These apple pie cookies are big and soft and full of the flavor of brown sugar, molasses, and cinnamon. Then they’re topped with a scoop of thick fresh apple pie filling for soft cookies that are like eating a big bite of fresh apple pie!

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It’s that time of year, Fall is coming! And these apple pie cookies are going to be your new favorite cookie! The next time you hit up the apple orchard or have fresh apples to use up pull out this recipe and get to baking. Everyone will thank you for making delicious Apple Cookies that capture the essence of the BEST time of the year!

Apple Pie Cookies on a board with a glass of milk.

Apple Cookies

Apple Cookie with a bite taken out of it.

There are so many ways to add the spice of fall flavors to this Apple Cookie recipe. The cookies themselves have molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, AND vanilla in them.

And THEN they’re topped with your favorite apples in a thick apple pie filling on top of the cookies. It’s a great recipe to make in the fall after you harvest your own apples or hit the fruit stand or even after a trip to the orchard!

Got apple cider? You can also make these Apple Cider Cookies! Talk about the taste of fall!

Apple Cookies Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

softened butter-make sure its at room temperature
large Eggs
Blackstrap molasses
Vanilla

Dry Ingredients:

Brown sugar
All-Purpose flour
Cinnamon or use Apple Pie Spice!
Salt

Apple Topping

Apples-pick your favorite baking apples see the information above
brown sugar
Lemon juice
Corn starch
Water

What tools do I need to make these cookies?

Nothing too special, just basic kitchen tools. You don’t even need a stand mixer, a hand mixer will work just fine.
Hand Mixer
Large bowl or Mixing Bowl
Medium Bowl
Baking Sheet
Parchment paper
Saucepan
Measure spoons
Measuring cups
Spatulas
wooden spoon
cookie scoop or spoon
Cutting board
Paring knife

What types of apples go best on apple cookies?

This is where you come in! What kind of apples do you like? For the most part, you can use any apples that appeal to you, (Oh, see what I did there?) as long as they’re baking apples.

The best apples for these cookies are a baking apple. So think firm, snappy apples. The softer the apple the mushier the topping will be. Ask someone for help if you get to a store or to an apple orchard or fruit stand and get overwhelmed! Tell them you need a baking apple, and they will definitely know which of their apples make for the best pies and those are the apples you want. If you want to read up beforehand check out this handy Apple Guide on Epicurious!

Granny smith apples are tart and tangy and hold their shape. Honeycrisp also holds its shape and its sweet flavor shines through in these cookies. Other apples that will make a good topping include Gala, Cortland, or Braeburn.

Avoid all soft apples for this recipe as they will not make a beautiful apple pie topping. Soft apples are not baking apples and when they’re cooking they have a tendency to get very mushy, soft, and lose their shape. Avoid apples such as Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, and Macintosh for this recipe.

How do I keep the Apple Topping On top of the Apples?

As you’re making the cookies you shape the dough into cookie dough balls. Once they’re shaped and on the prepared cookie sheets, you’ll take a clean measuring cup and press it in flour. And then you’ll press it into the cookie dough ball to make a large flat well for the topping.

Indentations in cookies to hold the caramel and apples.

The cookies will bake up and then when they come out you need to leave them on the baking sheet and use the same measure cup to press into the cookies again to make sure the indentation holds up. Let the cookies cool on the pan for five minutes before moving to a wire rack. Once on the cooling rack let them cool fully while you make the apple pie topping.

Do I need a candy thermometer to make the topping?

NO! Because you’re not actually making caramel or candy for the topping. It’s really more like a homemade apple pie filling full of apples and apple flavor. It’s not thick because you boil it to a certain temperature. it’s thick because you use corn starch to thicken it. That’s why it’s so important to pick the right kind of apple for this topping, you want a crisp baking apple that will hold its shape as you bring the topping to a boil and thicken it up.

How to store these cookies

For the first 1-2 hours these cookies just need to sit so the topping can firm up. Once firm they should be stored uncovered for the first day and then lightly covered after that. Don’t use an airtight container as the filling will make the cookies soggy.

I don’t recommend making them any earlier than a day before you need them though. The cookie is nice on the bottom but it will eventually get the dreaded soggy bottom if left too long.

Apple Cookie on a plate with half and apple in the background.

Our Other Favorite Fall Cookie Recipes

Pecan Pie Cookies

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Copycat Crumbl Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Apple Pie Cookies

5 from 13 votes

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 20

Servings:

Calories: 225kcal

Author: Laura

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Equipment

Ingredients

Cookies

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon Or try apple pie spice
1/2 tsp salt

Apple Pie Filling

2 cups apples peeled, cored, and chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup water

Instructions

preheat the oven to 350°
line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper, set aside
put the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir to combine, set aside
beat the softened butter and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until it's soft and fluffy, you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer
[mv_schema_meta name="Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy."]
once soft and fluffy beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla
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stir the flour into the butter mixture just until mixed in
scoop into 12 cookies, and lay them on the prepared cookie sheets
[mv_schema_meta name="Scooping cookie dough."]
use a measuring cup dusted with a little flour and press each ball of cookie dough down until there is an indentation in the middle
bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through
while the cookies bake peel toss the apples with the lemon juice and place in a saucepan along with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and the corn starch
stir the water in and cook over medium heat stirring until cornstarch is dissolved (no lumps left), and then stirring occasionally while the sauce thickens
let the mixture simmer gently until the apples are just tender, then turn off the heat and let the mixture cool off
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when the cookies are done baking remove the cookies sheet from the oven and if you need to press the measuring cup down into the cookies to reset the indentation
let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack
once cool fill with the apple filling
serve immediately or store uncovered for up to 24 hours and then lightly covered after that