When I was little I was obsessed with those green apple caramel lollipops. Then I tried an actual caramel apple. A couple years later I went to Disney World and tried a caramel apple with white chocolate and nuts. This combo Never. Fails. I made these Caramel Apple Cookies as a tribute to my love for the combination and of course, cookies.

Caramel Apple Cookies | The Squeaky Mixer

What Kind Of Caramel Should I Use?

I recommend using Krafts Baking Caramels for the best results. They are the perfect size to fit inside your cookies and bake perfectly. Like any caramel though, once it’s cooled it does slightly harden and become more chewy. I love popping these cookies in the microwave for about 10-12 seconds before enjoying to warm up that caramel a bit more and make for that gooey pull in the center 🙂

Baking With Freeze Dried Apples

In this delicious recipe for Caramel Apple Cookies, we’re using freeze dried apples to achieve that deliciously familiar and warm taste of apples. This keeps the moisture of our cookies perfect without adding too much juice to the dough if we were to use real apples. You can purchase freeze dried apples from almost any grocery store. To grind them up into a powder like we do for this recipe, you can place them in a food processor and pulse them into a powder. If you don’t have a food processor, simply place the apple pieces into a large ziplock baggie, seal the bag, then use a mallet to crush them up nicely.

Best Kind Of Piping Bags

I purchase my piping bags from Amazon. They are tipless piping bags for metal tips are never required. You always have the option to use metal piping tips and cuplers with these piping bags but they work great on their own. You can find them on my Amazon Storefront, here!

These cookies are so warm, perfectly spiced and sweet, so flavorful, and perfect for the cozy season we’re in. I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do 🙂 As always, please share your desserts with me on social media if you use my recipes, it makes me so happy!!

Caramel Apple Cookies

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Recipe by Maddison Koutrouba – thesqueakymixer.com

Servings

12-15

servings

Cooking time

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on.

Ingredients

1 cup 1 old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup 1 all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. 1/2 baking soda
1 tsp. 1 ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. 1/4 salt
1/4 cup 1/4 freeze dried apples, pulsed to powder
1/2 cup 1/2 unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup 2/3 brown sugar
2 2 egg yolks, room temperature
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
12-15 12-15 chewy baking caramels, I used Kraft
Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze
1 cup 1 confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp. 1 ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. 1/2 vanilla
1-3 Tbsp. 1-3 water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and freeze dried apple powder. I placed my freeze dried apples in the food processor and pulsed them until it was a light powder. Set this bowl aside.
In a large bowl or in the bowl of stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and brown sugar. Mix for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is light, fluffy and there are no lumps.
Add in the egg yolks to the sugar and butter mixture one at a time mixing between each addition. Add in the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet then mix until a nice, dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula to ensure that everything is being combined nice and even.
Scoop about 3-4 Tbsp. of dough for each cookie and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball in your hands so you have a circular disc. Place a caramel square in the center of the disc then form the cookie dough up and around the caramel. Re-roll the cookie back into a ball with the caramel in the center.
Repeat step 6 for each cookie then place them 2″ apart on your prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cookies sit on the pan for an additional 2-5 minutes after coming out of the oven.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding on the glaze.
To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and water (1 tablespoon at a time) until you have a smooth consistency.
Transfer the icing into a piping bag then pipe a swirl on top of each cookie.
Enjoy!
Storing Caramel Apple Cookies
These cookies are best enjoyed fresh, BUT you can store them at room temperature for up to three days. You can also store them in the fridge sealed in an air tight container or ziplock baggie for up to a week. They can also be stored sealed in the freezer for up to 3 months. No matter how you store them, I recommend popping them in the microwave for 10 seconds to get that caramel nice and gooey again 🙂 Enjoy!