This gluten free oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is ALSO the THE BEST OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE RECIPE, EVER! Tall order, I know, but even non-gluten free friends have raved about how moist and chewy these gluten free oatmeal cookies are!
Try for yourself and let me know!
A Note About Gluten Free Oats
Please be sure to buy certified gluten-free purity protocol oats! There can be a big difference between ‘gluten free oats’ and ‘certified gluten free oats.’ Accept no substitutes, as oats have been found to be contaminated with gluten at least 60% of the time … unless they are produced by certified gluten-free manufacturers who grow using purity protocols.
And, when it comes to baking gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies, not all oats are created equal. Larger, stiffer oats aren’t as good at absorbing the moisture in a cookie, which can cause the cookies to fall apart (which is very disappointing, but it does make a nice crumble for ice cream or yogurt!).
I like “instant” or “quick” oats (certified gluten-free, of course!) or a softer groat when baking oatmeal cookies. You won’t regret it!
After hearing from so many of you who could not find this style of certified gluten-free oats in stores, I sourced them from a company I TOTALLY trust. So now gfJules offers CERTIFIED gluten-free, purity protocol oats that are perfect for breakfast or for baking.
And of course they’re absolutely perfect for your these gluten free oatmeal cookies or gluten free oatmeal raisin bars!!
Other Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
And if you’re a true oatmeal cookie connoisseur, you’re going to want a few more great recipes.
How about a gluten free mock Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe? There’s truly nothing not to love here! These are addictingly delish!
Or a time saving gluten free Oatmeal Cookie recipe? This gluten free Oatmeal Cookie recipe is made from my award-winning gfJules Gluten Free Cookie Mix — even quicker and easier!!!
There are even instructions for how to turn it into a GIANT cookie cake, if you’d like! So yum!
So pick your gluten free oatmeal cookie pleasure! The only question now is: raisins or no raisins? Let me know which way you try it and if you love it, please leave a 5-star review!
Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
This gluten free oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is also the THE BEST OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE RECIPE, EVER! Period. You'll see!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter or non-dairy alternative (e.g. Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)
- 1/2 cup granulated cane sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup natural (no sugar added) applesauce OR 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup (169 grams) gfJules® All Purpose Gluten Free Flour OR 138 grams gfJules Nada Flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups Certified Gluten-Free Purity Protocol Oats
- 1/2 cup raisins (if raisins are very dry soak in hot water for 10 minutes then drain well to soften them -- optional)
Instructions
GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
- Cream the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add applesauce or eggs and thoroughly incorporate into the batter. Stir in the vanilla last.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients (except oats), mixing well. Gradually stir into the creamed mixture until integrated. Add in the oats and raisins.
- Preheat oven to 350° F (static) or 325° F (convection).
- Scoop the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place at least 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. If the dough is too sticky to roll, either scoop without rolling, or refrigerate or freeze until very cold before baking.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until light brown.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before removing.
GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL RAISIN BARS
- Bakes this recipe as bar cookies by lining a 8×11 or 9×13 pan with parchment. Scoop dough into the lined pan and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on how thick the dough is/big the pan is — the thicker the dough/smaller the pan, the longer they’ll need to cook.
- Remove to cool on a wire rack. Pull up on the parchment to neatly remove from the pan. Once cooled, slice into bars.
- *This recipe and over 149 more, also available in my cookbook, Free for All Cooking: 150 Easy Gluten-Free, Allergy-Friendly Recipes the Whole Family Can Enjoy!!
Nutrition Information
Yield 48 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 41Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 13mgSodium 63mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 5gProtein 0g
Please keep in mind that nutrition information provided is per serving, which may vary. While we have taken care to provide you with the most accurate nutritional values possible, please note that this information may differ significantly depending on the exact ingredients and brands that you choose to use to make this recipe. Additionally, where options are given for ingredients, the resulting calculation may include all ingredient options instead of only one per line, skewing the totals significantly.
