Are Oatmeal Cookies Gluten-Free?

Oats, oatmeal, and foods prepared with them can be a source of confusion for those on gluten-free diets, whether it's because they have celiac disease, are gluten intolerant, or simply prefer to avoid gluten for other reasons. In the case of oatmeal cookies, the issue is compounded by a host of other ingredients and processes involved in baking them. If you buy oatmeal cookies off the grocery store shelf, it's easy to simply look for the gluten-free label. This means that the cookies comply with the Food and Drug Administration labeling requirement that the item contains less than 20 parts per million gluten, which is the lowest amount that can be verified with current scientific testing methods. If you don't see a label, play it safe and skip the cookies.

But what about homemade oatmeal cookies? Ensuring that every ingredient is gluten-free is trickier. However, what's most important to know is this: Although oats are naturally gluten-free, you still need to use caution when buying and cooking with them, and certainly talk to your doctor. The Celiac Disease Foundation says that most celiac sufferers can tolerate oats, as long as they're labeled as gluten free. However, many well-known companies that harvest and sell oats process them in facilities where equipment and processes may frequently cross paths with gluten-containing ingredients. That cross contamination can create major health issues for those with celiac disease, who could suffer immune responses that can seriously damage their digestive systems. The best way to ensure your homemade oatmeal cookies are gluten free is to use only recipes and ingredients that are labeled gluten-free, including the oats.

When you're purchasing ingredients to make oatmeal cookies, the first thing to know is what oats are best. One mistake people make when it comes to oatmeal is buying the wrong type of oats; steel-cut varieties undergo the least amount of processing. They're the closest you can get to the original grown oat, so that's the safest best for gluten-free cookies. (They also make delicious slow-cooked apple cinnamon oatmeal!) Many oatmeal manufacturers sell oatmeal that's specifically labeled gluten-free, such as Quaker, which provides assurance that the manufacturers either optically or mechanically sorted the oats to ensure no cross contamination happens in the facilities, or they used purity protocols, meaning that the oats were grown in gluten-free-dedicated fields.

What about the other ingredients? The same processing concerns apply to many of them as well, so carefully read labels to determine whether there's a cause for concern, and select gluten-free options if they're available (keeping in mind that some ingredients, such as eggs and milk, don't contain gluten anyway). Recipes for gluten-free oatmeal cookies abound online, and their ingredients range from oat or gluten-free all-purpose flour to gluten-free baking powder or baking soda. Bottom line? Oatmeal cookies can very well be gluten-free, but it's not a guarantee, so be careful about reading labels and choosing your ingredients.