I like cookies. Most people do, but I sometimes think I like cookies a little more than most people. Maybe because I kind of have a knack for baking them, I’ve NEVER burnt a cookie, but making and baking and enjoying different types of cookies is one of my favorite things. I always bring homemade cookies to the company potlucks, and have made tons for friends and family over the years.

However, finding an allergen free cookie that’s tasty and soft and most importantly cost effective isn’t easy. There’s definitely brands out there that make cookies and other snacks that are allergy friendly, and we love to eat them, but sometimes you want your kitchen to smell like cookies and you want the experience of eating a freshly baked warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie. Maybe you also want to dunk that warm cookie into a cold glass of oat milk.

For my allergy free cookies I use a gluten free sugar cookie mix, then I turn it into chocolate chip sugar cookies by adding allergy free chocolate chips!! It’s easiest for me to just grab a box 99% of the time rather than try to find the proper gluten free/ allergy free flours, and gums that are needed. I try to always keep a box of it, and the other ingredients I need, on hand because the urge to make cookies is kind of pleasantly random in my house. So, for this recipe I will be using and referring to a boxed cookie mix. They can normally be found in the baking isle, next to the cake mixes. Gluten free cookie mixes are wonderful for this! However, if you’re looking to avoid all of the top 8 allergens you must read the ingredients to make sure that the mix itself doesn’t have something you’re trying to avoid. For this reason I’ve never purchased a simply “gluten free” chocolate chip cookie mix… it will almost certainly contain dairy and we can’t have that.

Now, let’s talk about eggs. If you’re trying to avoid them, eggs are a no-no. Unfortunately, eggs tend to be a key ingredient in cookies… or so we thought! There’s a plethora of egg replacements that you can find online, I’ve found the best replacement for eggs in most cakes and cookies is plain unsweetened applesauce. 1/4 cup of applesauce for 1 egg. The math is easy to double or triple, and jars of applesauce are easy to find making it easy to ensure I always have applesauce on hand. Also, if you grab those little lunch packs of apple sauce, each container is 1/4 of a cup!

I’ve replaced allllll the butter and margarine in my house with an olive oil butter spread that’s dairy and soy free. Not all brands of dairy free butter is soy free, so if you’re trying to avoid soy please be sure to check the ingredients. I use it as a direct 1 to 1 replacement for butter and haven’t had any issues so far.

For the chocolate chips I almost always go with semi-sweet chocolate chips for any of my baking. They’re the easiest for me to find allergy free. There are a few brands out there that are dairy free, but it’s also important to make sure that it’s free of other allergens as well.

These cookies won’t spread out as far as normally made cookies, so I don’t normally place as far away as the boxed mix suggests. Typically I place them about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart on a large cookie sheet. They cook wonderfully and I’ve rarely had any issues with two sticking together at this distance.

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Box Gluten free sugar cookie mix
1/2 C. Softened olive-oil butter
1 Tbsp. Water
1 tsp. Allergy free vanilla
1/4 C. Unsweetened applesauce
1 C. Allergy free semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit
2. Combine the sugar cookie mix, butter, water, vanilla, and apple sauce in a large mixing bowl. Beat together until it has a smooth consistency.
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4. Scoop out dough and use hands to roll into 1 inch balls. Place cookie balls on ungreased cookie sheet leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each.
5. Bake for 13-15 minutes until bottom edge starts to turn golden brown
6. Remove from oven and let cool about one minute before moving cookies to a cookie rack to cool