Gluten-Free Chocolate Rosemary Sea Salt Cookies

This recipe is my personal gluten free adaptation on the incredible original cookies from the beautiful Beaucoup Bakery on Fir Street in Vancouver. It seems as though every time I make them I don’t have all the exact ingredients in my pantry, although they are forgiving and bring more delight each year! I mean, how can one go wrong with this much melted chocolate in a cookie?

Rosemary is a vibrant and aromatic “fresh” herb- I love it in savoury and sweet dishes alike. The needle-like leaves sprinkled on top make a very elegant, yet festive decoration. This year I made these with my best friend, who introduced me to this Beaucoup Bakery delight years ago. Other than the obvious fun in sipping mulled wine and testing the melted chocolate, my favourite part was sneaking to her neighbours to snip more rosemary from the robust bush in their yard and inhaling deeply. Baking is a sensory experience – in the creation as much as in the end product. You can make the process a gift to enjoy yourself as much as to others who share in the bounty.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups brown rice flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• ½ teaspoon Xanthan gum
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 600g dark chocolate, chopped in large pieces (divided- 400g for melting, 200g for chunks)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground espresso or fine ground coffee
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (divided)
• 2 tbsp kosher or cracked salt- for finishing (sprinkle on top)

Instructions

1. Sift together dry ingredients: flours, cocoa, baking powder, Xanthan gum and salt.
2. Melt 400g of the chocolate in a double boiler and add 1 tbsp of the rosemary to the melted chocolate to infuse the flavours. I use Green and Blacks organic dark chocolate bars. This could also be substituted for any dark or baker’s chocolate.
3. Beat eggs with ground espresso and vanilla extract.
4. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer at medium speed until well combined. Slowly mix in egg mixture until incorporated. Add melted chocolate and remaining 200g of chopped chocolate pieces until combined.
5. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined (try to avoid over-mixing).
6. Cover and let stand at room temperature until consistency is thick, about 30 minutes.
7. Pre-heat oven to 335 F.
8. Scoop cookies with a small ice cream scoop onto the parchment-lined baking sheets.
9. Sprinkle with a pinch of rosemary and kosher salt (or if coloured salt, wait till right after you pull out of oven).
10. Bake until edges of cookies have just begun to set, but centres are still very soft, about 7 to 10 minutes (check at 7 minutes.) With GF cookies, you want to be careful to not over-bake.
11. Cool cookies on sheet until firm enough to transfer.

Heidi’s Tip: This year I had a special hibiscus salt that was gifted to me last Christmas from Mexico, which provided a pretty rose-coloured contrast. If you have a coloured salt, it is best to sprinkle on right when they come out of the oven so that the colour doesn’t fade.