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Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies (Gluten-Free)

4 brown cookies stacked on a white square plate set on a bright blue cloth

Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies are caramely, butterscotchy, oaty, chewy, gluten-free cookies that are waaay better than the standard oatmeal cookie.

This cookie is missing what is usually a key ingredient in most cookies – wheat flour – but no one will be the wiser. In fact, you may actually like these better than your standard version oatmeal cookies. At my house, we now prefer them.

These were an unqualified hit at the Mother’s Day brunch I attended and baked for!

Dough from Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies plopped onto parchment paper [1]One other attribute about this recipe is it goes together very quickly, and makes a small batch. So when you simply must have a homemade cookie, you can whip these out pretty quickly.

Gluten-free, appropriate for Celiacs

The fact that they have no flour will appeal to those who cannot tolerate or are sensitive to wheat in their diets. They also may be appropriate for those who have diagnosed Celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the membrane of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. It is triggered by eating the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. Think of it this way: Gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, barley and rye, and that elasticity is what holds bread together, why cakes rise high, and what gives bread products a wonderful chewy, doughy texture. Gluten is the glue.

12 Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies on a white piece of parchment paper [2]When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the small intestine, and then the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment. Celiac disease is also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy.Closeup of 2 Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies on white parchment paper [3]Celiacs will want to search out certified gluten-free rolled oats for this recipe (Bob’s Red Mill [4] is a nationally available brand).  Even though ordinary oats don’t contain gluten, most oats produced in this country are contaminated for a couple of reasons — because they are made in factories that also produce wheat (from flour on the conveyor belts, which will cross contaminate), or they are stored next to wheat grains, and they are grown in fields next to wheat (this allows wheat spores to float over and contaminate the oats with their gluten). In fact, if oats are grown in the same field that grew wheat the season before, that might be a basis for contamination as well.

Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies piled in a plastic container [5]So those who must should seek out certified gluten-free oats. (As always, consult your physician if appropriate.) The rest of us can use regular old-fashioned rolled oats.

Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 14 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 24 cookies

Flourless Caramel Oat Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Recipe source: Adapted from a recipe by Marcy Goldman, a professional baker and food writer based in Montreal.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking variety) Be sure to buy certified gluten-free oats if it is important to you
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

Directions

  1. Melt the butter. Place all ingredients in a medium-size bowl and mix gently by hand, or at lowest speed with an electric mixer. Mound into a ball of dough. Chill the dough 25 minutes (this is an important step) or overnight if more convenient. Cookie won't hold together if you don't refrigerate it.
  2. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350F degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lining with parchment paper. (Parchment paper is a must, or the cookies will fuse onto the baking sheet.)
  3. Form the chilled dough into 1-inch scoops or balls (a small cookie scoop works well for this), and place on baking sheet. The cookies won’t rise, but will spread out very slightly.
  4. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until the edges are browned and the tops of the cookies are medium golden. (Both sheets may be baked at the same time; switch racks and turn sheets back to front at the halfway point.)
  5. Remove from oven and cool well on the baking sheet (about 10 minutes) before removing using a spatula. The cookies should peel off the parchment easily.
  6. Makes 2 dozen cookies.
  7. TO MAKE COOKIES FOR CHRISTMAS OR ANOTHER HOLIDAY: Before baking, sprinkle with appropriately colored nonpareils or other oven-going sprinkles, bake as directed, and voila!

Notes

Parchment paper: Please use parchment paper on your cookie sheets for this recipe. This is different than waxed paper (which isn't meant to be baked). The wax on waxed paper will melt in the oven and you'll have a mess, so please buy parchment paper, which is often shelved near the waxed paper in the grocery store. You can reuse parchment paper several times. You'll know it is ready to be trashed if is stained and scorched. If not, just brush it off and use it another time!

https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/flourless-caramel-oat-cookies-gluten-free/ [7]

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If you’d like to make these Christmas cookies, simply sprinkle with festive nonpareils or another type of sprinkle that can be baked. You can change up the color of the sprinkles for whichever holiday you’re celebrating, or use school colors or a birthday celebrant’s favorite colors.

Hand holding a single oat cookie with a plate behind

More Shockingly Delicious oatmeal cookies

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Scotch Tea Cookies stacked on a white plateScotch Tea Cookies [9]

Roasted Banana Almond Butter Breakfast CookiesBanana Almond Butter Breakfast Cookies [10]

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