These Gluten-free, dairy-free, cookies are filled with cinnamon, dried apple chips, and vanilla – they not only smell delicious but taste heavenly, and, without the icing, they can even be breakfast!

These gluten-free cinnamon vanilla apple cookies are such a simple joy. They are easy to make. Somewhat on the healthy-ish side. They are such a delightful blend of flavors. And, they smell absolutely amazing.

What are the ingredients in these cinnamon vanilla apple cookies?

These cookies are made with the following 12 ingredients, and they are:

• Rolled oats
• Gluten-free flour
• Brown sugar
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Coconut oil
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Almond extract
• Apple chips
• Confectioners sugar
• Almond milk

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Inspiration for these cookies…

There are those people that will look up at a clear blue sky and manage to find that spec of gray, that one lonesome, tiny cloud. Then there are those people that will look up at a cloudy gray sky and manage to find that one ray of sunshine – that one spec of blue!

My dad fell into that latter group. He was a joy-seeker and very often a joy-finder – in just about everything. I think it was this spirit in him that led him to bake us a cake, even when he had a reputation of being a “water-burner”.

Way back in the day when I was a kid, my mom, sister, and I went off on a short vacation to visit my uncle. Back then, my mom did all the cooking and baking, and she made sure my dad had enough meals in the fridge before we left, so he wouldn’t rely on coffee and cookies.

However, when we got back from our vacation, the front door wasn’t fully opened when the smell of vanilla with accents of apple and cinnamon assailed our nostrils! Apparently, my water-burning-not-a-culinary-pro dad had baked us a cake! A fresh vanilla, cinnamon, and apple cake!

At first, we were skeptical – maybe he bought it or had help from a cousin or friend; but there was no denying the scent of apples, cinnamon, and vanilla that clung to the kitchen.

And the cake was still warm! Other than a “golden brown” rim on the bottom outer layer of that cake, it was perfect AND delicious!

My dad is not with us this Christmas, but he passed his love for all things sweet on to me and his granddaughter.

So, in honor of the cake my dad baked and his love of cookies, I decided to come up with these gluten free, Cinnamon Vanilla Apple Cookies!

How to make these cinnamon vanilla apple cookies?

I used a combination of my adapted gluten-free blend, but you could use any gluten-free flour and oats and apple chips in these easy steps:

• First, I preheated the oven to 350
  
• Then, I added 1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 1 cup gluten-free flour blend, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to a bowl and mixed them up.
  
• Next, I added 1/8 cup of melted(not hot) coconut oil, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract to the dry mix and stirred it well.
  
• Then I added in 1/2 cup of roughly crushed apple chips (you could also use dried apples or freeze-dried apples).
  
• I formed this mix into 8 balls and baked them for 12 minutes on a parchment-lined baking tray.
  
• When cooled, I glazed some of them with a glaze of 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a few splashes of milk to make it an “icing” consistency.

I hope to make these cookies for our Christmas cookie platter this Holiday season. And when my mom, sister, daughter, and I get together for Christmas, we will enjoy these in memory of my joy-filled dad!