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Apple Cider Cookies are thick, chewy cookies packed with apple cider flavor in every bite! They’re twice-coated in apple pie spice, brushed with a magical mixture of reduced apple cider and apple butter, & drizzled with apple cider caramel. These irresistible cookies taste just like an apple cider doughnut from the orchard!
Published: Sept 2022. Updated: Sept 2023 to make the cookies a bit thicker and increase the apple cider flavor.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love Apple Cider Cookies:
- Thick & Soft Cookies – These cookies are thick and chewy, with crisp edges.
- Twice Dipped in Apple Pie Spice – Coating these cookies twice in apple pie spice makes them taste just like apple cider donuts from the apple orchard!
- Apple Cider Coating – Brushing the baked cookies with a mixture of apple cider and apple butter allows the second coating of apple pie spice to stick and adds SO MUCH incredible flavor!
- Apple Cider Caramel – These cookies are finished with a drizzle of luscious apple cider caramel sauce.
Ingredient Overview:
- Apple Cider – Use a good quality, real apple cider, like a jug from your local orchard! We’re reducing it by cooking it on the stovetop for about 20 minutes, to concentrate the flavor. You can also use boiled apple cider to skip the reduction step. You can purchase boiled cider online (or possibly at a local orchard – try calling ahead to see if they carry it). Just be sure the only ingredient is apple cider. Do not use apple cider vinegar – this is, as the name implies, vinegar and not the same as the apple cider you’d drink.
- Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- Spices – I’ve used a mix of a few spices here to make a homemade apple pie spice blend in the cookies and in the cinnamon sugar coating. You’ll need cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.
- Apple Butter – We’re using apple butter mixed with the reduced cider to brush over the cookies before they get coated in apple pie spice. It brings the flavor to an entirely new level! This is a new trick I learned for fall of ’23, and if you’ve made these cookies in the past, you absolutely must make them again with this tweak – it’s out of this world delicious!!!
Recipe Variations:
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free butter and heavy cream to keep this recipe dairy-free.
- Apple Cider – Using apple juice won’t give the exact same flavor, but you can use it if you absolutely can’t find apple cider. Do not use apple cider vinegar – it is vinegar, as the name states.
- Caramel – Nothing compares to homemade salted caramel sauce, but you can use store bought in a pinch.
How to Make this Apple Cider Cookie Recipe:
Step 1: Reduce Apple Cider & Make Salted Caramel Sauce. Reduce your apple cider by cooking it on the stovetop for about 35 minutes. Make your salted caramel sauce and let each cool in the fridge while you make the cookie dough.
Step 2: Make the Cookie Dough. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add egg, vanilla, and the cooled reduced apple cider. Add the dry ingredients.
Chill the dough for 30 minutes, then roll into balls and chill at least 2 hours or up to 48 hours.
Step 3: Bake the Cookies. Roll the chilled dough balls in the apple pie spice sugar mixture, and bake as directed in the recipe card below. Let cool for a bit on the baking sheet.
Step 4: Dip Cookies & Coat in Apple Pie Spice. Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, brush them with a mixture of apple butter and apple cider, then coat in the apple pie spice sugar again.
Note: I just discovered that using apple butter in place of the butter here takes the flavor to a whole new level! If you loved these cookies before, you will absolutely fall head over heels now.
Serving + Storing this Recipe:
Drizzle with the apple cider salted caramel sauce, and dig in to these irresistible cookies! You will fall head over heels for these – pun intended, heh.
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-6 days, or in the fridge longer. Let them sit out a bit before serving so they can come back to room temperature (or enjoy them cold).
Craving more apple goodness? Make my Skillet Apple Crisp or my Apple Cider Donuts next!
Expert Success Tips:
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
- Chill the Dough – Yes, you must chill the dough for these cookies to not become flat pancakes in the oven. It also intensifies the flavor!
- Reduce the Cider – Don’t skip this step as reduced cider has a more intense flavor, which is important as we can’t put too much of a wet ingredient like cider into a cookie dough. Reduced cider has thicker, almost syrup-like texture.
FAQs:
Yes! Freeze cookie dough balls, covered with a kitchen towel. Once solid, transfer to an airtight freezer-safe container. Cookies can be stored this way for about 2-3 months, and can be baked straight from frozen!
