Apple Pie Cookies Recipe
Servings 24 cookies
Apple Pie Cookies are made completely from scratch with fresh apples and pantry staple ingredients. A delicious fall cookie recipe that tastes like apple pie!
Ingredients
Coating
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Filling
- 4 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples (about 2 cups once diced), peeled, small diced
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 2 tablespoons caramel sauce
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
Dough
- 4 cups bread flour 545g
- 1 (3.3oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix 93g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder 12g
- 1½ teaspoons salt 10g
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 cup unsalted butter 227g, cold
- 1½ cups light brown sugar 315g, packed
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Coating
- Mix together ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
Filling
- Peel, core, and finely dice 4 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples into small pieces so that you have about 2 cups of apples. The pieces should be dime sized or a little smaller.
- Before turning on the heat, whisk ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch together in a medium saucepan. Add the diced apples, ¼ cup light brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon apple pie spice to the pot. Then cook over medium-low heat until the juice from the apples begins to boil.
- Then cook over medium-low heat until the juice from the apples begins to boil and allow the mixture to thicken - about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add in the 2 tablespoons caramel sauce and 1 tablespoon salted butter at the end and remove from heat. Stir until butter has melted and let cool until ready to use.
Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two 12x17-inch baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 4 cups bread flour, 1 (3.3oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon apple pie spice. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the 1 cup unsalted butter and 1½ cups light brown sugar for 1 minute until smooth.
- Add in the 3 large eggs one at a time, mixing after each just until incorporated.
- Add the 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract and mix for 2 minutes until light and fluffy (it will resemble buttercream frosting), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. The dough should come together in a play-doh texture and not be sticky.
- Measure the dough into 2-ounce portions (I use a #16 scoop) of dough.4 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples
- Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the pan. Add 9 cookies to each pan with 3 inches of space between them.
- Press the bottom of a round tablespoon into the center of the ball to create a well. Fill with a slightly heaping tablespoon of apple pie filling.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. Prepare the other baking sheet with the next batch while the first cooks.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, drizzle with caramel sauce or icing if desired. Top with baby scoops of vanilla ice cream for an a la mode experience.
Notes
- It is best to go by the gram measurements in this recipe. During testing, we measured both ways for each batch to ensure that the measurements were correct both ways, but grams will be the most accurate. If you are going to use measuring cups, make sure you are measuring your flour correctly.
- We tested this with both homemade and storebought filling, the homemade was much better but we get that sometimes storebought makes things a whole lot easier. If you decide to use storebought, add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the mixture and chop the apple pieces up small before adding to the cookies.
- It's best if these cookies cool for at least 2 hours before consuming; this allows the inside of the cookie to finish cooking and set up. You can pop the cookie in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds if you want it warm.
- All-purpose flour may be used instead of bread flour, but we found the bread flour yielded a slightly softer cookie.
- Using two baking sheets is important because you don't want to put the cookie dough down on a hot pan.
- 2 tablespoons of powdered milk and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch can be used in place of pudding in this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 290mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 349IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Find it online: www.sugarandsoul.co/apple-pie-cookies/