Vegan Gluten-Free Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

In anticipation of a back-to-school party, I decided to try my first made-from-scratch gluten free cookies (I usually just bake for others and have always been intimidated by the thought of gluten free baking). To top it off, I even made it vegan for a friend of mine who would be attending the party! The only dairy in this gluten free recipe calls for 1 egg, and 1 stick of butter. I used 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce per 1 egg as a substitute, and Earth Balance vegan butter. I also subbed dried cranberries instead of the walnuts.

Verdict?

Amazingly moist and chewy!  A bit on the sweet side, so I may decrease the sugar next time if adding dried fruit, or forgo the fruit and use nuts instead. It helped to squeeze each teaspoonful of dough together before flattening slightly on the cookie sheet. Also, unlike regular cookies, these don't really spread out while baking. This plateful was the result of doubling the recipe to make 2 batches:

This is the recipe I followed from the back of a bag of "Let's Do...Organic" Coconut Flour:

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp brown rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 
2. Blend together butter and sugars until fluffy and well mixed.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flours and baking soda.
5. Add dry mix to wet mix and blend until smooth.
6. Stir in chocolate chips/nuts/dried fruit.
7. Drop by teaspoonful onto pre-greased cookie sheets.
8. Bake 8-12 min, or until brown around edges. 
9. Remove from oven, and allow to cool for at least 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.