Although healthy oatmeal cookies are great, sometimes you just want a really nice, chewy, sort of decadent oatmeal raisin cookie.  I did some digging, and found some promising ingredient lists, and went from there.  It really doesn’t take much effort to convert a cookie recipe to gluten-free, especially when you have one of the many available gluten-free flour mixes that already have xanthan gum.
Today’s oatmeal cookie recipe also comes with a baking lesson: not all flours (or flour mixes) are created equal. Â Sure, you can get good results with different flours/mixes, but you can also get DIFFERENT results with different flour mixes.
So, if you’ve made a recipe and it seemed close but just wasn’t quite what you were looking for, simply changing the flour/mix you’re using OR changing the amount by just a little bit may make the difference you seek.
The first time I made these cookies, I used Better Batter Flour, which is a somewhat-starchy mix of flours that includes xanthan gum. Â It is Braden-friendly, and it made the most wonderful cookie dough. Â I should know. Â I ate at least 8 cookies worth just from the dough.
As you can see from the picture, it made thick, slightly chewy cookies. Â These were really tasty, and had the uber-deceptive power of making me believe they were sort of healthy. Â I even shared some with Braden at breakfast the next morning (mostly because I knew they would all be gone shortly thereafter).
A few days later, after the children had left, I decided to make some more oatmeal cookies, because I had a fierce craving for oatmeal butterscotch raisin cookies. Â Oh yeah.
Because the kids were gone and I was making them with the butterscotch chips (I have to get rid of them, after all), which Braden cannot have due to the soy, I decided I would use up the Authentic Foods Pancake & Baking Mix (which has corn in it, another of Braden’s allergies). Â I was saved from eating the dough because this also has garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour in it. Â In case you’re new to gluten-free baking, I will let you know that you NEVER taste a dough with bean flour in it before you cook it. Â You will want to scrape off your tongue. Just don’t do it.
Now, I am a lover of the food scale. Â It is my favorite measuring tool. Â It is much easier and so much more precise, at least when you are measuring the exact same ingredient.
So when my recipe explorations led me to using 1 1/2 cups of flour, which for normal all-purpose flour is about 190 grams, I decided to use 190 grams of flour.
The Authentic Foods mix, having some protein and fat in it, seems to weigh more. Â So, by weighing the same, it was actually less flour…
Which led to the decadence I originally wanted. Â As you can see from this picture, the oatmeal cookies have a greater chewiness, from having a higher butter and sugar to flour ratio. Â They spread out quite a bit more, and were a little oily to the touch, and you KNOW that these cookies are pure dessert (that still didn’t stop me from eating one or two for breakfast). Â 
So give this recipe a try with your favorite flour mix if you’re looking for that elusive chewy oatmeal cookie. Â If it’s too cakey the first time, take away just a little bit of the flour. Â Maybe you’ll find a new favorite, too.
Recipe: Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (that’s 2 sticks!)
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (230 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix (somewhere around 190 grams, dependent on your mix; if your mix doesn’t include xanthan gum, try using 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups Certified Gluten-Free rolled oats (about 250-300 grams, depending on brand)
- 2 cups raisins (I like lots of raisins!!)
- 1 1/2 cups gf butterscotch chips (optional, if you want to be extra-decadent; or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat.
- Add the gf flour mix (and xanthan gum, if needed), baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until well-blended.
- Add the oats and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the raisins (and optional chips, if desired). You can either stir these in, with a spoon, so they don’t break, or you can be lazy like me and use your mixer (just not for too long).
- Scoop teaspoon to tablespoon-sized bits of dough onto the cookie sheet. Beware that they may spread quite a lot.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers appear set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a rack to finish cooling.
Comments
17 responses to “Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies”
I’d like to make about 1/4 of the recipe to start and I don’t have a scale. Any
suggestions of measurements for a reduced amount without losing the chewy consistency?
