You don’t know fear until you’re a parent. Or so they say. I have no idea who they are, but I do know they must be parents because this statement is truer than true can be. We all go on living our lives in monotonous little bubbles, where everything stays the same mostly. We wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for school/ready for work. The day passes by mostly like any other day, except for the odd occasion when we break from routine. But then bamn, in an instant everything changes. Without trying to sound too melodramatic (my family will tell you this is my forte you see), there is nothing more fear inducing than driving your baby to hospital, in the dark, with no idea of where you are going and what you will be greeted by at the other end. I secretly wiped the tears from my face the whole drive into the city, trying my best not to let him see. I assured him everything was going to be fine, when really I had no clue and inside I was preparing myself for the worst. I was so panicked that I turned off the wrong exit ramp and even started to go down a one-way street, only to be greeted by the headlights of an oncoming taxi. I’m not the most confident city driver at the best of times (where I’m from we don’t even have traffic lights and the first round-a-bout was only put in a few years ago) and will usually study a map like I’m being tested on it, before venturing out of my comfort zone. But there simply wasn’t the luxury of time, on that particular night.
Thankfully this is where the drama ended, well mostly. After a few hours, the doctors in emergency had ruled out what they had initially thought to be the problem, and come 1am, Kye and I stumbled, bleary-eyed back into our own quiet house. Shattered and hungry. We ate slices of bread, straight from the oven where it had cooked a few hours earlier, smeared with butter and then both fell into the deepest sleep we had had in over 3 nights. The pain my baby felt still lingered for a few more days and nights and we are still no closer to finding out it’s cause. But he’s smiling again, happy and laughing. And I am so, so thankful.
A few days before the drama began I was doing my usual skoot-around the blogs I love to read when I saw Winnie’s post featuring Shauna’s chocolate chip cookie recipe from her new book, Gluten-free Girl Everyday. I’ve been hearing about these amazing cookies for quite some time now (her book is still on my wish-list of soon to buy books), and knowing I had everything I needed to make them (albeit with a few adjustments to accommodate the flours/sugars/chocolate I had at hand), even right down to the soft butter that had sat out overnight on the bench accidentally, I closed down the computer and jumped straight into the kitchen. I emerged 20 minutes later with these amazing cookies. I made one tray in regular-sized cookies and the other in little mini bite-sized ones for the kids lunch boxes, which I froze in little zip-lock bags to last the week. They have one last day of cookies to go, tomorrow. I’d better get onto making my next batch me thinks.
chocolate chunk cookies
The original recipe calls for shauna’s wholegrain flour mix (a mix of teff/buckwheat/millet flour) but as I was all out of millet flour and because I’m not a huge fan of it in sweet recipes, I used quinoa flour instead. I left out the nuts, so the kids could take these to school and I just used the half a block of Whittakers Dark Chocolate I had sitting in the pantry. You could, by all means add more than what I have.
Makes 29-ish cookies
1/2 cup (70g) teff flour
1/2 cup (70g) buckwheat flour
1/2 cup + 3 teaspoons (70g) quinoa flour
1 teaspoon psyllium husks
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
115g butter, softened
1/2 cup (100g) packed muscovado sugar
1/2 cup (100g) unrefined raw sugar, blended*
1 large free-range egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
125g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease or line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.
Place flours, psyllium, salt, baking powder and soda into a bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine. In another bowl cream butter and sugars using a wooden spoon or an electric hand-beater until light and fluffy, beat in egg and vanilla. Fold through flour mixture and chopped chocolate. I usually tend to get rid of the wooden spoon after the first few mixes and get my hands in there. Take 1 tablespoonful of mixture and shape into a ball, place onto the tray and flatten slightly. Repeat until you have shaped all the dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just lightly golden around the edges. If you prefer a slightly firmer cookie, leave them in the oven a few minutes longer. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool further, or dig in while still warm. Store airtight for 2-3 days, or freeze in zip-lock bags for later.
*I blend unrefined raw sugar in a blender until a fine powder forms, so it dissolves better when creamed with the butter.
Adapted from Shauna’s recipe in her new book Gluten-free Girl Everyday, as seen over on Healthy Green Kitchen.
42 Responses
I'm sorry to hear about that, Emma – it must have been so scary. Glad everything has worked out, though, and these cookies look lovely! x
Thanks Emma xx
These look delicious! Thank you for the recipe. And glad to hear all is ok with the little one. Cheers
Thanks Peter xx
Sheesh Emm. I have about a zillion types of flour in my cupboard. But, teff flour? Seriously? 🙂
Haha, I know, I know. It's not the easiest flour to come across down these ways. You could get away with using 70g of another gluten-free flour in place of it, although the texture and colour will differ from these cookies here. I'm sure they'll still be yum xx
I love the look of these. Even have all the flours. What I don't have is psyllium. Is it crucial or can I just leave it out?
