Cinnamon Apple Cookies (Paleo, Vegan)

These healthy cinnamon apple cookies are gluten free, paleo and vegan friendly. They're made with tahini, sweetened with maple syrup and filled with dried apple pieces. These healthy apple cookies are the perfect way to ring in the fall season!

Apples used to be my favorite fruit. I would eat one every single morning - no exceptions!

While I don't do that anymore, I still love apples. I enjoy them fresh, baked in desserts like apple pie, dried and eaten plain or used in energy balls, or even made into apple sauce and used in pancakes or muffins.

These cinnamon apple cookies use crisp dried apples. Not only do the apples provide flavor, but they add to the chewy texture. As, once the apple chips are baked into the cookie they lose their crispness.

Cookie Highlights

This apple cookie recipe has some great qualities. Here's what you need to know:

• paleo & vegan friendly - accommodate many dietary restrictions
• gluten free & grain free - made with tahini, ground flax and coconut flour
• nut free - great for those with nut allergies
• no refined sugar - sweetened with maple syrup
• dairy free - no butter
• egg free - no eggs needed

These cookies come out of the oven golden brown, with a deliciously chewy texture. I like storing them in the freezer, which changes their texture to more of a crisp cookie. In fact, they're excellent for making ice cream sandwiches.

Ingredients

This cinnamon apple cookie recipe uses paleo and vegan friendly ingredients; meaning they are grain free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and refined sugar free! Here's what you need:

• tahini - I recommend an organic salted tahini
• maple syrup
• coconut oil (melted)
• vanilla extract
• ground flax - I use a coffee grinder to grind whole flax seed
• coconut flour - necessary for the texture of these cookies and I cannot recommend a substitution
• baking soda
• cinnamon
• salt
• crisp dried apples - I used Bare fuji apple chips

No substitutions have been tested, so for best results please use the ingredients provided.

How to make cinnamon apple cookies

These easy vegan apple cookies require just one bowl, a spatula, measuring spoons/cups and the listed ingredients to make the cookie dough. Here's what you need to do:

First, combine the wet ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. This includes the tahini, maple syrup, melted coconut oil and vanilla. Stir with a spatula until well combined.

Add in the dry ingredients, except the apple chips. This includes the ground flax, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Tip: measure the dry ingredients by weight using a small kitchen scale for best results.

Lastly, add the apple chips to the batter and mix with a spatula until combined. You don't want the apple chips to be in large chunks, so break them up into smaller pieces before adding them to the cookies.

Refrigerate the cookie dough for 20-30 minutes to firm. Chilling the dough is important, as it helps the cookies hold their shape as they bake.

While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once the dough is ready, scoop the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet. Each cookie is one rounded tablespoon in size, making 12 cookies.

Place the cookies in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. The longer you bake them, the crispier they will be. Less baking time results in a chewier cookie texture.

After baking, remove the cookies from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. They need to cool before you move them or else the cookies will fall apart.

Storage

These gluten free apple cookies should be kept in a sealed, air-tight container or baggie. They will last a couple days at room temperature, keeping their chewy texture. Other options are to store them in the fridge (up to one week) or the freezer (up to one month). The cookies soften in the fridge and crisp up in the freezer. Personally, I prefer the cookies stored in the freezer.

More Healthy Apple Recipes

• Cinnamon Apple Pancakes (made with applesauce)
• Cranberry Apple Energy Balls (made with dried apples)
• Cinnamon Apple Bagels (made with fresh apples)
• Paleo Apple Pie (made with fresh apples)

Enjoy!

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