Gather Your Ingredients

This holiday popcorn recipe is a festive spin on our best caramel popcorn recipe, so if you’ve already tried that, you’ll notice some familiar ingredients. Let’s take a look:

How To Make Cinnamon Pecan Caramel Popcorn, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Preheat The Oven & Prep Your Pans. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with spray oil or a little butter.
2. Start By Popping Your Popcorn. If you haven’t already, pop the popcorn before you begin. Measure 12 cups (3 quarts) of popped popcorn and place in your a very large bowl, discarding any unpopped kernels. (If you have extra popcorn, keep it close by in case you want to add it in later.)
3. Then Start The Caramel Sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Melt over medium heat, stirring regularly until the caramel comes to a boil. (Try not to rush this by cranking the heat up, as dissolving the sugar completely gives you the best texture.)
4. Boil The Caramel Sauce 5 Minutes. Watch the clock and boil the caramel sauce 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove From Heat & Finish. After 5 minutes, quickly remove the caramel sauce from the heat and whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, and baking soda. (This will make the caramel sauce bubble and foam.)

6. Quickly Pour Caramel Over The Popcorn. Pour the caramel sauce mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat. I recommend pouring about half of the caramel sauce over the popcorn, then stirring and adding the pecans and the rest of the caramel sauce to any “dry” spots as needed. This makes it a bit easier to coat it evenly. Stir until the popcorn and pecans are pretty evenly coated. The popcorn will not look full-coverage/completely covered in caramel at this point. (There will still be some white spots visible at this point. This will resolve in the oven.)
7. Spread The Popcorn Out On Your Prepared Pan. Transfer the cinnamon caramel popcorn mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread out fairly evenly. (Don’t worry about a few clumps here and there!)
8. Bake The Popcorn. Place the pan of popcorn in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, remove the popcorn from the oven and stir. (The caramel will be more melty and fluid, so the pieces will get more evenly coated with caramel). Return to the oven and bake 15 minute more. Repeat this process two more times, until you’ve baked the caramel popcorn for 60 minutes total.
9. Spread The Caramel Corn Out Onto Parchment Paper or a FRESH parchment lined baking sheet to cool completely to room temperature. Do NOT leave the popcorn on the original baking sheet or it will stick! Wait until the caramel corn is completely cool before drizzling with white chocolate.
10. Drizzle With Chocolate. Add white chocolate melts to a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on low power in 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between each interval until the white chocolate is melted and glossy. Drizzle over the cooled caramel pecan popcorn and let the white chocolate set.
11. Cool, Serve & Store. Let the white chocolate set completely, then break the popcorn into clusters and transfer to an airtight container or bags.

FAQ + Tricks For The Best Cinnamon Pecan Caramel Corn

Pack It Up For Gifting! A cookie tin with a tight fitting lid, or small cellophane bags tied with a cute ribbon are my favorite ways to share this pecan cinnamon caramel corn. It’s SUCH a fun treat to share!

Can I Make Caramel Popcorn Without Corn Syrup? Corn syrup helps prevent crystallization of the caramel sauce and gives caramel corn its signature glossy sheen and delicate crunch. If you’re nervous, I’d first recommend using this Organic Corn Syrup I find at Sprouts (made without pesticides), but if you MUST use something else, glucose syrup or Lyle’s golden syrup (invert sugar syrup) are the only other substitutes I recommend.

How Long Does Caramel Corn Last? Once it’s baked and cooled, this cinnamon pecan caramel popcorn will keep in an airtight container for at LEAST a month! (Note: if you live in a humid climate, it will not stay as crispy)

Feel Free To Use Other Nuts! For variety, feel free to swap out the pecans for raw almonds or raw mixed nuts. (You don’t want to use roasted or toasted nuts, or they’ll burn in the oven!)

More Easy Holiday Treats To Try

Gluten-Free Christmas Chex Mix

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Zebra Popcorn

Gluten-Free Rolo Pretzel Bites

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Cinnamon Pecan Caramel Popcorn With White Chocolate

This white chocolate drizzled cinnamon pecan caramel popcorn is a PERFECT holiday treat for a holiday movie night or sharing with friends!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Keyword popcorn

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12 cups popcorn

Author Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You

Ingredients

• 10-12 cups popped popcorn (use 10 cups for more heavily coated popcorn)
• 2 cups raw pecans
• ½ cup butter (113 grams/1 stick)
• ½ cup corn syrup light corn syrup
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (200 grams)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 3-4 ounces White Chocolate Melts or Vanilla Candy Melts

Instructions

• Preheat The Oven & Prep Your Pans. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with spray oil or a little butter.
• Start By Popping Your Popcorn. If you haven't already, pop the popcorn before you begin. Measure 12 cups (3 quarts) of popped popcorn and place in your a very large bowl, discarding any unpopped kernels. (If you have extra popcorn, keep it close by in case you want to add it in later.)
• Then Start The Caramel Sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Melt over medium heat, stirring regularly until the caramel comes to a boil. (Try not to rush this by cranking the heat up, as dissolving the sugar completely gives you the best texture.)
• Boil The Caramel Sauce 5 Minutes. Watch the clock and boil the caramel sauce 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove From Heat & Finish. After 5 minutes, quickly remove the caramel sauce from the heat and whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, and baking soda. (This will make the caramel sauce bubble and foam.)
• Quickly Pour Caramel Over The Popcorn. Pour the caramel sauce mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat. I recommend pouring about half of the caramel sauce over the popcorn, then stirring and adding the pecans and the rest of the caramel sauce to any "dry" spots as needed. This makes it a bit easier to coat it evenly. Stir until the popcorn and pecans are pretty evenly coated. The popcorn will not look full-coverage/completely covered in caramel at this point. (There will still be some white spots visible at this point. This will resolve in the oven.)
• Spread The Popcorn Out On Your Prepared Pan. Transfer the cinnamon caramel popcorn mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread out fairly evenly. (Don't worry about a few clumps here and there!)
• Bake The Popcorn. Place the pan of popcorn in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, remove the popcorn from the oven and stir. (The caramel will be more melty and fluid, so the pieces will get more evenly coated with caramel). Return to the oven and bake 15 minute more. Repeat this process two more times, until you've baked the caramel popcorn for 60 minutes total.
• Spread The Caramel Corn Out Onto Parchment Paper or a FRESH parchment lined baking sheet to cool completely to room temperature. Do NOT leave the popcorn on the original baking sheet or it will stick! Wait until the caramel corn is completely cool before drizzling with white chocolate.
• Drizzle With Chocolate. Add white chocolate melts to a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on low power in 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between each interval until the white chocolate is melted and glossy. Drizzle over the cooled caramel pecan popcorn and let the white chocolate set.
• Cool, Serve & Store. Let the white chocolate set completely, then break the popcorn into clusters and transfer to an airtight container or bags.

Video

Notes

• Pack It Up For Gifting! A cookie tin with a tight fitting lid, or small cellophane bags tied with a cute ribbon are my favorite ways to share this pecan cinnamon caramel corn. It’s SUCH a fun treat to share!
• Can I Make Caramel Popcorn Without Corn Syrup? Corn syrup helps prevent crystallization of the caramel sauce and gives caramel corn its signature glossy sheen and delicate crunch. If you’re nervous, I’d first recommend using this Organic Corn Syrup I find at Sprouts (made without pesticides), but if you MUST use something else, glucose syrup or Lyle’s golden syrup (invert sugar syrup) are the only other substitutes I recommend.
• How Long Does Caramel Corn Last? Once it’s baked and cooled, this cinnamon pecan caramel popcorn will keep in an airtight container for at LEAST a month! (Note: if you live in a humid climate, it will not stay as crispy)

Gather Your Ingredients

Get The Right Flour!

You MUST use this King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour for these gluten-free sticky buns. No different flours will work in this recipe!

SHOP THE FLOUR

How To Make Gluten-Free Pecan Sticky Buns, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

First, Make Sticky Bun Dough

1. Combine Dry Ingredients. Add gluten-free flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and baking powder to the bowl of a stand mixer and gently pulse with the paddle attachment on low speed to combine. (Do not use a hand mixer, dough hook, or whisk attachment.)
2. Add Wet Ingredients. With the mixer on LOW speed, gradually add warm milk, warm water, melted butter, and eggs, one at at time.
3. Beat. Turn the mixer speed up to HIGH and mix the dough for 3 full minutes to allow the dough to fully blend. It will look VERY sticky and wet–more like thick, sticky cake batter than bread dough. This is normal!
4. Cover & Chill. Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the edges of the bowl and form the dough into a ball. (Make sure to also scrape the bottom of the bowl to check for any unmixed spots!) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill 20 minutes to make the dough easier to handle.

Make Caramel Pecan Topping

5. Melt Butter. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
6. Combine. Add brown sugar, pure maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks uniform. (Don’t let the caramel sauce boil, as we don’t want it getting hard in the oven.)
7. Pour caramel sauce into a lightly greased metal 9×13 pan and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Set aside while you assemble the cinnamon buns.

Make Cinnamon Filling & Shape Rolls

8. Combine Cinnamon Filling. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar with cinnamon, vanilla powder (if using), and a pinch of salt. Mix until well blended, to evenly distribute the cinnamon into the sugar.
9. Roll Out. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper or very lightly flour your countertop. Transfer the dough from the bowl to your parchment or counter and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 15-inch square (15″x 15″).
10. Fill The Rolls. Spread Softened Butter over the 15-inch dough square in an even layer. The butter should be VERY soft so it’s easily spreadable. If you can’t get the butter soft enough, you can melt it and cool it slightly before spreading. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter in an even layer.
11. Form The Rolls. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into twelve (1.25-inch) strips. Roll each strip up to form a roll, starting at one end and tightly rolling to make a spiral as you go. (We find this method works MUCH better with gluten-free sweet rolls than the traditional rolling the dough into a long cylinder and slicing or using floss to cut them.) Place rolls into the pan on top of the caramel & pecans.

Let Rolls Rise, Then Bake

12. Cover & Rise. Then, cover the pan with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise 45-60 minutes. They’ll look puffy but won’t double in size at this point. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as the cinnamon buns rise.
13. Bake. Remove the plastic wrap from the pan, then place the pan on baking sheet (to catch any possible spills!) and bake sticky buns in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown on top. The interior of the dough should read at least 190-200 degrees F. Set rolls aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
14. Flip. After the sticky buns have cooled 5-10 minutes, you’ll flip them out of the pan. To do this safely, I recommend placing a COOL (or room temperature) sheet pan on top of the pan, face down (like a lid). Then, wearing oven mitts(!!!), carefully flip the pan so the sticky buns fall out of the 9×13 and onto the sheet pan. (The caramel pecan topping should now be facing up)
15. Serve & Store. Enjoy right away or within a few hours for best results. Cover leftover sticky buns or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator 1-2 days. Reheat a few seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in the oven for best results.

FAQ + Tricks For The Best Gluten-Free Sticky Buns

Metric is Best. If possible, weigh your dry ingredients with a kitchen scale for best results. Your dough will work consistently well if you measure properly. If you don’t have a scale, use the scoop and level method to spoon flour into the measuring cups rather than scooping *with* your measuring cups to avoid packing extra flour into the dough. Even an extra few tablespoons will make a drastic difference in the dough.

Flour. This recipe will ONLY work with King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour. No other gluten-free bread flour brands or homemade blends will work in this recipe. (Note that this is NOT the same as measure-for-measure or 1:1 gluten-free flour.)

A Trick For Leftovers. I love to warm leftover sticky buns up in the microwave at 50% power for 10-15 seconds. It will soften them right back up!

More Special Gluten-Free Breakfasts To Try

Soft Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Gluten-Free Belgian Waffles

Gluten-Free Orange Rolls

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

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Gluten-Free Pecan Sticky Buns

These soft, gooey Gluten-Free Pecan Sticky Buns combine gluten-free cinnamon rolls with a decadent maple caramel pecan topping you'll LOVE!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Keyword christmas, fall, pecans

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Rising Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 2 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Sticky Buns

Author Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You

Ingredients

For The Dough:

• 5 ⅔ cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour* (NO Substitutions) (680 grams)
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar (40 grams)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast* (1/4 oz)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ¼ cup warm whole milk
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 6 Tablespoons salted butter melted*

For The Cinnamon Filling:

• ½ cup butter, VERY soft (113 grams/1 stick)
• 1 cup brown sugar (200 grams)
• 1 ½ Tablespoons ground cinnamon
• Optional: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
• pinch salt less than 1/8 teaspoon

For Caramel Pecan Topping

• 1-2 cups chopped pecans* (100-200 grams)
• ¾ cup butter (170 grams/1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup brown sugar (200 grams)
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

***BEFORE YOU START*** It’s VERY important to follow the instructions precisely in this recipe. No ingredient substitutions are recommended, and no other gluten-free flour blend will work for this recipe. 

