These healthy Gluten-free Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies are sweetened with coconut sugar, dried cherries, and chocolate chips. Made with a combination of oatmeal and oat flour, they're soft and chewy with crispy edges!
If it feels like it's going to be a cookie-baking day in your home, may I suggest these wholesome Gluten-Free Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies?
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❤️ Why this recipe works
- These oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and dried cherries are sweet, but not too sweet. They're soft and chewy. And they're a perfect treat when you want a small bite of something to satisfy a sugar craving. Above all, they're gluten-free, made with oatmeal and oat flour!
- There's no need to deny yourself a cookie just because you can't have gluten in your diet!
- And if you're cutting back on sugary sweets but finding it hard to do so, a small cookie made with low-glycemic coconut sugar may be your answer. Instead of indulging in a large piece of cake or gooey dessert, have a healthy oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and cherries to satisfy that sweet tooth!
- These cookies have a hint of almond flavouring which complements the cherries and chocolate. Cherries and chocolate are a favourite flavour combination that I use often.
If you love that combo too, try these Chocolate Cherry Chia Oatmeal Bars, or Chocolate Cherry Almond Energy Bites. They're all delicious and best of all, they're all gluten-free!
Let's make a quick batch of healthy oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips!
🛒 Ingredients
- rolled oats: use certified gluten-free rolled oats, if necessary
- oat flour: make it yourself by grinding rolled oats in a blender. Measure the oat flour AFTER you grind the oats, not before
- coconut sugar: has a lower-glycemic index than regular sugar so it won't spike your blood sugar in the same way. It also has a flavour similar to brown sugar. Dried cherries and chocolate added plenty of sweetness.
- butter: softened to room temperature
- pure almond extract: almond flavouring is delicious with cherries and chocolate. However, you can use vanilla if you prefer.
- egg: at room temperature
- baking soda
- sea salt
- dried cherries: chop them with a knife into smaller pieces
- chocolate chips: your choice. Enjoy Life brand is gluten-free and dairy-free, Lily's and Krisda are stevia-sweetened.
🥄 Got 20 minutes? Here are the easy instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream the softened butter and coconut sugar with an electric mixer. Add the almond extract and egg and beat until well combined.
- Combine the oat flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add to the creamed mixture until well combined.
- By hand, stir in the chopped dried cherries and chocolate chips.
- Use a cookie scoop (or drop by tablespoonfuls) on to baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 - 10 minutes, then cool completely on a cooling rack.
🥶 Storage instructions
These cookies will last several days in a covered container at room temperature. For longer storage, freeze in an airtight container for three months or more.
👍🏼 Helpful Tips
Freeze half the dough for later
- If you don't want to bake a whole batch, freeze half the dough in a tightly covered container.
- Then thaw, scoop and bake as usual when you're in the mood for a warm cookie, fresh from the oven!
Freeze cookie dough balls
- If you have time, form the cookies into balls on a baking sheet then freeze until firm and solid.
- Remove from the freezer and store the balls of dough in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They'll be ready to bake at a moment's notice!
How to bake frozen cookies
- Let the dough defrost overnight in the fridge or for a couple of hours at room temperature, then bake as directed in the recipe.
- If you can't wait, bake them frozen! However, you'll need to make a few adjustments to the recipe to guarantee success. First, use a lower oven temperature. Preheat the oven to 330°F. and place the cookie dough balls on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes instead of 8 - 10 minutes.
- A lower baking temperature allows the dough to melt and spread and prevents the center from being underbaked.
🗒 More gluten-free oatmeal cookie recipes
- Gluten-Free Cherry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- Cranberry Pecan White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- For more recipe ideas for using rolled oats, see 30 Healthy Oatmeal Recipes.
Make a batch today for lunches or afternoon snacks. Enjoy, everyone!
This post has been updated with extra information to make it more helpful. The recipe remains the same.
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups oat flour, certified gluten-free, if necessary*
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats, certified gluten-free, if necessary
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dried cherries, chopped
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixture until fluffy. Add almond extract and egg and beat until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine oat flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.
- And to creamed mixture and beat just until combined. Stir in chopped dried cherries and chocolate chips.
- Use a cookie scoop or drop by tablespoonfuls on to parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Let sit on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Jessica
My cookies came out very soft and broke apart easily. The flavor is great so I made them into ice cream sandwiches. That was perfect to firm up the cookie and have a fun treat in the freezer. I made 2 brandy old fashioned ice cream sandwiches and 2 cinnamon ice cream sandwiches which both were delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Elaine
Hi Jessica, Wow! I'm impressed with how you rescued your recipe! Those ice cream sandwiches sound like a tasty and creative idea. I wish I could have been in your kitchen to see what went wrong with the cookies. But thanks for letting me know!
Melissa
When I made these I was short on oat flour and too lazy to make more,,,lol,,,,so I ended up using 3/4 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup of cashew flour . I also used Earth Balance olive oil version spread instead of butter. I would suggest not cutting the tart cherries any smaller then in half and to use mini chocolate chips. I cut my cherries too small and used HU Gems for the chocolate chips and the chocolate was too powerful and the cherries too small to get the tart zing that I was looking for, Otherwise, they are very good! I will make those adjustments next tine!
Laura
These always turned out perfectly.
Flavour & Savour
Thanks for the reminder! I haven't made those for a while. So good!
Dee
This is a good reliable oatmeal cookie recipe! I've made it several times. This last time I added dried cranberries instead of cherries. Thanks!