I am so, so excited to be sharing this recipe! These cookies are chewy, toasty, buttery, and have the perfect balance of flavors. What's more, they're packed with protein and whole grains. Best of all -- they're GLUTEN FREE!
The creation of this recipe has been a labor of love. A childhood friend came to me last week and asked me to look after her daughter while she was out of town for a family emergency. My girls were excited about having a sleepover during the school-week. We decided that baking cookies should definitely be on the agenda. "But, Mama," my little one chimed in, "our friend is hot-toast-intolerant" (her way of saying allergic to gluten).
I wasn't going to let a little 'ol ingredient get in our way of having a fun evening, so I set right to work on creating a gluten-free cookie so delicious that it might join the ranks of "best cookie", not just "best gluten-free cookie". They were a huge hit with the family, my co-workers and classmates. I hope you'll love them too!
(click the "print" link a the end of this post for a print-friendly version of the recipe)
Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut and Apricots
(makes approx. 28 nice big cookies)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 16 minutes
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups (8 ounces) almond meal
- 2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) shredded coconut (not flaked)
- 1 1/3 cups (8 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup finely diced dried apricots (5-6 oz.)* (you can use raisins, craisins, or dried cherries if you prefer)
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 1: In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a large bowl, if using an electric mixer), beat eggs on medium-high for 3 minutes until light yellow and slightly thickened. This will help hold the ingredients together, since there's no gluten there to do the job.
Step 2: Add granulated sugar and beat for 2 minutes more at high speed. Add softened butter and dark brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add baking powder, vanilla, and salt, and beat on low speed to incorporate.
Step 3: Add almond meal, oats, coconut, chocolate chips, and apricots. Beat at medium speed just to combine. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
Step 4: Arrange oven racks in the middle slots. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. With a size 24 scoop (approx. 3 Tablespoons or about the size of a golf ball), scoop chilled dough on to the parchment lined baking sheets, approx. 2" apart (I arranged 12 to a sheet). With the palm of your hand, gently press down on each cookie to create a uniform disk (this will help yield perfectly round cookies).
Step 5: Place pans in oven and bake or 8 minutes. Rotate pans, then bake for an additional 8 minutes. Remove pans and place on cooling racks. Use a flat (not slotted) spatula to gently press down the slightly domed tops of the cookies. Allow to cool for five minutes. Then, transfer cookies, still on parchment from the pan to the cooling racks and continue to cool. Enjoy when room temperature, or keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
Note: If you don't end up sneaking a few bites of dough, as we did (it's delicious), you may have enough dough for 4-6 more cookies. Scoop, flatten, and cook in the same manner, but reduce baking time to two 7-minute increments.
* I recommend using a pair of kitchen shears to cut the dried apricots. I stack two on top of one another and cut into thin strips. Then I bundle the strips and snip into pea-sized bites. You get much more uniform results than when roughly chopping with a knife.
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