RECIPE - GF Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ever since the discovery of Glenny's GF Oatmeal Cookies (see blog post here), I've felt challenged to make some of these cookies at home. Oatmeal cookies are a different beast of cookie altogether, and required 3 important steps. It felt like some sort of weird scavenger hunt.

The first step was to find some gluten free oats. Yes, not all oats are gluten free. Here's a link to a great blog called "Life As We Know It" that explains the whole "oat" situation. Basically, oats themselves do not contain gluten. But more times that not, oat fields are grown in the same fields as wheat/barley/etc, and therefore pick up some of that gluten. Fortunately, Bob's Red Mill is so kind to have separate fields to grow their oats, and a separate facility (from wheat products) to process the oats. I chose the Old Fashioned vs. Quick Oats. I was worried that the Quick Oats would cook too quickly (as their name implies) in the oven and get mushy. I like oatmeal cookies with some texture.

The next step was to find a cookie recipe. I already have Bob's Red Mill's GF All Purpose Baking Flour. So I found this recipe on one of my favorite sites, allrecipes.com. 4 1/2 star average rating with 700+ reviews... can't beat it. Just made some tweaks to make it more unique.

Ok, so the final step is the magic ingredient in most gluten free baking, Xanthan Gum. Ta Da!! This ingredient is essential in helping bind the dough and keeping the cookies together while baking. The first time I tried baking gluten free, I didn't include any xanthan gum, and the cookies pretty much spread out into one giant cookie cracker. Not good. All you need in a cookie recipe is 1/4 tsp, so a little goes a long way.

On to the show! Here's the recipe I used, adopted from the one on All Recipes (posted by the mysterious "Darlene").

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground high quality cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
2 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill GF Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

Directions:
Cream the softened butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Mix in eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.

In the meantime, mix together in a separate bowl the flour, xanthan gum, cloves, cinnamon and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, and stir until combined. Mix in raisins and oats and still til thoroughly combined.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Not to toot my own horn, but these are fantastic! They're chewy in the middle, crunchy around the edges, and full of flavor! Give them a try and let me know what you think!