Although healthy
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.
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