Healthy Practically Flourless Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites

Yields: 16 cookie dough bites

These cookie dough bites taste like my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies! Sweet, spiced, perfectly chewy… And so, so good. They’re perfect for when you’re craving cookies but don’t want to turn on the oven—or anytime you want something sweet! The cookie dough bites will keep for at least 5 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

1 tsp unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
¾ tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp vanilla stevia, or adjusted to taste
3 ½ tbsp (53mL) unsweetened cashew milk, room temperature
⅛ tsp salt
½ cup (50g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
¼ cup (30g) oat flour (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp (20g) raisins, finely diced (see Notes!)

Place a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on a baking tray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, vanilla extract, and vanilla stevia. Stir in the cashew milk and salt. Add in the instant oats, oat flour, and cinnamon, stirring until just incorporated. Gently fold in the raisins. Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes.
Working with a small amount of the mixture at a time, roll into a bite-sized sphere. (If the cookie dough sticks to your hands, then rub your palms with a little neutral-tasting oil in between each!) Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Notes: Any milk can be substituted for the unsweetened cashew milk. Make sure your milk is at room temperature! Cold milk will re-solidify your butter.

Instant oats are also called "quick cooking" or "one minute" oats. They're smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned rolled oats. In a pinch, you can make your own by adding the same amount of old-fashioned rolled oats to a blender or food processor and pulsing until they're about ⅛ of their original size.

This is the oat flour that I use. (I also show you how to make your own here!) Any flour except coconut flour may be substituted for the oat flour. When substituting gluten-free flours, the texture of the cookie dough bites will vary (and typically be grainier).

Make sure you measure the oats and oat flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much of either will dry out your cookie dough bites and make them crumbly and hard to stick together.

I highly recommend using the vanilla stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too! I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. For sweeter bites, increase the vanilla stevia by up to an additional ¼ teaspoon.

If you really prefer not to use the vanilla stevia, then omit it and substitute pure maple syrup, honey, or agave for the milk. (The bites won’t be quite as sweet with any of these substitutions! They’ll be closer to the sweetness level of muffins, rather than cookies.)

If you don’t dice your raisins, then they’ll be too big and your cookie dough bites won’t hold together properly when rolling them into spheres. I generally cut the raisins into 3-4 pieces, depending on how big they are.

If your raisins are older, drier, or not very plump or juicy… Add them to a microwave-safe bowl AFTER dicing them, and pour water on top until they’re completely covered. Seal plastic wrap over the top (or place a lid or plate on top!), and microwave the bowl on high for 1 minute. If you let the raisins sit while mixing together the cookie dough, this little trick hydrates them so they’re really soft and juicy!

{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, sugar free}

Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2018/08/14/healthy-practically-flourless-oatmeal-raisin-cookie-dough-bites/