Caramel Apple Cookies (gluten-free)

With a fluffy snickerdoodle texture and soft salted caramel center, these gluten-free caramel apple cookies are the perfect fall cookies!

I have been gluten-intolerant for officially around 7 years. Seven. Years. Do you know how many delicious and fun-flavored gluten-free cookies I have found in those years? Zero. When I started this blog, I started it to combat the misconception that gluten-free things sucked. I wanted to make gluten-free as drool-worthy as it could be, and these caramel apple cookies make me feel like I’m finally getting there.

In this recipe, you’ll find the methods to make these cookies, why certain steps are important in baking, and which gluten-free flour mixtures are worth it (and which are not). I’m also going to link some of my other favorite gluten-free cookies that I’ve made. But don’t judge the blog posts or the photos for those – we’re revamping, okay?!

GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR COMPARISONS

I’ve been taking gluten-free baking seriously for a little over two years. Let me tell you, just like our fingerprints, no two gluten-free flours are the same. There are three popular gluten-free flours that you’ve probably heard of the most: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour, and King Arthur Flour’s Gluten-Free Flour.

Full disclosure: the King Arthur version is my favorite, and it’s the one I used in this recipe for caramel apple cookies. I tried to work with BRM’s GF Baking Flour (red bag) for a long time. I’ll be honest; it bakes the most dry products out of anything I’ve ever made. Also, anything I have tried to make with BRM’s 1-to-1 flour (blue bag) ended up just tasting like the flour itself, so that one’s not my favorite either.

Now, Trader Joe’s also made a good gluten-free baking flour for a long time, but they decided to recall that in early August this year and break my heart entirely. Next on my list to work with is Pamela’s Gluten-Free Flour, which I have a feeling I’m going to love because her Pancake Mix is everything to me. After that, I’ll try the Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour and see how that bakes out, though at this point I’m just ready to make my own combination. These babies get expensive!

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES

The whole point of my gluten-free flour comparison is to say that no matter what you choose, you have to commit to it. Soon, I’m going to try to create my own gluten-free flour blend. That way, all of my recipes are consistent and I can link to one blend so you always know what I use. If you choose to make this recipe with a flour that I haven’t tried, let me know how it works out in the comments below!

Obviously, gluten-free baking is a different ball game than glutenous baking. My tried-and-true formula for good gluten-free cookie recipes (for which I have more here) is to start with 1 egg and 1/2 cup of liquid for every cup of gluten-free flour. For these caramel apple cookies, I used 2 cups of flour, so I used 2 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/2 cup apple cider. See how that works? This is the kind of math I like. Baking math. The math that ends with cookies.

For a fluffy cookie, I like to use a combination of baking powder and baking soda. If you’re like me, and you have trouble remembering what each one does, remember this: “Soda spreads. Powder puffs.” I wanted my caramel apple cookies to flatten out a little bit rather than turning out like the round balls I scooped them out as, as well as get puffy in the middle. So, I used both.

THE KEY TO MAKING STUFFED COOKIES

Refrigerate. Your. Dough. Allow me to repeat myself. Refrigerate. Your. Dough. Nothing is worse than trying to roll caramel apple cookie dough into a ball while it melts in your hands. So, refrigerate your dough. Then, in order to make evenly sized cookies, use a cookie dough scoop. Roll it into a ball, stuff a chewy caramel in the center, and re-roll your ball around it.

Another key tip, make sure you have a great caramel for that center. I love caramel cookies, so I’m extremely picky about the caramels I bake with. And though I’m not calling this a salted caramel cookie recipe, the photos kind of look like salted caramel cookies. So, find a good quality caramel or salted caramel – I got mine from Trader Joe’s, the Fleur de Sel Caramels. It makes all the difference to create that sweet and salty taste in these fall cookies.

I hope you make these caramel apple cookies, and I hope you love them! If you’re on the hunt for some other delicious gluten-free cookie recipes, check out my chocolate sea salt cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, or red Velvet Cookies! If you’re in the mood for more apple desserts, check out my apple cider donuts, apple crisp or vanilla bourbon apple pie!

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