Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies (Gluten Free)
Posted: 12/08/22
Updated: 02/11/25
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Chewy oatmeal cranberry cookies are a real treat. Equal parts stunning and delicious, they’re full of warm holiday flavors, all from a handful of pantry-staple ingredients. Bake them right away or freeze the dough for small-batch cookies whenever a craving strikes.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Oatmeal cranberry cookies absolutely SCREAM holidays. Warm cinnamon, rich brown sugar, sweet & tart cranberries, earthy oats. If you’re looking for something that’s festive AND nutritious, you’re in the right place. These are like oatmeal raisin cookies that are really channeling that Christmas spirit.
- This recipe’s written to be gluten-free, but you’d never know from tasting the finished product. Your gluten-eating guests will absolutely love them, but if you don’t need them to be gluten free, feel free to use traditional all-purpose flour instead.
- As written, this recipe makes at least 2 dozen cranberry oatmeal cookies. Perfect for parties, cookie exchanges, holiday gifts, or just snacking on a few while you’re cooking dinner. We won’t tell!
Chef’s Tips
- Soaking the cranberries first is totally optional. We like to rehydrate them a little to make them more plump and moist. It also keeps them from soaking up moisture from the cookie dough, which will keep the cookies from being dry. Feel free to skip the soaking step and use the cranberries straight out of the package – they’ll have a texture that’s reminiscent of raisins.
- Be careful not to overbake the cookies! They really don’t need long in the oven, and they should look a little underdone in the middles when you take them out. They’ll continue baking as they rest on the pan, so if you wait to take them out until they “look done”, you’ll end up with oatmeal cranberry pucks, not cookies.
- To really put these cookies over the top, fold in half a cup of white chocolate chips. White chocolate and cranberry pair together SO WELL, it takes this already-incredible cookie recipe to a whole other level.
Can I Freeze These Cookies?
You can! All you need to do is prepare the recipe as written. Once you’ve rolled and flattened the cookie dough balls, put the cookie sheet in the freezer instead of the oven.
Freeze the cookies on the baking sheet for 30 minutes or so – once the cookies have hardened, you can transfer them to an airtight freezer container and freeze them until you’re ready for them. The frozen oatmeal cranberry cookie dough will keep up to 2 months in an airtight container.
When a cookie craving hits, there’s no need to thaw the dough first. Just take out the number of oatmeal cranberry cookies you want to make, line them up on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, and pop them in the oven. You’ll need to increase the bake time a little since they’re starting out cold, but they’ll bake up beautifully!
More Amazing Cookie Recipes You Need in Your Life
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Paleo Gluten-Free Crinkle Cookies (Peppermint Chocolate)
- Paleo Cookies with Frosting (Lofthouse Style)
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Keto Cookie Dough (Sugar Free Edible Cookie Dough)
- Chewy Butterscotch Cookies
- Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies
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Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Chewy oatmeal cranberry cookies are perfect for the holidays. Festive and warm, with bursts of cranberry, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla. So easy to make and totally gluten free!
cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- hot water enough to cover cranberries
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free flour see Notes
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into small pieces
- ½ packed cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups old-fashioned oats or rolled oats
Equipment
- 2 large bowls
- slotted spoon
- Paper towels
- whisk
- stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- Silicone spatula
- cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cookie scoop with release handle
- Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- Place dried cranberries in large bowl. Cover cranberries with hot water and set aside to soak 10 minutes. Lay out paper towels to drain cranberries. After cranberries have soaked 10 minutes, use slotted spoon to transfer cranberries from water to paper towels.
- Preheat oven to 355° Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to second large bowl. Whisk until ingredients are well blended. Set aside.
- Add softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar to stand mixer bowl (or large mixing bowl). Using stand mixer (or hand mixer), mix ingredients together on low speed 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium. Continue mixing 2 to 5 minutes, until ingredients are creamed. Mixture should be fully combined and fluffy. Note: Be careful not to overmix. Overmixing will make mixture greasy and soupy. If you overmix, discard mixture and start again.
- Pause mixer and crack one egg directly into mixing bowl. Resume mixing on medium speed until egg is fully incorporated, then repeat with remaining egg. Once both eggs are fully incorporated into sugar mixture, add vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- Slowly, in gradual increments, add flour mixture to bowl with sugar mixture, mixing on low speed between each addition. Repeat process until all flour mixture has been transferred and ingredients are just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Once ingredients are combined and dough has formed, add oats to bowl and use silicone spatula to gently fold oats into dough. Once oats have been incorporated, add drained cranberries and repeat.
- Use cookie scoop to portion cookie dough into 1-tablespoon balls. Place cookie dough balls on parchment paper, leaving approximately 1 ½ inches between each dough ball. Repeat until all cookie dough has been rolled and placed on parchment paper.
- Use hands to very gently press down on top of each cookie dough ball to flatten balls into discs. Be careful not to make cookies too thin or close together.
- Place filled cookie sheet in preheated oven. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden and firm around edges.
- Remove cookie sheet from oven and set aside. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes, then gently transfer cookies to wire cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely, then serve as desired.
Notes
- Dried Cranberries: Feel free to use fresh or frozen cranberries instead.
- Gluten-Free Flour: We used King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten-free flour to test and perfect this recipe. Different types and brands of gluten-free flour may behave differently and yield different results. Make sure to use a flour that contains xanthan gum.
- Measuring Flour: Baking is fairly precise, and gluten-free baking is even more so. Be sure to use the scoop-and-level method to measure your flour – that way you know you’re using the right amount. Don’t pack the flour in to the measuring cup, either.
- Room Temperature: Your butter and eggs must be at room temperature in order for the ingredients to combine correctly.
- Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
- Freezer Option: Prepare recipe as written. Once cookie dough balls have been flattened, place cookie sheet in freezer instead of oven. Freeze cookies on baking sheet 30 minutes or until hardened, then transfer cookies to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. Cookies can be baked from frozen – adjust bake time as needed.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 128kcal | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Total Carbs: 21g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Net Carbs: 20g | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 52mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 5mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Best cookies by far. Easy to make ( I soaked my cranberries in Brandy) but great either way.
Hello, Ruth! So glad you enjoy the cookies. Love how you changed it up with the cranberries- that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
These are so yummy!! Easy and totally delicious! Not overly sweet, Great texture. Will definitely make these again!
So happy to hear that, Mikayla! Thanks so much for leaving a review!
These turned out so well! I love any kind of oatmeal cookie and these did not disappoint.
Love that! So glad you enjoyed, Susannah! Thanks so much for the review!
Oatmeal Cranberry is a great combination. I’ve had cookies like this before but never made them myself. Bookmarking this recipe 🙂 thank you!
That’s so great to hear, San! Thanks for leaving a review!
These cookies look so delicious! I can’t wait to try them!
Let us know that you think! 🙂
Yum! It’s hard to beat a chewy oatmeal cookie especially with the addition of the dried cranberries!
Thanks so much for the review, Sam! The cranberries are definitely such a fun, festive, tasty addition!
I love chewy oatmeal cookies, and the cranberries are a great pop of flavor in them.
Chewy cookies are always the best, right! Thanks so much for the review, Megan!
YUM! These look absolutely incredible and so scrumptious to make and share this season. I love the combination of oats and cranberry together.
Thank you, again, for participating in this year’s Sweetest Season!
They definitely make great sharing cookies! Thanks again for the review, Erin!
These are so delicious. We have them for a quick grab for breakfast sometimes too.
Great idea! So happy to hear they’re a favorite! Thanks so much for the review, Nikki!