Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free option)

These easy, healthy cookies make a great Fall dessert! Filled with oats, apples and walnuts, and lightly sweetened with brown sugar and applesauce. These soft Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies are a tasty cross between a cookie and a muffin top.

Do you like soft cookies?

Over the last couple years I’ve changed my tune! I used to think cookies should always be crispy and chewy. Not anymore.

It probably started with all the soft breakfast cookies I made. Then I made my Soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies and was smitten.

Now, it’s these soft Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies. Almost muffin-top-like (these could easily be eaten for breakfast!) but still sweet enough for a healthier treat. These cookies are filled with apples, oats, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, applesauce, brown sugar… all the things I think of when I think about Fall baking.

One bite gives you tons of texture with oats, walnuts and apple chunks. And these cookies are topped with a light powdered sugar glaze you can drizzle across the tops. For a little something extra!

If you’re looking for a fun, easy, new Fall cookie recipe, give these a try!

Let’s talk about apples first.

Arguably one of the most important ingredients in this recipe! I recommend you use granny smith apples first. Next, fuji or gala are a decent substitute but won’t give you as strong of an apple flavor.

You can either dice your apples or shred them. If you prefer to dice them, dice them as small as possible. And if you like to shred them, a food processor is the best way to do that quickly.

For your spices, you’ll want to be sure you’re using high quality cinnamon and nutmeg. More expensive spices are higher quality, which means they should give you more flavor. You can use cheap spices and use more of them, but then you aren’t really saving yourself any money! I recommend buying a nice cinnamon and nutmeg (they don’t have to be very expensive and organic, but not store brand is best I’ve found).

These cookies are very easy to make. Like other recipes, you stir together your dry ingredients. Stir together your wet ingredients. Then stir them together. Add your oats, walnuts and apples and fold them in.

NOW, let your cookie batter rest for about 10 minutes. It sounds odd, but the oats need time soak up the wet ingredients. If you try and bake your cookies right away they will spread too thin.

After your dough has rested, you can scoop your cookies onto your pan. Then, you’ll need to gently flatten the tops of your cookies. I like to use a spatula to gently push them down. These cookies don’t spread much. If you don’t want them to be tall pillow-like cookies, be sure to flatten them!

While they’re baking you can mix together your glaze. And after the cookies have cooled, drizzle it across the tops. Yum! Or, you can skip that part all together. The drizzle is optional (but delicious!).

To make these cookies gluten-free, simply use gluten-free all purpose flour and certified gluten-free oats.

To make these cookies dairy-free, use coconut oil or a dairy-free butter alternative. For the glaze, you can also use a dairy-free milk (I recommend almond milk).

To make these cookies vegan, be sure to use coconut oil or a dairy-free butter substitute, dairy-free milk in the glaze, and a flax/chia egg (or an egg replacer).

I can’t wait to hear what you all think of these cookies! I thought it didn’t get better than my soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies… but these might just be!

And when you try them, I’d love to hear from you! Please comment below and let me know what you thought.

If you want even more Fall recipes while you’re here, don’t forget to check out my gluten-free Oatmeal Scotchies, Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes, and Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake.