Oatmeal Cookies

Michael Eisenwasser

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A chewy oatmeal cookie with rolled oats, a gluten-free flour blend, warm cinnamon, and a small amount of raisins per cookie so the serve stays low.

Prep 15 min

Cook 12 min

Serves 24

Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (135 g) certified gluten-free rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups (180 g) gluten-free flour blend
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (150 g) packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (32 g) raisins

Makes about 24 cookies. One serving is 1 cookie.

Instructions

Mix the Dough

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Whisk the flour blend, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each, then beat in the vanilla.
5. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in two additions, scraping the bowl between each. Stop as soon as no dry flour remains.
6. Fold in the oats and raisins with a spatula until evenly distributed.

Shape and Bake

1. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough (about 30 g each) onto the prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Flatten each mound slightly with your palm; these cookies don't spread as much as plain drop cookies.
2. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway. The edges should be set and light golden; the centers will look slightly underdone.
3. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack. They firm up as they cool.

Tips & Substitutions

• Use certified gluten-free oats. Standard oats are often cross-contaminated with wheat during milling. Bob's Red Mill, GF Harvest, and One Degree all carry certified gluten-free rolled oats. Quick oats work too, but the texture turns softer and less chewy.
• Pick a low-FODMAP GF flour blend. Use a rice flour plus starch blend (tapioca, potato, or cornstarch). Avoid commercial blends with chickpea or bean flour, inulin, chicory root fiber, apple fiber, or pear juice powder — all high-FODMAP.
• Use the raisin amount listed. Raisins are low-FODMAP at 1 tablespoon (13 g) per serve and turn high above that because of fructans. One-quarter cup across 24 cookies works out to about 1.3 g per cookie, so two cookies is still under the limit. Don't bump the raisins to a half cup without also doubling the batch.
• Swap raisins for chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao, no inulin or polyols) are low-FODMAP at 30 g per serve. Sub up to 3/4 cup (130 g) chips for the raisins for a chocolate oatmeal cookie.
• Add nuts. Fold in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans with the oats. Monash tests walnuts at 10 halves (30 g) per serve and pecans at 10 halves (20 g) per serve, so a half cup split 24 ways stays low per cookie.
• Butter substitute. A 1:1 vegan butter stick (Miyoko's, Earth Balance soy-free) works for dairy-free cookies. Soft coconut oil works too, but the cookies spread more and pick up a coconut note.
• Chill for thicker cookies. Refrigerate the scooped dough balls for 30 minutes before baking if you want less spread and a chewier center.
• Skip any "sugar-free" or keto chip if you're going the chocolate route. Lily's, ChocZero, and similar brands use xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, maltitol, or inulin — all high-FODMAP.

Why This Works

Oats at a safe serve. Monash tests rolled oats as low-FODMAP at 1/4 cup dry (about 23 g) per serve and high at 1/2 cup. One and a half cups of oats across 24 cookies is roughly 6 g of dry oats per cookie, well below the serve.

Raisins, carefully dosed. Raisins test low at 1 tablespoon (13 g) per serve and turn high above that because of fructans. Using 1/4 cup across 24 cookies keeps each cookie at about 1.3 g of raisins, which leaves plenty of headroom even if you eat two or three.

Cinnamon is a low-FODMAP spice. Monash tests ground cinnamon as low-FODMAP at 1 teaspoon per serve. One teaspoon split across 24 cookies is a trace per cookie.

Butter math. Butter is low-FODMAP at 1 tablespoon per serve because it's mostly fat. One cup of butter across 24 cookies is about 2 teaspoons per cookie, which leaves headroom if you eat two.

Sugar isn't a FODMAP. White and brown sugar are sucrose, which is one glucose plus one fructose in a 1:1 ratio. The small intestine absorbs sucrose fully, so table sugar has no FODMAP load at normal baking amounts, though large quantities of sweets can still bother some people with IBS.

Storage

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze baked cookies in a zip-top bag for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature for 20 minutes. Unbaked scooped dough freezes just as well and bakes straight from the freezer at 375°F (190°C) for 13 to 15 minutes.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.