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I really want to make gluten free ranger cookies, which, according to me consist of shaved coconut, rice crispy cereal (gluten free, of course), and oatmeal. My mom used to buy them at the store, and I tried to make them once (pre-gluten free), but they came out too hard. What should I do to make these delicious, soft, chewy cookies happen?
The key is in the oats and the flour, Bri. Using too stiff of an oat will mean that the cookies don’t absorb the moisture they need and they will not give the chew you want in this cookie. Also, the flour is critically important. Using a bean flour or other flours with a funny taste or texture will impact your results and using a flour that’s too heavy may cause the cookie to be too dense and heavy. I would suggest using my gfJules All Purpose Gluten Free Flour and instant or quick CERTIFIED GF oats (I sell those on my site too). I’ve found that this combination makes an amazingly soft, chewy cookie, and I’m sure the same results would be had with the ranger additions of GF rice crispy cereal and coconut.
I hope this helps you make these wonderful cookies again!
~jules
I NEED some input from you, please. Not only do I have to eat GF but my husband has cardiac problems and I have to make everything as low sodium as possible. Baking Soda and Baking Powder and salt add an great amount to sodium to a recipe. Can I decrease the amounts of these and still get a decent cookie?? I bake your Beer Bread and only add 1/4tsp salt and recipes comes out fine. Please give me any quidence you can. Thanks.
Hi Debbie, there is certainly no need to add salt to this recipe, and you could up the baking powder to cover the baking soda proportion and that would also reduce sodium. I hope that helps!
Hi,I am new to gluten free and had just decided that I would never be able to bake any of my favorite recipes until I found your web site. I have order some of your flour and am anxious to try it. I wrote down all of your tips for baking etc…
One question is that I had just bought a whole case of gluten free oats but they are the ( Quick oats ) Can I still use them in a oatmeal raisin cookie??.
I read what you said about the size of the oats. Maybe I can put them in a food processor and make them a little smaller.
Please advise as I’m dying to have a Oatmeal Cookie. I don’t want to have to throw out a whole case of quick oats.
Thanks for your Help !!!
Peggy from Florida
Hi Peggy, so glad you found me! YES, you WILL be able to have your favorite recipes again!!! Regarding the oats, if they are quick oats, they should be fine. The large, thick oats are the ones that need to be soaked overnight before you can use them successfully in cookies. Stay in touch and let me know if you have other questions along the way. Welcome to the Jules Family!
I added my Bob Red Mill Oats to the raisins and soaked it all in about 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of hot almond milk (we are dairy free. I had to add a little extra flour and my dough was still too soft to roll but the cookies were great!! They spread instead of rising but I like that. They were soft, moist and delicious!!
I just made a second batch and measured out the milk that I soaked the oats and raisins in… I doubled the amount of raisins and I used a full cup of almond milk.
Oh, I used the quick cooking oats.
Just made them. They turned out better than my old gluten-full recipe. They are wonderful!!!!!!! Thanks sooooooooo much for posting but more than that, thanks for taking the time to develop recipes to suit those who are intolerant to certain foods.
Yay! So glad you had a super-happy result, Star! And you’re welcome – I’m happy to share with others, if it helps them lead happier, healthier GF lives!
I just baked a batch of these oatmeal cookies for my husband. I used Bob’s Red Mill G-Free oats and added chocolate chips instead of raisins just like he loves. They came out perfect! I did put the dough in the freezer for a couple of hours so that may have made the difference. I LOVE your all-purpose flour. Thank you Jules!
I made these with chocolate chips instead of the raisins…about a month ago. I am pleased (with myself) to say that the batch turned out WONDERFUL! And that I still have some of them in a bag at my desk. They still taste great – which I couldn’t say for the full gluten variety of a similary recipe I have. Just wanted to share and say thanks!
Candy, sounds like you should be pleased with your self-restraint, as well! I don’t think I could still have some left at my desk! LOL! But the chocolate chip substitution sounds like it would be great, too! Thanks for letting me know and also for telling me how long those cookies have stayed fresh! Fantastic!!!
