Hazelnut and Dried Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are a favorite of mine: quick and easy to make, they can have a chewy or crispy texture, and can include many additions, such as dried fruits, chocolate chips, nuts and more.
When I was asked to develop a gluten-free version of these tasty cookies, I’ve decided not to include any unknown flour substitute mixes, and instead, experiment with an “all oats” version.I used gluten free oats flour as the basic flour, and mixed it with hazelnuts meal and rolled oats. To this I added some dried cranberries, which added the bit of acidity that was needed to round up the flavors. The cookies turned out very tasty, with a bit crumblier texture than with cookies made with white flour, which I quite liked.
While I had people with gluten intolerance in mind when creating these cookies, they will no doubt delight any fan of oatmeal cookies. Try them and enjoy.

Makes: 25-26
Prep time: 10 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours
Baking time: 11-14 minutes

Ingredients:
1 stick (115 grams) butter, soft
1 cup sugar
1 L egg
¾ cup wholegrain fine oat flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free)
½ cup hazelnut meal
½ cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup dried cranberries

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and egg. Add the oats flour and whisk well. Add the hazelnut meal, rolled oats, baking powder, salt, vanilla and cranberries and mix with a spatula to form a fairly soft dough. Cover with wax paper and place in the fridge for 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Line cookie sheets with baking paper.
3. Roll the dough into 25-26 small balls and place on the baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to expand.

4. Bake for 11 minutes for chewy cookies, or 14 minutes for crispy cookies. Let cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes before carefully transferring, with the baking paper, to a rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep, in an airtight container, for up to a week.