When I went gluten-free, I also had to go oat-free. I REALLY miss oats, but as much as I pretend they don’t make me sick, even gluten-free oats just don’t agree with me. Because of this, I haven’t been able to eat my absolute favorite cookie in the world, oatmeal cookies.
I use quinoa flakes to add texture to my banana and pumpkin bread, so I recently decided to see if they would be a good substitute for oatmeal in my oatmeal cookie recipe. Boy am I glad I tried! It isn’t quite the same, but it does offer some of the same chewiness.
These are very versatile cookies, in that you can use any “mix-ins” you like. I use dried cherries and chocolate chips here, but you can make delicious combinations like apricot-pistachio, white chocolate chip-macadamia, hazelnut-butterscotch chip, raisin-chocolate chip, or cranberry-pecan. Or whatever suits your fancy 🙂
Note: You can use a standard gluten-free flour mix if you do not prefer to purchase individual gluten-free flours, but the texture will be different (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Wonderful Bread Mix as my all-purpose gf flour; omit the xanthan gum if your flour mix already contains it). You can also substitute white whole wheat flour if you are a gluten-eater (start with 1 1/2 cups and see if you need the additional 1/2 cup, and omit the xanthan gum).
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch
1/2 cup millet flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp good quality cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup shortening, margarine, or coconut oil
1 cup brown sugar (or Sucanat or other unrefined sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar (or evaporated cane sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes (I like Ancient Harvest)
1/2 cup dried cherries (or other mix-in)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or other mix-in)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease or line 4 baking sheets (or 2 and you can bake 2 batches).
- In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (brown rice flour through baking soda) until thoroughly combined.
- In a mixer (or by hand), cream together shortening and sugar. Add vanilla, then add and eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to be incorporated before adding the next.
- On low speed, add dry ingredients in batches. Add quinoa flakes and mix-ins until just combined. Try not to overmix.
- Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart (they will spread), about 8 per sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until the edges are getting crispy and the tops are browned. They will continue to firm up as they cool.
Makes 20-30 depending on the size of your scoop.