Gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies- with a secret ingredient

These cookies are low in fat, and have an added protein and fiber boost from the quinoa and, surprise - beans- which you can't even taste!

Free from gluten, corn, soy, dairy, nuts, and oats.

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup of your favorite gluten free flour mix
• ¼ cup quinoa flakes
• 1 tsp corn-free baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• a dash of salt
• ½ tsp vanilla powder
• ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• ½ cup canned white beans, liquid reserved
• ½ cup raw sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chunks (use what works for you; I chopped up an organic dark chocolate candy bar)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla powder. 

Whisk together and set aside. Put beans, applesauce, sugar, and 1 tbsp of the bean liquid in in VitaMix and blend until smooth. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir about 10 times. Add the chunks of chocolate, 1/4 cup quinoa flakes and the rest of the bean liquid, stirring until combined. 

If the mixture is too wet, add more quinoa flakes. If it's too dry, add a little water. Drop tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet, leaving an inch of room between each. 

Note: flatten them out a little, as I later discovered they don't really spread during baking. Bake 15 minutes, until edges are just turning light brown and middles are firm. They will firm a bit more as they cool. Check the bottoms to make sure they are golden brown. 

this is the first batch- as you can see, they came out the same shape as they went in

this is the second batch- I flattened these out before baking.

Either way, they taste great!

Ideas for next time: For a sweeter cookie, use organic brown sugar. For an even lower glycemic index, use agave in place of sugar (usually 3/4 as much agave as sugar for same sweetness). For oatmeal raisin cookies, use oats in place of quinoa flakes and raisins in place of chocolate chips. I would also use brown sugar and increase the cinnamon for oatmeal-raisin cookies.