Chapter Thirty-Five

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Hot Chocolate Cookies

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Okay these cookies are pretty revolutionary. Perfectly chewy, chocolatey, marshmallowy goodness. I was pretty astonished at how these cookies turned out the first time I tried to make this recipe. You would never know these are gluten, dairy, and mostly refined sugar free. But what should know is these cookies are a PERFECT addition to your New Years Eve spread, or for any ordinary day you want to make extraordinary. Seriously, these are magic.

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As the base my usual gluten free cookie is a makeup of almond and coconut flour with coconut oil instead of butter. This for me yields the chewiest and moist cookie. I add in just a couple tablespoons of cacao powder for that light chocolatey flavor. I wanted to mimic a traditional milky hot chocolate.

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So I’ve talked about this in about three other posts but maple sugar is where it’s at. And I repeat it’s the best investment for someone getting into refined sugar free baking. All the flavor of maple syrup in a granulated form is perfect for so many bakes and it helps to reduce that sometimes unnecessary liquid in a recipe. Maple sugar is pretty amazing, and it’s my favorite as it lends that cane sugar taste more than any other unrefined sugar. And here I elevate this maple sugar slightly more by adding in molasses. I also talk about this phenomenon in another recipe, but adding molasses to maple or coconut sugar and mixing yields that same texture you get from light and dark brown sugars! It’s such a cool feeling to finally have a “light brown sugar” I can make with unrefined sugars and it also helps to create that chewy texture. However, this is totally optional in this recipe, so if you don’t want to or don't have molasses feel free to leave it out! It’s just as delicious without it.  

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So the marshmallow fluff here is where this cookie turns from refined sugar free to mostly refined sugar free. I found the cleanest one I could at my local grocery store, which was made from egg whites and cane sugar. And it’s pretty delightful. But feel free to use whichever fluff or marshmallows you’d like to create those wonderful gooey white bites. The fluff ripples is a technique I learned from Olives + Thyme blog and I incorporated it in this gluten and dairy free cookie! It yields such a beautiful final look. Just make sure to fully incorporate the fluff, it needs to be mixed in with just a few ripples to show in the final unbaked cookie dough.