Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies are a fun twist on the classic oatmeal cookies. They are chewy, they are hearty, perfectly sweet and salty balanced, and simply irresistible. Feel free to add chocolate, dried fruit, or just enjoy them plain and simple without any add-ins. But no matter what, make sure to top them with a generous pinch of coarse, flaky sea salt.
Keep this recipe in mind for your holiday baking this year - this is a must-add to every holiday cookie platter!
Jump to:
- Recipe Ingredient Notes
- DIY Multipuprose Gluten Free Flour Blend
- Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookie ADD-IN'S
- Want to make some dietary adjustments?
- A few tips for Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies
- Join my Gluten Free Community!
- Note about Salt in my Recipes
- Baking in grams
- Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures
- Substitutions and Modifications
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Recipe Ingredient Notes
Gluten Free Flour: I use my own multi-purpose gluten free flour blend but you can also use a blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1. If you use a gluten free flour blend without added xanthan gum, please add 4 grams (roughly 1.25 teaspoons)
Oat Flour: There is no need to purchase oat flour for this recipe for Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies. Just use a blender or a small food processor and blend up some oats.
Old Fashioned Oats: I only recommend using Old Fashioned oats (rolled oats) in this recipe. Quick Oats are rolled too thin and you will lose the texture of this cookie.
VERY IMPORTANT REGARDING OATS: Please make sure to purchase certified gluten free oats if you have celiac or a wheat allergy. While oats are naturally gluten free they are often processed in the same facility as wheat or other gluten-containing grains. Personally, I buy my gluten free oats from Thrive Market, Bob's Red Mill or GF Harvest PureOats.
Butter: I use unsalted butter in all my baking but did test this recipe with salted butter. If you would like to use salted butter (because that's all you have on hand) you are more than welcome to do so. Please be aware that you MUST reduce the added kosher salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- If you want to use salted butter in baking, for every 113 grams of butter, reduce the added salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- If your recipe calls for salted butter and you only have unsalted, for every 113 grams of butter add an additional ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Salt: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt in all my recipes and Maldon's Flaky Sea Salt as my finishing salt (the flaky sea salt I put on almost all my baked goods). Not all salts are created equal. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier. 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt weighs roughly 3 grams while 1 teaspoon of Morton's Kosher Salt weighs almost 5 grams. Therefore if use another brand other than Diamonds Crystal Kosher Salt please be aware that this can throw off the entire recipe.
DIY Multipuprose Gluten Free Flour Blend
I am currently working on my own gluten free flour blends but will always provide a store-bought alternative for you in my recipes. I understand not everyone is in the position and/or comfortable blending their own flours. One of my favorite go-to blends is this simple blend. This can be used in all my cookie recipes, cakes and bar cookies. I don't recommend using it in my Classic Pastries.
Please make sure to use Super Fine Brown Rice Flour like this product from Authentic Foods as well as Sweet Rice Flour and Potato Starch (NOT Potato Flour - remember, they are two different products).
Please make sure to use a kitchen scale for this!
Gluten Free Multipurpose Blend
- 140 grams Super Fine Brown Rice Flour
- 120 grams Super Fine Sweet White Rice Flour
- 160 grams Potato Starch
- 70 grams Sorghum Flour
- 80 grams Tapioca Starch
- 8 grams Xanthan Gum
Place all your ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Store in an air-tight container and store in your pantry 1-2 months or in your fridge for up to 6 months.
Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookie ADD-IN'S
Ready to change things up? Here are a few fun add-ins to take the gluten free salted oatmeal cookies to the next level:
- Dark Chocolate: for a fancier twist, chop up an artisian chocolate bar (65% or darker) and add to the cookies
- White Chocolate: white chocolate and oats are one of my favorite cookie combos. Just make sure to use some high quality white chocolate.
- Caramlized White Chocolate: the cookies pictures in this recipe are actually made with Valrhona Dulcey (caramlized white chocolate)
- Butterscotch Chocolate Chips: add some butterscotch chocolate chips and turn them into Gluten Free Oatmeal Scotchies
- Dried Fruit: raisins, 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.
- Mini M&M's: 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&ms and more m&m's...
Want to make some dietary adjustments?
Flour: If you would like to create those Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies with "regular" All-Purpose flour, please use 110 grams of AP flour in place of the gluten free flour. All other ingredients in the recipe will stay the same.
Oats: If you are not celiac or have a wheat allergy, use your favorite old-fashioned oats in this recipe.
Butter: Dairy-Free? Substitute the 113 grams of unsalted butter with your favorite dairy-free butter option. I do NOT recommend using coconut oil. I like to use Miyoko’s and ForA Vegan Butter.
