Healthier Cherry Oatmeal Cookies [ gluten-free, dairy-free ]

These healthier Cherry Oatmeal Cookies are going to be your new favorite! They’re soft yet chewy with slightly crisp edges, and have a wonderful flavor thanks to the coconut sugar and molasses. Made gluten-free and dairy-free.

Happy first week of July! I can’t believe it is JULY already… But we finished out the month of June with two savory recipes in a row, so you guys had to know some kind of baked good was coming, yes?

I’m actually quite excited about today’s recipe– nothing beats a good old-fashioned oatmeal cookie! Well, I don’t know if you could consider this “old-fashioned” because I am pretty sure our grandmas and grandmas’ grandmas likely didn’t use coconut sugar, coconut oil, or even whole wheat flour when making their oatmeal cookies… but my point is they TASTE like an old-fashioned oatmeal cookie. We are throwing in some delicious dried cherries in the mix as well.

July means cherry season, and not just all around but especially in Michigan. It is said that 70-75% of the tart cherries and 20% of sweet cherries grown in the U.S. come from Michigan. Traverse City is known as the Cherry Capital of the World and they host a huge festival each year the first week of July: The National Cherry Festival. I’ve actually never been to the festival myself, but I’ve heard it is awesome. Drew and I went up to Traverse City for our first time (ever) before Memorial Day,  just before the “busy season” started, so I can only imagine how packed the small town gets when the The National Cherry Festival is happening.

Anyways, I couldn’t let this month pass by without sharing a cherry recipe here. I have a few other recipes featuring cherries later on this month but it only felt right to start with a cookie recipe 😀

Healthier Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

I feel like it has been awhile since I’ve shared a solid cookie recipe with you all… Even if it hasn’t I lose track and it feels like it’s been too long! 

This cherry oatmeal cookie recipe is adapted from my Whole Wheat Oatmeal Berry Cookies (an FMK original) and I loved how the turned out! I modified the original recipe to remove the butter so they’re dairy-free, and I also added some molasses for rich flavor. I definitely ate two cookies in one sitting… Okay, and another one about two hours later. That means you know they’re good. 

I was thinking about sharing this recipe a couple of weeks from now but I just am too excited about them that I needed to make sure you guys had the recipe ASAP.

WHAT YOU NEED

• gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats (or regular)
• gluten-free 1:1 baking flour (or whole wheat white)
• ground cinnamon
• salt
• coconut sugar
• coconut oil
• nut/seed butter
• egg
• molasses
• vanilla
• dried cherries

These cookies are pretty quick so you can whip these up and enjoy them within a matter of minutes. They’re soft, kind of chewy but slightly crisp, and just the right combination of tart and sweet, if I do say so myself. I personally really enjoy the molasses flavor that comes through with this recipe. But if you’re not a fan of molasses or don’t have it on hand, I’d recommend referring to the original oatmeal berry cookie recipe for the sugar ratios.

Hope you enjoy these oatmeal cookies as much as I do! Let me know if you make them 🙂

Cherry Oatmeal Cookies [ dairy-free ]

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Ashley
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 20 1x

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Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats, gluten-free
• 3/4 cup gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour*
• 2 TBS flaxseed meal (optional)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup softened coconut oil
• 1/4 cup creamy nut/seed butter**
• 2 TBS molasses
• 1 large egg, room temperature***
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, or silicone mat.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oats, whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, using stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer, cream together coconut sugar with softened coconut oil and nut/seed butter until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. (Do NOT use melted oil)
4. Add in molasses, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined.
5. Add dry oat-flour mixture to large bowl of wet ingredients. Use sturdy rubber spatula or large wooden spoon to combine.
6. Fold in dried cherries using large wooden spoon.
7. Using medium cookie scoop (or about 1 1/2 TBS) scoop dough balls and place on prepared cookie sheets, leaving about four inches of room between. See picture in post of cookie sheet for how to space cookies.
8. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
9. Store cookies in airtight container. Cookies will stay fresh up to one week–if they last that long 🙂

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Notes

*regular all-purpose, whole wheat white or whole wheat pastry flour all should sub just fine.

**the original recipe calls for softened butter. Feel free to sub the nut/seed butter with butter if not dairy-free. It will make the cookie texture slightly more crispy.

***using a room temperature egg will make sure the coconut oil doesn’t solidify when mixing. Run egg under hot water for 1-2 minutes to warm slightly.

Adding in a 1/2 cup of dairy-free mini chocolate chips would also be an excellent idea for this recipe 😀

^{Recipe adapted from Whole Wheat Oatmeal Berry Cookies}

• Category: dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: healthy oatmeal cookies, cherry chocolate chip, gluten free cookies

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