Loaded with contemporary apple taste and loads of heat spices, these tender and chewy apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are completely good for the autumn season. Completed with a heat, candy maple icing, they’re the quintessential autumn cookie!
I initially revealed this recipe in 2016 and have since added new pictures and updates to the recipe to enhance the feel and scale back the spreading. The adjustments are mirrored within the recipe card beneath.
Within the fall months, apple desserts are sometimes overshadowed by pumpkin pie and all issues pumpkin spice. Whereas these fan-favorite brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies all the time hit the spot, in the present day’s apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are simply as satisfying and ship huge on these fall flavors (sans pumpkin!).
Talking of favourite desserts, have you ever tried salted caramel apple pie but? It’s my #1 favourite dessert of all time!
Inform Me About These Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
- Texture: These apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are tender and chewy with moist facilities and crisp edges. Each hearty, healthful chew is loaded with chewy oats, tender bits of apple, crunchy walnuts, and topped with creamy maple icing. A lot texture in simply 1 cookie!
- Taste: You’ll take pleasure in many fall flavors in every chew together with apple spice, cinnamon, and maple—similar flavors you will discover in these wholesome apple muffins. If you happen to’re searching for a maple cookie to attempt, these maple brown sugar cookies are a preferred alternative.
- Time: After taking the ten minutes firstly to scale back the applesauce, the apple oatmeal cookie dough comes collectively rapidly. And there’s no dough chilling required, so you’ll be able to bake these cookies immediately!
Selecting the Proper Elements
Listed below are among the key elements and why they work on this recipe:
- Extra oats than flour = a chewier cookie: You want 2 cups of complete oats and 1 and 1/4 cups of flour to realize the right chew.
- Sugars: You’ll want each granulated sugar and brown sugar on this recipe. I favor darkish brown sugar right here for somewhat additional molasses taste, however mild brown sugar works simply as nicely.
- Applesauce: Search for the unsweetened selection. And if in case you have some leftover, attempt a batch of those applesauce muffins. Decreasing the applesauce on the range deepens its apple taste whereas eradicating additional liquid, so your cookies bake up tender—not soggy.
- Egg yolk: Utilizing simply the yolk of the egg provides richness and helps to bind the elements, with out including an excessive amount of additional liquid to the dough (since we’re including applesauce).
- Walnuts: I like including walnuts to those apple cookies (a lot nice texture!), however you’ll be able to depart them out for those who favor.
- Finely diced apple: Ensure you minimize the apple into teeny-tiny chunks—not slices like I like to recommend for apple pie. I often seize a Granny Smith apple for this recipe, however you should utilize any crisp, juicy selection you like. (And for those who’re , listed below are the finest apples for baking.)
- Spices: Cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg add simply the proper heat and depth of taste.
You additionally want baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, and room-temperature butter.
Key Step in This Recipe: Briefly Cook dinner the Applesauce
Once I first shared this recipe again in 2016, there was no must prepare dinner down the applesauce. However the cookies usually unfold an excessive amount of, turned out somewhat cakey, and lacked daring taste. My crew and I’ve since found that spending simply 10 minutes decreasing the applesauce on the range makes all of the distinction.
Simply as we scale back contemporary strawberry puree for strawberry cake and mashed banana for the banana walnut cookies in Sally’s Baking 101, we’ll prepare dinner the applesauce on the range earlier than utilizing it. Simmer till it’s lowered by about half—this simple step concentrates the apple taste and removes extra moisture.
Left, beneath: applesauce earlier than decreasing. Proper, beneath: applesauce after decreasing.
From there, it’s only a matter of whisking the dry elements, creaming the butter and sugars, mixing within the moist elements (together with the lowered applesauce), and bringing every thing collectively. Right here is the cookie dough… and there’s no must refrigerate it earlier than baking! Will probably be somewhat sticky:
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough (about 1.5 Tbsp/35g of dough every) onto lined baking sheets.
A drizzle of maple icing is the right completion on these apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies. Soften butter with pure maple syrup, after which whisk in confectioners’ sugar and a pinch of salt. Drizzle over the cookies. It’s the identical icing we use for fan-favorite maple brown sugar cookies.
In case you have somewhat extra time, salted caramel frosting would even be scrumptious… or attempt the brown butter icing from these brown butter apple blondies… YUM!
Success Ideas for Apple Cinnamon Cookies
- Scale back the applesauce first: That is the important thing to creating positive these cookies don’t overspread. We wish to focus the apple taste with out including an excessive amount of moisture to the cookie dough.
