Having your 11 year old daughter on a gluten free diet most of the time is challenging, especially when packing school lunches. Though most food companies are getting on the gluten free train, and I can find some good things at retailers, it is all hit or miss. Most of the gluten free products are packed with white carbohydrates like potato starch and white rice flour. Nutritionally, this is not good for a growing girl. A lot of the baked goods are dry as sand paper, with little flavor and grainy texture.
So I decided to make my little boo (who’s not so little these days) a batch of chocolate chips for her lunches. These went over really well. I added some sea salt, similar to some other chocolate chips I made last year. I also wanted to use up some tangerines that have been lingering in the fruit bowl since Easter. So I gave these cookies a bit of an orange kick, and I think it made these yummies extra special.
Orange Infused Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten free, optional)
Ingredients:
Zest of an orange or tangerine
3 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (or regular flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. large grain Grey Sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs, set out for 10 minutes to take the chill out
1 1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375˚. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the flour blend with baking soda and salt. Set aside.
With a stand mixer, whip the butter until creamy. Whip the sugar into the butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, eggs, orange juice and zest and mix until well combined. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.
Drop the batter in tablespoons 2″ apart. The cookies do spread out quite a bit. Bake until golden and set, about 8 minutes. I flip the sheets in the oven halfway through.
Let cookies sit on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooking racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for a week.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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