Eggs: If you have successfully created this recipe without eggs, please be so kind and share in the comments.
A few tips for Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies
- Please allow the dough to rest for at least 2-4hrs since oats and oat flour need more time to hydrate than just gluten free flour alone.
- This recipe is a small batch recipe that will give you 12 cookies. I use the yellow scoop or 50 grams per cookie if you use a scale to portion out your dough.
- This dough freezes very well. Just portion out the cookie dough, place it on a cookie sheet and freeze. When frozen, transfer it to a ziplock bag and store it in your freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can bake the cookies straight from the freezer - just increase the baking time by 2-4 minutes depending on your oven. No need to thaw the cookie dough.
- Want to freeze some baked cookies? Place them on a sheet tray and freeze them. Wrap the frozen cookies in plastic wrap and place them in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow them to thaw at room temperature and nuke in the microwave for up to 10 seconds for that fresh-baked taste.
- Please make sure to purchase gluten-free oats if you have celiac or a wheat allergy.
Note about Chilling Time: Please be aware the longer the dough is chilled, the less the cookies will spread while baking. If the cookie dough is allowed to chill for 4hrs or longer make sure to gently press down the cookie dough before baking.
Join my Gluten Free Community!
Note about Salt in my Recipes
I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.
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 easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which 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. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Since 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.
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies are a twist on the classic oatmeal cookies. Chewy, hearty, perfectly sweet and salty balanced, and simply irresistible.
Ingredients
- 113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
- 120 grams light brown sugar
- 90 grams granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Kosher Salt
- 1 large egg
- 120 grams Gluten Free Multipurpose Blend (See Note)
- 50 grams gluten free oat flour
- 20 grams cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 150 grams gluten free old fashioned oats
- 100 grams add-ins (I use Valrhona Dulcey - Caramlized White Chocolate)
- To finish: Maldon Flaky sea salt
Instructions
How to make Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of your stand mixer combine room temperature butter, both sugars, and salt and beat at medium speed for 6-8 minutes until fluffy and pale. Halfway through, pause to scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula.
- In the meantime combine gluten-free flour, cornstarch, oat flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
- Measure out your gluten free oats and add-ins and set them aside in a separate bowl
- With the mixer running on low, add the egg, letting it fully incorporate. Pause your mixer to scrape down the sides.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
- Add your gluten free old fashioned oats and add-ins at a low speed and mix to combine.
- Transfer the batter to a Tupperware container and let the dough rest for at least 4hrs in your fridge - better even if you can let it sit for 12hrs or longer. During this process the flour hydrates and develops flavor.
IF you like, you can also scoop the cookies before allowing the cookie dough to rest. Oatmeal cookie dough can become very stiff and hard to scoop after resting.
Bake your Gluten Free Salted Oatmeal Cookies
- Once your cookie dough has rested peacefully in the fridge for an extended period of time, allow for it to come to room temperature or until it is scoopable. Use a 2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop (I refer to this as the #20 - yellow scoop) and portion the cookie dough. This recipe should give you 10-12 cookies, depending on how much cookie dough you snacked on.
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
- Arrange 6 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. Make sure you leave some room for spreading. Place the remainder of the cookie dough in the fridge (or freezer for future use)
- Bake Cookies for 10 minutes and rotate your baking sheet.
- Bake 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden and beginning to set. The baking time depends on personal preference (and your oven). You want the cookies slightly underdone since they will continue to set as they cool. My magic number was 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and if desired, use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to scoot them into a perfectly round shape.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking pan before moving to a cooling rack.
- Repeat with the remaining dough if you would like.
Store cookies at room temperature up to 3 days
Notes
Note about Chilling Time: Please be aware the longer the dough is chilled, the less the cookies will spread while baking. If the cookie dough is allowed to chill for 4hrs or longer make sure to gently press down the cookie dough before baking.
Gluten Free Flour: I use my own multi-purpose gluten free flour blend but you can also use a blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1. If you use a gluten free flour blend without added xanthan gum, please add 4 grams (roughly 1.25 teaspoons)
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 200
Devon Morgan says
Crazy delicious. My magic bake number was 15 minutes and I made them with toffee pieces. Yum!! I ended up using all purpose flour as I didn’t need them to be gluten free, but turned it perfect! Love that you use grams. It’s my favorite!!
Daniela Weiner says
Thank you Devon for testing them with All Purpose flour! This is SO SO helpful. And thank you for sharing your magic number 😉
Jenn Sutherland says
These cookies are spectacular - oatmeal cookies are always a favorite, and roasty/toasty butterscotch is a close follow. I used Daniela's GF flour blend- worked great, and always nice to have a batch of pre blended flours on hand...which will definitely lead to future cookies. My cookies looked more like the levain style cookie in the end, and didn't spread a whole lot, and came out tender and delicious. Next time, I am going to plan ahead and order some of the Valrhona Dulcey blond white chocolate to make these even more special.