FIRST, MAKE THE DOUGH

• Combine Dry Ingredients. Add gluten-free flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and baking powder to a stand mixer and gently pulse with the paddle attachment on low speed to combine. (Do not use a hand mixer, dough hook, or whisk attachment.)
• Add Wet Ingredients. With the mixer on LOW speed, gradually add warm milk, warm water, melted butter, and eggs, one at at time.
• Beat. Turn the mixer speed up to HIGH and mix the dough for 3 full minutes to allow the dough to fully blend. It will look VERY sticky and wet–more like thick, sticky cake batter than bread dough. This is normal!
• Cover & Chill. Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the edges of the bowl and form the dough into a ball. (Make sure to also scrape the bottom of the bowl to check for any unmixed spots!) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill 20 minutes to make the dough easier to handle.

MAKE CARAMEL PECAN TOPPING

• Melt Butter. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
• Combine. Add brown sugar, pure maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks uniform. (Don't let the caramel sauce boil, as we don't want it getting hard in the oven.)
• Pour caramel sauce into a lightly greased metal 9×13 pan and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Set aside while you assemble the cinnamon buns.

MAKE CINNAMON FILLING & SHAPE ROLLS

• Combine Cinnamon Filling. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar with cinnamon, vanilla powder (if using), and a pinch of salt. Mix until well blended, to evenly distribute the cinnamon into the sugar.
• Roll Out. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper & lightly flour or very lightly flour your countertop. Transfer the dough from the bowl to your parchment or counter and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 15-inch square (15"x 15").
• Fill The Rolls. Spread Softened Butter over the 15-inch dough square in an even layer. The butter should be VERY soft so it's easily spreadable. If you can't get the butter soft enough, you can melt it and cool it slightly before spreading. Sprinkle the cinnamon brown sugar mixture over the butter in an even layer.
• Form The Rolls. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into twelve (1.25-inch) strips. Roll each strip up to form a roll, starting at one end and tightly rolling to make a spiral as you go. (We find this method works MUCH better with gluten-free sweet rolls than the traditional rolling the dough into a long cylinder and slicing or using floss to cut them.) Place rolls into the pan on top of the caramel & pecans.

LET ROLLS RISE, THEN BAKE

• Cover & Rise. Then, cover the pan with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise 45-60 minutes. They'll look puffy but won't double in size at this point. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as the cinnamon buns rise.
• Bake. Remove the plastic wrap from the pan, then place the pan on baking sheet (to catch any possible spills!) and bake sticky buns in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown on top. The interior of the dough should read at least 190-200 degrees F. Set rolls aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Flip. After the sticky buns have cooled 5-10 minutes, you'll flip them out of the pan. To do this safely, I recommend placing a COOL (or room temperature) sheet pan on top of the pan, face down (like a lid). Then, wearing oven mitts(!!!), carefully flip the pan so the sticky buns fall out of the 9×13 and onto the sheet pan. (The caramel pecan topping should now be on top)
• Serve & Store. Enjoy right away or within a few hours for best results. Cover leftover sticky buns and store in the refrigerator 1-2 days. Reheat a few seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in the oven for best results.

Video

Notes

Ingredient Notes & Recipe Tips:

• Metric is Best. If possible, weigh your dry ingredients with a kitchen scale for best results. Your dough will work consistently well if you measure properly. If you don’t have a scale, use the scoop and level method to spoon flour into the measuring cups rather than scooping *with* your measuring cups to avoid packing extra flour into the dough. Even an extra few tablespoons will make a drastic difference in the dough.
• Flour. This recipe will ONLY work with King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour. No other gluten-free bread flour brands or homemade blends will work in this recipe. (Note that this is NOT the same as measure-for-measure or 1:1 gluten-free flour.)
• Yeast. We are using instant/rapid rise yeast, NOT active dry yeast, which must be proofed in warm water before starting.
• Butter. If using unsalted butter, I recommend increasing the salt up to 2 1/4 teaspoons for the sweet roll dough.
• A Trick For Leftovers. I love to warm leftover sticky buns up in the microwave at 50% power for 10-15 seconds. It will soften them right back up!

Make-Ahead Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions above for making the sweet roll dough & filling, all the way until the sticky buns are filled, shaped, and put into the baking pan.
2. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight 8-16 hours. (They will not rise well past 16 hours.)
3. In the morning, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature to finish rising 30-40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. while dough rises.
4. Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes.

Gather Your Ingredients

We make our pecan pie bar recipe without corn syrup, trading it out for a gorgeous salted caramel filling that’s unbelievable with toasty pecans and a flaky brown sugar shortbread crust. Would you believe that all that goodness starts with simple ingredients?

• Butter. You’ll use butter in both the brown sugar shortbread crust + the pecan filling. It’s like magic.
• Brown Sugar & White Sugar. I use a mix of light brown sugar & granulated sugar in the crust to give it a unique and subtly caramel-y taste that’s gorgeous with the crunchy pecans. Our filling uses only brown sugar and I love the flavor it adds!
• Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour. We’re BIG fans of King Arthur Measure-For-Measure gluten-free flour blend for baking and HIGHLY recommend using it for these easy pecan pie bars. It gives great texture to crusts and works like a dream for most other GF baking projects! If you use another 1:1 flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill), make sure it contains xanthan gum!
• Honey. One of the ways we can make pecan bars without corn syrup is swapping it out for honey and brown sugar. It still caramelizes and thickens to make gorgeous salted caramel pecan filling you’ll dream about.
• Coconut Cream, Heavy Cream, or Half-and-Half. Our family eats limited dairy, so I usually make the filling with coconut cream, but heavy cream or half and half adds a silky richness to the filling that’s gorgeous.
• Salt & Vanilla Extract. To balance that flavor! You’ll need salt for the crust & filling, and vanilla for the filling only.
• Pecans. Can’t make pecan bars without pecans! I like roughly chopping the pecans so they’re easier to distribute over the flaky crust. It also makes them a little easier to cut into squares later.

