Ultra soft and chewy with a rich buttery flavour, you won't miss the gluten in these oat flour oatmeal cookies! Whether you prefer raisins, chocolate chips or something else, this recipe is the perfect base.
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In my quest to create a perfect oat flour version of all of the favourite cookie kinds, there have been a lot of cookies to come out of my kitchen.
And friends.
These oatmeal cookies may be the best yet!
And if you have tasted these Oat Flour Peanut Butter Cookies or these Snickerdoodles, you'll know that is really saying something.
Along with cinnamon, a touch of molasses and nutmeg adds that something extra. My grandma always added nutmeg to oatmeal cookies and it seriously turns great cookies into something sensational.
You're gonna want to make a double batch of these scrumptious cookies.
The Ingredients
- Oat Flour- I recommend using boughten for most consistent results. Homemade can be difficult to grind fine enough and it may alter the texture. For this recipe to be gluten free, ensure that you are using certified gluten free oat flour.
- Large Flake Rolled Oats- I highly recommend large flake oats for the best texture but quick oats will work in a pinch.
- Butter- Ensure your butter is softened to room temperature. You can use either salted or unsalted but if using salted butter, reduce the salt added to ¼ tsp.
- Brown Sugar- Adds flavour and ensures soft and chewy cookies.
- Molasses- Adds an extra depth of flavour and helps to create the right chewy texture.
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Sea Salt- Reduce to ¼ teaspoon if using salted butter.
- Add Ins- Add up to 1 and ½ cups of chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, etc. Or leave them out.
The Method
1. Mix dough. Cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add and combine the egg, molasses and vanilla. Mix in the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the flour and oats and mix until well combined. Fold in the add ins. *To measure oat flour, I recommend using a scale. If using a measuring cup, lightly pack the flour into it. (See this post about baking cookies with oat flour for more details on measuring oat flour.)
2. Shape. Scoop 1.5-2 tablespoon of dough per cookie. Place spaced out on a prepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake. Bake at 350 F for 8-11 minutes until light brown on the edges.
4. Cool. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then to move to a wire rack.
Leftovers
Make Ahead: Cookie dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, covered and kept in the refrigerator. Either shape the dough before or when ready to bake. Before baking, allow the dough to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.
To Freeze Cookie Dough: Shape the dough into balls and place in a single layer on a large plate or cookie sheet. Allow to freeze completely and then package into an airtight container or zip top bag. When ready to bake, remove the desired amount and place on a prepared cookie sheet to thaw for 30-45 minutes.
To Store: Cool cookies completely and then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Make it Your Own
Whether you prefer oatmeal chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin or oatmeal something else, these cookies are for you! Add up to 1 and ½ cups of whatever you prefer:
- Chocolate Chips (dark, semi-sweet, white or a combination)
- Raisins
- Chopped Nuts
- Chocolate Chunks
- Dried Cranberries
- Butterscotch Chips
- M and Ms
Or try out these flavour combinations:
- Cranberry White Chocolate- ¾ cup each dried cranberries and white chocolate chips
- Chocolate Almond- ¾ cup each dark chocolate chunks and chopped almonds
Serving Ideas
A lunch box favourite, these cookies are fantastic for packing along as a treat or for sharing at a potluck.
Or enjoy them with a glass of milk, crumbled on ice cream or all on their own.
For consistent results, I recommend using boughten oat flour for these cookies. If homemade is your only option, the cookies will still taste delicious but the texture may not turn out the same.
And if you liked this recipe...
...you might also like:
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oat Flour Oatmeal Cookies
- Oat Flour Chocolate Cookies
- Oat Flour Gingersnaps
- Pumpkin Oat Flour Muffins
Recipe Card
Oat Flour Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 and ¼ cup oat flour lightly packed and levelled, certified GF if needed
- 1 and ¼ cup large flake rolled oats certified GF if needed
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line two large cookie sheets with silicone mat.
