Out of all the things I missed while I was in India – hot showers, blankets (it’s too hot to sleep with any but I missed the cuddle factor), and my kitchen, cookies were at the top of the list. Always.
If you’re not allergic to gluten, you can find countless biscuits and cookie-like treats in India. Even the smallest of villages that I visited had a bakery that displayed a floor to ceiling wall of cookies.
I was amazed to see just how many choices there were. Chocolate filled, cinnamon flavored, small cookies, large cookies, flat cookies, bulky cookies. You name it, they had it. But everything contained wheat flour!
Out of all of the food I brought along with me, Eco-Planet gluten-free maple + brown sugar oatmeal packets, 8oz. packs of Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds and Artisana coconut oil travel packets were my saving grace.
I couldn’t have cookies, but I could make my oatmeal taste like a cookie!
Many of my mornings started off with an oatmeal raisin cookie inspired oatmeal of hemp seeds, banana, coconut oil, Holy Crap cereal, leftover rice, cold water, pecans, walnuts, raisins, dates, and sometimes an apple on the side.
It wasn’t an actual cookie, but it was pretty close and I really began to enjoy beginning my day with a rib-sticking breakfast instead of my usual fruit smoothie.
Given my India oatmeal experience, it should come as no surprise that the first recipe to come out of my kitchen on Friday night, before my bags were unpacked and stories had been shared, were oatmeal raisin cookies.
And for Saturday morning breakfast?
Oh, you guessed it.
Hey, there are worse things.
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Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Vegan (option), Gluten free, Dairy free, Yeast free, Corn free
The gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookie recipe that was dreamed up in India and perfected for over 3 weeks before finally being created on Canadian soil! I know, it sounds epic.
Yield: 16 cookies
Servings: 16
Ingredients
Wet
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg or 1 flax egg (1 tbsp freshly ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp warm water, allow to sit for 5 minutes)
- 1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
Dry
- 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt
- Dash of nutmeg
Add-ins
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup of raisins, soaked
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Set aside.
- In a small bowl add the raisins and cover with water. Let them sit for five minutes before draining and setting aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth and creamy. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Blend until combined then stir in the oats and raisins.
- Spoon approximately one tablespoon of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden at the edges. Once removed from the oven allow to sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I love oatmeal raisin cookies, but surprisingly, they aren’t ever my first choice! I always go for chocolate chip first.
I could totally go for an oatmeal raisin cookie right now. I love super soft and preferably huge ones. Only problem is, I might consume them all for breakfast like it’s not even a shame!
You wouldn’t be the only one that’s done that! hehe
We absolutely LOVE chewy oatmeal cookies here. They are hands down our favorite treat! These look and sound amazing!
You’ve just made my #1 all-time favourite cookie!!! These sound fabulous. The chew factor is key – I can’t stand when they’re too crunchy and you end up getting crumbs all down your shirt… or maybe that’s just me?
Oh I’m right there with you
Mmmm, glad you’re home and back at it!
I was looking at that “Holy Crap” cereal the other day — but I spent the big bucks on a jar of cashew butter as my “I don’t care how expensive this is I’m going to try it” splurge for the week. Worth trying?
The only reason I bought it was because I wanted to bring pre-packaged chia with me to India. I find it’s WAY overpriced… and you can just make it yourself with a couple of dried fruit, chia and a handful of buckwheat groats. It worked great for India, though.
Mmm thanks for the advice. I get so confused about buckwheat: are the brown ones the right ones when something calls for groats? Or should they be green?
Ah comfort food when you get home from traveling is like no other. And in fact is often even better tasting after being without it for a while. I was the same way when I got home from traveling this summer. Green smoothies were high on the list . . . blenders are hard to find when living in hostels! Thanks for sharing and hope they (and your travels) were awesome!!
I’ve never seen gluten-free instant oatmeal! I’ll have to look for that, it would be so helpful when I’m traveling!
Interesting that everywhere in India there were still treats for sale and bakeries. So glad you made it home and wasted no time baking!
They look wonderful and like the perfect welcome-home food!
Yay! Welcome back. You must be so so happy to be back in the kitchen! These cookies look incredible. I actually planned to make my chewy pumpkin oatmeal raisin cookies for our big road trip this weekend, but maybe I will have to try these instead. Thanks for sharing.
Also – what is Holy Crap cereal? Based on the name alone I feel like I need to try it out.
I know, right? The name is awesome! It’s chia cereal. Really great when you’re traveling, because it’s packaged, but it’s really expensive. Tasty though!
your oatmeal combo sounds epic and amazing. What is this holy crap cereal?!
Ok…I’m going to have to jump on the bandwagon and join the other readers intrigue regarding Holy Crap cereal….Is it possible for you to offer up a recipe for this gluten-free concoction for us to attempt at home…thereby avoiding breaking the bank?
Oatmeal raisin is my absolute favorite cookie …and yours look like chewy perfection. Thank you for sharing and sharing!
That’s a great idea! I think I can come up with something in the coming weeks!
Usually I’m not a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, but I might have to give these a try! They look delicious!
I just made these and they were greeeeat! I made the dough the night before and they still turned out well. I had to cook them a bit longer (more like 15 mins) because I used honey. Just want to suggest using 1/2 cup of raisins because even though I love raisins 3/4 cup was a bit much.
I’m happy they turned out, Alexis. I must really love my raisins, I didn’t find them to be too much. Great suggestion though. Thank you! Enjoy the cookies
Those cookies look so decadent and chewy! Yumm
Just made these cookies and they are awesome! I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar to lower the glycemic index and also used an “all purpose” gluten free mix from the bulk barn. As well I substituted a ripe banana for the “egg/ flax” and they still turned out delicious! Thanks for the great recipe sure to be in my rotation for good! Btw make my own holy crap cereal too and enjoy it every day!