Oatmeal Cookies Made Simple

There is nothing like the smell of oatmeal cookies baking in the oven, it is one of the things that brings back fond memories of my childhood. My sister had intolerance to gluten and could not eat wheat, rye or barley. At that time her allergy was not so severe for her to stop eating oatmeal (which also contains a low level of gluten) so my mom used to bake wonderful oatmeal cookies, no bake cookies, gingerbread cookies and flapjacks which were always kept in special tin boxes in the larder, ready for the family tea time.

Mom’s red berry and hazelnut oatmeal cookie recipe

2oz chopped cherries, 2oz cranberries, 2oz chopped hazelnuts

4oz unsalted butter, 4oz caster sugar, 1 egg

Teaspoon of Vanilla extract, 6oz fine oatmeal
3oz spelt or rice flour or gluten free* equivalent
½ tsp gluten free baking powder

If gluten intolerance* is not an issue, you may replace the flours and baking powder with plain white flour and ordinary baking powder and continue as normal. If an allergy to nuts is an issue replace the hazelnuts with chocolate chips or apricots instead.

Baking instructions

• Turn on the oven and set temperature to 180C or gas mark 4
• Lightly grease two baking trays
• Chop the fruit and nuts into small pieces
• Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy
• Add the egg, vanilla extract and oats
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir until well combined
• Add the fruit and nuts and mix well in

Cookie making and storage

Place dessertspoons of the mixture onto the greased baking sheet, spacing them well apart to leave them room for spreading as they cook, flatten slightly with the back of a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown. After removing from the oven leave on the baking sheet for five minutes then transfer to a wire rack until completely cold. Please note that the cookies will be soft until they are cold. Store the cookies in an airtight container for a week or so.

Use of gluten free flour

Mom had to use gluten free bread flour for any cookie recipes as during the 60’s rice flour and spelt flour were not as freely available as they are now. She also had to learn how to make bread in the best way possible with this type of flour which was not easy as the gluten gives the bread an elasticity that is missing with gluten free flour.

Mom's Flapjack recipe

4oz unsalted butter
4oz caster sugar
4oz soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons of golden syrup/maple syrup/cane syrup
1lb oatmeal or muesli
4oz desiccated coconut
3oz cherries
3oz sultanas
3oz raisins

How to make the best flapjacks

• Heat the oven to 160C or gas mark 2-3
• Grease a tray with melted butter and line with greaseproof paper
• Mix together the butter, sugars and syrup in a small pan and stir over a low heat until everything has dissolved, remove from the heat
• Put the oatmeal or muesli, coconut, cherries, sultanas and raisins into a large bowl and mix together
• Pour the butter mixture into a well in the fruit mixture and stir thoroughly until everything is combined
• Press the mixture into the prepared tin and mark the top into rectangles using a sharp knife
• Bake for 35 minutes then reduce the temperature to 120C gas mark ½-1 and cook for another 10 minutes
• Leave in tin for 15 minutes after removing from the oven before turning onto a board until completely cold, then cut into bars and place in an airtight storage box in the refrigerator for up to one week

I hope you enjoy these great oatmeal cookies and mom’s flapjacks as much as we did.