Top-9-Free No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Every family has recipes that are passed down from generation to generation. These recipes become woven into the fabric of our family’s story. I know it may seem silly to think so poetically about a cookie recipe, but this cookie is THAT recipe for my mom and I. THIS cookie recipe is the one that normalized “allergy-friendly” baking for each of us. See, my mom grew up with wheat and corn allergies as a child. She grew up in a time when wheat-free or gluten-free items were NOT available on grocery store shelves. I think of my grandmother as the OG of allergy-moms. She had to learn how to make rice bread on her own without the help of the internet, Pinterest, and YouTube. She is my hero! These chocolate oatmeal cookies were the recipe that my great-grandmother, my mom’s grandma, would make every single time she came to visit. As a young child, I STILL remember her making this recipe when our family came to visit her, even though my mom out grew her allergies by college and my great-grandma was up into her 90’s. Aren’t our grandmas who get our allergies SO special! It truly is priceless.

When my son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies as a baby, this recipe resurfaced in our minds. For a few years, we avoided a whole host of foods due to outdated guidance from our allergist at the time. I will never claim my son outgrew a wheat allergy, like my mom did, BUT we did avoid wheat for almost two full years along with a long list of other foods. My son was, however, allergic to milk, egg, peanuts, sesame, mustard, chestnuts, avocado (FPIES), and banana (FPIES). These cookies were a lifeline to us! They are made with a recipe that I could whip up in under 10 minutes with pantry staples! It is like finding a unicorn! Allergy-friendly and inexpensive treats, WHAT!? Those two hardly ever are spoken in the same sentence. At the time of writing this blog post, December, 2024, my kiddo has incorporated wheat into his diet for a few years now, outgrown FPIES, passed oral food challenges for all tree nuts except chestnuts, fully outgrown his egg allergy, and can eat fully-baked milk muffins. We have come a LONG way. This recipe is still our family favorite and no one can tell we are still making them dairy-free!

When my son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies as a baby, this recipe resurfaced in our minds. For a few years, we avoided a whole host of foods due to outdated guidance from our allergist at the time. I will never claim my son outgrew a wheat allergy, like my mom did, BUT we did avoid wheat for almost two full years along with a long list of other foods. My son was, however, allergic to milk, egg, peanuts, sesame, mustard, chestnuts, avocado (FPIES), and banana (FPIES). These cookies were a lifeline to us! They are made with a recipe that I could whip up in under 10 minutes with pantry staples! It is like finding a unicorn! Allergy-friendly and inexpensive treats, WHAT!! Those two hardly ever are spoken in the same sentence. At the time of writing this blog post, December, 2024, my kiddo has incorporated wheat into his diet for a few years now, outgrown FPIES, passed oral food challenges for all tree nuts except chestnuts, fully outgrown his egg allergy, and can eat fully-baked milk muffins. We have come a LONG way. This recipe is still a family favorite and no one can tell we are still making them dairy-free!