Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies

I modified the Blueberry Oatmeal Cookie recipe on AllRecipes to make it a bit more healthy and colorful for the holidays. I gave it more antioxidants and used less refined sugar and salt, and no wheat flour. And, of course, I doubled everything.

Start preheating the oven to 350 deg F (175 deg C), then beat (whip) sugar and fat together. I used canola and olive oil (unsalted butter or margarine work well too). Beat in maple syrup and brown sugar. Molasses has a unique flavor, so you can add as much or as little as you like. 1-2 Tbsp will be hardly noticeable.

• 1 cup canola oil or unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1 or 2 Tbsp molasses

Beat the egg and vanilla in last. Their chemical bonds are more fragile.

• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Next, mix the dry ingredients with the flour (but not the oats, yet). I used brown rice flour, but of course any sticky-when-wet flour will do.

• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups brown or white rice flour

Stir in the oil/fat with a whisk, but not too much (to avoid breaking down the heat-activated part of the double-acting baking powder). Fold in the oats next. The quick-cook or steel cut oats may help everything stick together a bit better. You can try a bit of corn starch and only rolled oats, if you prefer.

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup quick-cook oats

Add blueberries and cranberries to taste. Keep adding more oats until the blobs stay put on a baking sheet.

• 1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup dry cranberries

I also added Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips, but they overwhelmed the cranberry and blueberries, so I don’t recommend that.

Spoon them out in 1-2 Tbsp dollops onto a greased (sprayed with canola or olive oil) baking sheet or pan. Lightly squeezing the dough between two large dinner table spoons as you drop them onto onto the sheet may help them hold together better. Bake at 350 deg F (175 deg C) for 15 minutes on the top rack. If you bake one sheet at a time in the oven you’ll get more consistent results. Whenever not in use, put the bowl of dough in the refrigerator.