Gluten Free Dutch Cocoa Cookies: Laura K. Curtis

Once again my mystery and chocolate worlds collide! Today Laura K. Curtis is guest posting a fabulous recipe for Gluten-Free Dutch Cocoa Cookies! Laura K. Curtis is a chocoholic and writer. She lives in Westchester county, New York, with her husband and two wild Irish Terriers, who have taught her how easily love can coexist with the desire to kill. Her first novel, Twisted, comes out in November from Penguin/InterMix.

LAURA K. CURTIS:

I used to eat a full package of Archway’s Dutch Cocoa Cookies in a single sitting. This is not something I am proud of, it’s simply fact. In the terminology of the old Weight Watchers, they were “red light” foods. Once I took a bite, I just couldn’t stop eating until they were all gone.

Eventually, I had to stop buying them. Even walking down the cookie aisle was dangerous. I mean, all things come to an end, right? And when I had to give up gluten, it seemed there would be no going back. Of course, once I got over my period of mourning for all the glutinous foods I could no longer eat, I began experimenting with making gluten free versions of all my favorite foods.

Recently, I developed this Archway-like recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Gluten Free Dutch Cocoa Cookies

Ingredients: 
2 1/8 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (buy it from King Arthur or Jules Gluten Free, or use Jeanne Sauvage’s recipe to make your own if you have time!)
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa (I like to mix it with black cocoa for extra depth)
1 teaspoon baking soda (fresh!)
1 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
1 ¼ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Decorator’s sugar, sanding sugar, or just extra granulated sugar for rolling (I used Demerara sugar, but I think it might be slightly too crunchy--you want something that’s a bit smaller)

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Scrape down bowl so dough is in center and add about 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat to combine, then slowly add the rest of the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

Scrape dough from sides again and cover and refrigerate for two hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Using your fingers and/or a cookie scoop (I love my cookie scoop!) shape cold dough into balls approximately 1.25” in diameter. Roll each ball in decorator’s sugar and place on sheet. (I recommend 10 balls to a sheet in a pattern of three, two, three, two, so that there is about 1.5 inches of space between each.)

Bake approximately 10-12 minutes. Cool on sheet until cookies can be safely lifted to wire racks to finish cooling. Makes approximately 40 cookies.