- Cream together butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg, molasses and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and combine. Mix in the oats and oat flour until fully incorporated. Fold in your add ins.
- Scoop 1.5-2 tablespoon of dough and place on your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes until the edges are set and very lightly browned. The centres will be soft.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before using a spatula to move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Want to learn more about oat flour? Check out these resources!
Dannii says
I love oat cookies. The feel like they are acceptable for breakfast haha.
Janessa says
Haha, I'm glad you liked this recipe, Danii!
Gail says
I've made these oat flour oatmeal cookies 3 times. The first and the 3rd times, the cookies spread out like a sheet cookie! They were totally flat and crispy. The second time, they came out the way they should've. I didn't do anything differently, and can't understand what happened to the other 2 batches! I followed the recipe. Any suggestions?
Janessa says
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that they didn't turn out for you, Gail! Are you weighing the oat flour or measuring it by hand? Were you using homemade or store bought flour? I highly recommend using boughten and weighing it (if you haven't been) for consistency. Good luck!
Tara says
Oh yum! These cookies look absolutely fantastic. I love that rich buttery flavor and the texture sounds amazing.
Janessa says
Thank you for your kind review, Tara!
Tavo says
I loved these oatmeal cookies! They taste very much like the ones mom used to make! So good! Thanks for the recipe!
Janessa says
I'm glad you liked this recipe, Tavo!
Savita says
Pass me another, please. So delicious!
Janessa says
I'm glad you liked these oat flour cookies, Savita!
Jen says
My kids really enjoyed these cookies!! I will make it again soon! Thanks for the recipe!
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jen!
Kathryn says
What a delicious alternative for a cookie craving when you are limited in ways to eat healthy. Thank you💜
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Kathryn! Thank you for your kind review!
Mary Morrissette says
Can I substitute canola oil for butter? We need low saturated fat in our house.
Janessa says
I don't recommend that as you would be substituting a liquid for room temperature butter and it may affect the texture. If there is a margarine product that fits your dietary needs, that would likely work but I haven't tried it. If you decide to play around with substituting one of those for the butter, let me know how it goes!
Pam says
Is serving size 1 or 2 cookies?
Janessa says
The nutritional info is an estimate per 1 cookie, assuming you yield 18 cookies from the batch. If you make bigger or smaller cookies and get a different amount, the values would be slightly different.
Don says
Awesome olde tymey snack. Raisins, cranberries and chopped dates all work well. A bit of coarse ground salt will provide flavour blasts too.
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed these cookies, Don! Coarse salt sounds like a great touch.
Darlene N says
What if I don’t have molasses?
Janessa says
You can use honey or maple syrup. I hope you like them!
Candace D says
I just made these. I didn't have molasses so I substituted date syrup. I added pecans and white chocolate chips. Came out delicious. Thank you!!! 🙂
Janessa says
I'm so glad you liked this recipe, Candace! Pecans and white chocolate chips sounds like a delicious combo. Thank you for your review!
NnelyT says
I haven’t made this yet, but based off your baking experience, would flax seed “egg” or apple sauce be an okay substitute for the regular egg?
Janessa says
I haven't made these with any egg substitutes so I don't know for sure how it will work. I think that a flax seed "egg" would be a better substitute than applesauce as it shouldn't affect the flavor as much and I think it would result in a better texture as well. Let me know how it turns out it your make this swap!
Shannon says
I made this recipe but I substituted 1/2c Spenda brown sugar for the 1c brown sugar. My husband is diabetic so I try to substitute sugar as much as possible. These were the most delicious cookies I have made using oat flour. They spread and had the texture we expect with oatmeal cookies. Bravo! These will definitely become a regular treat in our house.
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Shannon! That is great to know that it works with a sugar substitute. Thank you for your kind review.
Sheri says
How could these be made as a bar cookie? I would like the ease of just cooking them all in one pan. Could you please help me with that? Thank you in advance for your kind assistance. I look forward to making these.