Yes, feel free to scale the recipe up or down.
If you want to taste the cider flavor, yes you do. It’s mostly hands off time, with some lazy stirring. You will NOT regret it! You can also buy boiled cider if you want to start with the reduced cider.
Recipe Variations:
- Cardamom – Try cardamom in place of one of the other spices if they aren’t your jam.
- Glaze – Use my 5-Minute Maple Glaze to top the cookies if desired, adding a splash of the remaining apple cider until you have the desired consistency for drizzling or dunking. Reduce the maple syrup to just a splash, too.
Special Tools:
- Cookie Scoop – Use this cookie scoop to make your cookies the size I did. It’s technically an ice cream scoop, but it’s the perfect size for large bakery-style cookies.
- Round Cutters – Use this set of round cutters for rounding cookies, cutting donuts or biscuits, and much more.
More Apple Recipes to Love:
- Apple Cider Slushies
- Salted Caramel Apple Galette
- Cranberry Apple Crisp
- Homemade Apple Fritters
- Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers
- Apple Cider Old Fashioned Cocktails
- The Best Recipes to Make During Apple Season
More Cookie Recipes to Love:
- Soft Molasses Cookie
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Bakery-Style Monster Cookies
- Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating!
Click the little stars in the header of the recipe card below to leave a comment & star rating, letting me know how you liked the recipe. I take all feedback seriously, & leaving a rating helps my small business immensely!
Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
Ingredients
For the Reduced Apple Cider
- 5 cups apple cider
For the Salted Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar , 210 grams
- 6 tbsp salted butter, cubed, 85 grams
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream, 160 grams
- 1 pinch flaky sea salt
- 3 tbsp reduced apple cider
For the Cookies
- 15 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature , this is 1 tbsp shy of two sticks, 1/2 cup + 7 tbsp, or 212 grams. I had to reduce it due to complaints of cookies spreading too much.
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar , 158 grams
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed, 165 grams
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup reduced & cooled apple cider
- 3 cups + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour , 414 grams
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
For the Apple Pie Spice Sugar Coating
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar , 105 grams
- 2 and 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
For the Apple Cider Butter Coating
- 3 tbsp reduced apple cider
- 3 tbsp apple butter, can sub melted butter in a pinch, but HIGHLY recommend apple butter here
Instructions
- Prep: Reduce your apple cider by cooking it, stirring occasionally, in a small saucepan on the stove, over medium-high heat until it reduces down to 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. This will take about 35-42 minutes. Let it cool in the fridge so it's room temperature, not hot. Yes, you really do need 5 cups – this produces a very concentrated apple cider flavor, and you won't be able to taste it otherwise.5 cups apple cider
- Make the Caramel: Make the salted caramel sauce by following my recipe here. Stir in the apple cider last. Let it cool to room temperature before using, or make it up to a week ahead and store in the fridge.1 cup granulated sugar , 6 tbsp salted butter, cubed, 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream, 1 pinch flaky sea salt, 3 tbsp reduced apple cider
- Make the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Add the sugars and mix until creamed together with the butter, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, eggs, and apple cider, and mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients last, and mix until a dough forms. Chill for 30 minutes to make it easier to roll the dough into balls.15 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature , 3/4 cup granulated sugar , 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed, 1 tsp vanilla extract , 2 large eggs, at room temperature , 1/4 cup reduced & cooled apple cider, 3 cups + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour , 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 and 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp allspice
- Scoop & Chill the Dough: Scoop the dough into balls about 60-65 grams with a large cookie scoop (about 3-4 tbsp), and place in an airtight container to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or up to 48 hours. You can speed this up by chilling in the freezer for 1 hour, or up to 1 month (see notes below).1/2 cup granulated sugar , 2 and 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp allspice, 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and spices for coating. Roll the dough balls generously in the apple pie spice cinnamon sugar mixture. Place about 6 cookies on each sheet, with room for them to spread. Bake for 11-13 minutes. The edges should look and feel set when tapped with a fingertip, and the centers will be puffy and look just a tad underdone. They will set up as they cool.
