First a little venting . . . this morning I pull out two different GF cookbooks to compare Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes.  They were almost identical, except for completely OPPOSITE WARNINGS about butter vs. vegetable shortening!!  One said “Don’t use butter or the cookies will spread all over the pan!” and the other said “If you use margarine or shortening instead of butter your cookies will spread more.”

This is what drives me NUTS about cookbooks in general, but GF cookbooks in particular . . . I don’t believe any of these people knows what they are talking about!  Often the authors will actually disagree with THEMSELVES, providing opposite advice in different parts of the cookbook!

In any case, I will be trying to make GF Chocolate Chip Cookies sometime soon.  Most likely I’ll use the same recipe I used several months ago.  They were very yummy!  In any case I’ll be using palm oil shortening (because I’ve given up dairy).

BTW, in trying to research which of the cookbooks was actually correct, I found yet another source who claimed it was the baking soda that makes cookies spread . . . e-gads!

More later . . .

Later: another source says it’s HYDROGENATED shortening that spreads more (and the article assumes all shortening is hydrogenated) . . . but the stuff I use is NON-HYDROGENATED . . . so the plot thickens.  At this point I’m will to give up and just enjoy the cookies! 🙂

My verdict . . . they’re good, but I’m not wild about the special gluten-free mini chocolate chips made of “evaporated cane juice, ‘natural’ non-alcoholic chocolate liquor, and non-dairy cocoa butter”.  I also added walnuts this time.  Other than those updates (I used regular chocolate chips before) same recipe as a few months ago, but they seem greasier to me . . . almost like less fat and more GF flour might be better.  Though that might strain my hand mixer (now that the stand mixer is broken 🙁  ).