These soft and chewy spiced apple oatmeal cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free and 100% whole grain.
I’m super excited about today’s post! A few weeks ago, I was asked if I’d like to contribute some gluten-free recipes to My Baking Addiction. I’d been a huge fan of Jamie’s since long before I started blogging so you can imagine how shocked and excited I was. I had to reread the email a few times before I actually believed it. My reaction was something along the lines of – “Huh? ME? No way. Was this supposed to go to one of the other Erins…?”
For my first post, I wanted to make something without any unusual ingredients. These gluten-free apple spice cookies are the very first gluten-free recipe on My Baking Addiction and I wanted to make it as friendly as possible for non-gluten-free households. I didn’t use my usual almond and coconut flours (I will be posting recipes with those later on!) but oats and oat flour. That means anyone with a bag of oats can make these apple cookies! If you don’t have oat flour and you don’t know how to make it yourself, go check out my post on MBA.
I initially tried these cookies with butter and while they came out decently, I preferred them with coconut oil. Plus using coconut oil makes them dairy-free, which I know makes a lot of you happy. They’re also 100% whole grain so you can get your fiber while downing these cookies. Aren’t apples also high in fiber? Why, yes they are! I just calculated that if you eat half a batch (that would be 18 cookies) you have your entire fiber intake for the day! You’re welcome. :D
If spiced apple oatmeal cookies aren’t your cup of tea, you can switch or leave out the spices and toss in whatever add-ins you want. The cookies are softer than gluten-containing cookies and therefore more fragile. Chocolate chips or chopped nuts or fruit would be okay but make sure the pieces aren’t too big or else your cookies will come out in strange shapes and may fall apart a little. So keep it chocolate chip sized or smaller and you should be good. :)
Spiced Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) oat flour (certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (168 grams) coconut oil
- 1/2 cup (134 grams) almond butter
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups (248 grams) quick oats (certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1 1/2 cups (162 grams) apple chunks (about 1/4" in size)
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar for rolling
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted coconut oil, almond butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat in the eggs.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined.
- Stir in the oats until almost combined and then stir in the apples. The dough will be quite sticky.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until the dough is firm enough to be rolled into balls.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Place the sugar in a small bowl.
- Roll the dough into 1" balls and roll in the sugar.
- Place the dough balls 3" apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 9-12 minutes or until the tops of the cookies no longer appear wet on the surface. They will be quite soft but will firm up slightly as they cool.
- Let cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
This recipe was created for my post on My Baking Addiction: Gluten-free Apple Spice Cookies
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63 comments on “Spiced Apple Oatmeal Cookies (gluten-free, whole grain, dairy-free)” — Add one!
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What better way to dip my toes into the cool months of of Fall than a warm, Spiced Apple Oatmeal, cookie? My spouse brings home apples every week to keep the doctor away. Though, I love a good crispy apple all by itself, they add that special je ne sais quoi , rich, gooey, comforting goodness to the cookie.
I subbed a chia egg for the chicken egg with successful outcome. They held together well.
Is there any substitute for the almond butter. I can not have any nuts or nut butters? Thanks so much.
You could use sunflower seed butter! I haven’t tried it here but I bet it’d work.
Has anyone made these at extremely high altitude? I’m at 8500 feet, and not sure what modifications I should make.
I unfortunately don’t have any experience with high altitude baking but I found this. I hope that helps! :)
I’m at about 5,500 ft and it was fine as is.
These cookies tasted delicious!! However, I was stupid and thought it didn’t matter to put the dough in the fridge for 2 hrs. I baked them right away and they spread out like crazy and crumbled when I tried to remove them from the pan after three minutes of cooling. The rest of the dough is in the fridge overnight so I’ll try again in the morning! I was hoping for some pretty cookies to serve at a bridal shower.
Aww! I hope the rest of the dough worked out better with some chilling. :) I hope you enjoyed them! Thanks a bunch for your comment.
Do you have an oatmeal breakfast cookie recipe that has higher protein or fiber? I often see recipies that include the addition vanilla protein powder. can that be added to this recipe? How would the other ingredients need to be adjusted? Also, do you have a healthy vegan cookie recipe or bar that is on the crispier side and not as cake-like in texture? Perhaps a chewy one?? Thanks so m
I’m sorry but I don’t have any recipes like you requested. I’ve never used protein powder, either, so I have no idea how you’d add that to this recipe. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
Hi,
I am so excited about the result! I substituted maple syrup (actual maple syrup) for the sugar in this recipe and it adds such a wonderful dynamic to the spices. Make sure to reduce the liquid ingredients, such as the coconut oil, to make up for the liquid introduced in the maple syrup.
Great recipe overall.
Enjoy,
I love your change! Maple syrup sounds much better here than sugar. :) By how much did you reduce the liquids? Thanks a bunch for your tip! I’m so happy that the cookies came out well for you.
Not by much… 3 tablespoons of coconut oil taken out, and that’s about it!
Good to know! Thanks for the reply. :)
I am going to make these with maple syrup. Any chance you wrote down how much syrup you used? The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of light brown sugar. I doubt I need 1 1/4 cups of syrup. I’m a little at a loss how to proceed!
Thanks,
I’m also not sure about how much maple syrup you’d need. I’m not really sure how they even came out with that sub with only taking out 3 tablespoons of coconut oil. I’d be worried that they’d be super cakey and fall apart!
Hi Lucy – great idea using maple syrup. Any chance you remember how much you used for this recipe?
Hi Erin, can these cookies can be stored in the freezer?