- Finish the Cookies: Let cookies cool a few minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, or until cool enough to handle. Stir together the apple butter and reduced apple cider in a medium bowl, then brush each cookie with a generous coating and dip in the remaining apple pie spice sugar from earlier (add it to a plate).3 tbsp reduced apple cider, 3 tbsp apple butter
- Serve + Store: Drizzle cookies with apple cider caramel and dig in! Cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. (The caramel needs to be refrigerated.) Let cookies come back to room temp a bit before serving.
- Frozen Cookie Dough: Cookie dough balls can be frozen on a lined baking sheet, then transferred to a freezer bag or airtight container once frozen. Bake frozen cookie dough from frozen, adding 1-2 mins to the bake time as needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When baking straight from frozen, same oven temp. and time?
Yes, use the same oven temp and time, and just check for doneness in the same way indicated in the recipe – you may need to add a minute or two, but start with the same time. Let me know how you like these!
Absolutely amazing. Could easily win 1st place at a fall festival baking competition. I have already made 2 (double) batches and want to share them with the world. Thank you!
Thank you SO much for that kind review, Marialaina! We absolutely love these cookies and I’m glad to hear you do too!
These were delicious! I’ve never made caramel before so I was nervous about that but it turned out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
Glad you enjoyed these, Katie! 🙂
I loved these cookies but my cookies spread so much and melted together. I followed it perfectly. Im so confused.
Hi Breanna! I’m sorry to hear that happened. The most likely culprit is your oven – have you checked it with an oven thermometer lately to see if it’s running at the correct temperature? Sometimes ovens will run hot or cold (so when it says it’s at 350, it may actually be at 325 or 375), and this will certainly cause your cookies to spread or melt. It’s happened to me before! Did you also be sure to chill the dough long enough? Let me know, I’d love to help troubleshoot!
These cookies were amazing! The caramel did take me a little while but it is sooooo yummy!!!
I even bought your recipe book!
Thanks so much for your kind review and for your support, Klorissa! 🙂 Happy baking.
These cookies were delicious. However, I will say they didn’t really taste like apple cider to me. I used a high-quality cider and reduced it as the recipe said but I still didn’t really get a cider flavor. They were great fall cookies though and I think it would be challenging to make cookies taste more like apple cider without adding actual apples
Glad you enjoyed these cookies, Kira! I actually just saw someone make cookies with ground up freeze dried apples and now I’m super curious to try these cookies with that addition!
I actually ended up mixing in some apple butter to the caramel that I had also gotten from the orchard and that made them taste a lot like apple cider!
Oo that is a great idea, I’ll have to try it!
Soft & chewy with a great hit if Apple. I could have boiled the apple cider a bit more I think. The Carmel sauce is on point. Next time I might make them a touch smaller but that’s just me.
Glad you enjoyed these cookies, Claus!
So delicious! Everyone loves them! I ended up using pre-made caramel sauce & kinda regret it because it soaked right through the cookie:/ but they’re still great!
So glad you enjoyed these cookies, Jenica! 🙂
I’ve now had the cookies and the caramel separately and both are incredible! I imagine the two together will be beyond belief! Basically reminds me of a cider donut but even better if you can imagine that. I did refrigerate the dough overnight (as I often do) and rolled them out smaller so I had 12 cookies per cookie tray and they’re perfect! Yummmm!
So glad you enjoyed these, Dee! 🙂
Ok YUM!! I saw these on TikTok and literally ran out to the store the moment the video was done to get the ingredients! These cookies are SO freaking good and the caramel sauce is incredible. These were pretty easy to make so go make them!
A couple things
1. I tried the dough and thought it was already pretty sweet so I didn’t do the second coating of sugar after the bake (no butter or cider either) and they were perfect
2. It probably took about 20 minutes for these to bake for me – not sure why the discrepancy but they still turned out
3. Don’t forget to add the cider to the caramel! I did and regretted it as it would have made the cookies even more cider-y
Hi Miranda! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such an in-depth review – and I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies! 🙂
If I add cardamom should I reduce any of the other spices?
I would reduce the cinnamon by however much cardamom you add. So if you add 1/2 tsp of cardamom, take away 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Let me know how you like these!