Everyone has a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe but not many have a go-to oatmeal cookie recipe.

As soon as I pulled these out of the oven and tasted them these became mine.

Chex is launching this month a line of oatmeal including flavored oatmeal packets and sent me some to try. I’m glad gluten-free oats aren’t a “specialty” food anymore and it’s easier to get classics like packaged oatmeal. The maple brown sugar flavor was by far the best breakfast I’ve had in a while.

Instead of loose oatmeal this recipe uses quick-cooking packaged oatmeal. It’s an easy way to add a lot of flavor. When you’re baking it’s better to use quick-cooking oats than rolled oats because they’ll bake faster and softer. 

I made mine with chocolate chips, but if you wanted to make these healthier you could add chopped walnuts, pecans, or even dried blueberries! Basically, if you’d have it with a bowl of oatmeal, it’s going to go great with these cookies. 

Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 14 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

• 3 packets Chex gluten-free maple brown sugar oatmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free or regular flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 eggs

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oatmeal packets, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and baking powder.
3. Add in the vanilla extract, butter, and eggs and mix thoroughly until it makes a soft dough.
4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and flatten them out just a bit before putting them on a nonstick baking tray. 
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the bottoms begin to brown. 
6. Remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container for up to a week. 

Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorite desserts to keep around the house. That’s probably because I don’t just eat them for dessert; they’re also great as an afternoon snack, crumbled on top of yogurt, right before dinner when you’re feeling snackish—whenever. They’re just the right amount of sweet and nutty to satisfy.

I’m always trying different peanut butter cookies recipes to see how the texture and flavor compares. These are one of my new favorites. Once these cookies cool, they’re the thick and chewy kind. They’re perfect for filling with ice cream and making a cookie sandwich, covering in melted chocolate or filling with a little raspberry jam.

I used gluten-free all-purpose flour for these cookies and they came out perfectly. If you use a gluten-free flour I’d recommend a pre-mixed blend for the best consistency. Your cookies should be rollable when all the ingredients are mixed but if the batter is still too thick you can add milk by the Tablespoon until it softens up.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour OR 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon well.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining ingredients until they make a homogenous liquid.
4. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry until it forms a uniform dough.
5. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a lined baking tray.
6. Press down on each ball lightly with the tongs of a fork in a criss-cross pattern on top.
7. Bake for 18 minutes until the center of the cookies are firm and the outsides are golden.
8. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving.
9. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

I love that every season there seems to be new gluten-free products on the shelves. I thought I was done with oat bran years ago since gluten-free oats are hard enough on their own to find, but wouldn’t you know Bob’s Red Mill now makes those, too? I was excited to bake with them because oat bran has a finer texture in baked goods not to mention a higher fiber and nutrient content.

These cookies are just like oatmeal raisin cookies except using oat bran for a different crunch. They aren’t your soft, pillowy oatmeal cookies; since this recipe uses oil and has very little moisture in it, the cookies come out crunchy and chewy. They’re perfect for a dunk in milk or almond milk.

If you don’t have oat bran on hand, you can make oat flour instead by pulsing rolled oats in a food processor or blender. The nutrient contest isn’t quite the same but the textures are very similar. You can add in chocolate chips or any other type of mix-in but make sure not to add too many since they can make it difficult for the dough to stick together.

Oat Bran Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup oat-bran
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup raisins

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oat bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat in the egg and oil until the mixture forms a sticky dough.
4. Add in the raisins and fold until they’re incorporated.
5. Roll the dough into roughly 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick baking tray flattening them slightly.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges turn golden. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes before moving to prevent them from crumbling.
7. Store at room temperature in a sealed container when not eating.

I really love oatmeal raisin cookies. It always surprises me to learn that so many people hate them, and hate even more biting into one of them thinking it’s chocolate chip only to find out it’s oatmeal raisin. I actually think I prefer oatmeal raisin to chocolate chip any day; they’re just better.

I love the cinnamon in the dough, the saltiness complimenting the sweet fruit, and the chewiness of the oats. I don’t make gluten-free cookie recipes often since they can be a hassle and a disaster, but these seemed worth it.

Make sure the oats you buy are tested gluten-free if serving these to someone with allergies.

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 1/2 dozen):

• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cups raisins
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk or water

Method:

1. Mix together the brown rice flour, oats, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
2. Mix in the eggs, butter, and liquid and mix completely.
3. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes until it sticks to itself.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5. Spoon about an ounce of dough into a small mound on a non-stick baking tray leaving about 3-inches apart for the cookies to spread. Repeat with all the dough.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the centers of the cookies are form. Remove from the oven and let cool before lifting off the tray.

When these first came out of the oven, they were a little cakey but once they cooled the texture got chewier.