Soft, buttery cookies with a spiced apple filling in the middle. Basically apple pie in cookie form.
The dough is tender and melts in your mouth. The apples cook down with cinnamon and nutmeg until soft and jammy.
I bake them for the holiday table, and just as often for a sweet bite next to my coffee. Apples and honey season (hello, Rosh Hashanah) is the perfect time.
They’re easy to make, and one batch gives you 12 to 15 cookies.
My tip: let the apple filling cool completely before you fill the cookies. Warm filling melts the dough.
Apple cinnamon cookies are soft brown sugar cookies with a cooked apple filling of diced apples, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Cook the filling 5–8 minutes and cool it, make a creamed butter dough, shape 45 g balls, press a well in each, fill, and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 12–16 minutes. Makes about 14 cookies.
Apple Cinnamon Cookies (Soft Cookies with Apple Pie Filling)
Ingredients
Method
- Put the diced apples in a medium saucepan with both sugars, the cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
- Cook over medium-low heat, stirring gently, for about 5–8 minutes, until the apples soften and the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and let it cool.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla for 1–2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and beat until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture gradually and fold until the dough is uniform.
- Shape the dough into balls of about 45 g each (a cookie scoop helps). If you like, roll them in sugar.
- Use the back of a spoon or your fingers to press a deep well into the center of each ball. Fill with the cooled apple filling.
- Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced apart. The cookies spread as they bake.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F (175°C) for about 12–16 minutes, until lightly golden.
- While they’re still hot from the oven, you can shape them into perfect circles with a round cookie cutter. Let them cool completely on the baking sheet before serving.
Notes
- Cool the filling completely before filling the cookies, so the dough doesn’t melt.
- Make the wells deep. A shallow well lets the filling slide off as the cookies spread.
- The round-cutter trick in step 10 only works while the cookies are still hot and soft.
- Dark brown sugar → light brown sugar (slightly milder caramel flavor).
- Unsalted butter → salted butter; skip the ½ teaspoon salt in the dough.
- Green or red apples → any baking apple you like, such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp.
Frequently asked questions
The recipe works with green or red apples. Tart green apples give a brighter filling; sweet red apples make it softer and sweeter.
Yes. The filling needs to cool before using anyway, so you can make it a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.
Very soft butter or a warm kitchen makes the dough spread more. Leave space between the cookies, and chill the shaped balls briefly if the dough feels too soft.
Because of the fruit filling, keep them in a sealed container in the fridge if you’re not eating them within a day.
Baked cookies usually freeze well in a sealed container. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