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

This delicious cheesecake coaxes SO MUCH FLAVOR out of a pretty simple ingredients list. Let’s take a look:

• Caramel Sauce. We’re using our homemade caramel sauce recipe in the filling and drizzled on top. Our recipe calls for sugar, water, corn syrup, butter, cream, vanilla, and salt. It’s perfectly thick, delicious, and fantastic paired with apples.
• Graham Cracker Crust. Next up, you’ll need gluten-free graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter to bind it all together. We recommend Pamela’s gluten-free graham crackers if you can find them!
• Cream Cheese. Four 8-ounce blocks of room temperature cream cheese form the base of our cheesecake filling.
• Sour Cream. Next, sour cream adds acidity, brightness, and richness. We recommend full-fat!
• Vanilla Extract. For the caramel sauce and the cheesecake filling. Vanilla forever!
• Cornstarch. A little gluten-free trick for binding the cheesecake. A little goes a long way!
• Eggs. Room temperature eggs are a must here, since they’ll blend in more easily.
• Apples. You want apples that are good for baking! We usually use Honeycrisp apples, but Granny Smith apples and Fuji apples are two other great choices.
• Light Brown Sugar. For the cinnamon apple topping and the streusel.
• Gluten-Free Flour. We recommend King Arthur Measure For Measure Gluten-Free Flour blend. If you use another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum!
• Gluten-Free Oats. I actually prefer gluten-free quick oats, since they have a smaller texture, but you can use gluten-free rolled oats (sometimes labeled “old-fashioned oats.”), if you prefer.
• Cinnamon. Plenty of ground cinnamon for the apples and the streusel!

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

If you’ve made our Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, you’ll notice the ingredients list might look familiar! These delicious toffee cookies are a riff on those recipes, and the flavor is fabulous. Let’s take a look at the ingredients list:

• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats. You’re looking for certified gluten-free rolled oats (sometimes labeled old-fashioned oats). We don’t recommend quick oats or steel-cut oats for this recipe.
• Gluten-Free Flour. Our go-to gluten-free flour blend for all our gluten-free cookie recipes is King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour. If you use another 1:1 flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill), make sure it contains xanthan gum, and measure carefully!
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda. For the perfect puff and spread.
• Salt. To balance the flavors. It’s a must!
• Softened Butter. In order to cream properly, the butter should be soften enough for your fingertip to make an imprint, but shouldn’t look greasy or shiny (a sign it’s too soft).
• Brown Sugar & Sugar. A mix of light brown sugar and granulated sugar (white sugar) gives you the best of both flavor and texture.
• Eggs. Room temperature eggs blend in best! (Cold eggs can cause your creamed butter/sugar to separate.)
• Vanilla Extract. Always.
• Toffee Bits. You’ll need 1 full (8-ounce) bag of toffee bits. I like Heath Bits ‘O’ Brickle English Toffee Bits, since they’re gluten-free. If you really want to go over the top, you can absolutely make homemade toffee bits!

How To Make Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Step By Step

As always, you can find the printable full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below!

1. Break Up The Oats. Place the oats in the bowl of a food processor (or the jar of a blender) and pulse a few times to break up the oats. Ideally, you want some whole, and some broken up. This just gives the cookie a great texture. Try not to pulverize the oats into flour as this will drastically change the cookie’s texture.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free oats, gluten-free flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
3. Cream Butter & Sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl), combine softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream together with the paddle attachment 2-3 minutes until smooth, fluffy, and lighter in texture. Scrape down the edges of the bowl.
4. Add Eggs & Vanilla. Next, add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix to combine well, then scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
5. Mix In Dry Ingredients. Add the oatmeal flour mixture to the mixer and blend until just a few floury patches remain.
6. Add Toffee Bits (Save Some For The Tops!). Set aside 2-3 Tablespoons of toffee bits for the tops of the cookies, then add the rest of the toffee bits to the cookie dough and mix to evenly distribute. 
7. Chill Dough 2 Hours. Cover the dough and refrigerate 2 hours. Do NOT skip this step, or your cookies will spread significantly more.
8. Preheat & Prep. When you’re about 30 minutes away from baking, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper so you can alternate baking sheets with each batch.
9. Scoop & Roll Cookie Dough. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop 3-Tablespoon balls of cookie dough. Roll the dough smooth between your hands and place 6 cookie dough balls on one of the prepared cookie sheets.
10. Bake, Finish & Cool Cookies. Bake 6 cookies at a time in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden brown around the edges and the centers look *just* underdone. (They’ll set more as they cool). Remove from the oven and gently shape with a round cookie cutter into perfect circles, if desired. Garnish with a few more toffee bits and a little flaky sea salt, if desired. Let the cookies cool 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Repeat this process with remaining cookie dough until all cookies are baked, alternating baking sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold dough on a hot cookie sheet.
12. Serve & Store. Enjoy once the cookies have cooled. Store in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days, or freeze in a freezer bag up to 2 months. 

FAQ + Tricks For The Best Toffee Oatmeal Cookies

Measure Carefully. Metric measurements will make a BIG difference in getting the right measurements, and they’re always my first choice for perfect bakes. BUT, if you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the scoop and level method to measure the oats and flour. Spoon flour into the measuring cup, then level it with the back of a knife. (Rather than using the measuring cup to scoop flour–which packs in extra flour)

Don’t Skip The Chilling Step! Chilling the dough allows the oats to soften, the flour to hydrate, and the dough to firm up a bit so it doesn’t spread as much in the oven. If you skip this step, your cookies will spread significantly more in the oven and will bake unevenly.

Can I Add Chocolate? Absolutely. You can add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the cookie dough along with the toffee bits to turn them into toffee oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It’s a delicious variation!

