Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Rich, chewy gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies make for an excellent treat any time of year!

These gluten free cookies use brown sugar for deeper flavor and lots of oats and raisins to make sure there's no guessing what kind of cookie you're grabbing.

Oatmeal raisin cookies are a classic, and these have the rich flavor a good oatmeal raisin cookie should have while still being gluten free!

I've made several gluten free cookie recipes, including favorites like Gluten Free White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and Gluten Free Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These cookies are gluten free, but you'd never guess it. I proudly share these with family and friends and they never guess they're eating a gluten free treat!

Ingredients of note

Gluten Free Flour: My go-to gluten free flour is Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour - it's easy to find and works great! I use it for all sorts of baking recipes, from Gluten Free Cranberry Bread to Gluten Free White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.

If you choose to use another 1:1 gluten free flour, make sure it has xanthan gum. I also can't guarantee the cookies will turn out the same as they do with my go-to blend.

Brown Sugar: I opted for using only brown sugar in this recipe - that way, you'll get the deep, caramely flavor of brown sugar throughout the cookies! I also find brown sugar makes them wonderfully chewy. Dark or light brown sugar work great!

Oats: Use quick-cooking or rolled oats - NOT instant oats - for this recipe. Rolled oats tend to be thicker, so the oats will be more prominent in each bite. That's what I used!

Raisins: If you can find them, grab unsweetened raisins or raisins sweetened with juice. These cookies are sweet enough without the added sweetness!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to make Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

As far as cookies go, these gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies are pretty straightforward!

Make sure you're ready with your ingredients, taking butter and eggs out of the fridge if needed so they come to room temperature before you start baking.

• Combine dry ingredients - Add the gluten free flour, baking soda, and salt to a bowl. Stir until that's fully combined.
• Cream butter and sugar - Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is fully incorporated (the sugar shouldn't still be grainy) and has lightened in color. Add the eggs and beat until fully combined.
• Add flour - Add the flour and either beat on low or abandon the beaters and stir with a spatula until fully combined.
• Fold in oats and raisins - Dump in the oats and raisins, and mix it all together with a spatula until fully incorporated!
• Rest the dough - Give the gluten free flour a head start in absorbing the fats in the cookies by setting the bowl aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• If needed, refrigerate dough - If the dough sticks to your hands as you try to work with it, pop the prepared dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a sheet pan when ready to bake.
• Bake! for 12-14 minutes per batch.

Top tips from Chelsea

Rest the dough. For the very best results, rest the cookie dough at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Gluten free flour doesn't absorb moisture the same way wheat flour does, so this gives the GF flour a shot here! Be sure the dough doesn't get too warm (don't store it next to the oven as it preheats) or the butter will melt.

Dough too sticky? Refrigerate it. If the dough is excessively sticking to your hands as you try to work with it, pop it in the fridge for up to 30 minutes before working with it. You may have over-creamed the butter and sugar. No big deal - refrigerating is an easy fix!

Properly cream the butter and sugar. It's easy to over- or under-cream the butter and sugar. Keep an eye on your mixer and stop when the butter and sugar have combined and become lighter in color and fluffy! Overmixing can mean cakey cookies. Undermixing means dense cookies. You're looking for a mixture lighter in color, without sugar crystals throughout!

Keep and eye on your cookies! It takes minutes for cookies to bake, and a fraction of that to overbake. Make sure you're keeping an eye on that first batch of cookies to make sure the bottoms don't get too toasty!