ginger chocolate gluton-free cookies

When I was a girl, my mother used to bake cookies and cakes with olive oil. Not always, but sometimes. And I found it a bit embarrassing at the time. (But not as embarrassing as eggplant). However, now I find myself using olive oil in baking and though I often combine it with butter, it's also nice on its own.

The other night, my daughter was dropping by after her sewing class to pick up her bicycle, and I wanted to have a treat ready for her. So, typically, I made up a batch of cookies, not using a recipe. When I first started cooking gluten-free, twenty-five years ago when my son was diagnosed with celiac, there were no recipes in existence. And no internet to search for recipes. So I invented my own and over the years, I just became accustomed to it.

I am currently working on a recipe book of wheat free and gluten free muffins and cookies, so I do welcome any feedback on any of the recipes that I post. I recommend having these ginger chocolate cookies with a cup of orange oolong tea.

I also want to make mention of the flour mixture. It looks complicated but it really isn't. What I do is mix up ten cups of the gluten free mixture at a time. That way, I don't have to fuss around each time I bake. I change it up all the time but basically, I enjoy using millet flour, tapioca flour, rice flour, quinoia flour, arrowroot flour (in small amounts) and more recently, I'd added teff flour to my mixes. So below, you will see the combination I used for these cookies, but I've also used many other combinations.



The dry mixture includes:
1/2 cup quinoia flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 cup candied ginger chopped into small bits
1/2 cup slivered almonds
one orange peel grated (use an organic orange to avoid pesticides)

Wet:
one egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 T. orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup melted butter (or omit the butter and double up on the olive oil)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup organic sugar

Mix dry ingredients into wet.
Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Bake at 360 degrees until brown.

This rich tasting cookies melt in your mouth. And the combination of chocolate and ginger is delectable.

As my friend Wilma always says.... enjoy!