The perfect apple cookies are bursting with spices, fresh apple, and little bits of gooey caramel….perfectly soft and chewy…with perfectly crisp edges and soft, moist centers.
Ingredients
1C flour
1-3/4C old fashioned oats
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp apple pie spice or cinnamon
1/2C butter, softened
1/2C unsweetened applesauce
3/4C brown sugar
3/4C sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (63g) chopped walnuts
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
********
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper…(you could also grease the pan with shortening or spritz with Pam)…
Peel the apples. Dice the apples fairly small. The smaller the better. The smaller the apples are diced, the better the dough can hold together…the better the apples are distributed in the finished cookies…the more likely that the apples will cook through and soften by the time cookies are done.
Whisk dry ingredients—flour, oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, baking soda and salt—together in a large bowl.
Cream liquid ingredients—butter, egg, vanilla, applesauce—together until
combined.
Make a well in the center of your liquid ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Whisk until just combined.
Toss the chopped apples with lemon juice. Add oats and walnuts. Fold into the batter. The cookie dough will be thick and sticky…
Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least thirty minutes. Chilling the dough will make the dough a easier to work with and make your cookies turn out thicker.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a cookie scoop, scoop about 2Tbsp of dough and about 3″ apart onto the prepared baking sheets to form your cookies. Flatten slightly…
Bake about fifteen minutes, until lightly browned and set on the edges.
Let cookies cool on baking sheets for about ten minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cookies wil stay fresh…if put in an airtight container and put in the fridge…for up to a week.
You could also make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to three days before allowing it to come to room temperature and then baking.
As far as freezing, the cookies will freeze well for up to three months.
