Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
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These incredibly popular quick and easy Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are made with rolled oats and oat flour for a gloriously chewy bite with crispy edges. Boasting a deep flavour with a subtle hint of cinnamon and vanilla, these gluten-free cookies are a deliciously moreish treat and a huge hit with everyone.
I guarantee these Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies will not last long on your kitchen counter. This all time favourite combination of a chewy cookie studded through with juicy raisins is impossible to resist.
This classic recipe is quick to make and quick to bake so ideal if you have a cookie craving which needs an immediate fix. A completely foolproof gluten-free cookie recipe which is so simple that it’s perfect for baking with children or if you are a novice baker.
Why You’ll Love These Gluten-Free Cookies
- Addictively chewy texture with just a slight crisp to the edges.
- Toasty old fashioned oats flavour with a sweet burst of plump raisins and a lovely background note of cinnamon and vanilla.
- Easy to source ingredients.
- The cookie dough is made in just one bowl.
- 10 minutes to make the dough.
- 12 minutes in the oven.
- Simple gluten free flour blend.
- No xanthan gum needed.
Watch the video to see how you make it
Full list of ingredients
Butter. Use unsalted so you can control the salt content and make sure the butter is at room temperature.
Brown sugar. For flavour and chew.
Caster sugar. For a little crispness around the edges
Egg. This recipe was tested with a medium size (60g with shell, 50g without shell).
Vanilla extract. Use a good quality extract, I like Nielsen Massey.
Oat flour. Gives the cookies a gorgeous chew and light butterscotch flavour. You can buy ready ground or you can make your own by grinding the same amount of gluten-free rolled oats in the food processor until very fine.
Tapioca flour. Holds the cookies together and gives them a lovely golden brown colour once baked.
Salt. This recipe was tested with kosher salt. Using salt punches up all the flavours.
Bicarbonate of soda. For a light lift.
Ground cinnamon. Just a pinch for flavour.
Rolled oats. Make sure they are certified gluten-free oats.
Raisins. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a raisin cookie!
Gluten-free flour blend
This recipe doesn't use an all-purpose flour blend or measure for measure flour. Instead we create our own flour blend so we can control the chewy centres of our delicious cookies. For this recipe we need just 2 flours:
- Oat flour. This wholegrain flour has a mellow toasty buttery flavour and gives a great texture to our classic cookie.
- Tapioca flour (starch). This starchy flour is a light and delicate flour and binds the mixture together so the cookies will hold well with good structure. Plus it also gives our cookies a lovely golden colour. Substitution: You can use arrowroot powder instead of tapioca starch.
✨I recommend using Bob's Red Mill Oat Flour and Tapioca Flour to create this blend✨
How to make Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Mix. Place the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Add the oat flour, tapioca starch and beat together. Then mix in the oats and finally the raisins.
Scoop. Portion the cookie dough into 12 round balls and place on 2 baking sheets with lots of space in between.
Bake for 12 minutes. Rest on the baking tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert tips for perfectly chewy oatmeal cookies
Make sure your butter is at room temperature so it can cream smoothly together with the sugar.
Use a trigger release ice cream scoop for the uniform sized cookies which made it so clean and easy to get onto the baking tray.
Divide the cookies between 2 baking trays with plenty of room between each cookie. If you only have one baking sheet then just bake them in 2 batches. The cookie dough is fine to rest on the kitchen counter whilst the first batch is baking. Just make sure the tray has cooled in between batches.
This recipe takes 12 minutes exactly but do check after 10 minutes just in case your oven isn’t calibrated correctly. There is nothing more disappointing than over baked cookies.
If you like a crisper cookie edge then bake for an extra 2 minutes.
Leave the cookies on the baking tray for 5 minutes before removing them with a flipper to give them a chance to set.
I know you can’t resist – these chewy oatmeal raisin cookies are so delicious to eat whilst warm but they do firm up as they cool so it’s worth it if you can wait for the perfect texture.
FAQs
They will keep well for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. I prefer a tin which is a dry environment. Then store your container in a cool dark place. After 3 days they begin to taste a little stale.
I recommend freezing the cookie dough prior to baking. Scoop the dough up into 12 rounds using a trigger release ice cream scoop. Then place the cookie dough balls on a baking tray in a single layer and place into the freezer. After about 6-8 hours transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a ziplock bag, squeezing as much air out as possible to avoid freezer burn. The cookie dough will keep well for up to 2 months.
