Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies. Whether you bake gluten free or not, you’ll never throw out leftover egg whites again when you discover these decadent cookies.
Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies
You may have seen lots of photos that look much like these gluten free chocolate pavlova cookies, particularly on Pinterest. The recipes are all quite similar as well and I tried several of them before tweaking this recipe to make it work best for me.
I wanted a crispy edge and overall stable structure to the cookie with a soft chewy centre. A couple of the recipes I tried had a batter that was too liquid and spread everywhere.
Another was too dry with a little too much cocoa I think which ended up with a tasty but far too crispy cookie.
Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies
I decided to adjust the ingredient amounts myself and add a couple of tricks from making one of my favourite meringue based desserts, a simple pavlova. The trick to getting a crispy pavlova with a soft centre is to add a little corn starch and a relatively tiny amount of vinegar to the meringue.
Since these cookies are basically an unwhipped meringue I decided to apply that technique to these cookies as an experiment and it worked like a dream. They turned out perfect.
Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies
Some more tips for these pavlova cookies:
One note that I always try to include in cookie recipes has to do with even slight variations between oven temperatures. It’s practically impossible to write a standard baking time into a chewy cookie recipe.
The difference between a chewy cookie and an overbaked cookie can be as little as a minute in many ovens, so I always suggest
- getting the oven well preheated
- get the cookie sheet into the oven as fast as possible so the heat will come back up quickly
- with any new cookie recipe bake a test batch of only 2 or 3 cookies to get the oven timing perfect before baking the rest of the batch.
- be sure to make a note on the recipe of the exact time that they were in the oven for when you bake the cookies next time.
Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies
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You may also like this Gluten Free Chocolate Souffle Cake with Raspberry Fool:
Gluten Free Chocolate Souffle Cake with Raspberry Fool
Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies
Whether you bake gluten free or not, you'll never throw out leftover egg whites again when you discover these decadent Gluten Free Chocolate Pavlova Cookies.
Ingredients
- 3 cups icing sugar, powdered sugar measured and then sifted
- 2/3 cup cocoa, measured and then sifted
- 2 tsp corn starch
- pinch salt
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp plain white vinegar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Both icing sugar, salt and cocoa are prone to clumping so it is important to sift them through a sieve before using them in this recipe.
- Sift together the icing sugar, cocoa and corn starch.
- Mix in the egg whites until smooth.
- Blend in the vanilla extract and vinegar until smooth, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Spoon the cookie batter by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared cookies sheets, about 2 to 3 inches apart. These spread quite a bit so give them plenty of room. (You can sprinkle on a few extra chocolate chips at this point if you like. It makes them look even more appealing when baked.
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes until the cookies have a crackled appearance at the edges and might still look very slightly shiny at the center. It is best to do a test bake of a couple of cookies tot get the baking time right, as is suggested in the NOTE in this recipe.
- These cookies will be very hot and soft when they come out of the oven, so be sure to let them cool completely on the pan for about 15-20 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
One note that I always try to include in cookie recipes has to do with even slight variations between oven temperatures. It's practically impossible to write a standard baking time into a chewy cookie recipe. The difference between a chewy cookie and an overbaked cookie can be as little as a minute in many ovens, so I always suggest
1) getting the oven well preheated
2) get the cookie sheet into the oven as fast as possible so the heat will come back up quickly
3) with any new cookie recipe bake a test batch of only 2 or 3 cookies to get the oven timing perfect before baking the rest of the batch.
4) be sure to make a note on the recipe of the exact time that they were in the oven for when you bake the cookies next time.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
18Serving Size
1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 162 Total Fat 3g Saturated Fat 2g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 1g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 21mg Carbohydrates 33g Fiber 1g Sugar 30g Protein 2g
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Does the type of cocoa matter (Alkaline/Dutch processed or regular)?
No I just use regular cocoa.
Definitely did something wrong!
Could i potentially have over mixed that batter?
Cookies are very thin with many small air pockets. They do how ever taste SENSATIONAL!
Is the batter quite runny? I think my egg white may have been extra large.
(I have them in the oven at the moment and they seem to be going okay.)
It should be thin but not watery. Your egg whites may have been too large. As the photos of the unbaked cookies show, the batter does spread but then stops and does not go totally flat. Add another couple of rounded tablespoons of icing sugar to improve the consistency of necessary.
Hi Barry!
More than two years on I have just read your reply! Thank you!
I am about to try again:)
just wondering – Is icing sugar just powdered sugar? thanks
Yes it is. i usually note that in my recipes because someone asks every time. Must go do a quick edit.
I don’t know what I did wrong, but mine don’t look like yours do!
Could be the size of the eggs. Was the batter thinner than in the photos?
Do you use a hand blender to mix the wet and dry together or just a spoon?
I used the mixer but folded in the chocolate chips by hand.
How long do they last? Can I keep them in a container for a week?
I honestly don’t know. I assume they would last several days but I’ve never been able to get past 2 days!
Can I use apple cider vinager instead?
Should be fine.
Are the egg whites whipped like in regular pavlova so or just stirred
Just stirred in this case.
Mine stuck to the parchment. Weird! They are delicious though! Did you use cooking spray?
Cooking spray would not be good here. I’ve never had them stick to parchment. It may be the brand. You could always try wax parer instead.
Do you think you could use a sugar substitute in place of powdered sugar?
No, not possible I don’t think. Real sugar is needed to make a meringue.
Hmmm….never had extra egg whites. I always have the opposite problem…what to do with athe extra egg yokes.
Make some ice cream and you will have lots of egg white left over for these cookies!
Wondering if the leftover batter can be put in fridge ? I can’t cook it all right now
I’ve never tried that. Did you attempt it after?
So the egg whites shouldn’t be beaten until firm before being stirred into the other ingredients? This goes against everything I know about pavlova.
No they are not whipped. The cookies emulate the taste of a chocolate pavlova, not the texture.
Recipe worked fine, except i put too much egg white in and had to add much more chocolate powder and powdered sugar. Had lots of egg white left over from making ice cream. So these cookies are a perfect mate to go with the ice cream you make.
Can these be stored in the freezer?
Risky, it is essentially a meringue base. I’ve never tried.
I finally got around to making these today (because a friend gifted me a stand mixer), but mine are a considerably lighter shade than the pictures, and when I baked them, they didn’t get so many cracks on the top as around the sides. Did I maybe overmix my ingredients?
Maybe. Could be the type of chocolate too.
I found the trick to getting them off my parchment paper. Cook them long enough and give them 20 minutes to an hour to cool. Once I did that, no problem.
Tried these twice, using whites left over from cream pie filling. First time, they didn’t turn out quite like I thought they should have, although taste was delicious; I just didn’t like the texture. The second time, I whipped the egg whites with a hand held electric mixer just until they started to thicken, but nowhere near beginning to peak, then stirred them in as directed. The texture of the finished cookie was just what I was looking for.
Thank you for delightful recipe!
Barry, your Gluten Fee Chocolate Pavlova Cookies look perfect> Can the cookies be shaped and then frozen to bake at a later date? Also is it possible to add the weight of the individual cookie along with the size of disher (scoop) For example instead of saying 1 Tbl. size also give it;s approximate weight in grams/ounces. A lot of bakers measure and bake by weight not volume. Love your recipes and website!! Susie
No, these will not freeze well. We re waiting for an update to our recipe software to provide metric measurements.