Dreamy Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about my parents’ obsession with moving change.

I lived in a total of 12 houses in the first 17 years of my life.

Now, you may not think that’s a lot, but when you factor in that 6 of those 12 were temporary houses while our next house was being complete, that’s a heck of a lot of packing and unpacking in a short amount of time.

Sometimes these temporary houses would have a full kitchen, sometimes they wouldn’t. Sometimes they had a bedroom, sometimes they did not.

To make the transition as easy as possible, my Mom would make hundreds of casseroles. From manicotti, cannelloni, lasagna, to beef stroganoff. We’d live off the same meal for months until we moved into our more permanent home.

(It’s safe to say you will see very little in the way of manicotti recipes on the blog. Even saying that word gives me the shakes. Too much of a good thing is never, ever good.)

My favorite temporary house was when we rented a 1 bedroom basement suite next door to Auntie Lesley and Uncle Joe’s house.

They had just had their daughter; Mylaine, so my sister and I spent a lot of time before and after school taking care of her.

(My sister will probably kill me for posting this picture. Awesome hat, right? hehe)

We loved heading next door to hang out and eat all the chocolate chip cookies from the Winnie the Pooh cookie jar help take care of our new cousin.

Gosh, those cookies were good. Rrr… I mean it was a great bonding experience.

It seemed like Auntie Lesley always had a fresh batch in the jar just waiting for my sister and I. They were doughy, and melty, and buttery…

When my Mom would ask my sister and I why we liked Auntie Lesley’s cookies over her own, we’d always say “but Mom, they’re not cookies. They’re pie crust balls with chocolate chips. They cannot be compared!”

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Dreamy Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

Vegan (option), Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

“It’s like pie crust… with chocolate chips”

Yield: 16 cookies

Ingredients

Dry

• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 3/4 cup tapioca starch/flour/powder
• 3/4 cup sweet rice flour
• 2 tbsp freshly ground flax seed
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Wet

• 3/4 cup soy-free earth balance spread or coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1/4 cup egg whites or 1 egg or 1 flax egg (1 tbsp freshly ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
• 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1.5 tbsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup big dark chocolate chips

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Place wet ingredients in a small bowl and blend with hand blender until combined.
4. Combine dry ingredients into wet and mix until incorporated. Add chocolate chips and mash with hands, making sure each piece of cookie dough has some chip in it.
5. Scoop dough with a tablespoon or ice cream scooper, stacking the dough over top of the spoon. Remove from spoon and place on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat, keeping each cookie about an 1″ away from the next.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Mine took 14 minutes but if you’re using parchment paper, your cookies should only take 11-12 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before enjoying (with a tall glass of coconut or almond milk, of course!)

note: to make vegan, use flax egg.

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Before Kevin returned home from the UK last weekend, he’d mentioned that he was craving chocolate chip cookies. Being the awesome girlfriend I am, I thought I’d try my hand at recreating my Aunt’s cookies to satisfy his craving.

2 batches later and I was taken down memory lane… with a very full tummy.

Tagged as: carob chocolate chip, chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, pie, rice flour