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 3 (which is slightly lower than the original recipe).
Place your cookie dough on the lined baking trays as per the original recipe. Bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes until the cookies are slightly golden at the edges.
Yes, you just need to make a couple of swaps to make Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
Butter. Swap for a vegan butter.
Egg. Use a flax egg instead. To make the flax egg whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons room temperature water. Rest for 5 minutes until the mixture has turned thick and gel like. Mix into the ingredients in the same way as the regular egg.
Next time you make this just swap the sweet raisins for the same amount of chocolate chips.
More gluten-free cookies you’ll love!
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Dipped Oat Peanut Butter Cookies
- Spiced Pumpkin Date Cookies
- Gluten-Free Ginger Nut Biscuits
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 140 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 90 g soft light brown sugar
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 egg - medium
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 120 g gluten-free oat flour
- 80 g tapioca starch
- 70 g gluten-free rolled oats
- 110 g raisins
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 5.
- Place the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.
- Sift the oat flour and tapioca starch together and add to the mixing bowl.
- Beat these ingredients together to create the cookie dough.
- Add the rolled oats then mix in until completely combined.
- Stir in the raisins until they are evenly dispersed throughout the cookie dough. The dough should be moderately firm with all the ingredients well mixed together.
- Scoop out 12 balls of cookie dough using a trigger release ice cream / cookie scoop and place on 2 baking trays lined with baking parchment. Give the cookies plenty of room between each one.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove the baking trays from the oven and leave the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring to cooling racks to finish cooling completely.
I really will appreciate your insight with your recipe, I made them for a gathering with friends, with someone on strick gluten/dairy free diet.
They tasted wonderful!! everyone tasted them and loved them ~ I used organic Earth Balance plant based vegan butter. I converted to 374 F. baked as directed, however they spread out so thin and were so fragile/coming apart.
Today I tried them with 3/4 using stick Earth balance and 1/4 of the tub / container, thinking they'd have more 'chewy/ thickness' , They still spread out but not as thin.
Definitly though do not look as compact,chewy and round as yours. A granddaughter also is gluten and dairy free, so I'd really like to figure this one out. I use a trigger release scooper approx slight over 1 TBS., and I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour and tapioca flour.
When you substitute butter with plant-based alternatives it will always alter the texture and will often spread out more. Different dairy-free butters will also garner different results. I don't think we have Earth Balance in the UK so I haven't used it before I'm afraid.
Thank you for responding!
Another great recipe! Thanks for developing delicious recipes without xanthum or nuts!
You are so welcome!! I'm happy you enjoyed the cookies!
Yet another delicious recipe. I've made these several times now and they work out well each time.
I'm so happy to hear that!!
Hi. Will this work ok if I leave out the raisins?
Would it also work if I used Cassava flour instead of Tapioca starch?
Thanks
Yes it's fine without the raisins. I haven't tried with cassava flour but it should be okay. Arrowroot powder is also a good swap.
Just made these and definitely very easy and quick and a good recipe for small helping hands! However, maybe the size of ice cream scoops differ....I got 24 cookies! Had to open a second packet of raisins to get up to 110g, but inadvertently opened cranberries and dropped them in before realising, but they work too! Think I would prefer them to be slightly more crisp, so will bake for longer next time.
These turned out really lovely! 🙂 I had a pack of choc chip in the cupboard so used those instead of the raisins.
In the USA, it was Mother's Day today. I am new to Gluten and Dairy free. I tried these today. I see now that the temp in the post was different than the printed recipe. I baked at 355 degrees F. which is approx 180 C, in a convection oven. They seemed raw at the 12 min mark. I baked them 4 more minutes to allow them to slightly brown on top. The taste is great. The cookie is just a bit crumbly and dry. I also used Country Crock plant butter replacement because I have to be dairy free in addition to gluten free. Maybe the butter change added to the dryness. I will try again, maybe adding more fat next time or maybe use coconut oil instead. One stick (8 oz) of Country Crock plant "butter" was only 107 grams. Thank you for offering dairy-free options.
Hi Patti, I'll check those temps - thank you! I'm happy you liked the recipe.
Hi Patti, I think you might have been looking at the How to Bake From Frozen section of the post which has different cooking times. I wonder if the reason you might have dry cookies is that they were slightly overbaked. When you remove them from the oven at the 12 minute mark they might look underbaked but they firm up on cooling and this creates the chewy texture.