These apple pie cookies are made with a spiced cookie dough, crisp apple pieces, and flaky pie crust leaves. They really are an apple pie in cookie form!
These apple pie cookies might be one of favorite apple desserts! They're so much easier to make than homemade apple pie, and are truly just as delicious. You might be slightly skeptical of juicy apples in a cookie, but think of them as a cobbler with a soft cookie crust. Warm spices, soft cookie texture, sweet apples... SO SO GOOD.
For more apple recipes, try Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling, Caramel Apple Skillet Dump Cake, and Salted Caramel Apple Pie.
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Why you'll love these apple pie cookies
- Soft & Thick Texture: These cookies bake up so soft & thick, it will be hard to resist eating more than one!
- Crisp Apple Pieces: Sweet, juicy, and crisp honeycrisp apple pieces in every bite!
- Flaky Pie Crust Leaves: The best homemade all-butter pie crust shaped into cute leaves makes these cookies both festive and delicious!
Ingredient Notes
Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card below. Here you'll find notes on why I chose certain ingredients, as well as ingredient substitutions.
- All-Purpose Flour: Use high-quality unbleached all-purpose flour, such as Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Baking Co.
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves to mimic the flavors of a real apple pie.
- Baking Powder: Most cookie recipes call for baking soda, but baking powder is the secret ingredient to making these cookies extra thick & soft!
- Unsalted Butter: I recommend using a high-quality European-style butter. Kerrygold is my favorite!
- Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Egg: Bring your egg to room temperature by adding it in a bowl of warm water.
- Vanilla: Use a good quality vanilla paste or extract.
- Apple: I recommend using a honeycrisp or granny smith apple!
Kitchen Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Electric Mixer
- Pie Crust Leaf Cutters
- Cookie Scoop
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Oven Thermometer
Step by Step Instructions
STEP 1: Make the pie dough. Make the pie dough and chill for at least one hour or overnight. For more detailed step by step instructions, see this 3 Ingredient Pie Crust Recipe.
STEP 2: Cut out the pie dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ⅛” in thickness. Use small leaf cutters to cut out the dough. Freeze the cutout dough for 10 minutes.
STEP 3: Bake the pie crust leaves. Place frozen cutout dough on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake the pie crust leaves for 10 minutes until slightly golden.
STEP 4: Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
STEP 5: Cream the butter & sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until light & fluffy.
STEP 6: Mix in egg & vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla until fully combined.
STEP 7: Add the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
STEP 8: Mix in the apple pieces. Fold in the apple pieces with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed.
STEP 9: Portion the cookie dough & freeze. Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Top each with one apple piece, then freeze for 30 minutes.
STEP 10: Bake. Place the frozen cookie dough balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes until barely golden on the edges. They will appear underbaked, but will continue to bake as they cool on the baking sheet. Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately top each of them with a pie crust leaf. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet, and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Use a cookie scoop. Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
- Freeze the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the cookies bake up thick, don't skip the freeze time!
- Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.
FAQ
In order to ensure these cookies bake up thick, don't skip the freeze time! They only need 30 minutes in the freezer, which is just enough time to preheat the oven and get everything cleaned up 🙂
I love baking with honeycrisp apples, because they have the perfect balance of sweetness and hold their shape well in the oven. You could also use another baking apple, such as granny smith or pink lady.
Of course! But if you have the time, I encourage you try homemade. It's so much better than store-bought, and it is surprisingly easy to make!
Storage Tips
These apple pie cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 days. They stay soft for much longer, but since the apples have so much moisture, it's best to err on the side of caution and freeze them so they don't go moldy. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed to create incredibly delicious baked goods that you can easily recreate in your own kitchen with success. The only way this is possible is to standardize the way ingredients are measured - by weight. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), I can ensure that you can make the recipe accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other cookie recipes to try
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Print📖 Recipe
Spiced Apple Pie Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These apple pie cookies are made with a spiced cookie dough, crisp apple pieces, and flaky pie crust leaves. They really are an apple pie in cookie form!
Ingredients
For the pie crust leaves:
- 50g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 35g (2 ½ tbsp) unsalted butter, cold
- ¼ cup ice water
- Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water)
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
For the apple pie cookies:
- 270g (2 ¼ cup) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temp
- 160g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 honeycrisp apple, cut into small pieces; reserve a few pieces for topping
Instructions
For the pie crust leaves:
- In a medium bowl combine the flour and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss in the flour. Using your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until pea sized pieces are left.
- Add a couple tablespoons of water, then toss with your hands to combine.
- Continue adding very small amounts of water until the dough can hold together, but is not overly wet.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then chill for one hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, fold in half, then again into quarters. Repeat one more time.
- Shape the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill for at least one hour before using.
- Preheat the oven 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ⅛” in thickness. Use small leaf cutters to cut out the dough.
- Freeze the cutout dough for 10 minutes.
- Place frozen cutout dough on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake the pie crust leaves for 10 minutes until slightly golden.
For the apple pie cookies:
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until light & fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla until fully combined.
- Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Fold in the apple pieces with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed.
- Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Top each with one apple piece, then freeze for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the frozen cookie dough balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes until barely golden on the edges. They will appear underbaked, but will continue to bake as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately top each of them with a pie crust leaf.
- Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet, and enjoy!
Notes
- Use a cookie scoop. Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
- Freeze the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the cookies bake up thick, don't skip the freeze time!
- Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.
Keywords: apple pie cookies, apple cookies
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