Bobbi Sherman says
These cookies turned out wonderful! I used Bob's gluten-free 1 to 1 flour, ghee and added 50g of sourdough starter. My cookies turned out very similar to the pictures spread-wise and were delicious. I love oatmeal cookies and this recipe was so easy to follow.
Daniela Weiner says
Thank you Bobbi! I assume you used a gluten free sourdough starter?
rachel says
Hey Daniela, am I missing it or do you indicate when to mix in the cornstarch? Went with in the flour mixture, fingers crossed.
Daniela Weiner says
Let me double-check but I am very very certain I actually indicated to add it with the flour. Thank you for double-checking and yes, it does go with the gf flour.
Sydney Lockard says
Made these exactly following recipe (except bobs red mill 1-1 cuz I was too impatient for my flour blend ingredients to arrive 😬😬😬) and they were so dry! Any thoughts?
Daniela Weiner says
Sydney, I have now made them 6 times without any issues, had 3 friends test this recipe without any issues with 3 different flour blends. If your cookies are dry I wonder if you overbaked them. Do you use convection (fan) or a conventional oven?
Daniela Weiner says
And since this has happened to another baker - Have you added the baking soda? (I am just trying to figure out what happened here).
Daniela Weiner says
Since we communicated about this via e-mail, I appreciate you getting back to me. I very much hope it was a measuring error and your next batch works out perfectly!
Daniela Weiner says
Hello, I was wondering if you had a chance to try this recipe again? Thank you!
Fitri says
Hello! Just found your website and everything looks spectacular, not to say your recipes are measured in grams!!! Gosh I'm so happy. I can't wait to try attempting this cookie! I am fairly new with gf-related baking so I have question about your flour blend. Is sweet rice flour similar to glutinious rice flour? Or can I use regular white rice flour instead?
Daniela Weiner says
Welcome! Sweet rice flour is glutinous rice flour 🙂 They are the same!
Natalie says
I had been craving oatmeal cookies and was so happy when I came across this recipe. I loved how the recipe was laid out. The tips were well thought out. I only had quick oats and looking forward to trying the recipe as written. Even with the "wrong oats", delicious and a great texture!
Daniela Weiner says
Thank you! I am happy to hear they even turned out perfectly with "the wrong oats" 😉
Rhea says
Okay, these are absolutely delicious! I am also dairy free and used coconut oil (even though she advised not to 😅), and wow! Absolutely worth making! My friends and family that are not GF and DF love them! I double the recipe each time. Perfect! I love them plain or with chocolate chips. Can't sing the praises enough!
Val says
It’s almost Christmas, and I’ve started the baking marathon — 6 gluten-free cookie baskets. Would it be possible to double or triple the recipe?
Daniela says
I don't see why not 🙂
Megan Levonyak says
Excited to try this recipe! Would you recommend making these with browned butter? I have a feeling it would be really good! Thanks!
Daniela Weiner says
I actually have a browned butter oatmeal cookie recipe right here: Gluten Free Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Megan Levonyak says
Not sure why I waited as long as I did to make these because WOW they're amazing! Gained my non-gluten free dad's approval, which is a pretty huge deal.
Janet Hugg says
Mine turned out great although I had to "encourage" them to flatten by pressing down with spatula at the 10 minute mark. I used King Arthur Measure for Measure GF flour and coconut sugar instead of the brown sugar. Baked a full 18 minutes. Also added chopped pecans.
Daniela says
Thank you for sharing. I don't bake with coconut sugar so I am not sure if that could cause them to spread less. My guess was the cookie dough was very cold. (It happens when the dough is too cold that it takes a while for the cookies to spread)
Liza says
Did you use coconut sugar in replace of both sugars? Or just brown sugar?
Ingrid callenberger says
Any way to replace the cornstarch? Would arrowroot be a good substitute?
Daniela says
Arrowroot would work or just 20 grams of additional gluten free flour instead 🙂
Dorothy Eagan says
These look delicious! Any chance you could convert out of grams for me?
Thank you so much!
Daniela says
These Salted Oatmeal Cookies ARE delicious. And as mentioned several times on my website, I only share recipes by weight since it is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and can be found on Amazon for less than $15. You can read more about why I recommend baking by weight here: Baking by Weight.
Mackenna says
If I pre scooped my dough before refrigerating, do I need to allow it to reach room temp before baking?
Daniela says
I normally just pre scoop them, lightly press them down and then refrigerate them. When ready to bake I’ll pull them from the fridge and let them sit at room temp while the oven preheats