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

Here’s what you’ll need to get started on this easy recipe:

• Butter. These moist brownies start with melted butter. I often use salted butter for brownies, but you can absolutely use unsalted butter here. Use what you have!
• Chocolate Chips. You’ll need some for the brownie batter itself, then you’ll stir in a few more at the end.
• Sugar. I like a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar for taste and texture.
• Eggs & An Egg Yolk. Adding one extra egg yolk gives these brownies the BEST texture.
• Vanilla Extract. Always.
• Gluten-Free Flour. We recommend King Arthur Measure-For-Measure gluten-free flour for these brownies. If you use another brand, be sure it contains xanthan gum for the best results!
• Cocoa Powder. I recommend a natural cocoa powder here (like Hershey or Ghirardelli) since I think the flavor complements the dulce de leche better, but if you prefer a darker flavor & color, you can use Dutch process cocoa powder.
• Salt. To balance the flavors.
• Dulce De Leche. The magic ingredient! Let’s take a closer look:

Simple Ingredients For Gluten-Free Rolo Pretzel Bites

• Gluten-Free Pretzels. Since we’re making gluten-free pretzel turtles, we’ll need to start with gluten-free pretzels. I love that sweet and salty combination! Regular pretzels are NOT gluten-free, so make sure you’re grabbing certified gluten-free pretzels, like Snyders Gluten-Free (our favorite!), Glutino, Quinn Snacks, etc.
• Rolos. Thankfully, Rolos are gluten-free! You can choose either the original Milk Chocolate Rolos or their Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Rolos. Either version of this chocolate caramel candy is delicious. 
• Toasted Pecans. There are two ways to make these rolo pretzel treats. The first is Rolo Pretzel Turtles, made with toasted pecans. (Turtle candy typically has chocolate, caramel, and pecans). I love their nutty crunch! Make sure you’re using pecan halves rather than chopped pecans, which won’t work well here. If pecans aren’t your style, then…
• OR M&Ms Candies. For a nut-free option, you can absolutely make your Rolo pretzel bites with M&Ms instead. This can be a great way to add some color, and it looks so fun around holidays. (You can see which M&Ms are gluten-free here.)

How To Make Rolo Turtles, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Toast Pecans. If you haven’t already, spread pecan halves out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes, stirring once in the middle for even browning. Set the pecans aside to cool.
2. Preheat Oven & Prep The Pan. Then, preheat the oven (or reduce the temperature) to 300 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
3. Layer Pretzels & Rolos. Place pretzels in a single layer (no overlap!) on the prepared baking sheet. Place an unwrapped Rolo candy on top of each pretzel. (In the center of each pretzel)
4. Melt Chocolate. Place the pan in the preheated oven to soften/melt the chocolate for 4-5 minutes. Ideally, you want to soften the chocolate, but not melt it too much. Look for glossy, shiny tops and sides of the Rolo candies to see that it’s softened enough.
5. Quickly Top. Remove the pan from the oven and quickly press a toasted pecan half or an M&M candy on top of each Rolo, and gently press in to flatten the Rolo. The melted Rolos should easily press down and flatten out to cover most of the surface of the pretzel.
6. Cool To Set. The hardest part! Let them cool completely so the melted chocolate can set back up (this can take 1-2 hours at room temperature, or you can speed things along by popping them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.)
7. Serve & Store. Enjoy right away or store pretzel rolo turtles in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Good luck not eating the whole pan!

Rolo Pretzel Candy Variations To Try

I think Rolo turtles (Classic Rolo pretzel delights) are the perfect combination of textures & flavors (I love a sweet & salty treat!), but there are so many different variations of this easy Christmas treat to try, if you’re in the mood to get creative:

• Colorful M&Ms. Swap the pecans for colorful m&m candies! It’s easy to dress these up for different holidays–red and green for Christmas rolo pretzels, red, white, and pink for Valentine’s Day, green m&m for St. Patrick’s Day, etc.
• Sprinkles. Make this an even more festive treat by sprinkling the pretzel bites with sprinkles while the chocolate is still melty.
• Dip or Drizzle With Chocolate. For a fun finish, you can drizzle the pretzel rolo treats with white chocolate or dip them into melted chocolate or candy melts for an extra chocolatey finish. What could be better than Rolo pretzels dipped in chocolate!?
• Almonds. Not a pecan fan? You can absolute swap in other kinds of nuts. I love toasted almonds!
• Sea Salt. Finish each sweet treat with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
• Pretzel Sandwich (My favorite variation!) Instead of topping the Rolo with a pecan or chocolate candies, top the melted rolo with an additional pretzel to make a sort of rolo pretzel sandwich! You can even sprinkle them with nonpareils sprinkles or dip each sandwich halfway into dark or white chocolate for a pretty finish.
• Hershey’s Kisses. Not a fan of the caramel center in a Rolo? Swap them out for Hersheys kisses. They’ll need a touch longer to soften in the oven, but they can work great here, too! (Some people make theirs with the white chocolate swirled Hugs candies!)
• Other Chocolate Candies! Try swapping m&ms for milk duds, or bite-sized candy bars!

Simple Ingredients To Start With

Our candy cookie bar base is a spin on gluten-free monster cookies! I love the oatmeal and peanut butter cookie base. (If you prefer a chocolate chip cookie base, you can try this chocolate chip cookie bars recipe instead.)

• Softened Butter. Rather than melted butter, we’re using softened butter to cream with the sugar. This will give our bars a soft, chewy cookie base that’s the perfect canvas for candy!
• Brown Sugar & White Sugar. The perfect blend for softness & moisture. I use light brown sugar but dark brown sugar can give you a more intense flavor, if you prefer.
• Creamy Peanut Butter. Smooth peanut butter works better than crunchy peanut butter for these cookie bars. Do NOT use natural peanut butter here, as it will give the bars a dry, crumbly texture. Stick with brands like Skippy, JIF, and Peanut Butter & Co.
• An Egg & An Egg Yolk. Using one whole egg plus an extra egg yolk gives these cookie bars the BEST texture. (Don’t know how to separate an egg? Try one of these tricks!)
• Vanilla Extract. Always a must for me!
• Gluten-Free Flour. Keep it simple with a measure-for-measure gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum. We love this one from King Arthur for all our cookies & bars!
• Gluten-Free Quick Oats. Using quick cooking oats rather than rolled oats/old-fashioned oats gives these candy cookie bars the best texture. Make sure your oats are certified gluten-free!
• Baking Soda & Salt. For puff, spread, and balance.
• Semisweet or Dark Chocolate Chips. I like dark chocolate since the candy we’re using makes things pretty sweet, but you can absolutely use semisweet chocolate chips here if you prefer.
• Gluten-Free Candy! Chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel-type candies tend to work best, so choose some of your favorite candy bars to toss in. Need some ideas? Check out the next section!

Gluten-Free Candy To Try For Candy Cookie Bars

So what kind of candy works best in Halloween candy cookie bars? If you’re making this for someone with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, it’s critical to use ONLY gluten-free candies! Brands are regularly changing their suppliers, manufacturing processes, and more, so always double-check your candy before baking with it. Exactly what you choose to mix and match is up to personal preference, but here are some options to try:

How To Make Gluten-Free Candy Bar Cookie Bars, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Prep The Candy. Start by preparing 1-2 cups of candy for the top of the cookie bars and 1 cup of candy for inside the cookie bars. Cut fun-size candy bars into bite-sized pieces or thin slices if desired, and cut any larger candies in half (like Reese’s cups). You can leave smaller candy (like M&Ms or Rolos) whole. Freeze 1-2 cups candy bar pieces for the top of the bars on a baking sheet or plate while you make the cookie bars. (You don’t need to freeze the 1 cup of candy for inside the bars.) 
2. Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 metal pan with parchment paper and set aside. 
3. Cream Butter & Sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Cream on medium speed 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. Mix In the peanut butter until fully combined, then add egg and egg yolk 1 at a time, until fully blended. Mix in the vanilla. 
5. Add Dry Ingredients. Scrape down the edges of the bowl again, then add gluten-free flour, gluten-free quick oats, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Stir on low until almost blended with just a few powdery patches left. 
6. Add 1 cup Candy. Then, add 1 cup of candy–chop up any candy bars into small pieces, then mix into the cookie dough just until evenly blended. 

7. Bake. Pat the cookie dough out into your prepared baking pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. (An offset spatula makes this easy!) Bake cookie bars at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, or until no longer wiggly in the center. They may seem slightly underdone–don’t over-bake! They’ll continue to set as they cool. 
8. Quickly Top The Bars. Right after removing the cookie bars from the oven, sprinkle the top of the bars with chocolate chips. Let the chocolate melt slightly–I put the pan back in the (now off) oven for 30-60 seconds to help) then spread a bit with your spatula. The melted chocolate will act as “glue” for the rest of the candy. Top with the chilled candy from the freezer and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. 
9. Cool until completely set. Let the bars cool completely before cutting into squares or rectangles. You can chill the bars in the fridge to help speed this process along. For the cleanest cuts, chill the bars before slicing. I like to cut the bars into 9 large squares, then cut each square in half, for 18 rectangles. You can also cut them into 16 squares. 
10. Store leftover halloween candy cookie bars in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The BEst Gluten-Free CAndy Cookie Bars

Which Candy Bars Are Gluten-Free? Hershey has a great filter feature on their website so you can see all their gluten-free candy bar products. They have lots of options, from Reese’s, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars, Mounds, Almond Joy, PayDay. Then, there are things like Three Musketeers, Butterfinger, and Snickers! Avoid candy bars that contain gluten, like Twix, KitKat, and 100 Grand.

A Trick For Pretty Cookie Bars. One secret to getting a really pretty look is to add the cookie in groups of 3 or 5 and fill in the gaps with M&Ms. (Rather than just placing it all randomly.) For instance, add Snickers in 3 different places, then add Rolos in 5 different places, Heath in 3 places, etc. It’ll help you balance the candy visually and give the bars a more dynamic, balanced look.

CHILL The Cookie Bars Before Slicing. For best results, cut the bars COLD for the cleanest cuts. Otherwise, it’s easy to end up pushing the candy down into the cookie bars.

More Recipes To Use Leftover Candy

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms

Gluten-Free Reese’s Cookies

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Gluten-Free Monster Cookies

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Gluten-Free Candy Cookie Bars

These gluten-free candy cookie bars are a fun spin on classic monster cookie bars. They’re the perfect way to use up leftover holiday candy! 

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Keyword gluten-free candy cookie bars, gluten-free cookie bars, gluten-free Halloween cookie bars

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 16 -18 cookie bars

Author Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You

Ingredients

For The Wet Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened (1 stick, 113 grams)
• ½ cup brown sugar (100 grams)
• ⅓ cup sugar (40 grams)
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter* (125 grams)
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1 egg yolk room temperature (save the extra white for another use)
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For The Dry Ingredients:

• ¾ cup gluten-free flour (90 grams)
• ¾ cup gluten-free quick oats (68 grams)
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (8 grams)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt I like a heaping 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 cup gluten-free candies see below for ideas, cut into small pieces as needed

For The Top Of The Bars:

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1-2 cups gluten-free candies to top the bars at the end
• Optional: flaky sea salt like Maldon

Options For Candy To Top The Bars (Mix & Match From The Options Below)

• Gluten-Free Candy Bars: Snickers Reese’s peanut butter cups, Three Musketeers, Butterfinger, Heath Bars, Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, Almond Joy, Mounds, Pay Day, Skor, Baby Ruth, UnREAL, Enjoy Life
• Other gluten-free candy: M&Ms M&M minis, Reese’s Pieces, Rolos, Milk Duds
• Avoid fruity candy like Skittles & Starburst and mint candy (like York Peppermint Patties) as the flavors won’t work here.

Instructions

• Prep The Candy. Start by preparing 1-2 cups of candy for the top of the cookie bars and 1 cup of candy for inside the cookie bars. Cut fun-size candy bars into bite-sized pieces or thin slices if desired, and cut any larger candies in half (like Reese's cups). You can leave smaller candy (like M&Ms or Rolos) whole.

