Gluten-free Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Pecan Cookies | Baking with Duck Eggs

by Mary on October 19, 2012

a dozen duck eggs in an egg caron

duck eggs

This week I had a reason to bake. At the hobby farm I buy from, the chickens haven’t been laying well thanks to the shorter days of fall. But the ducks have, and the farmer told me that duck eggs are especially good for baking. So this week I had a dozen duck eggs, and bake I did. After six batches of cookies, three made with duck eggs and three with chicken eggs, I can confirm that duck eggs really are superior for baking. The cookies made with duck eggs had improved texture and rose higher. The amount of loft really was impressive considering their mostly whole-grain, gluten-free nature.

gluten-free walnut pecan oatmeal raisin cookie

Jamie Oliver has written about using duck eggs for baking, noting that they add back into gluten-free baked goods some of the structure that is lost in the absence of gluten and that “duck eggs make baked items so much fluffier than chicken eggs, you will be amazed.” Yup. I am. Apparently the secret is the extra protein in the egg white of duck eggs.

Duck eggs can be much larger than chicken eggs but from what I’ve read they substitute one for one for chicken eggs in recipes. The ones I bought were no larger than chicken eggs so I can’t confirm the substitution. Duck eggs make for a richer dish: the yolks are proportionately larger than chicken egg yolks and have more fat. Asian groceries are a good place to find them.

If you don’t have the esoteric ingredient of duck eggs, don’t worry, the batches I made with chicken eggs were good. I’m always one for adding healthy nuts and fruits to cookies, and the walnuts, pecans, and raisins in these keep them interesting. They have a little fall/winter spiciness with cinnamon and allspice, too.

I fine-tuned my homemade gluten-free flour mix on these cookies. I like Pamela’s Gluten-Free Baking Mix, and it’s convenient, but it does contain buttermilk powder which makes it unsuitable for non-dairy diets. I’m pleased to say that I now prefer my homemade GF flour mix to even Pamela’s. I’ll write it up separately at some point– after perhaps, more tests to see what happens when I simplify it a bit more– but for now it’s in parentheses in the recipe.

Enjoy! And let me know how you liked the cookies in the comments below, I love hearing from my readers.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Pecan Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: dessert
Ingredients
  • Ingredients that go in blender/food processor:
  • 1 cup oat flour (can make in your blender from rolled oats)
  • 1 cup Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking Mix or homemade GF flour mix: ⅓ cup white rice flour, ⅓ cup brown rice flour, 2.5 Tbsp. almond meal, 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch, 1 Tbsp. sweet white rice flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, pinch xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. allspice
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ½ cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup pecans
  • To cream together in a large bowl:
  • 4 Tbsp solid coconut oil. (If your room temperature is hot enough for the coconut oil to be liquid, cool the oil in a refrigerator.)
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • Wet ingredients:
  • 2 duck eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • A final addition:
  • ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
  2. Line two 9 x 12 baking sheets with parchment paper or grease them.
  3. Put oats in blender or food processor.
  4. Run until oats are ground into a flour, this won't take long.
  5. Add gluten-free baking mix, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, and salt to the blender, blend until well-combined.
  6. Add walnuts and pecans, pulse briefly until the nuts are somewhere between finely chopped and a coarse flour (either works)
  7. In a large bowl, cream (beat together) the coconut oil and sugar. By hand works best for me, but use whatever method you prefer (beater, stand mixer).
  8. Add eggs and beat together until smooth.
  9. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
  10. Mix with dry ingredients from blender until uniform (I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment for this step and the next one.)
  11. Add raisins and mix in.
  12. Drop batter onto baking sheets by rounded tablespoonfuls.
  13. Bake 14-15 minutes, until cookies are set and edges are barely beginning to brown.

 

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Pat October 26, 2012 at 12:44 pm

Your cookies look delicious — I’m partial to oatmeal cookies, especially with spice in them. I didn’t realize what makes duck eggs so different. Thanks for explaining that! Now I know what I’ll do first with duck eggs next time I have some — make some cookies.
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mary October 26, 2012 at 2:40 pm

Thanks, Pat! I’m sure they will add a special something to your gluten-free baking.
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Joanne October 26, 2012 at 6:42 pm

I can tell you right now, I’d love those cookies. Oatmeal raisin are my favorites. As for the duck eggs, never had one. I’ve had a mixture of different kinds of chicken eggs from a friend who raises an assortment of chickens but duck, no.
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mary October 26, 2012 at 8:49 pm

Eggs from a friend is the best way! I’ve had a couple of friends keep chickens and give me eggs over the years, but I don’t have any friends with chickens right now. I like the folks I’m getting eggs from, perhaps they will become friends in time. Their flock is also a mixture of fancy types of chickens with several colors of eggs, makes for a fun assortment, no?
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penny aka jeroxie October 27, 2012 at 5:52 am

I’ve not baked with duck eggs before. Will have to give this a go.

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mary October 27, 2012 at 6:41 am

If you do try baking with duck eggs, I think you will be pleased with the results!
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Matt November 3, 2012 at 11:57 pm

These look delicious 🙂
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mary November 4, 2012 at 12:45 am

Thanks, Matt! Try them to fuel your run sometime!

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Kiran November 8, 2012 at 12:48 am

I love oatmeal raisin cookies, and this recipe pack a punch of healthy ingredients 🙂
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Matt November 18, 2012 at 12:58 am

Mmmm these look great!
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mary November 18, 2012 at 1:44 am

Thanks, Matt!
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Jennifer Palmer August 2, 2014 at 11:21 am

Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe I love oatmeal and raisin cookies however have never tried baking with duck eggs – would you have to use less as i assume that they are slightly larger than chicken eggs? Great post, thanks for sharing.
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mary August 6, 2014 at 3:53 pm

Usually duck eggs are larger and so you might have to adjust your recipe, but as it happens the duck eggs that I get (from runner ducks) are about the same size as chicken eggs.

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