Hi,
I am new to gluten free and I just tried your oatmeal cookies recipe using your flour mix. the cookies turned out very very crumbly. Do you have any thoughts why this might be and what I can do better next time? Thanks!
Hi Hannah – what kind of oats did you use? That can make all the difference in gluten-free oatmeal cookies. You need instant or “baby” oats for great oatmeal cookies (and make sure they’re certified gluten-free!).
Hi,
Thanks! I used gluten free but they were not the quick cooking ones. I’ll try those next time.
Hannah – I’m quite sure that was the problem. Anytime I’ve heard someone say that this recipe didn’t turn out perfect, it was because they were using oats that were too stiff and didn’t absorb the liquid in the recipe properly. Let me know when you get the instant oats and how they turn out for you this time! We carry certified Gluten-Free instant oats on my site, if that’s helpful. Here’s the link: http://www.julesglutenfree.com/product-p/oats-1×1.htm
Hi–can you use the GF Harvest Rolled oats? They sell them on Amazon for a good price?
Wasn’t sure if “rolled” were what you used.
You can also check out the oats that I use for cookies here: http://www.julesglutenfree.com/product-p/oats-1×1.htm
Michelle – I have not tried those oats. As long as they are certified gluten-free and they are rolled, they should work, although instant or baby oats work better. Sometimes the larger, stiff oats don’t absorb enough moisture in cookies and they are too crumbly, so keep that in mind!
thanks! I’m going to try the trial pack. I cannot wait to make your recipe for soft pretzels–that is what I have been missing the most. Love your whole site!
Michelle – the trial pack will be perfect, then, because you’ll get flour & oats so you can make these cookies too! Enjoy!!!
Loved this recipe! I just found your site tonight when searching for a GF oatmeal raisin recipe. Although I did not have your flour blend yet, I used another combo of GF flours I had on hand and these turned out perfect! It is so rewarding to finally find a GF oatmeal raisin cookie recipe to make for my teenage daughter who has been on a GF diet for the past three years and is really missing certain baked goods. Thank you so much! Delicious!!!
Fantastic Cindy! So glad to help!
Are Jules Gluten Free Oats the quick cooking type of oats?
Lynda – great question! The answer is yes! They are instant, quick, baby oats … they all mean basically the same thing. It’s key in an oatmeal cookie recipe to use oats that are softer like these; the stiffer oats don’t absorb the moisture well enough and the cookie will crumble. Enjoy!
These did not turn out well for me at all:( I have had food science and generally the shortening to flour ratio is 1:3 so I was suspicious in the beginning the dough may be too soft and I had the same result as others….flat, crumbly cookies, they tasted great though. I added more flour mixture to the remaining dough and they turned out better. It may be the oats? but not sure
Hi Jennifer, what kind of oats did you use? Seems like anyone who has had trouble with this recipe has used Bob’s Red Mill GF oats (see comments), which I’ve found to be stiffer and not to absorb the liquids enough in this cookie, leading them to be crumbly instead of chewy. If you can get your hands on Cream Hill Estates, Gluten-Free Oats, Gifts of Nature, or Legacy Valley gluten-free oats, it should work out better for you. Glad you added more flour and were able to get that batch to work for though (smart cookie, you are!)!
As far as the oats go – there are “quick cooking” and old fashioned….I would imagine that the quick cooking ones would be the thinnest and most absorbent…
Absolutely right on the differences in oats – there are thick oats and even baby oats! We have fewer choices as far as gluten-free oats go, but you can feel the difference between the oats just by picking up the bags and comparing. For cookies and cakes, I’d definitely recommend the thinner, smaller, “quick cooking” gluten-free oats if you can find them.
Having trouble finding oats locally. Found udi’s granola with ingredients of honey and oats. The oats are certified gluten free. Would this possibly work for oatmeal cookies. I can find Bob’s red mill alot of places. I really don’t want to use that. Any guidance would be appreciated. Also, what cornmeal brand do you use? Love your recipes. Made toll house cookies with your flour. They were awesome!