  Freeze 1-2 cups candy pieces for the top of the bars on a baking sheet or plate while you make the cookie bars. (You don't need to freeze the 1 cup of candy for inside the bars.) 
• Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 metal pan with parchment paper and set aside. 
• Cream Butter & Sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Cream on medium speed 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
• Mix In the peanut butter until fully combined, then add egg and egg yolk 1 at a time, until fully blended. Mix in the vanilla. 
• Add Dry Ingredients. Scrape down the edges of the bowl again, then add gluten-free flour, gluten-free quick oats, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Stir on low until almost blended with just a few powdery patches left. 
• Add 1 cup Candy. Then, add 1 cup of candy–chop up any candy bars into small pieces, then mix into the cookie dough just until evenly blended. 
• Bake. Pat the cookie dough out into your prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. (An offset spatula makes this easy!) Bake cookie bars at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, or until no longer wiggly in the center. They may seem slightly underdone–don’t over-bake! They’ll continue to set as they cool. 
• Quickly Top The Bars. Right after removing the cookie bars from the oven, sprinkle the top of the bars with chocolate chips. Let the chocolate melt slightly–I put the pan back in the (now off) oven for 30-60 seconds to help) then spread a bit with your spatula. The melted chocolate will act as “glue” for the rest of the candy. Top with the chilled candy from the freezer and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.
• Cool until completely set. Let the bars cool completely before cutting into squares or rectangles. You can chill the bars in the fridge to help speed this process along. I like to cut the bars into 9 large squares, then cut each square in half, for 18 rectangles. You can also cut them into 16 squares. 
• Store leftover halloween candy cookie bars in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I like to keep mine in the fridge so they last longer. You can also freeze them up to 2 months. 

Video

Notes

• CHILL The Cookie Bars Before Slicing. For best results, cut the bars COLD for the cleanest cuts. Otherwise, it’s easy to end up pushing the candy down into the cookie bars. I chill mine for about 1 hour in the fridge.  
• Double-Check Your Candy! To keep these cookie bars gluten-free, be sure to double-check your candy. Avoid candy with gluten ingredients, such as Twix, Kit-Kat, Crunch Bars, 100 Grand, etc. which are NOT gluten-free. 

Simple ingredients For Gluten-Free Caramel Apple Crisp

• Fresh Apples. We usually use Granny Smith Apples or Honeycrisp apples (two great options!), but you can absolutely mix and match from your favorites. Check out our tip below for more of the best baking apples to choose from!
• Thick Caramel Sauce. I usually use our Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce, but a thick, gooey caramel sauce/ice cream topping (like Mrs. Richardson’s) can also work. Salted caramel sauce or regular caramel sauce works well here, though I prefer salted caramel apple crisp! It adds sweetness to the filling & tastes delicious. It’ll be your new favorite way to make apple crisp!
• Cornstarch. A few years ago, I switched from using gluten-free flour in my apple crisp filling to using cornstarch, and I don’t want to go back! I love how glossy and smooth it makes the filling. Gluten-free flour can sometimes stay a bit gritty, which really takes away from the texture!
• Cinnamon & Salt. To perfectly season the filling and balance the flavors.
• Our Easy Crisp Topping. I’m using the same oat topping I love on our Strawberry Crisp and Blueberry Crisp recipes. It’s made with cold butter, brown sugar, gluten-free oats, gluten-free flour, vanilla, and salt. Easy! (PS – you can absolutely use dairy-free butter here, but don’t try substituting the flour for almond flour, almond meal, or coconut flour. It wont’ work!)
• More Caramel Sauce & Some Vanilla Ice Cream. For serving with this cozy dessert! 

How To Make apple Crisp With Caramel Sauce, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Set out a square 9-inch pan and place it on a sheet pan.
2. Mix Up The Filling Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine peeled, sliced apples with caramel sauce, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine well. Pour the apple filling mixture and all juices into the 9×9 pan.
3. Mix Up The Topping. In the same bowl (no need for a separate bowl), combine butter cubes, brown sugar, gluten-free oats, gluten-free flour, vanilla, and salt. Mix with a fork, a pastry cutter, or your hands (my pick!), until the butter is well distributed, the oat mixture is forming clumps and clusters and no dry patches remain. Sprinkle the oat topping on top of the apples mixture. It will be generous!
4. Bake The Crisp. Make sure the 9×9 pan is on top of the cookie sheet to catch any potential drips or spills. Place the caramel apple crisp in the oven and bake 50-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the top is golden. If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can loosely tent the pan with foil, but you don’t want to pull it out until the sides are bubbling. (This boiling will help thicken the filling and ensure the apples are cooked through.)
5. Cool Properly Before Serving. Remove crisp from the oven and the hot apple crisp cool at LEAST 20-30 minutes before serving. This will allow the filling to thicken and set. If you scoop into it right away, the filling will be more more liquid and thin.
6. Serve & Store. Enjoy bowls of apple crisp with caramel sauce and scoops of ice cream. Store leftovers covered with foil or plastic wrap in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Simple Ingredients For Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

• Butter. First, you’ll brown the butter. This caramelizes and toasts the milk solids in the butter to completely transform the flavor. It goes from simple melted butter to caramel-y, nutty flavor which infuses every bite of the cookies with extra flavor!
• Brown Sugar & White Sugar. These two types of sugar work together to keep the cookies moist (brown sugar) and give them a gorgeous texture (granulated sugar). You *can* use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, if you prefer, for more molasses flavor.
• Eggs & Vanilla. Just enough room temperature eggs & vanilla extract to round out the wet ingredients.
• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats (aka Old-Fashioned Oats). Just like with our Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll pulse the oats in a food processor or blender a few times to break them up a bit. This trick is a total game changer and helps you get that perfect chewy texture.
• Gluten-Free Flour. Let’s keep things simple! You’ll use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum. I love and recommend this blend from King Arthur, but if you use another blend (like Bob’s Red Mill), make sure you measure carefully and make sure your blend contains xanthan gum.
• Baking Soda. For the perfect puff and spread.
• Warm Spices. A mix of cinnamon and nutmeg add gorgeous layers of warmth and spice to every bite of these cookies. YUM.
• Salt. To balance the flavor.
• A Quick Glaze. Then, you’ll finish the cookies off with a simple, sweet vanilla glaze made from powdered sugar, a little cream or milk, and vanilla or vanilla bean paste.

How To Make Gluten-Free Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.

1. First, Brown The Butter. In a light colored saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking or stirring nearly constantly until the butter is fully melted and begins to bubble. Continue cooking the butter over medium heat (you’ll hear it popping and bubbling) to let it caramelize and brown. After 6-8 minutes or so, the butter will begin to foam and bubble. When the butter looks deeply golden brown, smells caramel-y and sweet and you can see that the butter solids are starting to brown, turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl–either the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl–to cool for about 15-20 minutes. (Small brown specks are ok! That’s what you’re going for.)
2. Pulse The Oats. Add the rolled oats to a food processor or blender. Pulse 10-12 times or so, until you can see some powdery bits, some broken oats, and some whole oats. (You do NOT want to grind the oats into a fine oat flour, and you don’t want them all whole.) Set the oats aside.
3. Combine Butter & Sugars. Add brown sugar and sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter and stir or mix on medium speed to combine. The mixture will look like wet sand at this point.
4. Mix In Eggs & Vanilla One At A Time. Add one egg to the dough and stir until fully incorporated. Then, add the next egg and stir till fully incorporated. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.
5. Add Dry Ingredients. Next, add the oats you pulsed to the bowl, along with gluten-free flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda. Stir until just combined.

