Gluten-Free Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

This gluten-free cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies recipe combines a chewy oatmeal cookie base with sweet white chocolate, plump cranberries, and a kiss of citrus. Basically, they’re the perfect cookie!

Let’s make some gluten-free cranberry cookies!

These chewy cookies are one of my favorite cookies for holiday season cookie exchanges, but they’re so good that–much like our Oatmeal Raisin Cookies & Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies–you can make them all year long.

This classic cookie recipe is a winner for good reasons: they’re easy to make and PACKED with goodies. We combine our go-to gluten-free oatmeal cookie recipe with plenty of sweet white chocolate chips and plump cranberries in every bite. Add a secret ingredient flavor note, and you’re in business!

Best of all, these chewy white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies start with simple ingredients. Let’s take a look…

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

These gluten-free white chocolate cranberry cookies center around basic pantry staples, plus a few special additions…

• Orange Juice. We’ll use warm orange juice to plump up the cranberries & add a subtle citrus note. It makes a delicious difference in the flavor of these chewy oatmeal cookies cookies!
• Dried Cranberries. Regular dried cranberries (craisins) work well for these gluten-free cranberry cookies! (Fresh cranberries & frozen cranberries will not work.)
• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats for the perfect chewy texture. For celiac disease, you’re looking for certified gluten-free rolled oats (sometimes labeled old-fashioned oats). We don’t recommend quick oats or steel-cut oats for this recipe.
• Gluten-Free Flour & Cornstarch. Our go-to gluten-free flour blend for all our gluten-free cookie recipes is King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour. If you use another 1:1 flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill), make sure it contains xanthan gum, and measure carefully! Then, a little cornstarch adds lightness to keep these delicious cookies from getting too dense.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda. For the perfect spread & puff.
• Kosher Salt. A must for balancing the flavors!
• Butter. In order to cream properly, the butter should be soften enough for your fingertip to make an imprint, but shouldn’t look greasy or shiny (a sign it’s too soft).
• Brown Sugar & White Sugar. A mix of light brown sugar and granulated sugar gives you the best of both flavor and texture.
• Egg. Room temperature eggs blend in best! (Cold eggs can cause your creamed butter/sugar to separate.)
• Vanilla Extract. Always and forever.
• White Chocolate Chips. We like Guittard or Ghirardelli brands, but Hershey’s also makes a great white chocolate chip!

WE ♥

How To Make Gluten-Free Cranberry Cookies, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Soak Cranberries. To start, add cranberries to a small bowl and cover with warm orange juice. Allow the cranberries to soak for 15-20 minutes, then drain as completely as possible. This will plump up the cranberries and add a subtle citrus flavor, but we don’t want to add the juice or it will change the structure of the cookies.
2. Break Up The Oats. Place the oats in the bowl of a food processor (or the jar of a blender) and pulse a few times to break up the oats. Ideally, you want some whole, and some broken up. This just gives the cookie the best texture. Try not to pulverize the oats into flour as this will drastically change the cookie’s texture.
3. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free oats, gluten-free flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
4. Cream Butter & Sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl), combine softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream together with the paddle attachment 2-3 minutes until smooth, fluffy, and lighter in texture. Scrape down the edges of the bowl.
5. Add Eggs & Vanilla. Next, add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix to combine well, then scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

6. Mix In Dry Ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until just a few floury patches remain.
7. Add White Chocolate Chips & Cranberries. Pour in 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup dried cranberries (reserve the rest of the cranberries & white chocolate chips for garnish). Mix until just blended.
8. Chill Dough 2 Hours. Cover oatmeal cookie dough and refrigerate 2 hours. Do NOT skip this step, or your cookies will spread significantly more.
9. Preheat & Prep. When you’re about 30 minutes away from baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper so you can alternate baking sheets with each batch.
10. Scoop & Roll Cookie Dough. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop 3-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough. Roll the dough smooth between your hands and place 6 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet.
11. Bake, Finish & Cool Cookies. Bake 6 cookies at a time in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden brown around the edges and the centers look *just* underdone. (They’ll set more as they cool). Remove from the oven and gently shape with a round cookie cutter into perfect circles, if desired. Garnish with a few more white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Let the cookies cool 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Repeat this process with remaining cookie dough until all cookies are baked, alternating baking sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold dough on a hot cookie sheet.
13. Serve & Store. Enjoy once the cookies have cooled. Store in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days, or freeze up to 2 months.