My Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies are the ideal balance of thin, delicately crisp, buttery, salty-sweet, and chocolatey, making it nearly impossible to stop at just one. These "accidentally gluten-free" oat flour cookies are a favorite in my family, and I think they'll become one in yours, too!
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Why I Love This Recipe
A little more than 20 years ago, my mom developed a terrible allergy to wheat and corn. The effects were devastating — aside from the physical pain of having a horrible rash across her hands, face and body that doctors originally thought was lupus, my food-loving, home-cooking, Martha Stewart-esque mama was suddenly at a loss for ingredients she could cook with.
This was well before the gluten-free diet had become mainstream, so alternative flours weren't particularly easy to find. And, back then, corn was in nearly everything — HFCS was easy enough to spot, but the "hidden" ingredients like modified food starch, maltodextrin, mono and di-glycerides made all of the packaged goods we used to buy off-limits.
I hated seeing my mom feel so betrayed by food, so I set out to create a sweet recipe to fill the gap that her beloved pogey bait standbys had left. After weeks of pouring through recipe books and experimenting with any alternative flours I could get my hands on, I came up with this recipe for chocolate chip cookies with oat flour.
Despite being something that I developed out of necessity, this oat flour cookies recipe has become my signature sweet treat. They're seriously that good! If you're someone who likes thin and crispy cookies, they simply don't get any better.
Aside from being wildly delicious, these oatmeal flour cookies are:
- Made With Fewer Than 10 Ingredients - Aside from the oat flour, the remaining items are all typical of any standard chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Rich & Buttery - The light and crisp cookie base has nutty, toffee-flavored notes that I find irresistible.
- Allergen-Friendly - These oat chocolate chip cookies were specifically developed to be corn-free and wheat-free and are naturally soy-free, but can also easily be made dairy-free, nut-free, or vegan!
- Meal Prep & Freezer-Friendly - I love to make a batch of dough, scoop it into balls, and freeze them so I can make freshly baked, warm-from-the-oven cookies whenever a sweet craving strikes or a friend drops by unexpectedly.
Ingredients & Substitutions
As promised, you only need a few easy-to-find ingredients to make these oat chocolate chip cookies:
- Butter - I use Costco's Kirkland brand grass-fed salted butter. If you only have unsalted butter on hand, feel free to use it, but I recommend bumping up the kosher salt another ½ teaspoon for the right salty-sweet balance.
- Sugar & Brown Sugar - You'll need both for this recipe. Feel free to use either light or dark brown sugar, or less processed muscovado sugar and organic cane sugar if you prefer.
- Eggs - I use size large eggs. You're welcome to swap in your favorite vegan egg replacer (e.g. JUST Eggs or Trader Joe's Simply Eggless Plant-Based Eggs) if needed.
- Vanilla Extract - This gives the chocolate chip cookies rich complexity. Feel free to swap in an equal amount of vanilla paste or powder, or use half as much ground vanilla instead.
- Almond Extract - Optional, but quite delicious, especially if you like the idea of your cookies tasting a little like toffee.
- Oat Flour - Bob's Red Mill is my favorite brand, but feel free to use whatever kind you can get your hands on! If you are gluten-free, make sure to grab a brand that is certified GF as some companies may process it on equipment that also processes wheat.
- Baking Soda - For leavening.
- Kosher Salt - I use Morton's Kosher Salt. If you're swapping in another type, make sure to check a salt conversion chart for proper measurement.
- Chocolate Chips - Guittard semisweet chocolate chips are a perennial favorite in my house, but you're welcome to use any you prefer.
- Chopped Pecans - Optional, but excellent for added flavor and texture.
- Flaky Sea Salt - Optional, but texturally lovely and extra-delicious for people who love salty sweets like me.
A Note On Chocolate Chips
I’m originally a Northern California girl, and these were the chocolate chips I grew up with. One of my first and favorite cookbooks, “The Fog City Diner Cookbook” introduced my Mom and I to their glory.
In my humble opinion, Guittard far beats Ghiradelli chocolate. The mere smell of a freshly opened bag will flood my brain with happy memories and a massive dopamine response.
They are perfectly melty, the exact right percentage for a semisweet chip, have lovely undertones of vanilla, and are the creamiest chocolate chips on the market. Better yet, they're ethically sourced, family-owned, and even have some keto/paleo options in the works!
Can I substitute oat flour for all-purpose flour?
Swapping in oat flour for all-purpose flour will work in some recipes, but not all. Since oats are naturally gluten-free, they don't have the same ability to develop a network of protein bands needed for making cakes or breads rise.
In the event that you're trying to make gluten-free baked goods, you might need to blend oat flour with other flours and/or stabilizers to get the right texture for your recipe.
Additionally, the measurements aren't quite the same for AP vs. oat flour. If you are making a swap, I suggest using about 1.25 times as much oat flour as all-purpose.
How To Make Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
These delicate chocolate chip oat flour cookies are a snap to make. Here's how:
Step 1: Cream butter and sugars until light, fluffy, and pale yellow, about 7-8 minutes.
Step 2: Add eggs and extracts, scraping down the bowl and mixing until well incorporated.
Step 3: Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, then add to the butter mixture in stages. Scrape down the bowl as necessary to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Step 4: Fold in chocolate chips (and chopped pecans, if using).
Step 5: Chill. Cover and refrigerate dough for a minimum of 2 hours and up to overnight.
Step 6: Prep. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pull out a cooling rack.
Step 7: Scoop cookie dough into your preferred size (I like about 1.5 tablespoons per scoop) and drop it on a prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies — they'll spread a lot during baking! Top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt (if using).