I’d start with a straight quartering of the recipe. So:
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
3/8 cup packed brown sugar (this may be tricky if you don’t have a 1/8 cup measure)
1/2 egg*
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/8 cup gf flour mix
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups certified gf oats
1/2 cup raisins
3/8 cup gf butterscotch chips (optional)
*This can be done one of two ways. Crack an egg into a bowl, mix it up, and put half into the recipe (easiest with a scale, but you could eyeball it or using a measuring cup). The other way is to buy the carton of egg and pour out half of what you need for one egg.
Thank you. I tried the whole recipe for my brothers birthday. (Of course, I had to sample to make sure they were good enough for him.) I had read on another site how to turn boxed raisins into baking raisins. I covered them in a small saucepan with water, added some cinnamon and boiled them lightly, then drained the liquid.
Anyway I added that to the mix and oh, oh, oh..these cookies were so good. I had to pack them up to ship and will bring some to work to keep from gorging. This recipe is a keeper. PS I added some gluten free chocolate chips. Hope my brother likes chocolate..I know I do. LOL
I just finished making my 2nd batch of these cookies. The first one was so delicious that I had to limit myself to 2-3 per munching session. They were are beyond delicious and I actually like them better than the store bought! My only issue was is that it takes time to make them!
My kids and husband love them just as much as I do and don’t even notice that they are GF. Awesome recipe!!
I made these cookies twice, and they turned out to be absolutely fabulous. This is my go-to recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies! However, the last 2 times I’ve made them, they’ve spread out too much, and have become one big cookie on the cookie sheet. It’s almost as though the butter is melting before the flour can rise? The 1st time this happened, I used butter, and the 2nd time, I used margarine. They still taste good, but they don’t look or feel as appealing. Do you have any idea why this might be happening? Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. 🙂
Did you change your flour at all (or change how you measured it, like spooning instead of scooping)? If you look at the two pictures I posted, there’s quite a bit of difference, and it was just the flour. If you stick with this flour, I would suggest using a tablespoon or so more flour and see if that makes a difference.
Wow! They are soooooooooooo good. You know they’re good when its a spoonful for the cookie sheet and one for my mouth! I made the mistake of making them just before dinner, guess who couldn’t eat her dinner that night! I WILL be making these again, they came out perfectly. Thanks
🙂 Yay!
Hi, these look great…do you know if I can use oat, and tapioca four for the mix? I’ve looked at many oat cookie recipes on line and don’t see them using GF oat four … Have you tried using it for them… I make oat four, and use it when making bread, but haven’t tried cookies yet. Thanks
Hi Sherri,
While I haven’t used oat flour, I’m sure you could. Cookie recipes are often quite resilient to change (though it may change the texture a little). I say give it a try, especially if you’re going to use part tapioca starch. You may need to adjust the flour ratio a bit, but I would start with the weight method if possible.
Hi – I would love to be able to make these without so much fat. 1/2 pound is quite a lot! Any idea how it could be adapted if you have someone in the family watching their weight.
Hi India,
Give this version a try. http://delightfullyglutenfree.com/2012/07/lunch-box-oatmeal-cookies/ This was my grandma’s signature oatmeal cookie recipe, because she was a very health-conscious lady.
These sound delicious! Do you have to do anything to the oats before baking with them? I want to use my GF rolled old fashioned oats, other recipes have called for the quick cooking kind. Thanks 🙂
Nope, just throw them in the mixer!
Extra yummy. Moist. Perfect. Little salty. In the rolodex of ‘great cookies’.
thank you.
cheers
Wow! I love these cookies, 1st time trying gluten free oatmeal cookies, I added 1 cup of walnuts and 1/2 cup of ground flaxseed. No spreading out just perfect. Since I used more dry ingredients I was able to form small dough balls..lol Thank you so much for this recipe.
Delicious! I made these cookies with Krusteaz all purpose gluten free flour and white chocolate chips. They were the hit of the bake sale and my kids now request these cookies instead of chocolate chip even though they don’t have to eat gluten free, Now momma can make cookies for herself and the whole family loves them too! Thank you so much!!!