Hey Tania, when Winnie made these she left it out and her cookies looked fine, albeit slightly more spread out than mine.
Ah, I'm a serious map-studier before I have to drive anywhere new as well. Can't imagine your fear with all of the added worries on top of that. Glad you made it through that scary night and that your little guy is doing better, Emma. And cookies! Nothing helps to transition back to the norm better than delicious chocolate chippers. xo
Thanks Laura, glad to know I'm not the only map-studier out there! xx
Oh Emma!!! What a scary night for you – the sick child, the wrong turn – it must have been terrible. Nothing quite prepares you for these moments but I'm so glad everything has turned out OK. On a brighter note, these biscuits look fab. I'm going to make them with my little ones next week xx
Thanks so much Christina, enjoy the cookies xx
I'm so sorry you had such an awful ordeal, but good to hear that things seem to be back on track now. These look and sound amazing – will have to try to track down the right flours and give them a go!
Enjoy love xx
Glad to here your both on the mend:)Cookies will be in our lunch boxes!!(not till Sept 5 here,summer vacation here still)thanks Emm.
Ah yes summer vacation!? 🙂 Enjoy the rest of it while you can xx
Wow, these were amazing! I used rice flour instead of teff and they turned out so good. Just like regular chocolate chip cookies with a perfect texture, but a lot more filling thanks to the nutritious flours.
Yay, I'm so glad you made them already! Aren't they awesome?
Gluten free? Great recipe to keep for my friend Jan. She has a big sweet tooth. 🙂
I can't imagine anything more terrifying for a parent than a nightime drive to the hospital. I'm so glad that Kye is recovering though – I'm sure these cookies put a big smile on his face xo
They sure did! 🙂 xx
Oh how terrifying for you. I'm so glad that he's smiling and doing better, I hope someone's looking after you too! Xx
Thankfully Si (hubby) arrived home a few days later from working up North. xx
I think I shall try these tonight for the weekend cookie tin. So glad your little boy is on the mend. Fingers crossed you won't ever have to do the one way street drama again
Yes indeed! xx
I am so glad everything was ok with your kiddo, and that you loved the cookies. xoxo
Thanks Winnie! And thanks heaps for sharing Shauna's recipe, I can't wait to get my hands on the whole book 🙂 xx
Long time lurker, first time commenter! I feel your pain – I had to take my baby to emergency this week for suspected meningitis. He is 20 now but the feelings are still the same! Couldn't find the car park, didn't have enough coins for the ticket machine, it was dark etc – it all adds to the stress of the situation. But fortunately everything was OK. It makes you appreciate what you've got though!
Just ordered some teff flour, so off to make cookies!
Bronwyn
Oh I'm so sorry to hear you went through all of this recently too! Glad to hear your baby's better too (mine's 5, so technically not a baby either, but they will always be in our eyes eh?).
xx
Oh no, what a scary evening for you and your little one. 🙁 I am terrible at driving in unfamiliar places when I'm in a normal frame of mind; I cannot even imagine how I'd handle it under more dire circumstances. So glad to hear that things are ok and back to normal! xo
I was on a kick of experimenting with non-wheat flours in cookies earlier this summer, and I loved almost everything I made. (Buckwheat especially being a new favorite.) I will have to try these asap. (:
Buckwheat's awesome eh? xx
Yum, these cookies look delicious. Do you know, is there anything I could replace the butter with (ghee, or coconut oil)?
We are okay with butter every now and then, so that's what I mostly use in baking. I've only made these using butter, but I'd totally say try out either ghee or (solid) coconut oil if you feel like experimenting. xx
Oh Emma, I'm so sorry to hear about your scare with Kye. It must have been so horrible! I'm glad to hear he's feeling better. As for the cookies, they look fantastic, and deliciously comforting. I'd love one with a cup of tea.
Oh you poor things, I certainly hope they can figure it all out and there are no more episodes. Cookies are great comfort food and these sound yummy indeed x
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe, it's tough finding a good sweet that is gluten free!
Oh Emma, I feel for you, please do let us know how things are going now. I so hope that Kye is back to health and pain-free.
I'm thinking that the cookies should be perfect with ghee. I may test it out tomorrow and let you know. Paloma began kindergarten today, so we need good shack ideas all the time. Thank you!
Thanks Anya, he's much better now. Got some tests later in the week, but have my fingers crossed it was just some crazy virus which has now passed. Good luck with Kindergarten! Lotsa love xx
Good call with leaving out the nuts, can never be too careful with little ones at school.
Oh Blimey! You poor thing. I'm glad he's better now.
I too am a 'plan ahead-er' when it comes to journeys – it is good to know I'm not the only one 🙂
This looks really yummy! I can't wait to try it out 🙂
What a delightful post! I loved reading it, even though i can't have chocolate. . .long live cookies!