The Gluten Free Oats Oxymoron?

From the first day that I was diagnosed as Celiac, it was drilled into my brain that I have to avoid all foods that contain wheat, barley, rye and oats. All of my research pointed in the same direction until I started to read mixed reports about oats. Pure, certified gluten free oats could be tolerated by most Celiacs? Could this be true? About a year or so ago I picked up a bag of Bob's Red Mill Certified GF Oats at the store and I was determined to put this to the test. I'd glance at the bag in the pantry some days and wonder when that day would come for me to try it out. So finally I decided to cook up a batch of oatmeal overnight in the crock pot... much to my dismay, the next morning all I found was a soupy, watery mess. I must have gotten the ratios wrong, but for me, this was enough of an omen to say "forget it", at least for now. Eventually that open bag of oats became stale and was trashed.

Bravely, a few months ago, I found these same oats steeply discounted at Target. Another omen, I thought? More time had passed.... more internal healing had occurred.... maybe it was time to try it again? The bag sat for many months until I decided to give the overnight, crock pot oatmeal another try a few weeks ago. That morning, I anxiously ran downstairs to see the result.... a huge pot of creamy, warm, delicious oatmeal! I measured out a cup to try and gobbled it up quickly. All day I was waiting for some sign that this was a terrible idea to eat oats.... and that sign never came. I was fine! I can eat oats!

After all of this, I finally decided to try out an oatmeal cookie recipe that I had been longing for over the past few years. Nothing beats a homemade cookie, and oatmeal raisin cookies always give you that warm, homey feeling. Dessert hasn't really been on the menu for the past couple of months, as I've been watching what I eat while I destroy my body with a pretty intense workout program. I decided to replace the butter in the recipe with peanut butter to make them healthier... and honestly, what could be better than the combination of oatmeal and peanut butter???? It's a win win situation! So here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg and 1 large egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup gluten free flour blend (I used Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 cups certified GF oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup raisins (I used SunMaid)

Cream together the peanut butter and sugars until fluffy; add eggs one at a time and vanilla until combined. Whisk or sift all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredient mixture slowly. Mix until well combined. Finally, stir in the oats and the raisins until there are no dry oats lying at the bottom of the bowl. The mixture will be a little bit dry but just keep working it through. Form a large dough ball and chill the dough in the fridge for an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and drop rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto a heavy baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. I fit about 9 on a large baking sheet. I pressed down on each of the cookie dough balls to help encourage them to melt down and spread out a bit while baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges start to brown slightly. Move them to a cooling rack or gobble them up immediately!

The final verdict???? These cookies were delicious and cake-like! It almost reminded me of those square Quaker oatmeal breakfast bars that I used to eat all those years ago. They were really delicious and I didn't feel the least bit guilty about eating 1 or 4 of them for breakfast (with coffee, as you see in the above picture)!! :)