Loaded with recent apple taste and loads of heat spices, these gentle and chewy apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are completely excellent 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 modifications 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 at all times hit the spot, right now’s apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are simply as satisfying and ship large 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 gentle 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 get pleasure from many fall flavors in every chew together with apple spice, cinnamon, and maple—similar flavors you’ll find in these wholesome apple muffins. Should you’re searching for a maple cookie to attempt, these maple brown sugar cookies are a preferred alternative.
- Time: After taking the ten minutes at first to cut back the applesauce, the apple oatmeal cookie dough comes collectively shortly. And there’s no dough chilling required, so you’ll be able to bake these cookies instantly!
Selecting the Proper Substances
Listed here are a number of the key components and why they work on this recipe:
- Extra oats than flour = a chewier cookie: You want 2 cups of entire oats and 1 and 1/4 cups of flour to attain the right chew.
- Sugars: You’ll want each granulated sugar and brown sugar on this recipe. I want darkish brown sugar right here for a bit additional molasses taste, however gentle brown sugar works simply as properly.
- Applesauce: Search for the unsweetened selection. And when you have some leftover, attempt a batch of those applesauce muffins. Lowering the applesauce on the range deepens its apple taste whereas eradicating additional liquid, so your cookies bake up gentle—not soggy.
- Egg yolk: Utilizing simply the yolk of the egg provides richness and helps to bind the components, with out including an excessive amount of additional liquid to the dough (since we’re including applesauce).
- Walnuts: I really like including walnuts to those apple cookies (a lot nice texture!), however you’ll be able to go away them out should you want.
- Finely diced apple: Be sure to reduce 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 favor. (And should you’re , listed here are the finest apples for baking.)
- Spices: Cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg add simply the suitable 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 cook dinner down the applesauce. However the cookies typically unfold an excessive amount of, turned out a bit cakey, and lacked daring taste. My workforce and I’ve since found that spending simply 10 minutes lowering the applesauce on the range makes all of the distinction.
Simply as we scale back recent strawberry puree for strawberry cake and mashed banana for the banana walnut cookies in Sally’s Baking 101, we’ll cook dinner the applesauce on the range earlier than utilizing it. Simmer till it’s diminished by about half—this simple step concentrates the apple taste and removes extra moisture.
Left, beneath: applesauce earlier than lowering. Proper, beneath: applesauce after lowering.
From there, it’s only a matter of whisking the dry components, creaming the butter and sugars, mixing within the moist components (together with the diminished applesauce), and bringing all the pieces collectively. Right here is the cookie dough… and there’s no must refrigerate it earlier than baking! It will likely be a bit 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 final touch 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.
When you have a bit extra time, salted caramel frosting would even be scrumptious… or attempt the brown butter icing from these brown butter apple blondies… YUM!
Success Suggestions for Apple Cinnamon Cookies
- Cut 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 instantly: The oats will take in a variety of the moisture should you let the cookie dough sit too lengthy. You’ll get a greater cookie should you bake them instantly. Impatience lastly pays off!
- Don’t over-bake: You need the facilities of the cookies to look very gentle and even a bit underbaked while 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 accomplished will end in dry cookies.
- Avoid wasting for day 2! Like banana bread, these cookies have even extra taste on the second day… should you can wait that lengthy to eat them!
Description
These gentle and chewy apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are exploding with candy apple taste. Stuffed with cinnamon and apple spices, loaded with applesauce and apple chunks, and topped with a creamy maple icing, they’re completely excellent for the autumn season. Don’t skip lowering 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 school entire 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) gentle or darkish brown sugar (I exploit darkish)
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (90g) finely diced apples
- 1/2 cup (63g) chopped walnuts (elective)
Maple Icing
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- pinch salt, to style
- Cut back the applesauce: Place the applesauce in a medium saucepan over medium warmth. Convey to a low boil after which simmer, stirring often, till the quantity is diminished 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 giant 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 should you want steerage on cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the perimeters and backside of the bowl with a silicone spatula as wanted. Add the diminished 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 components and beat on low velocity till mixed. Lastly, beat within the chopped apples and walnuts (if utilizing). The cookie dough might be thick and sticky.
- Utilizing a medium cookie scoop, scoop mounds of cookie dough (about 1.5 Tbsp/35g of dough every) and organize 3 inches aside on the ready baking sheets.
- Bake for 14–16 minutes or till flippantly browned and set across the edges. The cookies will look very gentle 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. Permit to come back to room temperature then proceed with step 5. Baked cookies, with or with out icing, freeze properly for as much as 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze properly for as much as 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an additional minute, no must thaw. Learn my ideas and methods on 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 | Nice Mesh Sieve (for sifting confectioners’ sugar)
- Oats: Use entire rolled oats for the very best texture. Fast oats are reduce 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 go away the cookies tasting dry.
- Brown Sugar: I like to recommend darkish brown sugar for a deeper taste, however you should utilize gentle brown sugar as a substitute.
- Apple: Be sure to reduce 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 favor. (And should you’re , listed here are the finest apples for baking.)
- Can I Use Apple Butter As a substitute of Lowered Applesauce? We haven’t examined it, so are uncertain if the cookies will unfold an excessive amount of since apple butter is thinner than the diminished applesauce. Should you use it, you might wish to refrigerate the cookie dough for no less than 1 hour earlier than shaping and baking. Apple butter can be sweetened, so count on a sweeter cookie. And should you attempt it, tell us the way it seems.
- Replace in 2025: My workforce and I made 4 small updates to the recipe to cut back the spreading and enhance the feel. The modifications are mirrored on this recipe. To make the outdated model, scale back the flour to 1 cup (125g). Cut back the applesauce to 1/2 cup (120g) and skip lowering it on the range (step 1). Use 1 entire egg as a substitute of 1 egg yolk. Cut back the butter to 1/4 cup (56g) and soften it. Whisk it along with the moist components in step 4, as a substitute of creaming it with the sugars.
