutes.


Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
--adapted from Liz DellaCroce @ The Lemon Bowl

- 2 eggs
- 1/4 c. butter, melted
- 1/4 c. raw sugar
- 1/2 c. coconut milk
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1/3 c. + 1-2 T. coconut flour
- 1/3 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375*F and spray 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the first 6 ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

3. Stir in the flour, giving it about 3-4 minutes to soak in the moisture. You do not need to stir the whole time. Just stir everything enough to get it incorporated, then lit it sit. Then give it another good stir.

4. Fold in your chocolate chips.

5. Make about 22-24 small dough mounds on your prepared cookie sheets.

6. Bake for about 11-13 minutes, until cookies have set and are slightly brown at the peaks.

7. Let the cookies cool on the pans about 5-10 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!