No need for a fork and plate to enjoy these apple pie cookies!
The nights are getting cooler, but the days still tend to warm up. That is a sure sign that it is apple season. Although I always associate apples with New Hampshire, I was pleasantly delighted to discover a terrific apple orchard near us in Kentucky. I think I’ll be picking and baking with apples this weekend!
The original post from November 2018
A little confession from yours truly: I am not a huge fan of pies. The issue for me is the pie crust. I find regular pie crust to be bland, just plain old doughy. If the pie has an interesting crust (graham cracker, vanilla wafer, etc.), I’m much more inclined to have a slice. In fact with regular pies, I’d gladly eat the filling and the leave the crust for someone else (AKA my husband).
So, as I was planning out my fall recipe ideas, one that I wanted to try was an apple pie cookie. See, I like the concept of apple pie: tender cubes of apple, cinnamon spice, and a bit of sugar, which is why I tend to make apple crisp in the fall. This fall I wanted to try something new, something that was handheld and maybe even ship-able.
As I do with recipe testing, I had a vision of how I’d make the cookies. Although apple pie doesn’t have an oatmeal crust, I thought an oatmeal cookie would give a sturdier base and maybe evoke thoughts of a pie. (Why I thought this, I’m not sure. Feel free to comment and tell me if you agree or not.) Anyway, I liked the oatmeal base for the cookie; it makes it a nice, sturdy cookie.
Next, I decided to use fresh apples. Why? Maybe I like to try things that I know will fail and see if my talents are stronger than the laws of cooking? So, I made round one with fresh apples, which meant I needed more flour to balance the moistness of fresh apples. This produced a cookie that wasn’t very sweet.
After my unsurprising fail, I purchased dried apples and tried again. More apples could be added, less flour was required, and a moist, sweet cookie was produced. Round two was a success! I shipped a batch to my son who’s two thousand miles away. We’ll see if they were as good after shipping as they were the day of baking.
Lessons learned with this recipe:
- Sometimes it’s good to go with instinct (using oatmeal for the cookie base)
- Sometimes it’s good to remember cooking basics (fresh apples are wet)
- Sometime it’s good to mail the batch of cookies to your son so you don’t eat them all
Apple Pie Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups diced dried apple
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350.
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Combine butter and both sugars in bowl of stand mixer.
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Mix on speed 2 for 4 minutes.
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Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated, scraping sides, if necessary.
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Add vanilla, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour, mixing until combined.
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Add oatmeal and apple to dough, stirring until combined.
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Scoop heaping teaspoon of dough onto parchment paper-lined tray.
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Bake for 7 minutes.
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Combine 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.
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Sprinkle a small amount on each cookie.
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Bake for another 7 minutes.
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Allow to cool for 2 minutes on tray, then transfer to baking rack to cool completely
