Tender and Tasty Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free, Oil-Free, & Vegan)

This recipe makes a tender and soft cookie with just a few crunchy browned bits. We were pleasantly surprised at how well almond flour works with these cookies. They may be even better than chocolate-chip cookies made with wheat flour. This recipe makes about 24 cookies of moderate, though respectable, size.Ingredients:

• 4 cups of super-fine almond flour (or substitute 1 cup brown-rice flour and 1 cup tapioca flour for part of the almond flour, for a lower fat, lower calorie cookie - nutritional information posted below).
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ cup of very ripe banana (one banana)
• ½ cup of maple syrup
• 4 tsp. vanilla
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. almond extract (optional, but very good addition)
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Start the oven heating (set it for 350º F).
2. If you'll be using an insulated baking sheet (like I do), put it in the oven to pre-heat it (otherwise the first batch of cookies will be a disappointment). 
3. Sift the flour (4 Cups) and the baking soda (1 tsp.) into a mixing bowl. 
4. Smush the ripe banana into a ½-cup measuring device. (I use an entire medium banana, less the black bit on the end that took the ripeness thing a little too seriously.) 
5. Dump the banana into a shallow bowl and mash it up a bit more with a fork. Show no mercy. 
6. Add the maple syrup (½ Cup) to the mashed banana, and liquefy the combination in some way. I use a stick blender, but you could use a food processor or a regular blender or maybe even a hand mixer.
7. Add, to the banana mixture, all remaining ingredients except for the chips (4 tsp. vanilla, ½ tsp. salt, 2 tsp. vinegar, and 1 tsp. almond extract). Mix up this mess.
8. Stir the banana mixture and flour together until the goo is uniform.
9. Fold in the chips (2 cups). The dough will will seem too dry at first but keep folding — the flour will absorb the liquid eventually. 
10. Drop about two-tablespoon-size dollops onto a greased or parchment-paper-covered cookie sheet.
11. Flatten the dollops a bit. They cook better than if they are left as drop cookies — and Eliza (our cookie aficionado) prefers them flattened. 
12. Bake at 350º F for about 12-15 minutes or until they are beginning to brown.

For the almond flour, we have used Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine that we ordered from Amazon., and have also used almond flour sold at Costco (which is cheaper). Both worked well.The chocolate chips we used were Wegman's Organic. They are vegan and soy-free too! Here are the chip ingredients: Organic Sugar, Organic Chocolate Liquor, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Sunflower Lecithin.

Yes, these are high in fat due to the almond flour (mostly). But it's good fat, right? 

Here are the nutrition facts for the 3-flour version: