oat flour can = all purpose flour in a cookie... crazy?

[alex8alot]

can you sub oat flour for regular in a cookie recipe? I know that oats have less gluten than regular, but would that matter in a cookie?

[willownt]

I've done it. I usually just put oatmeal in my food processor. I only do a partial substitution. I think it's yummy.

[morebubbles]

I was reading that 1 cup of oat flour is equal to one cup of rolled oats(or other oats), which is useful to know when baking cookies.
I agree with the opion of those that mentioned doing a partial substitution. I'd start with half oat flour, or oats, and half regular flour.

[reannd]

Oat flour is AMAZING in cookies. A-maz-ing. - good in sweet breads that have chunky parts.. like cranberry or raisin or carrot.. not really as fun in banana bc the banana takes the flavor. Guess it would be the same with cookies. Use it in chocolate chip, but probably not say, a chocolate cookie. My favorite is oat flour in oatmeal cookies with ginger & lemon/orange rind combo. It's really nice.

Oh yeah, when I do bake with it, I I usually do half oat half unbleached white because then you can really taste the oat. It's a bit more dense, but I wouldn't say it's more dense than whole wheat flour.

[paulj]

Chopped dates are often coated with oat flour to prevent sticking.
paulj

[PamelaD]

It matters much less in cookies and quick breads than in yeast-risen creations that rely on the gluten.
Those of us who bake 'gluten-free' do not usually use oat flour (most oats produced in US are contaminated with wheat to a certain extent), but when using other non-wheat flours we usually add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon on xanthum or guar gum per cup of flour to help with binding all together. This makes the cookie/bread less likely to be too crumbly and fall apart easily.

I would certainly give it a try, even if you don't have any xanthum gum handy, though!

P

[alex8alot]

thanks for the tip and the encouragement! I was aware of the gluten factor, but they aren't for myself. I was thinking of them more for my daughter, thinking that the oat flour would be healthier than regular. I will give it a shot. I did it with an apple crisp recipe, and it turned out fine, but those are just buttery crumbs!

[paulj]

How about trying half wheat and half oat? Partial substitution is usually a better choice than full.

There's another thread about vinegar in cookies. The recipes the King Arthur provides calls for half barley flour and half white whole wheat.

I'm not sure oat flour is that much healtier than wheat flour. But the use of rolled oats is common in cookies.

paulj