These soft, Gluten Free Apple Cookies are topped with a maple glaze and are perfect for fall! They remind me of little apple cakes with bits of tart green apple. They're also naturally sweetened!
These cookies hold a lot of nostalgia for me. My mom made apple cookies when I was growing up and I've spent the last couple of autumns trying to create a gluten free version that still tastes good and doesn't completely fall apart when you eat it.
Well. I've done it. And not only are these gluten free cookies, they're also naturally sweetened!
NOTE: If you're interested in the original recipe, I added some notes at the bottom of the recipe card for you.
Let's get started, shall we?
How to make apple cookies
Like most cookie recipes, you'll start with beating the sugar and butter in a large bowl into oblivion. Seriously. Beat, beat, beat.
The original recipe called for brown sugar and luckily coconut sugar is an excellent replacement. It has a caramel-y taste and won't alter the color of your batter too much if there recipe is heavy on brown sugar to begin with.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. You'll have your usual baking spices here (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) and gluten free flour.
What is the best gluten free flour for cookies?
I like to use Namaste gluten free flour for cookies. It creates a better texture and holds together better than other GF flour blends I've tried. I buy it at Costco, but you can find Namaste flour on Amazon, too.
I've tried this recipe with my usual go-to GF flour mixture (found in this post) as well as combinations of oat flour, coconut flour, and a few other store-bought blends without as much success.
Unless you're confident that your GF blend is great for cookies, I can't guarantee they'll come out the same way if you use a different type of flour than what I'm recommending.
What kind of apples are best in apple cookies?
For fresh apples in cookies prefer something tart to offset the sweetness in the cookie and glaze -- like Granny Smith apples. Extra sweet apples would be OK if you don't want the pop of tartness.
Just a note -- when you add the diced apple you'll quickly realize this cookie dough is heavy on the apples. I love them this way. My kids, however, have this vendetta against bits of semi-cooked apples. (They don't even like bits of apples in their oatmeal.)
I used a cookie scoop to put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet or baking sheet. The dough is a little bit sticky so the cookie scoop helped a lot.
How to make Maple Glaze
The original recipe called for a typical glaze made from powdered sugar, butter, milk, and maple flavoring. Trying to make a glaze or a frosting that's naturally sweetened is tough, guys.
For this version I used mostly maple syrup thickened with some tapicoa starch and finished off with a little room temperature butter, maple extract, and a pinch of sea salt. It's really tasty.
I prefer not to use artificial extracts when I bake, so when I hunted around for a natural maple extract it was surprisingly hard! I finally found some maple extract on Amazon that wasn't artificial-based. I liked adding a little of this to the glaze to give it stronger pop of maple. It's totally optional, though.
The glaze is a little runny, but if you add more tapioca to make it thicker it takes on this really weird viscous texture. So.... don't. lol
Don't these look delcious? I love their warm cinnamon flavor -- they taste a little like apple pie cookies. But, really, they're more of a cake texture -- similar to a pumpkin cookie.
Can I adapt these to be Vegan Apple Cookies?
Sure! To make vegan cookies out of this recipe, use vegan butter and a flax egg.
If you've never used a flax egg, just mix 1 Tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 Tablespoons of water in a small bowl, and let it sit for 5 minutes until it starts to turn gelatinous. You can make a chia egg the same way, using chia seeds in place of the flaxseed meal.
You could also try using peanut butter as a binder if you don't want to make a flax or chia egg. I'd use maybe 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter. But just a warning.... the peanut butter will give it a pretty strong flavor and might overpower the apple.
How long do these apple cookies stay fresh?
Stored in an airtight container, they'll be great for 4-5 days. Unlike most other cookies, I prefer these the second day. Or at least after they've been sitting for several hours. I think the apples release more moisture because they seem to be even softer and more delicious.
Do you need to use a stand mixer?
Nope. You can use a hand mixer if that's what you have. I wouldn't make the batter in a food processor, though, because it'll over mix the cookie dough.
Spice variations
You can use pumpkin pie spice or my Chai Spice Blend in place of the spices in this recipe. That would be a fun variation!
If you like this recipe, try my Apple and Cranberry Crisp!
More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes on Perry's Plate
Chewy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are super delicious and you wouldn't even know they were gluten-free or naturally sweetened!
Paleo Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite paleo chocolate chip cookie.
If you make one of my recipes, I'd love to see! Post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!
Maple-Glazed Apple Cookies
These soft, Gluten Free Apple Cookies are topped with a maple glaze and are perfect for fall! They remind me of little apple cakes with bits of tart green apple. They're also naturally sweetened!
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened (4 ounces or one stick)
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup milk (any kind)
- 1 ¼ cups Namaste Gluten-Free Flour
- 1 egg
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups chopped tart apple
For the Glaze:
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons tapioca flour
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon maple flavoring
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons milk (any kind)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cream butter and coconut sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light in color, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add egg and milk; stir to combine. Add remaining dry ingredients (except apple) and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the apples.
- Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 10 min or until tops don't look wet anymore.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons of milk, and the tapioca flour in a small skillet or saucepan.
- Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring CONSTANTLY with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom, until the mixture is bubbly and just starting to thicken.
- Remove the glaze from the heat and stir in the butter, maple flavoring, and salt, until the butter has melted. Set aside.