- Bake immediately: The oats will take in a variety of the moisture for those who let the cookie dough sit too lengthy. You’ll get a greater cookie for those who bake them immediately. Impatience lastly pays off!
- Don’t over-bake: You need the facilities of the cookies to look very tender and even somewhat underbaked once you take them out of the oven. They’ll proceed to set as they cool on the baking sheet. Over-baking them till the facilities look completely completed will end in dry cookies.
- Avoid wasting for day 2! Like banana bread, these cookies have even extra taste on the second day… for those who can wait that lengthy to eat them!
Description
These tender and chewy apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are exploding with candy apple taste. Crammed with cinnamon and apple spices, loaded with applesauce and apple chunks, and topped with a creamy maple frosting, they’re completely good for the autumn season. Don’t skip decreasing the applesauce on the range (step 1); it’s key to the feel and taste.
Cookies
- 2/3 cup (160g) unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups (170g) old style complete rolled oats
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon floor cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon floor allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon floor nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) mild or darkish brown sugar (I take advantage of darkish)
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60g) finely diced apples
- 1/2 cup (63g) chopped walnuts
Maple Icing
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- pinch salt, to style
- Scale back the applesauce: Place the applesauce in a medium saucepan over medium warmth. Carry to a low boil after which simmer, stirring often, till the quantity is lowered by half (to 1/3 cup/80g). On my range, this takes about 10 minutes. Switch the applesauce to a heat-proof bowl and put aside to chill to room temperature.
- Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line massive baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg collectively in a big bowl. Put aside.
- Utilizing a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium velocity till creamed collectively, about 5 minutes. (Right here’s a useful tutorial for those who want steerage on learn how to cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the perimeters and backside of the bowl with a silicone spatula as wanted. Add the lowered applesauce, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat on medium-high velocity till mixed. Scrape down the perimeters and backside of the bowl as wanted.
- Add within the dry elements and beat on low velocity till mixed. Lastly, beat within the chopped apples and walnuts (if utilizing). The cookie dough shall be thick and sticky.
- Utilizing a medium cookie scoop, scoop mounds of cookie dough (about 1.5 Tbsp/35g of dough every) and prepare 3 inches aside on the ready baking sheets.
- Bake for 14–16 minutes or till calmly browned and set across the edges. The cookies will look very tender within the center however will proceed to set as they cool. Take away the cookies from the oven and permit to chill for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then switch to a cooling rack.
- Make the icing: In a small saucepan over low warmth, soften the butter and maple syrup collectively, whisking often. As soon as the butter has melted, take away from warmth and whisk within the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Style. Add a pinch of salt, if desired. Drizzle over cookies. Icing will set after about 1 hour.
- Retailer cookies in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 2 days, or within the fridge for as much as 1 week.
Notes
- Make Forward Directions: You may make the cookie dough and chill it within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Enable to return to room temperature then proceed with step 5. Baked cookies, with or with out icing, freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an additional minute, no must thaw. Learn my suggestions and methods on learn how to freeze cookie dough.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Small Saucepan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Fantastic Mesh Sieve (for sifting confectioners’ sugar)
- Oats: Use complete rolled oats for the most effective texture. Fast oats are minimize finer, which makes them extra powdery. They’ll take in extra moisture, inflicting the dough to bulk up so the cookies don’t unfold correctly, and might depart the cookies tasting dry.
- Brown Sugar: I like to recommend darkish brown sugar for a deeper taste, however you should utilize mild brown sugar as an alternative.
- Apple: Ensure you minimize the apple into teeny-tiny chunks. I often use a Granny Smith apple for this recipe, however you should utilize any crisp, juicy selection you like. (And for those who’re , listed below are the finest apples for baking.)
- Can I Use Apple Butter As an alternative of Diminished Applesauce? We haven’t examined it presently. I’m not sure if the cookies will unfold an excessive amount of since apple butter is thinner than the lowered applesauce. If you happen to use it, it’s possible you’ll wish to refrigerate the cookie dough for at the least 1 hour earlier than shaping and baking. And for those who attempt it, tell us the way it seems.
- Replace in 2025: My crew and I made 4 small updates to the recipe to scale back the spreading and enhance the feel. The adjustments are mirrored on this recipe. To make the previous model, scale back the flour to 1 cup (125g). Scale back the applesauce to 1/2 cup (120g) and skip decreasing it on the range (step 1). Use 1 complete egg as an alternative of 1 egg yolk. Scale back the butter to 1/4 cup (56g) and soften it. Whisk it along with the moist elements in step 4, as an alternative of creaming it with the sugars.