The temperature has officially dropped, apples have officially been picked, and it’s finally time to start posting some of my favorite cookie recipes.
With that, I’m also excited to start working on my pies & tarts for next year. There’s something about fall and winter that just scream pie. Maybe it’s the abundance of apples, cherries, and pumpkins–or maybe it’s the fact that it’s no longer 98° outside and I don’t have to worry about my butter melting out of my pastry as I try to roll it out. Either way, pies are some of my favorite desserts (yes, in the great pie vs cake debate, I will always vote pie!).
I knew I needed to find a way to marry my love of pie with cookies, and I knew that I didn’t just want to use pie crust as the base of the cookie because, while that’s exciting, there are plenty of recipes out there like that. You know the ones. They’re utterly adorable with their cookies that look like mini pies. I love them. But I didn’t want to just add to the already amazing list that’s out there. No, I wanted to do something a little bit different.
So enter these Apple Pie Cookies. Between the dried apples and chopped fresh apple, these are full of apple flavor–plus, the fresh apple adds a bit of moisture which gives these a perfectly chewy center and keeps them from drying out while baking. Apple pie spices are mixed into the dough which is topped with light brown sugar before baking so that you get the fruity, spicy, sweet marriage of everything within an apple pie. Add to that the fact that there are medium-large chunks of pie crust baked into these, and you get the perfect combination of cookie and pie.
I originally made my own apple chips for these–and you are free to do so if you feel so inclined–but you need a good two hours to cook them slow while flipping them halfway through. Sometimes, you just don’t have all that time. So store bough freeze-dried apples or apple chips will have to do the trick!
I still have half of a baked pie crust sitting in my freezer at the moment. So be prepared for another one of my favorite pie-themed recipes! It’ll be coming to this spot next week!
| Cook Time | 13-16 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
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- 1/2 cup brown butter
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 apple small, chopped into little pieces
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/2-2/3 cup dried apples (or apple chips) broken
- 1/2 single pie crust broken into medium chunks
- brown sugar and granulated sugar for sprinkling
Ingredients
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- Prepare your pie crust and fully parbake it: You can use store bought or your favorite recipe. Preheat the oven to 400°F. To bake the crust, since it's not being used for an actual pie, I roll it out so that it fits onto a baking sheet. Place the pie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and dock it all over with a fork. Chill in the freezer for at least ten minutes. Top the dough with another piece of parchment paper and baking sheet. Place the pie crust, sandwiched between the two cookie sheets, on the bottom shelf of the oven and bake 15-25 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown and the crust is cooked all the way through. (I typically remove the top baking sheet and sheet of parchment paper after the first 15 minutes of baking. I just use it to keep the dough from puffing up).
- Brown the butter: Line the bottom of a medium saucepan with cubes of butter. Warm over medium heat until melted. Once it's all melted, allow it to bubble for about 5 minutes; swirl the pan occasionally. After 5 minutes, the butter should begin to smell nutty and should be a slightly darker color. Remove from the heat and swirl an additional 15 seconds before transferring to a ramekin or small bowl. Make sure to scrape everything out of the pan. Then, leave the butter to cool in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Place the light brown sugar and granulated sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, and set aside. Chop 1/2 the apple into small pieces and sprinkle with light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Place the cubes between two paper towels and occasionally press down to help force some of the moisture out.
- While the butter is cooling, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.
- When the brown butter has cooled a bit, add it to the bowl with the sugars. Either using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or wooden spoon mix together the brown butter and sugars until combined. Add the egg and the vanilla one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition.
- Add the apple chunks and mix until incorporated. Then, add the dry ingredients 1/2 at a time until the dough begins to come together. Fold in the dried apple (or apple chips) and chunks of pie crust.
- Allow the dough to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (you can also skip this step if needed, just note that the cookies might spread a bit more while baking and leave room on the cookie sheet to account for that).
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a large cookie/ice cream scoop or spoon, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle with a little bit of light brown sugar.
- Bake 13-16 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer the cookies to a cool baking sheet or cooling rack.