We were spending the weekend at my parents’ house and my mom casually mentioned that there weren’t any gluten-free cookies in the house. My eldest picked up on the hint immediately and started begging for chocolate chip cookies. “We haven’t had them in ages!” he cried. It didn’t take long to convince me; Despite the fact that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, (which is kind of funny because I love to bake sweet treats) I am a huge chocolate chip cookie fan. Unfortunately, I sometimes feel like the gluten-free versions can be lacking in the quintessential chocolate chip cookie flavor. All-purpose flour has a certain mild nuttiness that can be very difficult to replicate in gluten-free baking. A lot of the time I counteract this by adding walnuts or pecans to my recipe, but since my boys are both going through an “I hate nuts” phase, I knew that this wasn’t going to be an option. I decided my best bet would be oatmeal, but because I wanted the cookies to feel more traditional, I ground the oats in the food processor. To add a bit more to the nutty flavor, I added just ¼ teaspoon of almond extract, which can add back some of the lacking nutty flavor without making the recipe taste like almond paste. I looked over several recipes and finally came up with this one. I hope that you like it as well as we all do!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

•  2 ½ cups gluten-free old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups gluten-free feather light flour blend (I used …)
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse oats until they are finely ground (the finer the better).
4. Add gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Pulse a couple of times so that the dry ingredients are well combined. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars.
6. Add eggs and extracts and beat until just combined.
7. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in batches, mixing only until there is no flour visible.
8. Fold in chocolate chips.
9. Roll dough into heaping Tablespoon sized balls (my balls were actually just slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball) and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.
11. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
12. Enjoy!