When you want a pie but don’t want to wait hours for it to cool and set, these Apple Pie Cookies have all the autumnal spices and the combination of fresh and dried apples bring the right hit of sweetness to satisfy that apple pie craving.
Yields about 14-16 cookies
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.