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!
To learn more about this recipe, originally posted in November 2018, keep reading.
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! The batch was shipped 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
