Double Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich (Artisan, 2014), her brilliant gluten-free baking book.

Alice Medrich says: “Let the dough stand for at least 1 but preferably 2 hours or (better still) cover and refrigerate overnight. The flavor and texture of the cookies improve with longer chilling.” 

Since this has turned into our house cookie, I refrigerate the dough overnight every time.

Please read the recipe all the way through before you begin so you’re not surprised to find that the dry ingredients are added to the wet ingredients — which means the wet mixture must be in a bowl large enough to hold everything.

125g oat flour
190g rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (essential—do not omit)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
225–227g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
150g granulated sugar
150g packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
115g coarsely chopped walnut pieces
140g raisins

Beat the eggs with the vanilla in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients — oat flour, oats, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and nutmeg. (See Note 4 below.)

In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugars. Whisk in the egg and vanilla mixture. Then add the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula for about one minute. The longer you mix, the chewier the cookies will be; for crisp cookies, stop at one minute. Then fold in the walnuts and raisins.

Cover and refrigerate the dough, preferably overnight; a 1 to 2-hour chill will do in a pinch. Before refrigerating, I divide the dough between two metal bowls because it’s easier to roll into balls when cold.

Preheat the oven to 300°F convection (what I do) or 325°F regular.

Using a cookie scoop and your hands, roll the dough into 25g balls. (I weigh each one as I go.) Place 6 cookies per parchment-lined half-sheet pan. 

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes. I bake mine for 17, but ovens vary. The cookies will be firm—not soft—but not brittle enough to shatter.

Note 1: I always preheat the oven long enough that it holds the correct temperature for at least 20 minutes before baking. Then I let the oven recover for 5 minutes before starting a new batch—the same amount of time the cookies should sit on their baking sheets before being transferred to cooling racks.

Note 2: I always use cool half-sheet pans for fresh balls of dough. I have nine half-sheet pans to rotate through.

Note 3: This recipe is gluten-free as long as the ingredients are. If you're using Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour and want to make sure it is safely gluten-free (for instance, you will be serving the cookies to someone who is celiac), choose the one labeled gluten-free (GF) on the package.

Note 4: I like to pre-measure the oat flour, rolled oats, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and nutmeg and store them together in a jar. When I’m ready to bake, I give the mixture a thorough whisk in a medium bowl before proceeding.