Your favorite classic cookie recipe made gluten-free, these Oat Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies taste like childhood to me. They’re perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with just enough vanilla to round out the flavors. These oatmeal cookies are crispy on the edges with soft centers studded with raisins.
If you’ve always been more of a ‘chocolate chip cookie’ kind of person, get ready to fall for oatmeal raisin. I feel like Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are underrated and have so much potential. But so often they can be boring, or even worse… dry.
I personally have traditionally overlooked oatmeal raisin in favor of just about any other cookie. But that all changed when I started baking oatmeal cookies for my mechanic because it’s his favorite flavor.
Of course, I had to ‘quality test’ them when they came out of the oven. And that’s how I began to understand just how good oatmeal raisin cookies could be.
His all-time favorite of any recipe I ever tried out on him is from Cook’s Illustrated. So my recipe is inspired by theirs but made gluten-free with oat flour. Their recipe also doesn’t include cinnamon or vanilla, but we’ve found we enjoy them more that way.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Butter – I don’t recommend subbing anything in for the salted butter for these particular cookies. However, I have heard from readers that they have had success with vegan/dairy-free butter and coconut oil.
- Sugar – again I don’t recommend subbing in different sweeteners. Cane sugar combined with brown sugar will give you the best chewy results. I have made these with coconut sugar before, and they’re still good but have a different texture.
- Eggs – provide the perfect amount of binding and it helps to create a chewy texture. The recipe calls for 1 egg as a smaller batch of cookies, but I almost always double the recipe because they make a great gift!
- Oat flour – makes wonderful cookies with crispy edges and soft centers. If you need your oat flour to be gluten-free, look for certified gluten-free on the package. I’ve used both Bob’s Red Mill and Anthony’s. I’ve only tested this recipe with store-bought oat flour not homemade. Homemade oat flour varies a lot in texture so I can’t be sure of the results you’ll get.
- Oats – regular rolled oats are best for this recipe, and if you’re gluten-free be sure to buy oats that are labeled as gluten-free. Bob’s Red Mill has great gluten-free oats, just be sure you don’t buy the extra-thick oats.
- Cinnamon & nutmeg – I like a combination of these two spices. As noted below in the recipe, freshly grated nutmeg is absolutely incredible. It also makes a lot of sense to buy the whole spice and grate it as needed since nutmeg isn’t that common of an ingredient. I use a microplane grater to grate the whole nutmeg nut and it takes a few seconds to grate enough for these cookies. You can of course use jarred ground nutmeg as well!
How to make this recipe step by step
Step 1: Start by creaming the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together in an electric stand mixer.
Scrape down the sides as necessary to completely combine.
Step 2: Next add the spices and eggs and beat again to completely combine. Add the oat flour, tapioca starch, and baking powder. Beat just to combine, then cover and rest for 30 minutes.
After the resting time, add the rolled oats and raisins, and mix to combine.
Step 3: Portion out the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until crispy on the edges but still soft in the centers.
Step 4: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool until they are set enough to transfer from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack.
Ways to serve this
- Serve these the classic way dunked in milk, or my favorite dunked in half and half. And I know it’s decadent but our latest favorite is to dunk these cookies in heavy cream – so good!
- These oatmeal raisin cookies are so good with my Best Vanilla Ice Cream or Homemade Coconut Ice Cream. You can also make ice cream sandwiches with these.
FAQ’s
Yes, you can sub oat flour in for all-purpose in cookies but the ratios are not 1:1 when measured in cups. If you don’t have a lot of experience baking to know what the cookie dough texture should be like, I recommend using a recipe that is already tested for oat flour to be sure it will turn out. So far I have found that I’ve always needed more oat flour than all-purpose when I’m converting a recipe.
Oat flour browns a bit more and I’ve found in these oatmeal cookies they are crispier. It also adds more flavor to your baked goods. It also produces a slightly more crumblier texture than all-purpose flour because of the lack of gluten.
Storing leftovers
- To store – place the cooled oatmeal cookies in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 4 days. I freeze most of my batch right away to keep them as fresh as possible. It just depends on how quickly you’ll go through them in your house!
- Make ahead – these cookies can be made ahead and frozen 1-2 weeks ahead of time. These don’t keep as well as other cookies in the freezer, they dry out faster.
- Reheating – you can serve these warm by reheating in the oven at 150ºF until warmed through.
- To freeze – place the cookies in an airtight sealed container and freeze for up to 2 weeks. They will keep longer, they just have a tendency to dry out over time.
Tips & Tricks
- Not all oat flour is gluten-free, so be sure to check the package labels! I’ve tested these cookies with both Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour and Anthony’s Oat Flour. Anthony’s is a little bit more expensive. But it’s also organic and non-irradiated as well as being gluten-free.
- For the best results in these cookies, I wouldn’t substitute much, these cookies are the best just as they are. If you’re looking for more treats with natural sweeteners, (no cane sugar) check out my dessert recipes category where you’ll find lots of options.
- To measure oat flour, use the ‘dip and sweep method’ where you ‘dip’ the measuring cup into the flour without packing it, and ‘sweep’ it level on the top with the back of a butter knife. Too much flour ruins the texture of these cookies, so be careful not to ‘pack’ your measuring cup.
- Don’t skip the 30-minute resting time! The difference in the texture is worth the extra time. I’ve tested this recipe both ways, and the cookies are so much better after they’ve rested. The texture before resting is always a touch gritty. Oat flour has a bit more texture than all-purpose and the resting time allows it to ‘hydrate’ a bit for a smoother softer texture.
- Watch your cookies carefully the first time around to get a feel for how fast they’re cooking! Ovens are rarely cooking at the proper temperature, so you may find they cook slower or faster than the time listed. I got a thermometer for my oven a while ago and it has been awesome to have for accuracy!
Dietary Options & Substitutions
- Dairy-free – use dairy-free or vegan butter
- Paleo – try making my Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies or my Double Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies instead.
I really hope you enjoy these Oat Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! If you do get a chance to make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Oat Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 stick salted butter - 4 ounces
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg - freshly grated if possible, see notes
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups oat flour - 5.5 oz, 161 grams, see notes
- 2 tsp tapioca starch - or cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cups raisins
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cream the butter, brown sugar, and cane sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Scrape down the sides as necessary and beat again until completely combined.
- Add the egg with the mixer running waiting for it to incorporate, scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and vanilla and beat again to combine.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the oat flour, tapioca starch, and baking powder.
- Add the oat flour mixture a little at at time to the butter mixture beating to combine. When all the flour mixture has been combined, cover the cookie dough and let it rest for 30 minutes for the oat flour to absorb.
- When the rest time is almost up, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Mix the rolled oats and raisins into the cookie dough until combined.
- Portion the cookie dough out onto parchment-lined baking sheets. I use a size #40 cookie scoop which is 1.5 tbsp.
- Lightly flatten the cookies, then place them in the oven to bake until golden crispy edges form with soft centers, 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet just long enough to set up enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough until all the cookies are baked.