Chocolate Chip Cookie For One

Well, with the first day of school under our belts, the waves of anxiety are (hopefully) starting to ease and the focus can turn to the important (and somewhat more enjoyable) things in life - forming new friendships, breaking out the new backpacks / binders / pencils and of course, bringing back the all important after school snack! Whether you're 6, 16 or 66, days at school and work are long, and some days finding time to eat means breaking up meals over the course of several hours, eating really early (for example, my lunch hour this year is 11-12!) or really late (some of my colleagues don't get their break until 2). When we do get those few coveted moments of peace to sit, sip a coffee or tea and have a bite, making those bites count is critical. 

Enter the decadent, salad-plate-sized "cookie for one". It's not a functional, meal-in-a-cookie Powerbar copycat, by any means, but it is a great way to celebrate a day of fine work by having a ginormous treat all to yourself. While the recipe is written for one cookie, I often quadruple it and freeze the "patties" raw to bake as needed. They only take about 12 minutes from frozen (7 fresh), and who doesn't love a warm cookie full of gooey chocolate chips?

While there are certainly a lot of them present, it's not all fat and carbs in this dessert. First of all, this  cookie is a definite "stick to your ribs" concoction, and comes free of the risk of blood sugar spikes by featuring no refined sugar and lots of  whole grain brown rice and teff flour. The cookies are also gluten free, nut free and vegan, making them perfect for an "allergy-safe" snack on the go.

One major tip that works for pretty much any gluten free baked good is to let the mixed dough rest at least a few minutes before shaping and baking it off. Doing this helps hydrate everything more thoroughly, ensuring moister, less "sawdusty" results. Of course, if you must have a cookie now, I'm not going to know that you baked it immediately. I'm simply passing along my two cents!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays 


Chocolate Chip Cookie For One
Adapted from http://harrietemily.com/dessert-for-one-chocolate-chip-cookie/ 
Serves 1
1 ½ tbsp amber (or raw) agave nectar
1 tbsp canola oil
1 ½ tbsp unsweetened nondairy milk (I used Coconut Dream)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch Kosher salt
pinch nutmeg
1 tbsp brown rice flour
½ tbsp teff flour
1 tbsp ground tigernuts
1 tbsp psyllium husk fibre
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp dark chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is cane-sugar sweetened)
raw sugar to top (optional)

1. Beat together the nectar, oil, milk, vanilla, salt and nutmeg until smooth.
2. Add flours, tigernuts, psyllium and baking soda, mixing well.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Cover and let rest 20 minutes (up to 1 hour).
5. Heat the oven to 350F and line a small baking sheet with parchment.
6. Pat into a circle on the parchment (this doesn’t spread).
7. Bake 7 minutes, until golden.
8. Cool completely on the sheet.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 363.7
Total Fat: 19.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 17.1 mg
Total Carbs: 50.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.8 g
Protein: 2.3 g