Gluten-Free Coronado Cookies (Corn Flake and Chocolate Chip)

First things first: I’m hesitant to call this a “gluten-free cookie” for fear that us gluten lovers will look the other way when we see it. It is a FABULOUS, fantastic, incredible cookie. Gluten free or not. Please make it.

Since the day that Just Married published, the Coronado Cookies have undoubtedly been one of the most popular recipes in the book. They are easy to make, chewy and soft, but crispy thanks to their secret ingredient – rice krispies. They are addictive and there are now Coronado Cookie apostles across the country preaching their gospel, winning bake sale competitions, showing up to every potluck with them, keeping a stash in their freezer at all times… Everyone who has ever met a Coronado Cookie, loves a Coronado Cookie.

Except for our poor celiac friends. They’ve been missing out.

I have probably been asked 100 times how to make a gluten-free version of Coronado Cookies. I’ve always just said “IDK, try using your favorite gluten-free flour!” I knew this was a lame answer, but I couldn’t help it! I didn’t know the best way to make them GF, and I didn’t have time to test it!

Until, that is, I was made to shelter in place in my home six weeks, while pregnant, craving Coronado Cookies, and OUT OF FLOUR!

I had the complete luck of having gluten-free Corn Flakes in my pantry from a project for a client, and I was off to the races. I swapped them in with great success, finally tested my theory that, since oats are already in the recipe, simply grinding more oats up to make a gluten-free oat flour would be a FANTASTIC idea, and made a few other tweaks along the way (these use ONLY brown sugar to up the chew factor) and boom, here we are, GLUTEN-FREE CORONADO COOKIES.

These cookies are different than the original, but in the BEST way. They’re chewy, crispy from the corn flakes, and they have that flat, wrinkly cookie thing going for them. I really dig ‘em and I hope (know) you will too.

5 from 2 votes

Gluten-Free Coronado (Corn Flake and Chocolate Chip) Cookies

Servings 12 to 14 4-inch cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup [110 g] unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into small chunks
• 1/2 cup [130 g] smooth almond butter
• 1 cup [200 g] firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon [100 g] old-fashioned rolled oats, blended in a blender or food processor to a fine powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup [180 g] semisweet chocolate baking chunks
• 1 cup [100 g] Corn Flakes Cereal (Kellogg’s bran contains malt barley, so if that is an issue for you, be sure to purchase a brand that is specifically labeled gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup [50 g] old-fashioned rolled oats
• Optional: 1/2 cup [70 g] raisins 
• Optional: flaky sea salt

Substitutions:

• Butter—> I’ve never tried it, but I think you could give coconut or avocado oil a whirl.
• Almond butter—> any nut or seed butter.
• Brown sugar—> dark brown sugar is fine, and coconut or white sugar will do the trick. But light brown is MONEY for the chewy factor.
• Egg—> Make a flax egg! I’ve never done it, google it!
• Vanilla extract—> Vanilla extract—> I’ve made them with almond extract and I LOVE IT. Use only 1/2 teaspoon, it’s stronger.
• Oats—> no sub, you’re gonna need oats.
• Baking soda and powder—> I’ve never tried it, but I think you could leave them out completely since this is by nature a very flat cookie.
• Chocolate chips—> any kind of chocolate chips, or chopped up chocolate bar. I love making Coronado Cookies with chopped up Heath bars, but i’m not sure they’re gluten free!
• Corn flakes—> any plain, crispy cereal.
• Raisins—> I go through phases where I use the raisins versus want a plain chocolate-y cookie. Right now I’m very into the raisins. If you don’t have any, just chop up whatever dried fruit you have to be about the size of a raisin.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F [190°C]. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter, almond butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment until fluffy and smooth, about 4 to 6 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating until smooth.
• Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually incorporate the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once fully incorporated, fold in the chocolate, corn flakes, oats and yellow raisins if using. Turn the mixer off immediately once all ingredients are mixed in (over mixing your dough will make the cookies tough).
• Use a 1/4 cup scoop to drop the 6 or 7 dough balls 3 inches apart on each prepared baking sheet. Leaving space between the cookies is important, they will spread a LOT as they bake. If you’re into the salt-on-your-cookie thing (I sure am), sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top of each dough ball.
• Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the baking sheets from the oven and place them on the stovetop. Carefully, wearing oven mitts, grab each baking sheet with two hands and firmly bang it onto the stove 5 to 10 times, until the cookies start to flatten out. They’ll probably still have a big bump in the middle, that’s OK!
• Return the baking sheets to the oven for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the edges have lightly browned but the tops are still very blonde. (This is very important!! The tops should look like they aren’t quite cooked yet! They’ll firm up as they cool, I promise!).
• Repeat the banging process, then let the cookies cool for several minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

• 1/2 cup [110 g] unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into small chunks
• 1/2 cup [130 g] smooth almond butter
• 1 cup [200 g] firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon [100 g] old-fashioned rolled oats, blended in a blender or food processor to a fine powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup [180 g] semisweet chocolate baking chunks
• 1 cup [100 g] Corn Flakes Cereal (Kellogg’s bran contains malt barley, so if that is an issue for you, be sure to purchase a brand that is specifically labeled gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup [50 g] old-fashioned rolled oats
• Optional: 1/2 cup [70 g] raisins 
• Optional: flaky sea salt

Substitutions:

• Butter—> I’ve never tried it, but I think you could give coconut or avocado oil a whirl.
• Almond butter—> any nut or seed butter.
• Brown sugar—> dark brown sugar is fine, and coconut or white sugar will do the trick. But light brown is MONEY for the chewy factor.
• Egg—> Make a flax egg! I’ve never done it, google it!
• Vanilla extract—> Vanilla extract—> I’ve made them with almond extract and I LOVE IT. Use only 1/2 teaspoon, it’s stronger.
• Oats—> no sub, you’re gonna need oats.
• Baking soda and powder—> I’ve never tried it, but I think you could leave them out completely since this is by nature a very flat cookie.
• Chocolate chips—> any kind of chocolate chips, or chopped up chocolate bar. I love making Coronado Cookies with chopped up Heath bars, but i’m not sure they’re gluten free!
• Corn flakes—> any plain, crispy cereal.
• Raisins—> I go through phases where I use the raisins versus want a plain chocolate-y cookie. Right now I’m very into the raisins. If you don’t have any, just chop up whatever dried fruit you have to be about the size of a raisin.

Notes

• The pan-banging step is crucial to achieve a flat, chewy, wrinkly cookie. Don’t skip it!

Author: Caroline Chambers