Ballerina Baker Jordan Fry’s Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

“I hate when one thing says ‘gluten-free,’ and it pretends to be one thing it’s not,” says Jordan Fry, who stopped consuming gluten and grain eight years in the past to assist fight her alopecia. “Don’t inform me that it’s a chocolate chip cookie after which it tastes like cardboard.”

Fry, who left Ballet West in 2021 to give attention to her luxurious wedding ceremony cake enterprise, Ballerina Baker, developed this cookie recipe to fill that hole. She ceaselessly makes them at house along with her two daughters, ages 1 and three, and sends them to the theater along with her husband, Ballet West principal Adrian Fry, throughout present weeks. “In case you want that enhance of power earlier than you exit onstage, these are a extremely good possibility,” she provides.

From Stage to Bakery

Lengthy earlier than Ballerina Baker was born in 2017, Fry was recognized at Ballet West for bringing baked items to the studio for her colleagues to attempt. “Baking was all the time my remedy,” she says. “My method to destress from the excessive anxiousness of the dance world.” What began as a method to monetize the work she was already doing—making wedding ceremony muffins for her mates, and mates of mates—is now a full-fledged enterprise.

Fry solely takes on 12 muffins a 12 months—what she calls “edible artistic endeavors”—and flies them to weddings all around the nation in a specialised field referred to as a CakeSafe. This 12 months she’s tackling her first two worldwide tasks, in Canada and Italy. “I really feel like ballet is similar to baking, the place you are attempting to attain perfection, however you continue to have a whole lot of inventive freedom and voice throughout the boundaries of what’s set for you,” she says. “I really like that about each baking and ballet.”

Fry’s mentor, Maggie Austin, is a former Joffrey Ballet dancer who has made muffins for celebrities, royal weddings, President Obama’s White Home Christmas social gathering, and others. “She took me beneath her wing, and I began finding out loads from her on extra intricate sugar work, sugar flowers, and simply the artistry of cake adorning,” says Fry. “My model now may be very completely different from the model after I began. It’s rather more luxury-focused.”

Components

• 1/2 cup unsalted grass-fed butter, ghee, or dairy-free different (“It doesn’t need to be grass-fed,” says Fry, “but it surely’s a bit extra pure and has the next unsaturated-fat content material.” If taking the dairy-free route, Fry recommends Miyoko’s European-Fashion Plant Milk Butter.)
• 1/2 cup coconut-palm sugar (Fry prefers this white-sugar different—additionally referred to as coconut sugar—as a result of it’s much less refined. She compares its molasses-forward, nutty taste to that of brown sugar.)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 massive egg yolks
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling on high of cookies (Fry loves utilizing Maldon Sea Salt Flakes.)
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (In case you’re involved about gluten or dairy contamination, Fry recommends Get pleasure from Life model for each sorts of chocolate within the cookies.)
• 1/3 cup darkish chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. To brown your butter (or butter different) on the stovetop, soften the butter in a saucepan over low warmth, often swirling the pan, and permit it to come back to a simmer. As soon as the butter begins to odor nutty and switch mild brown in coloration, take away from the warmth.
3. Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the browned butter and coconut palm sugar for two–3 minutes, till clean and light-weight in coloration. (In case you don’t have a stand mixer, Fry suggests utilizing a hand mixer with the beater attachments.)
4. Add the maple syrup, egg yolks, and vanilla extract, and beat for one more 2 minutes.
5. Add the almond flour, arrowroot starch, and 1/4 tsp sea salt, and beat till integrated.
6. Flip the mixer down, and stir within the chocolate chunks and chips.
7. Utilizing a tablespoon scoop or your palms, roll the cookie dough into roughly golf-ball–sized balls and place them on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of area in between.  
8. Bake for 9–10 minutes, or till the cookies are simply beginning to brown across the edges.
9. Take away the cookies from the oven and instantly sprinkle with the remaining sea salt, to style. Allow them to cool on the baking sheets for five minutes, then switch to a cooling rack.