Dairy-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ally has been dairy-free for about two weeks.  For a seven-year old, going a week without chocolate is terrible so I wanted to give her a treat as soon as we verified she was, in fact, lactose intolerant.  I've been doing a lot of reading on this due to her pain levels and I did find that a person's intolerance level can vary.  Some people can enjoy cheddar cheese, yogurts and a little dairy in the diet while others simply cannot without terrible pain and side effects.  Ally seems to be the latter, unfortunately.

Although this recipe is not gluten-free, for Ally it works as it is completely dairy free.  I will say it...I ate some of these cookies and my, my, my...they are so good!  Baking the cookies on a light-colored, nonstick pan helps keeps the color a light, golden brown (since they are made with dairy-free margarine they tend to brown and crisp quickly) and, by sifting the flour first, the cookies are light and airy even with the oatmeal added.  My oven runs a little warm so I baked these at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes but do watch your oven temperature.


Ally's Fav Dairy-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) Fleischmann's  Original Margarine, softened
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1 c. rolled quick cook oats
• 1c. Enjoy Life! dairy-free mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Gently mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.  In large bowl, cream margarine, both sugars, egg and vanilla together.  Add flour mixture by thirds to creamed butter mixture stirring in between additions.  Once combined, add oats and chocolate chips, mixing until combined.  I then chilled the cookies in the refrigerator for about ten minutes, just to let the batter stiffen slightly before cooking.

Place by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet  leaving , at a minimum, 1 1/2 inches between cookies.  Bake for 12-13 minutes or until cookies are light brown.  Remove and cool for 3-4 minutes on pan then transfer to wire rack.