Gluten Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

These Gluten Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies will remind you of an old fashion oatmeal cookie with a chewy and soft middle and just the right amount of crispiness around the edges. They boast an abundance of dried cranberries and a generous amount of white chocolate chips. You will not be able to stop at just one cookie. Add these Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to your Holiday Cookie Platter for a perfect treat, but don't limit yourself to just that! Enjoy them throughout the year, because they are absolutely delicious and worth savoring.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: I tested this recipe for Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob's Red Mill 1-1. While both recipes work great, it's important to mention that King Arthur produced more compact cookies while Bob's Red Mill spread more. Both cookies tasted delicious. I have not tested this recipe with my own gluten-free flour blend but it should work great in this application. The baking flours mentioned do contain xanthan gum.

Gluten Free Oats: I prefer using Old Fashioned oats (rolled oats) in this recipe since quick oats are too thin and won't provide the same hearty texture.
VERY IMPORTANT REGARDING OATS: Please make sure to purchase certified gluten-free oats if you have celiac or a wheat allergy. Although oats are naturally gluten-free, manufacturers often process them in facilities that also handle wheat or other grains containing gluten. I buy my gluten-free oats from Thrive Market

Dried Cranberries: The dried cranberries bring tart sweetness and a bit of candy-like chew to this recipe for Gluten Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies. When available, I use dried cranberries sweetened with apple juice but sadly they can be tricky to find at times. If you can not locate dried cranberries, feel free to substitute them with dried cherries, dried blueberries, or even raisins.

White Chocolate: I tested this recipe with Ghiradelli Classic White Premium Baking Chip as well as a chopped-up white chocolate bar. Whatever white chocolate you use, make sure it is high-quality white chocolate. Clearly if white chocolate isn't your thing, feel free to use dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips instead.

How to make Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie Dough

The dough for this gluten-free cookie recipe is very straightforward. Make sure the butter and the eggs are at room temperature. Don't forget to refrigerate this cookie dough for at least 4 hours! This will allow the oats and gluten-free flour to fully hydrate. Otherwise, the cookies will spread all over the baking sheet.

Step 1: In a medium bowl sift or whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and kosher salt. In a separate bowl combine the glute free oats, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries. Set aside.

Step 2: To make the dough, place the room temperature butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, a generous teaspoon of vanilla extract, and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl. Cream the ingredients at a medium speed for 4-5 minutes until they become fluffy and pale. Remember to pause halfway through and use a flexible spatula to scrape the bowl and beater.

Step 3: With the mixer running on low, add the large egg and the egg yolk, letting it fully incorporate. Pause your mixer to scrape down the sides.

Step 4: With the mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.

Step 5: Add the gluten-free oats, chocolate chips, and dried fruit and at a low speed mix just to combine. You don’t want to overmix and break up all the chocolate. Place the dough in a Tupperware container or large bowl with a lid and let the dough rest in your refrigerator. Chilling is mandatory. For the best results, I recommend to chill the gluten free oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough for at least 4hrs - better even if you can let it sit for 12hrs or longer. During this process, the flour and oats hydrate and develop flavor.

How to bake Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

Once the dough for gluten free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies has rested peacefully for an extended period of time, it's time to bake them. Please be aware the longer the oatmeal cookie dough is chilling, the trickier it can get to portion it out. I always allow my cookie dough to sit at room temp for 10-15 minutes, portion it out and then stick it back in the fridge for a few minutes before baking.

Step 1: Begin by preheating your oven to 350F and covering a sheet tray with parchment paper.

Step 2: Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop (known as the #20 - yellow scoop), portion out the cookie dough. This recipe should yield 10-12 cookies, depending on how much dough you sample.

Step 3: Place 6 balls of cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, ensuring there is enough space for spreading. Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator (or freezer for future use).

Step 4: Bake the delicious gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for 13-14 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden and starting to set. The exact baking time may vary depending on personal preference and your oven. I like mine to have some crispy edges.

Step 5: Once out of the oven, you can use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie size to shape them into perfect rounds if desired. Top them with additional chocolate chips and dried fruit if you like. Allow the gluten-free cookies to cool on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 6: Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookie dough if you like or freeze it for future cookie cravings.

Storage & Freezing

Clearly, those gluten-free oatmeal cookies are the best straight from the oven. They have crisp edges and a chewy center. But sometimes even the biggest cookie monster can't eat all the cookies at once. To store them, place them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. The cookies are good for 4-5 days but will start to become crispier the longer they sit.

To freeze, prepare the gluten-free cookie dough and portion it into individual cookie-sized portions. Place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or a tray. Make sure they are not touching each other. Place the baking sheet or tray with the cookie dough portions into the freezer. Allow them to freeze for about 1-2 hours or until they are firm. Once the cookie dough portions are solid, transfer them into a resealable freezer bag or an airtight container. Label the bag or container with the date and the type of cookie dough.

When you're ready to bake the frozen cookie dough, preheat the oven according to the original recipe instructions. Take out the desired number of frozen cookie dough portions from the freezer and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving enough space for spreading. Allow the frozen dough to thaw at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes, or until it becomes slightly soft but still chilled. Follow the original recipe's baking instructions, adjusting the baking time if needed. The cookies may require a few extra minutes since the dough was frozen.

By freezing the cookie dough in individual portions, you can easily bake small batches whenever you want fresh cookies without having to thaw the entire batch.

Variations of Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

Ready to change things up? Here are a few fun add-ins to take this recipe for homemade gluten-free oatmeal cookies to the next level.

• Dark Chocolate: for a fancier twist, chop up an artisan chocolate bar (65% or darker) and add it to the cookies
• A blend of chocolate: have some random bits and pieces of chocolate chips left? Combine them and add them to your oatmeal cookie dough
• Butterscotch Chocolate Chips: add some butterscotch chocolate chips and turn them into Gluten Free Oatmeal Scotchies
• Dried Fruit: raisins, dried blueberries, dried cranberries or dried cherries would work fabulous in this gluten free cookie recipe
• Nuts: Want to mix things up? Try adding some chopped-up pecans or walnuts.
• Seasonal M&M's: Add seasonal M&Ms to your gluten-free oatmeal cookie dough like red & green M&M's for Christmas.
• Mini M&M’s: Add Mini M&M's to this recipe for oatmeal cranberry cookies and turn them into a fun cookie for kids – they will love them.
• Blend them: try butterscotch with pecans, white chocolate, dried cherries and pecans, mini M&M's, and more M&M's…

FAQ - Gluten Free Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and very affordable. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. Measuring cups are very inaccurate and can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Be also prepared that the convection oven can cause your baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Be aware that it takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.