I think might be fine although I could also imagine that they’d be a little soggy / cakey when defrosted. I’m sorry for the ambiguous answer! I hope you enjoyed or will enjoy them. :)
Made these with walnut butter(that’s what I had, plus I love the walnut-apple combo). Yum. Next time I’ll probably put a tbsp or 2 of applesauce cause mine could use some more moisture. I made them with butter/ghee-I don’t know if that makes the difference. I’ve had this sort of thing happen before with your cookie recipes, where you use coconut oil and say ‘refrigerate batter for it to firm up’ and me using butter and it already being too firm. That, plus my “measuring” can sometimes be a little not-so-precise if I’m feeling lazy, so who knows what happened. They were really yummy anyway. Oh, and if someone’s wondering if they’d still be ok with less sugar, for me they were sweet enough with some stevia powder, 2 tbsp xylitol and a spoonful of honey. I didn’t roll them either. That’s why yours are prettier ;)
Hello! Butter is 80% fat and coconut is 100% fat so that explains why the cookies aren’t as moist when they’re made with butter. :) I think more applesauce would make them more cakey so if you want to use butter rather than coconut oil, I’d add maybe a tablespoon more butter. It’s just a guess, though! And awesome that they worked out with your alternative sweeteners. :) I’m pretty sure that could have also played a role in your cookies not being moist enough. Whenever you reduce the sugar, cookies are more cakey and less moist. Thanks so much for your feedback!
Thank you for your response. It was really enlightening! Especially about the sugar thing. Cause I really do always fiddle with the sugar and insist on using less of it and none of the ordinary stuff, but now I know that that can actually make my baked goodies dry! I wonder though if xylitol behaves that way too.. I’m totally new in baking with it. I’ll keep experimenting though, cause I’m digging the whole “better for you” crap :).
It must be amazing to have so much experience as you do with baking, so you can in advance know intuitively which ingredient does what and how a finished product depends on upping or reducing that ingredient. I’m yet to get there!
P.S. I still have a little walnut butter left and I’ve had my eye on your walnut choc-chip cookies for a while now, but since I also have a buttload of apples waiting, I’m thinking of making them just like this recipe, replacing the chocolate with apple..
No problem! I’m happy to have cleared up the dryness thing. :) Some baking knowledge is definitely helpful but I still need about 4-6 attempts before I get a recipe to the point that I really love it. Sometimes even 20 (really!) So you’re not alone! It just takes a lot of work. I like your apple walnut butter cookie idea! But there could be a little problem. The apples are going to add quite a bit of moisture. There isn’t any gluten in those walnut butter cookies (or xanthan gum) so I can see them falling apart easily. And also being more cakey due to the added moisture. I bet they’ll be delicious, though. :)
These look wonderful! I was considering this and thought about adding small dice crystallized ginger (https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/ginger-sweet-bits/c-24/p-1500/pd-s) with the apples. Or replace the apples with chopped pears along with the ginger (always a wonderful combination!)
That sounds super yummy! I hope you get a chance to try it out. :)
Congratulations! I LOVE Jamie’s blog! These cookies look pretty amazing too :)
Thank you so much! :)
These look seriously scrumptious. I want one for each hand. Why waste time right.
Haha. I love how you think. :)
Geez these look good! They look so moist…I need one stat!
Thanks, Colleen! And I wouldn’t say that they’re super moist but they’re moist enough. :)
Love when something this delish is healthy too!
Same here! Less guilty is always better. :)
Those cookies look divine. And the perfect flavors for this time of year.
Thanks! And you’re right. They definitely make me feel warm and fuzzy. :)
My brother is gluten free and would love these!! I’ll have to try them for him next time he’s in town.
I hope that you’ll all enjoy the cookies! Let me know how they come out. :)
They look so delicious!! I love spiced apple; perfect for fall :) And I’m actually quite glad you used oat flour; it’s healthy and so much cheaper and easier to get than coconut or almond flour!
One question: could I use peanut butter instead of the almond butter? I know you’ll taste it but I think spices+apple+PB is quite okay, so will it work structure-wise?
Thanks, Caroline! I haven’t tried peanut butter in these but I think it’d work. I’m not positive, though! I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies if you try them and let me know how they come out with peanut butter. :)
I plan on using peanut butter as well. Did they turn out good?
I love the idea of using oat flour to make these gluten free – great idea!
Thanks, Lauren! :)
Erin, these look so incredible!!!
Thank you, Claire!
These look like little bites of heaven….I need them in my life right now! ***runs off to buy some oat flour***
Haha. Make your own! So much cheaper. ;)
Those are beautiful! And such a great ingredient list. As soon as I can replenish my AB stash, I am making these :) Pinning.
Thank you! And I’m so happy you’re going to make the cookies – I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
I have never seen such oatmeal cookies before! Sounds and looks at!
Thanks, Medeja! :)
Well now, this is a fortuitous circumstance! I just made a big batch of oat flour and I can’t think of a better way to use it!
Ooh, then that means you have to try them! ;) I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
As always, Erin, it looks fantastic!!
I love oatmeal cookies and I’ll be sure to make these on a “grainy” day haha :) Thanks for the recipe!
Haha. So how often do you have grainy days? ;)
Oh how exciting – being asked to post to My Baking Addition is awesome!! These cookies are stellar! Love the apples and really anything spiced with warming fall spices is ok in my book :) Thanks for sharing :)
Right?! I’m really excited about it. :) Thanks so much for your kind comment!
Wow, these sound delicious! I’m so glad to see that you used cardamom in them. It’s one of my favorites spices and so underutilized. Great job!
Cardamom is kind of new to me and I love it. Why isn’t it more popular?! It’s so great in autumnal goodies. :)
They look fabulous Erin!
Thank you, Brenda!
Those cookies are perfect for fall!
Thanks, Paula!