6. Chill For 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven.
7. Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (This way you can alternate cookie sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold dough on a hot baking sheet!)
8. Scoop & Roll The Dough. Use a medium cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons) to scoop even balls of dough. Roll the dough balls between your palms to smooth them out a bit, then place 6-8 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet. Return the rest of the dough to the refrigerator in between batches.
9. Bake & Cool. Bake just one cookie sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges and look just done in the center. (Try not to over-bake, and keep in mind that the cookies will continue to cook after you pull them out of the oven.) Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat this process, alternating between baking sheets with each batch, until all the cookies are baked.
10. Mix Up The Glaze. When the cookies have cooled completely, mix up the vanilla glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Whisk or stir with a fork until the glaze is smooth and very thick, with no lumps. If needed, you can add additional milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thin enough to dip the cookies into, but keep in mind, you want it quite thick in consistency so it’s mostly opaque on the cookies.
11. Dip The Cookies. Working one cookie at a time, hold the cookie in your hand face-down and lower into the glaze just until the tops of the cookies touch the surface of the thick icing. Shake off excess icing, then set the cookie glaze side up on a wire rack to set. Ideally, you want the glaze to cover the ridges of the top of the cookie, with little cracks visible in between. Repeat until all cookies are glazed.
12. Set, Serve & Store. Wait until the icing sets completely then enjoy the cookies. Store leftover iced cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 3-4 days or in the freezer up to 2 months.

FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The BEst Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Don’t Skip The Chill Time! It’s tempting to bake the dough right away, but the chill time is a crucial step to getting these cookies just right. It allows the flour to absorb more of the liquid, softening the texture and helping to control the spread. If you bake the dough without chilling, the cookies will spread too thin.

Make Sure to Buy Gluten-Free Oats! If you’re gluten intolerant or baking for someone with Celiac disease, it’s crucial to use certified gluten-free oats for these cookies. We like One Degree, Trader Joe’s, Bob’s Red Mill, and Thrive Market brands! Double-check that you’re buying old-fashioned or rolled oats, not quick cooking oats.

Can I Use Quick Oats or Steel-Cut Oats Instead? I don’t recommend them. Quick oats (sometimes labeled quick-cooking oats) can make these cookies turn out a bit dry. Steel-cut oats will not soften enough during the bake time and will remain crunchy.

Play With The Glaze! One fun thing is that you can play with the glaze recipe here. Instead of dipping the cookies for an iced oatmeal cookies look, you can drizzle the glaze on the cookies. Try a zig-zag pattern, or make 1.5x the glaze recipe so you can cover the cookies more fully in glaze instead of the crackle look we did.

More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes To Fall In Love With

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Scotchies (Butterscotch!)

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Gluten-Free Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe Card

Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

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5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Emily Dixon, Sweets & Thank You
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

Made with brown butter, warm spices, and a simple sweet glaze, these iced oatmeal cookies are spice cookie perfection!

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Ingredients

For The Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies:

• 1 cup butter (16 Tablespoons/2 sticks)
• 1 cup light brown sugar (200 grams)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten-free rolled oats (180 grams)
• 2 cups gluten-free measure-for-measure flour* (240 grams)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For The Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (180 grams)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 1–2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

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Instructions

1. First, Brown The Butter. In a light colored saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking or stirring nearly constantly until the butter is fully melted and begins to bubble. Continue cooking the butter over medium heat (you’ll hear it popping and bubbling) to let it caramelize and brown. After 6-8 minutes or so, the butter will begin to foam and bubble. When the butter looks deeply golden, smells caramel-y and sweet and you can see that the butter solids are starting to brown, turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl–either the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl–to cool for about 15-20 minutes. (Small brown specks are ok! That’s what you’re going for.)

2. Pulse The Oats. Add the rolled oats to a food processor or blender. Pulse 10-12 times or so, until you can see some powdery bits, some broken oats, and some whole oats. (You do NOT want to grind the oats into a fine flour, and you don’t want them all whole.) Set the oats aside.

3. Combine Butter & Sugars. Add brown sugar and sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter and stir to combine. The mixture will look like wet sand at this point.

4. Mix In Eggs & Vanilla One At A Time. Add one egg to the dough and stir until fully incorporated. Then, add the next egg and stir till fully incorporated. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.

5. Add Dry Ingredients. Next, add the oats you pulsed to the bowl, along with gluten-free flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda. Stir until just combined.

6. Chill For 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven.

7. Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (This way you can alternate baking sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold dough on a hot baking sheet!)

8. Scoop & Roll The Dough. Use a medium cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons) to scoop even balls of dough. Roll the dough balls between your palms to smooth them out a bit, then place 6-8 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. Return the rest of the dough to the refrigerator in between batches.

9. Bake & Cool. Bake just one cookie sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges and look just done in the center. (Try not to over-bake, and keep in mind that the cookies will continue to cook after you pull them out of the oven.) Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat this process, alternating between baking sheets with each batch, until all the cookies are baked.

10. Mix Up The Glaze. When the cookies have cooled completely, mix up the vanilla glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Whisk or stir with a fork until the glaze is smooth and very thick, with no lumps. If needed, you can add additional milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thin enough to dip the cookies into, but keep in mind, you want it quite thick so it’s mostly opaque on the cookies.

11. Dip The Cookies. Working one cookie at a time, hold the cookie in your hand face-down and lower into the glaze just until the cookie touches the surface of the glaze. Shake off excess glaze, then set the cookie glaze side up on a wire rack to set. Ideally, you want the glaze to cover the ridges of the top of the cookie, with little cracks visible in between. Repeat until all cookies are glazed.

12. Set, Serve & Store. Let the glaze set completely then enjoy the cookies. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 3-4 days or in the freezer up to 2 months. 

• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

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