Janessa says
Hi Sheri, I haven't tested these as a cookie bar but I believe it would work. I would line a 8x8 pan with parchment to make it easy to remove. A 9x9 pan would probably work as well but they may be a bit thin. Mix the dough and press into an even layer and then bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. As I haven't made them, I'm unsure on the cooking time so keep a close eye on them. Remove from the oven once the centre appears set- it can still be a bit soft to the touch. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
You could also try making these Flourless Oatmeal Cookie Bars. They are a favorite in our house!
Stacy says
My son said this was the best cookie he ever tasted! We made them first with a flax egg and it was really good and then with an egg and it looks just like the picture! It was so good my daughter is entering it into a baking competition tomorrow.
Janessa says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Stacy! Thank you for your kind review. And good luck to your daughter in the competition- I'd love to hear how it goes!
Barbara King says
Made your oatmeal cookies this afternoon. They are truly delicious BUT mine crumbled into pieces when trying to eat them. In my defense, I will admit to 2 substitutions and one omission from your recipe as written. First I ground my own oat flour which you announced might change the texture somewhat. But also, due to dietary restrictions I cannot have butter, so I substituted Smart Balance, an oil-based "buttery spread" and I cannot have chocolate so I omitted the add-in. I will make these cookies again, even if I can't figure out why they were so crumbly, but I'm wondering if you have any suggestion on what might have caused the issue and how I can avoid it next time even if I have to stick to my changes in your original recipe.
Janessa says
Hi Barbara, I'm glad you liked these cookies! Using homemade flour definitely affects the texture because it is difficult to grind the flour fine enough. I would try increasing the flour a bit next time to see if that will help with binding the cookies. You could also try using coconut oil in place of butter (refined if you don't want it to have a coconut taste) and see if that works better. Good luck!
Rachel says
I just made these with my own oat flour that still had a few flakes of oats in it. They came out amazing!!! These really made my GF daughter smile!!!
Janessa says
I'm so glad you and your daughter enjoyed this recipe, Rachel! Thank you for your kind comment.
Rebecca says
Rather dry but that's because it's made with oat flour. Could add a little more spices but overall we liked them because they were not too sweet. I used mini chocolate chips and pecans...perfect!
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe, Rebecca. Thank you for your review!
Donna says
These cookies are so good, love the added molasses. Question for you tho, what is the serving size for the nutritional values? might have missed it. Thanks !
Janessa says
I'm glad you enjoyed these cookies, Donna! The serving size is 1/18 of the recipe (I usually find it makes about 18 cookies).
Jen says
Good recipe but too much nutmeg or not mixing the baking soda with the flour gives it a weird taste, I think next time I will skip nutmeg and add the baking soda to the flour
Janessa says
Thank you for your comment, Jen!
Jean says
The cookies were wonderful! I had a couple of baggies of homemade oat flour (Vita-mix) that I wanted to use, so I searched for oat flour recipes and found your site. The only substitution I made was espresso chocolate chips instead of plain dark chocolate chips because I wanted to empty the bag😊.
Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely make them again.
Janessa says
I'm so glad you liked this recipe, Jean! Espresso chocolate chips sounds amazing- I might have to give that a try. Thank you for your kind review.
Laurie says
Do you mean old fashioned oats when you say Large flake rolled oats? Just want to be clear. Thank you.
Janessa says
Yes, old fashioned oats is what I mean 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Ann Z Reynolds says
I loved the taste of the cookies, but mine did not spread at all, and crumbled a little bit. It's confusing because the outside was crunchy, but thecinsude was soft and moist. I'm fighting SIBO so no raisins or cranberries are allowed, nor molasses, 😔 but the flavor was wonderful even without. I substituted the molasses with maple syrup, so I wonder if that was the cause for not spreading. Also, I measured instead of weighing, so I'll try weighing next time too. I'm pretty sure adding more flour to bined the cookies as suggested in another answer, will not help. I've made olive oil oatmeal cookies before, so I think I'll add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil next time too. I'll definitely try making these again because the flavor is so good.
