Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies

Oats scared me for a while.  When I first found out what my problem was (celiac disease), the jury was still out on the safety of oats.  Soon it was discovered that the reason why so many people with gluten sensitivities had problems with oats was due to cross-contamination. Although that should have made me feel safe, it didn't.  Having celiac disease can make you pretty paranoid about what you eat! Nowadays there are a number of companies offering gluten-free oats.  The certified gluten-free oats I used for this recipe were made by Gifts of Nature, Inc.  But there are a lot of different companies doing GF oats like: Lara Scudder's Oats, Gluten Free Oats, Bob's Red Mill, Only Oats, and Gluten Free Oat Matzos.

After making these, I gave them to a bunch of my friends.  When I handed my friend Katie a container full of these cookies, she looked at me with a bit of apprehension in her eyes.  Katie has to be GF as well, and she too was nervous around oats.  I assured her that they were safe, and that I had used myself as a guinea pig the day before and had eaten quite a few cookies without any negative reaction.  After the first cookie was slowly eaten, the next few were practically inhaled!  I love these cookies, and they remind me of how much I missed eating oatmeal and Cheerios. The following recipe came from the book: Martha Sterwart's Cookies.

I used my own GF flour mix for these. You are going to love these cookies!

The Following gluten-free flour recipe was adapted from the book The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast And Healthy by Bette Hagman.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

• 3 cups white rice flour
  
• 1 cup potato flour
  
• ½ cup tapioca flour
  
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
  

Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookie Ingredients

• 3 cups GF oats
• 1 cup GF flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks  softened unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (make sure it's GF!)
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Cooking Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
• Using an electric mixer (or by hand if you like that kind of workout), combine the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).  Mix in the eggs and vanilla and reduce mixer speed to low.  Add the oat mixture and mix until just combined. Add the raisins last.
• Use heavy duty aluminum foil to line baking sheets, or just coat baking sheets with cooking spray.  Using a 1 or 1 1/2 inch ice-cream scooper, drop dough balls onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Bake until golden (about 13 minutes).  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  
• Try not to eat enough to give you a stomach ache, and share with friends.