Gluten Free Compost Cookies for You
These compost cookies, based on a cookie by Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar, are chock-full of interesting goodies. The combination of salty and sweet is wonderful. And though the ingredient list is somewhat odd, I promise it all works well together. Also, the list is quite flexible and encourages imagination. I wonder how it would taste with caramel corn & peanuts?
Recipe card & instructions updated 3/9/22.
Jump to RecipeSomehow the entire month of September flew by me with nary a post in sight. And that is because I have some very, very exciting news to share! Thanks to California’s Cottage Food Act (AB 1616), I was able to open a bakery right out of my own home kitchen. Though I’ve only been open a week, I’ve already filled several orders for happy customers. I hope to meet a real need in our community–there are no exclusively gluten-free bakeries within 30 miles of the Santa Clarita Valley where I live.
I have no idea what all will come of this, but I do know one thing for certain–I now am a small business owner doing something that I LOVE! My little bakery, called Ginger & Fox Bake Shop (website still under construction!), will hopefully keep me busy, but not TOO busy so that I won’t have time to post here.
How are you? I’ve missed you!
Today I have a cookie recipe to share and believe it or not, it has nothing to do with October’s most ubiquitous flavor. It’s based on the famous Compost Cookies created by pastry chef, Christina Tosi, over at Momofuku Milk Bar. They are called Compost Cookies, because they are full of all sorts of odd-sounding items, at least in a cookie. But the combination of sweet & salty works amazingly well. And the chunks of stuff–namely crushed potato chips and gluten-free pretzels–provide a pleasing crunch and interesting texture. Besides chips & pretzels, they have oats, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (FYI the only butterscotch chips that I know for certain are gluten-free are made by Hershey’s).
The kind folks at Zulka sent me a package of their new brown and powdered sugars to try out. I really love the flavor that their brown sugar imparted to this recipe, however, I did find that the sugar, once opened, got rather hard and difficult to handle. (If you have a trick to help keep brown sugar moist and soft, do share!) I think it is widely available now, and it’s non-GMO verified too.
So…happy autumn! I hope to be back soon with some pumpkin recipes to share. In the meantime, go make these and dunk them in a cup of hot coffee and call it breakfast.
Love these compost cookies? Here are a few more recipes that are sure to be a hit:
- Gluten Free Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies
- The Best Recipe for Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Blueberry + Lemon Gluten Free Ice Cream Sandwiches
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) and post a picture and tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes! Thank you!
Gluten Free “Compost” Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened (1 stick)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract gluten-free
- 1¼ cups gluten-free all purpose flour blend
- 1 teaspoon ground coffee
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup Butterscotch Chips Hershey's brand are gluten-free
- ¼ cup crushed potato chips
- ¼ cup crushed gluten-free pretzel sticks
- ¼ cup certified gluten-free oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy in the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment). Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add the flour, coffee, xanthan, baking soda, and sea salt and beat until combined. Add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, potato chips, pretzel sticks and oats and stir until evenly mixed.
- Using a small scoop (I like 1 ounce) or large spoon, scoop dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets, placing about 2 inches apart. Bake immediately, or for a fluffier texture, freeze for about 30 minutes until dough is firm.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove to a rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
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Oh my goodness! These sound incredible!
I use one of these for my brown sugar and it works like a charm!
http://smile.amazon.com/Sugar-Bears-Original-Brown-Bear/dp/B000MT65BC/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1412292363&sr=1-2&keywords=brown+sugar+bear
As an aside, your banana breakfast cookies are a huge favorite at my house (and we are not gluten free.) Thank you!!
I love those banana cookies too–might be time for a revisit. Thanks for your comment and the brown sugar tip! 🙂
Hi Alison,
I wrote a middle grade curricula for http://www.schoolhouseteachers.com called All About Worms: The Good, The Bad and The Yucky. We study vermicomposting in the Good Worms segment so when I saw “Compost” cookies I couldn’t stop smiling. I would like to share your recipe on my website (under construction). Right now, in the Yucky segment, I have recipes using ground up worms! I know no one will make those but it’s fun. They will definitely make the “compost” cookies. Also, I have a foolproof tip for brown sugar that is easy and gluten free. Add a small slice of apple in the container and it will keep the brown sugar freely flowing. Congrats on your new business. I am so glad I met you. Sincerely,
Rosemarie
Hi Rosemarie! Thanks for your kind words (and for the tip on keeping brown sugar soft). I think you’re right about kids not wanting to eat ground up worms…ahem. I’d be happy if you included a link-back to my website with the recipe once its up on your page! Have a great week. 🙂
Thank you for posting lovely recipes that make me want to run to the kitchen and try for my husband who had to go gluten-free for health reasons this past winter…
Good luck with your bakery! I am reading this from a town with a population of about 2,000 in rural Iowa BUT I had to chortle when I read your blog on this recipe, because I was born and raised in the Santa Clarita Valley (long before it was called that!) Small world :).
Santa Clarita used to be a SMALL town. 🙂 I’m a transplant here…but have friends who are “locals” and remember it when it was rural. And thank you for your kind comments. I’m so happy you stopped by. <3
I see that you are getting good ideas on how to keep brown sugar soft. Putting a small slice of bread into the container works for me. It does the same job as a small piece of apple. Water from the apple/bread goes into the sugar. The moisture in the bread/apple moves toward the dry sugar, until the moisture levels in the sugar and the bread/apple are even. To our view the sugar gets moist and the bread/apple dries out. [the same type of thing works in many of the activities in our bodies, such as movement of oxygen into tissues and waste CO2 out of our bodies.] I’m looking forward to baking and eating the cookies. Yum!
This recipe is a blessing. I’ve been wanting to make the compost cookies from Momofuku for a long time but didn’t want to eat the gluten. Thank you!!
They are so good, aren’t they?
I am thrilled to see you are in Santa Clarita, which is where I live.! Best of luck with your bakery!
Hi Susan! Thank you…hope to see you around sometime. 🙂
Wow…its looking so delicious. I am going to make it now.
These cookies scratch every taste itch!