Janessa says
Hi Ann, thank you for your comment! I think it sounds to me like there might have been a bit too much flour in the cookies which prevented them from spreading. The maple syrup substitution should not have been the substitute. Hopefully you will find that they turn out better when you try weighing the ingredients next time. Best of luck!
Cheryl says
5 stars! I succumbed to my peanut craving and subbed 1/2 cup of the oat flour with PB2. Also used a brown sugar substitute and dried cranberries for my add-in. Also part quick oats and part whole oats. They came out a little dry and didn’t spread due to the flour substitution - but they are addictive!
Janessa says
I'm so glad you liked this recipe, Cheryl! Thank you for sharing your kind review and your customizations!
Cindi Frame says
I am gluten free and have been put on an extremely low oxalate diet (50 mg/day) and not allowed salt due to Kidney stones and CKD. I have been frustrated trying to find something a bit sweet that I am allowed to eat (occassionally in moderation). I made my own oat flour and followed your recipe, omitting the salt and chocolate chips). I didn't have much hope that they would be good.....But, they are fabulous! Thank you so much!
Janessa says
I'm so glad you liked these cookies, Cindi! They are one of my favorite recipes ☺️
Deb says
This is my GO-TO oat flour cookie recipe! We make it weekly, and the cookies don't even last 24 hours, lol. (I joke that it's my favorite "overnight oats" recipe.) I sub the molasses with maple syrup (as I don't tend to have molasses in the house), I up the cinnamon to a full teaspoon, and I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of coconut flakes for that extra somethin' somethin'. *chefs kiss* To make sure the cookies don't go flat, put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. (It makes the perfect cookie every time!!!) And if you have crazy allergies like I do, Enjoy Life makes chocolate chip that is free from 14 allergens! I've used the minis and the chunks and love both.
Your oat flour recipes are the best! Thank you!!!
Janessa says
Haha, they have been "overnight oats" a time or two in our house too! Thank you for sharing this kind review and your notes. I'm glad you like these cookies!
Angela Grannum says
Thanks very much for these recipies. Made with raisins and walnuts. Yummy. Mine were a little darker but the flavour and texture is spot on. Do not use eggs so substituted a Flax egg and it worked well. Will be trying the other flavours
Janessa says
I'm so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for sharing this comment, Angela. It's also great to hear that they can work without eggs!
DCar says
This recipe is not good. I'm sorry I'm not trying to be rude, but it simply doesn't work. I followed it to a T and it came out dry. My husband said it's the driest cookie he ever had. And they just fall apart, anyway.
I had made half the batch so for the other half of the batch I decided to add two tablespoons of coconut oil and a teaspoon of maple syrup. They didn't really come out much better. I might have had better luck adding an egg yolk. This recipe simply doesn't work. I think there's too much oat flour in it by at least 1/4 cup.
Janessa says
I'm so sorry to hear this recipe didn't turn out for you- I know how frustrating it is to waste time and ingredients. This recipe has been a hit for other readers and myself (it's my all-time favorite cookie recipe!) and I wish it could have been for you too. Did you use a scale to measure the oat flour? And did you use homemade or store-bought? Oat flour is quite finicky to bake with and these two things can make a huge difference in the final result.
Lyn says
I really enjoyed these cookies. Next time I will decrease the sugar. My cookies were smaller but still took the same amount or more in the oven. Added some raisins to the cookie dough with chocolate chips.
Janessa says
So glad to hear you liked these recipe, Lyn!
Laurie Farr says
This is literally the best recipe ever. I literally have made these cookies over 20 times and they are demolished within days! I get requests from co workers and friends to make again and again! I do add some protein powder and use regular chocolate chips but this is one amazing recipe!
Janessa says
Thank you for your kind review, Laurie!