Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Chewies

These cookies are naturally gluten free. Think flourless chocolate cake in a meringue cookie form.

Now that I’ve gotten your attention, you’ve probably already scrolled down and taken a look at the recipe, and are perhaps surprised by the amount of sugar. But before you leave, let me assure you that that is the correct amount of sugar.

Think about it.

We’re using pure, unsweetened, cocoa in this recipe, and over half a cup at that! That’s a lot of concentrated, bitter stuff you know. The amount of powdered sugar used is just enough to make it a bittersweet type chocolate flavor, since we’re not using pre-sweetened chocolate. If we were using a block of bittersweet chocolate chances are that’ll be the only sweetener used, but we’re not using that.

Also, keep in mind that powdered sugar will about double in volume when ground into a powder. So technically, 1 cup of granulated sugar will make about 2 cups of powdered.

Make sense?

Sure it does.

So don’t try to decrease the sugar amount and expect the cookies to turn out the same. They won’t. I’ve already tried. They came out soggy and flat as a pancake. No lie. Not to mention they were bitter. One work: Yuck.

With the correct amounts of each ingredient, these cookies bake up like a meringue on the outside with a wonderfully chewy, fudgy, rich, deep chocolate inside.

Hungry yet?

Enjoy!

Sarah

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Chewies

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Chewies

Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

2 oz organic cocoa, about 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons
11 oz powdered sugar, about 2 3/4 cups
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites, at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 – 1 cup dried, unsweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets with palm shortening or line with parchment paper.

Stir dry ingredients (except coconut) together in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

On low speed and add egg whites one at a time. Add vanilla extract and turn mixer on high for about 2 minutes, until the batter has thickened.

Gently and briefly fold the coconut in. Don’t mix it in completely.

Drop batter (about the side of a rounded measuring tablespoon) onto a prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Cookie should be puffed and cracked. You can let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet or remove them and let cool on a wire rack.

Recipe courtesy Sarah Shilhavy

Submit your recipe here!

Published on January 30, 2010

(9 votes, average: 4.10 out of 5)

16 Comments

Sarah September 20, 2012 at 10:40 am - Reply
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The eggs and sugar cannot be replaced.
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Lilith September 20, 2012 at 10:05 am - Reply
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Can you use Stevia in place of sugar?
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Doris L. April 22, 2010 at 5:03 pm - Reply

Can these cookies be made with natural cane sugar and egg replacer?  I would also use carob.  I must NOT use white sugar, eggs, or chocolate, because I have a cancerous tumor that I am fighting by natural means, including how I eat.

Sarah February 14, 2010 at 1:23 pm - Reply

Bobby: The egg yolks would ruin the recipe. It would be like scrambled chocolate eggs, since egg yolks don’t whip up like egg whites do. You really can’t change this recipe when it comes to the eggs and sugar. It’s not very forgiving.

Rachel: Yes, the longer they’re baked the harder they’ll get. If they got crispy the batter was probably whipped too much, it really shouldn’t be like a meringue. It should be more like a fluffy, very thick brownie batter.

Miss Rachel February 12, 2010 at 9:39 pm - Reply

Ooo… ok. Don’t flatten. Well, if I baked them longer, they would be harder, right? When they weren’t covered they got really hard – like crispy hard! LOL I was not expecting that. I will try them again, making them a bit smaller and seeing what happens. They were really good… just a little doughy. :)

Bobby February 12, 2010 at 8:02 pm - Reply

What would happen if you used eggs instead of egg whites for the fudgies?

Sarah February 11, 2010 at 5:49 pm - Reply

Yikes! Nooo, don’t flatten them! They’re supposed to be fudgy, but not uncooked like the batter. Try baking for a minute or so longer next time. If the center looks gooey, give it a few more seconds or another minute. Just don’t let them burn. :)

Miss Rachel February 10, 2010 at 8:59 pm - Reply

Thanks for explaining. I’ve actually never heard of them before reading this. :) 

Oh and they are supposed to be really fudgy, like the actually dough before baking, in the middle right? Mine were. They puffed and cracked and everything, but they were really ‘doughy’ in the middle. I think if I flatten them a little bit next time they will cook in the middle more. 

They are delicious though. I loved them! I’ll definitely be making them again. The dough tasted like stiff chocolate frosting. It would be a good frosting. :)

Sarah February 10, 2010 at 8:44 pm - Reply

As in a made from scratch recipe? No. There’s so many recipes for Chocolate Chewies out there. The key to making a good recipe is to start with a good one, and then make changes to make it better. In the end the recipe you have may be nothing like the original, but that’s the starting point.

Miss Rachel February 9, 2010 at 10:30 pm - Reply

Ok, thank you Sarah. :) I don’t really like eating coconut. :P but I’ll get some and make some with it the next time I do. They look absolutely delicious. Is it your recipe that you made up?

Sarah February 9, 2010 at 10:09 pm - Reply

You can leave the coconut out if you so desire, and the recipe makes around 20 cookies. It’ll depend on how large you make them. :)

Miss Rachel February 9, 2010 at 4:59 pm - Reply

I plan on making these tomorrow morning. :) Though I was wondering how many they make… I mean like how many ‘chewies’? I don’t know that we have coconut though… is that a big part of the taste or can it be left out?

Mary February 8, 2010 at 4:07 pm - Reply

Maybe you could use xylitol, which a natural sweetener made of birch bark, but which resembles sugar in consistency and sweetness.

Sarah February 1, 2010 at 2:50 pm - Reply

Um, no, I don’t think so. Honey is a liquid, this is a meringue type cookie. As far as I know, honey simply will not work in a meringue.  It won’t let the egg whites puff and crisp while still remaining chewy in the center like sugar will.

Noel January 31, 2010 at 3:22 pm - Reply

I wonder if these could be made with honey.
They look very tempting!

Miss Rachel January 30, 2010 at 5:05 pm - Reply

those look so good! I want to eat one! Another recipe for me to try… looks soooo good. yum. :)

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Chewies