Chocolate Walnut Cookies (Gluten Free!)

As promised, here's what to do with the whites left over from the Raspberry White Balsamic Fruit Tart: make some gluten free cookies!

I have always been raised to not waste things.


Peeling Potatoes and carrots? Use the skins to make a tasty veggie broth! 
Really hungry? Don't load up your plate, go for seconds!
Spilled something? Use a napkin you can wash instead of throw away!
Have a banana that's about to go bad? Freeze it and make banana bread eventually! 


Part of it stems from the fact that my parents were immigrants and they literally came to this country with nothing. They worked their butts off, faced culture shock, racism, poverty, and more. So they have always had this mind set of don't waste. 


This isn't exclusive to immigrants of course. I would argue that my best friend is the same way. I think the mindset really comes from growing up and not always being able to get something when you want it, usually because you can't afford it. I appreciate that my parents have instilled in me the value of not wasting, and most importantly, how hard it is to earn and save a dollar. 


This is why I didn't have the heart to throw away those egg whites. 


So I decided, since I made a not-gluten free friendly dessert that was AMAZing, I would make a tasty gluten-free dessert for dear ol' Maa. 

Ergo, chocolate walnut cookies. These are...very chocolate-y. Seriously. You have almost no structural integrity when coming out of the oven, but they will after they cool. They're crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, and super easy to prepare. 


Feel free to vary it a little, add some oats, or dried tart cherries, or ohhh, even some almond extract (maybe 0.25 tsp?). Make them, your GF loved one will LOVE you, and non-GF friends won't even know there is no flour in it! 


Chocolate Walnut Cookies
modified from whatsgabycooking.com

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips 
1/2 cup and 2 tbsp. cocoa powder (dutch processed)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 egg whites
0.25 tsp. salt
0.5 cups chopped walnuts


Preheat oven it 320 degrees. 


In a bowl or in a food processor, mix together the powdered sugar, the cocoa powder, and salt. Then stir in the chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts. Stir in the egg whites, and vanilla extract. 


It's wicked easy if you have a food processor to make this, but it's also quick in a bowl as well. 


Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, scoop out cookies into 2 inch mounds, and bake them for 15 minutes.


Let them cool for 15 minutes out of the oven, and nom on them!