Apple Butter Cookies

It’s almost fall and I am here for it. I love making apple flavored desserts this time of year because it’s not as bold and seasonal as pumpkin but it gets the fall feels going.

My favorite way to incorporate apple flavor is by using fresh apples or apple butter in my recipes, which is what I did for these cookies and they are SO GOOD! They are a bit more involved than traditional cookies but they are so worth it.

I also use apple butter in my Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Muffins, and my Apple Pop Tarts.

For cookie lovers I’ve got some other fall flavors like Chai White Chocolate Chip Cookies, S’mores Cookies or my toasty Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies.

Ingredients:

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom!

• Flour: I just used all-purpose flour for this recipe however, I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as over-measuring the flour is the most common baking mistake and may result in dry cookies. 
• Sugar: I used dark brown sugar for the swirl, light brown sugar for the cookies, and powdered sugar for the icing. I used the dark brown sugar in the swirl to give it a contrast in color but you could do just light brown sugar if you don’t have any dark brown on hand.
  • Reducing the amount will alter the texture of the cookies so I don’t recommend reducing the sugar. 
• Butter: I LOVE using salted butter in cookies! It really balances the sweetness of cookies better and just has a better flavor. Unsalted is also fine, just add an extra pinch of salt.
• Apple Butter: I’ve made these cookies with both homemade and store bought apple butter so either works fine.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Cinnamon Swirl

1. Combine melted butter with apple butter, dark brown sugar and cinnamon, until it’s well combined and looks like a paste. Cover it and freeze for about 15-20 minutes. You want it to be firm but malleable when you press on it.

Apple Butter Cookies

1. Mix room temperature butter with apple butter and light brown sugar using a mixer for about 2 minutes.
2. Scrape the edge of the bowl and then add the egg and the vanilla mixing for another 2 minutes.
3. Scrape the edge of the bowl again and then add the flour, baking powder and salt mixing until just until the last streak of flour is combined.
4. Add the apple butter swirl and mix on low speed allowing them to slightly marble together.
5. Refrigerate the marbled cookie dough for 30-60 minutes, until it’s scoopable and holds its shape well. .
6. Scoop 2.5 ounces of cookie dough onto two baking sheets (5-6 cookies per sheet), and bake for about 14-16 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven bang them on the counter and use a biscuit cutter to scoot or a utensil to press the sides in to make the cookies round (if needed).

Apple Butter Icing

1. Combine the powdered sugar with the apple butter and heavy whipping cream until it’s completely smooth.
2. Drizzle on top of the cooled cookies and serve. Allow the icing to set before storing. 

How To Get Perfectly Round Cookies

Most cookies bake a little bit uneven around the edges, especially if the dough is soft and not refrigerated before baking. To get your cookies perfectly round, as soon as you remove them from the oven, use anything round like a biscuit cutter/cup/mug, etc. to scoot the cookies around within the circle. 

Be gentle so you don’t break the soft cookie but you have to be quick and do it as soon as the cookie comes out of the oven, before the edges set. 

Preventing Cakey Cookies

Lots of comments saying the cookies turned out cakey. This is the result of drying them out either by

1. too much flour – please weigh your dry ingredients with a digital scale 🙂
2. over-baking – I bake just until the edges are set and a little browned but the centers are puffed and slightly wet looking. When you remove them from the oven, bang them on the counter and the centers should shrivel back down (this is what prevents that cakeyness). They will finish baking as they cool.

Speaking of baking – my oven runs weirdly hot on the bottom so I bake all my other cookie recipes at 325F convection (to circulate the heat and not burn the bottoms). These cookies need a higher temperature so I bake these at 350F.

If you normally bake all your cookies at 350F (convection or not) then you may need to increase your oven temperature to 375F for these. Look for cues while they’re baking (they should spread a good amount but not turn into a puddle) and if you’re unsure, always test one cookie by itself before baking the whole batch.

How To Store Apple Butter Cookies

Easy! Just place them in a ziplock bag and keep them at room temperature for a few days. They obviously will dry out a little more the longer you leave them but I just pop them in the microwave for like 5-10 seconds before eating. 

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below. 

If you make these apple butter cookies, I would love it if you left a star rating for it in the recipe card. 

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B