It should be pretty apparent that I enjoy developing my own recipes; one of the ways I do this is by converting tried and true “standard” recipes to accommodate certain special diets, as I did with these cookies for a friend who is gluten intolerant. I heard from her recently that she was just finishing off the last of the cookies I had gifted her (she really made them stretch!), and declared them absolutely delicious (aww shucks!)

These ended up being incidentally dairy-free, as I decided to substitute the butter for coconut oil since I was using coconut in the recipe anyway; feel free to use butter instead if you have no such diet restrictions. If you want them to be vegan, just ensure you use vegan ingredient substitutions where applicable. Do be aware, though, these cookies come out quite delicate, light and crumbly compared to the sturdy chewiness of a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie, as there is no gluten holding the ingredients together. But I have it on good authority (see above) that they’re super-yummy and worth the gentle handling and effort to make.

Coconutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (GF, DF)

YIELD: 24 cookies | PREP: 10 mins | BAKE: 12 mins

• ½ cup light or dark brown sugar (use coconut sugar for a super coconuttty taste!)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup/218g coconut oil, firm (not liquid)
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp/6g table salt
• 1 tsp/5g baking soda
• 1 tsp/5mL pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp/3g cinnamon
• ½ tsp/1g nutmeg
• 1 cup/125g GF flour blend
• 2 cups/167g GF rolled oats
• ½ cup/47g shredded coconut flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
• ½ cup/73g raisins, steeped in boiling water then drained and squeezed*

1. Preheat oven to 350°F; prepare two half-sheet sized cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil and non-stick spray; set aside.
2. Using a hand blender or table mixer with paddle attachment, mix sugars and coconut oil together until light and airy; add egg, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and spices, and mix until blended. Add flour, oats, coconut and raisins, and mix well (if you are using a hand blender, you may need to mix these in by hand).
3. Roll mixture into 24 equally-sized balls and place on cookie sheets; gently flatten each ball to prevent rolling; alternatively you can use a very small ice cream scoop/1 tablespoon disher to ensure they are the same size.
4. Bake for 11-12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. When cookies are golden and just starting to brown along the edges, they’re done. (Note: if you are using a vegan flax-egg, there will be less browning).
5. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes on pans raised on cooling racks (they are very delicate). When they are cool enough to handle, gently remove to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

• steeping raisins in boiling water for a few minutes (no more than 5) helps plump them up again so they are moist and flavourful instead of hard and chewy like some older raisins can be. Be sure to squeeze them in your hands when they are cool enough to handle to remove excess water or it may cause your cookie dough to be too wet.