This easy gluten free snack (or dessert!) combines favorite salty and sweet flavors of pretzels, apples, peanut butter and raisins into a fun hand-held munchie: gluten free apple haystacks!
Use your favorite gluten free pretzels, your favorite peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter), apples and raisins (or really any other mix-ins you like), and you’re off and running. Add a dash of my gfJules™ Flour (no gritty rice flour please!) to hold it all together, and these haystacks just may become your go-to make-in-a-pinch shareable treat.
The kids could even help make these into the fun teepee shapes that they’ll love in lunch boxes or as after school snacks. And you’ll love that they’re protein packed and not full of junk!
Watch this quick video showing just how easy this recipe is to whip up in just a few minutes.
Celebrate apple season with this quick and yummy gluten free apple haystacks – your kids (and your favorite grown-up!) will thank you for them!
Gluten Free Apple Haystacks
Ingredients
- 1 apple, washed
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 cup crunchy peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
- 2 Tbs pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbs gfJules™ Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (may need more if nut butter is very runny)
- ½ cup gluten-free pretzel sticks (I like Glutino®)
- ¼ cup raisins or cranberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Slice apples very thinly, leaving the peel on. Place in a bowl filled with cold water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to keep the apples from browning.
In a small pot on the stove, warm one cup peanut butter while stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. When it begins to thin, add pure maple syrup and 2 tablespoons gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. If the nut butter you’re using is particularly oily or thin, you may need an additional tablespoon of my gfJules Flour to help thicken the mixture.
Stir in 1/2 cup gluten-free or regular pretzel sticks plus 1/4 cup raisins or cranberries. Drain the apple strips and add last.
Compact and spoon scoops of the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet, forming a teepee shape, if you like.
If you are serving the dessert with a fork the scoops can be larger. If you are making these for bite size treats spoon small scoops onto the tray instead.
This recipe makes about 20 small haystacks or 10 larger ones.
Bake for 20 minutes and remove to cool. Once they're cooked they are no longer so fragile and it's easy to eat them with a fork or as bit sized treats.
Keep sealed in Tupperware-type containers to stay crisp or reheat for 5 minutes in a hot oven to crisp if the air is humid.
Can I use any type of gf flour if I don’t have yours on hand?
Hi Rhonda, in a recipe like this one, the gluten free flour is less important, but you still don’t want to choose one that’s gritty. Here’s more information on gluten free flours to find out if the one you have should work or not. Enjoy the recipe!
~jules
I don’t see any mention of slicing the apples into strips until they are added to the mixture in paragraph five.
Hi Dawn, check the recipe again. I believe it’s the second paragraph where I discuss slicing the apples very thin and leaving the skin on. Also, I show the entire process in the recipe video. I hope that helps!
~jules