My gluten free and egg free Oatmeal M & M Cookies have got to be the best gluten free cookie, wait….best cookie I have ever had. These are definitely MY favorite! After all the baking I did through the November and December month creating my gluten free Christmas cookbook, new blog posts and feeding my family, I vowed that January would be a no sweets month. I lasted 2 days!!! Two Whole Days!!!! How long did you last?
The good news is that all of the holiday baking I did, I only tasted the recipes, I didn’t eat them. So I can safely and without regret enjoy eating the entire pan of my Gluten Free Oatmeal M & M Cookies. If you don’t believe that I will eat the entire pan, ask my family! They will tell you the truth! There isn’t many things that I will eat and eat and eat, but caramels, chocolate covered caramels and these cookies are the three things that I overindulge on.
So before we move on, one of the key words in this recipe is oatmeal. If you are new to gluten free, you may ask if oatmeal is gluten free. The answer is yes and no. Oats are naturally gluten free. You may see on many gluten free sights that gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. The truth is….sometimes oats. This is because many of the mainstream oat farms will rotate their wheat crops with oat crops or they will process their wheat crops with their oatmeal crops using the same machinery, therefore causing the oats to be cross contaminated with gluten. So regular oats, no you cannot guarantee they are gluten free, but gluten free oats, that are processed in dedicated fields and dedicated equipment then, yes they are safe. Make sense?
If you are Celiac or Gluten Sensitive, you need to use Certified Gluten Free Oats. There are only a few companies that sell gluten free oats. One of them is from my home state of Montana, just a few hours away from me, Gluten Free Prairie. It is amazing that not one, but Two amazing gluten free businesses, right here in Montana! Actually there are a few more, but Gluten Free Mama and Gluten Free Prairie of course are my favorites!
Gluten Free Prairie is a Montanan, family owned, small business dedicated to bringing great tasting, healthy and SAFE gluten free oats to you! Gluten-Free Prairie’s oats are grown in gluten-free fields, harvested and processed in a designated gluten-free facility and gluten free tested for safety. In addition to their gluten free oats, which are great for baking, morning breakfasts and more, they also process Gluten Free Oat Groats, Oat Flour and ready made baked items. If you can’t find Gluten Free Prairie Oats in a store near you, you can also purchase direct from them, click here, or from Amazon.com, click here.
So now that we answered the BIG question about Oats….how about we make some delicious cookies! Here is a warning first…if you make these cookies you are likely to fall in love with them. You are likely to have 10:00pm cravings and have to get up and make cookies to satisfy your cravings. You are likely to need milk in the house, because you will find yourself snacking on them often.
Here are some things you should know to have the best success with these cookies.
1. They are egg free. I use Applesauce as the egg-replacer. Applesauce is a great egg replacer for most cookies and even some breads. 1/4 cup is equal to two eggs. If you don’t have applesauce and can have eggs and want to make this recipe, then just use two eggs.
2. Using a 1 inch cookie scoop makes these cookies perfectly round and all the same size, and prevents gooey fingers! Here is a good one if you don’t have one. Click Here.
3. M&M’s! They make the best cookies, better than chocolate chips in my opinion and you can buy them in holiday colors to be festive or just use the regular primary colors. You can make these one of two ways. You can be done with it and add all the M&M’s to the batter and then scoop onto the baking sheet as is, and bake. When you do it this way, the M&M’s will be hidden in the dough while baking. The other way is to reserve 3/4 cup of the M&M’s and then put the rest into the batter. Scoop dough using your cookie scoop, and place 1-2 inches apart on baking sheet. Then place 4-5 M&M’s on top of each scoop of dough. When these bake up, they will not only have the yumminess of the M&M’s on the inside of the cookie, they will look pretty too, because the M&M’s on top make a pretty presentation.
4. Don’t like or have M&M’s No Problem! Replace with chocolate or carob chips, nuts, Craisins, Raisins or anything you desire!
4. They will be soft after baking. This is OKAY! As long as you leave them on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack, they should transfer easy. Allow to cool completely, before stacking on top of each other or transferring to a cookie plate. During the cooling process, they will firm up. I actually transfer mine to a counter lined with a paper towel versus a cooling rack to give them extra care.
5. What if I don’t have M&M’s. No Problem! You can use a chocolate chips, or try adding 1 cup of white chocolate chips and 1 cup Craisins. Or add 1 cup walnuts, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 1/2 cups raisins for another delicious flavor! Have fun with them.
Gluten Free Oatmeal M & M Cookies ~ Egg free
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup
[url href=”http://store.glutenfreemama.com/gluten-free-flours/” target=”_blank”]Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour[/url]
- 1 cup Gluten Free Oats
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 ¼ tsp. xanthan gum
- ¾ cup butter or dairy free margarine, room temp.
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 bag M&M’s
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a small bowl combine flour, gluten free oats, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Mix together and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla and mix well. Scrape down sides of bowl and add applesauce. Mix well.
- With mixer running on low speed, slowly add flour mixture until all of the flour is mixed in. Reserve about ¾ cup of the M&M’s. Place the rest in the batter and mix well.
- Using a 1 inch cookie scoop, place dough 1 to 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Add 4-5 M&M’s to the top of each scoop of dough.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes. These are best baked on the center rack in oven, one pan at a time. You can use both and upper rack and lower rack, if desired and bake two sheets at a time. In this case, the lower rack will be down closer to 13-14 minutes and the upper rack will be done closer to 14-15 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing to paper towel lined countertop.
Gluten Free Prairie’s Oat Groats, Click Here
Gluten Free Prairie’s Oat Flour, Click Here
- Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour ~ Yes you can use any gluten free flour, but have better tasting and better texture results using Mama’s Flours! They are the perfect blend, light texture and not gritty! Purchase here!
We love to hear from our viewers! If you like our posts or have questions please comment below. We also love it when you share the love on Facebook and Pinterest!