Not sure about using granola in this recipe. It would likely produce a cookie of a different texture (not soft and chewy) & may not absorb the liquids necessary to hold the cookie together. Most people haven’t had luck with Bob’s Red Mill GF oats in this recipe either though, since those oats are stiffer and larger. You could try ordering on-line (like on Amazon) if you can’t find anywhere locally with other brands of oats, or ask your local organic market/health food store or grocery to order for you. They should be able to order Gluten-Free Oats or Lara’s Creamhill Estates brands, for example. About the cornmeal, I use Arrowhead Mills Organic GF Cornmeal and it’s great! So glad you loved the toll house cookies! Happy cookie baking!!!
Would reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and substitute xylitol or coconut sugar. W/the raisins in the recipe, you will still have a sweet cookie. I use the xylitol or coconut sugar in my g-f cooking classes and no one knows the difference. However, the coconut sugar is not quite as sweet as regular sugar, so getting your tastebuds used to less sugar can take a bit of adjusting.
MaryClare, Some folks like myself can’t consume xylitol. I tried to use it, but I end of with horrible bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Not pretty.
I was recently diagnosed with food allergies. I’ve been suffering from chronic fatigue for 3 yrs and finally have an answer! I’m allergic to gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, safflower, seseame, pineapple, cabbage, almonds, walnuts, and a few other things. I’ve really had a hard time finding recipes and food to make with all my allergies until I found out about your cook book “Free For All Cooking”. I’m so excited that I have new recipes to try out now in the kitchen and can eat desserts again! Thank you Jules:)
I am looking for the recipe for the Cowboy cookies that you sent out last week – oatmeal, chocolate chips and peacons. I have misplaced it and I was really looking forward to making it this weekend! thanks!! mk
I made these tonight with Bob’s Red Mill Oats. They were good, thin but good. The second batch stayed in the fridge longer settling up and they came out a bit thicker. Most important they tasted good and my kids enjoyed them. I see some improvements that could be made next time and I will try the other brands of oats.
Yes, definitely try them with another brand of oats as my son & I have made two more batches in the last 24 hours (with Creamhill Estates Oats) and the comment I keep getting from people we share them with is how fluffy, soft and chewy they are! Even fluffier than this photo on the post which was taken of the cookies made with Gifts of Nature Oats. Amazing what effect one ingredient can have on the outcome, but then again, we know how much differently recipes turn out using other gluten-free flours! ; )
PS…your flour blend ROCKS !! Another friend was so disappointed that she can’t use it, as her husband is corn intolerant, as well as gluten. I took your recipe for all purpose and substituted coconut flour and sorghum flour for the corn flour and cornstarch. It’s also amazing ! Thanks so much for blazing a trail. We are newly diagnosed (both husband and I for about a month) and I am so excited with all the resources that are out there. So far, I don’t even feel any deprivation. Of course, I have always been a “scratch” cook…and have read labels for 25 years, so that’s not new to me. It’s certainly more expensive, but so is ill health.
Amen. Your attitude will carry the day! : )
Thin cookies….I baked the Oatmeal Raisin cookies this weekend, which tasted great, but came out quite crumbly and thin (with holes throughout).
Can you tell me what might have happened?
I am looking forward to trying more recipes!
Thanks!
I’ve heard from a few people that they’ve had the same result with this recipe, and many others that the recipe is amazing. When I investigate, it seems that the problem lies with the oats. There are wild variations between brands of gluten-free oats — some having smaller groats than others; some having stiffer/drier groats than others. Across the board I can tell you that folks who have had trouble with this recipe have used Bob’s Red Mill oats. I typically use Gluten-Free Oats or Lara’s CreamHill Estates and the cookies turn out wonderfully moist and chewy. Hopefully you can get your hands on some of these brands!
A friend of mine just mentioned how much larger Bob’s were ( right after I ordered them :-), but said she uses them a lot anyway. She runs them thru her food processor for a few pulses. I will be trying that with this recipe,as the oats arrived today !