Step 8: Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden on the edges and as set as you like. I prefer a thin, crispy cookie, so I usually go the full 14-15 minutes!
Step 9: Let cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.
Optional Variations
Just because this recipe for oat flour chocolate chip cookies is my family's favorite doesn't mean it'll be exactly the way YOU like it. Here are a few variations to consider:
- Different Chips - Try white, milk, or dark chocolate chips, or use mini chocolate chips, large oval feves, or chocolate chunks. You can also experiment with other types of baking chips like peanut butter, butterscotch, or mint.
- Different Nuts - I love chocolate and pecans together, but feel free to swap in walnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, almonds, or cashews instead. You can also make them nut-free if you prefer!
- Gluten-Free - While oats are naturally gluten-free, you'll want to look for a prominent certification on the label of your oat flour to make sure they are safe from cross-contamination for your celiac friends.
- Dairy-Free - Swap in your favorite vegan butter (I like Miyoko's brand).
- Vegan - Follow the dairy-free instructions and use your favorite vegan egg replacer.
- Edible Cookie Dough - If you prefer eating the dough to homemade cookies, bully to you! Simply swap in pasteurized eggs or a vegan egg replacement and you're good to go. Oat flour doesn't need to be heat-treated like wheat flour!
-
Optional Add-Ins - Feel free to add the kitchen sink! Here are a few ideas:
- Toffee Chips
- Chopped Candy Bars
- Crushed Potato Chips or Pretzels
Expert Tips
- Rest your dough. This gives the oat flour time to soak up the hydration from the other ingredients, ensuring a more even bake.
- Pre-scoop and freeze balls of cookie dough for cookies on demand. Freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a zip-top bag or freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months. Feel free to bake directly from frozen, adding 1-3 minutes to the bake time as needed.
- Use a disher for easy portioning.
- Don't skimp on the creaming step. Creaming butter and sugar together is as much about creating air pockets in the butter as it is mixing the ingredients. Make sure you let it get really light and fluffy before adding the eggs so you end up with the perfect consistency.
- Save a few nuts and chips to press on top before baking to give them professional bakery looks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aside from contributing a lovely oaty flavor, oat flour also creates a more delicate, slightly chewier, and crumblier cookie texture.
"Healthy" is a subjective and loaded term that means a great many things to a great many people. Since I'm not a registered nutrition professional, I don't really feel qualified to determine what is and isn't healthy. That said, oat flour is a whole-grain flour that adds a nice nutritional boost to these chocolate chip cookies. And, if you're like my mom and are allergic to wheat, oat flour is definitely the healthier choice!
While oats are naturally gluten-free, not all oat flours are processed on contaminant-free surfaces. Make sure to reach for a bag with gluten-free certification printed prominently on the package!
If you have a high-powered blender or food processor, you can absolutely make your own oat flour. Just add rolled oats and process until it becomes a super fine powder. I suggest rubbing some between your fingers when you think it's ready — if you can feel large, gritty pieces, continue processing. The end result should be very fine like regular flour.
More Yummy Cookie Recipes
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Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 sticks Butter or swap in vegan butter!
- 1 C Sugar
- 1 C Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Almond Extract optional
- 3 C Oat Flour Bob's Red Mill is a favorite here
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 ½ C Chocolate Chips
- Chopped Pecans optional
- Flaky Sea Salt optional
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugars until light, fluffy, and pale yellow, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add eggs and extracts, scraping down bowl and mixing until well-incorporated.
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, then add to butter mixture in stages. Scrape down the bowl as necessary to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Fold in chocolate chips (and chopped pecans, if using).
- Cover and refrigerate dough for a minimum of 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pull out a cooling rack.
- Scoop cookie dough into your preferred size (I like about 1.5 tablespoons per scoop) and drop on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies — they'll spread a lot during baking! Top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt (if using)
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden on the edges and as set as you like. I prefer a thin, crispy cookie, so I usually go the full 14-15 minutes!
- Let cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Different Chips - Try white, milk, or dark chocolate chips, or use mini chocolate chips, large oval feves, or chocolate chunks. You can also experiment with other types of baking chips like peanut butter, butterscotch, or mint.
- Different Nuts - I love chocolate and pecans together, but feel free to swap in walnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, almonds, or cashews instead. You can also make them nut-free if you prefer!
- Gluten-Free - While oats are naturally gluten-free, you'll want to look for a prominent certification on the label of your oat flour to make sure they are safe from cross-contamination for your celiac friends.
- Dairy-Free - Swap in your favorite vegan butter (I like Miyoko's brand).
- Vegan - Follow the dairy-free instructions and use your favorite vegan egg replacer.
- Edible Cookie Dough - If you prefer eating the dough to homemade cookies, bully to you! Simply swap in pasteurized eggs or a vegan egg replacement and you're good to go. Oat flour doesn't need to be heat-treated like wheat flour!
-
Optional Add-Ins - Feel free to add the kitchen sink! Here are a few ideas:
- Toffee Chips
- Chopped Candy Bars
- Crushed Potato Chips or Pretzels
- Rest your dough. This gives the oat flour time to soak up the hydration from the other ingredients, ensuring a more even bake.
- Pre-scoop and freeze balls of cookie dough for cookies on demand. Freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a zip-top bag or freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months. Feel free to bake directly from frozen, adding 1-3 minutes to the bake time as needed.
- Use a disher for easy portioning.
- Don't skimp on the creaming step. Creaming butter and sugar together is as much about creating air pockets in the butter as it is mixing the ingredients. Make sure you let it get really light and fluffy before adding the eggs so you end up with the perfect consistency.
- Save a few nuts and chips to press on top before baking to give them professional bakery looks.
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