- When the cookies have cooled some, drizzle a spoonful of glaze over eatch one. Eat them immediately or store them in an airtight container for later once they have cooled. (I like them better when they've been sitting for a few hours!)
Notes
Original recipe adaptation:
- Swap out the GF flour for 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
- Use brown sugar instead of coconut sugar.
- Glaze recipe: 1 Tablespoon melted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon maple flavoring, 2-3 Tablespoons of milk. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl.
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Here's a photo of the original recipe! If you aren't concerned with making these gluten-free or naturally sweetened, I put the original recipe changes in the recipe notes above.
This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchases made by using these links won't cost you any extra and helps keep my content free. These links may be Amazon links as I am part of the Amazon Associate Program.
theblogisthenewblack says
So sorry for your loss. :(
These cookies look divine- the pic with the maple drizzle is calling my name, I just know it. ;)
Sare says
I was just looking at my maple flavoring (and getting a nice big whiff), wanting to make something, and there ya go! What an awesome thing you did for me. Bummer though, I am without an oven this week....i made the door come off while moving it, and couldn't manage to get it back on. JD tried and tried for over an hour, then disassembled the door (brilliant), didn't work! I think we are going to buy a new oven soon. I am totally making these as soon as we have one!
Mommo says
These look so yummy. In your ingredient list however, you posted that 1/2 cup of butter is equal to 1/2 stick. It should read 1/2 cup of butter is equal to 1 stick.
I am for sure going to make these.
Thanks so much. I love your recipes.
Natalie @ Perrys' Plate says
@Mommo - Thank you! I really think part of my brain has died since having children. Glad you caught that!
Christina says
Sorry for your loss :(
Thanks for sharing a family recipe--those are often the best!
Megan says
These look so yummy! I love the photo of the icing dripping off the fork...mmmm.
Dani says
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.
On the other hand, these cookies look way too awesome not to try very very soon.
Michaela says
Glazed cookies! Brilliant! I'm not a big fan of apple in things, but I will definitely use the glaze idea. Mint-glazed chocolate cookies? Done.
Kristi says
Mercy.
Nicole says
Sorry for your loss.
These cookies are just what I've been looking for for a long time. Thanks for re-sharing them. (With the flour included. :)
danasfoodforthought says
Sorry to hear about your loss.
These cookies sound SO good... I bet they would be a big hit with my boyfriend. i'll have to try them out!
Budget Gourmet Mom says
There is just something about recipes from your childhood. Despite having kids at your feet every second of the day they still manage to make you feel like a kid again! These look delightful.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Joanne says
Oh Natalie I'm so sorry for your loss! I can't wait to hear those stories though...and you can totally say vomit on a food blog. If I can talk about cadavers, then you can talk about vomit. Deal?
these cookies sound delicious! I love apple-flavored anything...definitely have to try them!
Anne says
Apple and maple are some of my favorite flavors! I might try substituting maple syrup (we're all about the Grade B in my house!)and decrease the milk and sugar a bit. Can't wait to try these, especially with a little vanilla ice cream!
Healthy Mamma says
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Sending you big warm hugs from Arizona!
I don't make cookies very often because they usually aren't very exciting and yet I scarf them all down any way.
These are most definately my kind of cookie! I'm in love with the flavor combo!
btw, I have some fam in Boise and lived there for a bit. Beautiful place!
Healthy Mamma says
Hmmm, I tried to click your little share buttons under this post and all of them; Twitter, FB and Google Buzz say 'Perry's Plate, page not found.
am I doing something wrong?
just a heads up.
Natalie @ Perrys' Plate says
Gwen, thanks for letting me know! I fixed it. (It wasn't you. If something's wrong around here 99.9% of the time it's my fault. :))
Natalie @ Perrys' Plate says
P.S. Warm hugs from AZ would be nice right now. It's supposed to snow the rest of the week! Hello, spring! I've only been to Boise a couple of times and have really liked it. My parents live in Idaho Falls.
Natalie @ Perrys' Plate says
Joanne - Deal. :)
Anne - Let me know how that goes. When it comes to glazes, frostings and general baking, I like to use extract because I can't get a strong enough maple flavor with Grade B. (We love that stuff, too. Beats the socks off of Mrs. B. :))
Cara says
Sorry to hear about your loss.
On a bright note, the cookies sound wonderful, and I can totally relate on having some ill-photographed and poorly written olders posts. I think it's perfectly fine to share them again!
thenewlywedchefs.com says
These look heavenly! Thanks for the recipe!
Karly says
Sorry for your loss!
I said poop and pee on my blog once. I almost got kicked out of the internet for that.
Loooooove these cookies. They look divine!
ashley says
May I ask what kind of cloves u used ..was it ground cloves or whole ones
Natalie Perry says
Hi Ashley - Ground cloves
Michelle says
Natalie-I had this same subscription when I was in high school and this was one of my favorite recipes. They are absolutely delicious. I am planning to make a big batch to take home for Thanksgiving this week.
Natalie Perry says
You did? How fun! That sounds like a wonderful Thanksgiving treat!
Shirley says
Had the same recipe box. Made these cookies Many Times. Always a big hit. My favorite
Natalie Perry says
Oh fun! I love that you have made them for years, too!