The name is a lie. There are no oats in these cookies. You might think there are when you taste them, but there aren’t. Instead the cookies are based on the magic of quinoa flakes. They don’t keep their flake form when they bake, so I guess thhey’re not that magical, but they’re pretty darn good and very darn gluten-free.
I did two batches – one with a mix of brown demerera cane sugar and honey and the other with white xylitol – a sugar substitute that I have trouble digesting, is found in some toothpastes, is amazing for your gums, and looks and tastes like regular sugar without the high glycemic index. If you’re diabetic or avoiding sugar, it’s an option, but start with low quantities to test how it makes you feel. I prefer the cane sugar, I think. The xylitol-sweetened cookies turned out better, though. They didn’t spread too much on the baking sheet, which is what often happens with honey. I guess because it makes for a dryer cookie?
Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 cup vegan margarine (you could use oil but the cookies would be much thinner and slimier. Butter or butter substitute such as earth balance keep them together better)
1 cup brown cane sugar (or 2 cups xylitol and skip the honey below)*
1 cup honey
2 eggs (or egg replacer equivalent to two eggs)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup teff flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp guar gum
2 cups quinoa flakes
1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)
Directions:
Cream together the margarine and sugar/honey on high speed for 2 minutes in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat another minute. Combine the brown rice flour, teff, tapioca and guar gum in a medium bowl and sieve (or pour, if you don’t feel like spending a bit of time sieving – your cookies will be a bit denser is all) over the egg mixture. Measure out the raisins and set aside. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture except the raisins and mix with your clean hands (or a wooden spoon if you’re afraid of getting in there). Then add the raisins and mix again with your hands.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Shape into balls (you usually have to scrape the batter off your hands and wash them before rolling balls or the dough will just stick to your hands and you’ll end up with weird spikes in your cookies) and place in lines of threes and twos on three or four greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. The xylitol cookies took less time than the honey/sugar cookies, so when the oven is preheated put in the first tray and set the timer for 8 minutes. If after 8 minutes the cookies are still soft and not yet golden, bake 2 minutes longer or until light brown.
The bottoms of my cookies burned while the cookies themselves refused to turn golden, so if this happens to you double-line your next batch with a second baking sheet underneath the first to help keep the heat away from the bottoms. Or bake them higher in the oven. They shouldn’t need more than 15 minutes max, but gluten-free baking means making adjustments. No one would know these were gluten- and dairy-free, though!
*Actually, the cane sugar cookies were granular because the sugar didn’t dissolve well in the batter. So using a finely ground cane sugar is best. Xylitol often also comes out granular, but these were fine.
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