Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cookies

A stack of caramel apple pie cookies with a few broken in half to show the chewy cookies and apple filling.

5 from 31 votes

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cookies

Apple Pie Cookies taste like apple pie in cookie form! An apple pie spiced cookie is filled with a tender apple filling and topped with a brown sugar crumble and finished with a drizzle of luscious salted caramel sauce. These cookies are the perfect fall treat - and taste just like mini apple pies!

Prep Time1

Cook Time13

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Apple Cookies, Apple Desserts

Servings: cookies

Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

1 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature 226 grams
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled 390 grams
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves

For the Apple Filling

4 large apples, peeled and diced 775 grams or 27 ounces of diced apple
1/4 cup salted butter, cubed 4 tbsp
2 tbsp apple cider (you can use 1 tsp of lemon juice if you don't have any cider - note that this is NOT apple cider vinegar!)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar 206 grams
6 tbsp salted butter, cubed
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream
pinch of flaky sea salt I love Maldon brand!

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 and 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves

For the Crumble

1/4 cup salted butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 and 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Instructions

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 and eggs, 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.
Make-Ahead Tip: Dough can be balled and frozen for 1 month or so before using. Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking.
Make the Apple Filling: Rinse & peel your apples. Dice into bite size chunks. Add all the apple filling ingredients to a medium pan over medium high heat. Cook for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring lazily the whole time. Taste around 15 minutes and finish cooking once desired tenderness is reached. Transfer apple mixture to a medium bowl to cool (this can be done at room temp or in the fridge).
Make-Ahead Tip: This can be done up to 2 days ahead. Store in a jar in the fridge.
Make the Salted Caramel Sauce: Make the Salted Caramel Sauce according to my easy, 10-minute recipe (linked in the blue text). Let cool at room temp for 20 minutes or so, until thickened.
Make-Ahead Tip: This can be cooled at room temperature and stored in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Scoop & Chill the Dough: Scoop the dough into balls 65 grams in size, with a large cookie scoop, and place in an airtight container to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, in the freezer for 2 hours, or in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
Note: You must scoop the dough into balls before any of these chill times. If you chill the dough solid and then scoop, it'll be very difficult, and the dough will re-warm in the process. You can chill the dough for 20 mins or so to make it a little easier to roll into balls, but then start your chill time over once the dough is balled and returned to the fridge.
Make the Crumble: Make the crumble while your dough chills. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Melt the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the remaining streusel ingredients. You should have a crumbly mixture. Crumble into small pieces on a parchment-lined pan and bake for 12-14 minutes, until deep golden brown. Set aside to cool. Break up the pieces further, as desired, while it cools, with a metal spatula.
Make-Ahead Tip: This can be made 1-2 days ahead. Store in a container at room temp, or in the freezer for 1-2 months.
Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 365° 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 in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place about 6 cookies on each sheet, with room for them to spread.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges should look and feel set when tapped with a fingertip, and the centers will be puffy and look just the tiniest bit underdone. They will set up as they cool. Let rest on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes, then press an indent into the centers with the back of a tablespoon. Let cool a few more minutes on the cookie sheet, then, once they feel sturdy enough, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble Cookies: Spoon apple pie filling into the cooled cookies, sprinkle on the crumble, and drizzle over the salted caramel sauce.
Serve & Store: Enjoy immediately once assembled! Store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. I don't recommend leaving them at room temp overnight because of the fresh fruit.

Notes

Apple Filling: By the time we've cooked the apple filling for so long, it really shouldn't have enough runny liquid that it needs to be thickened. However, if yours does for some reason - dissolve 1 teaspoon of corn starch in 1 teaspoon of water, and stir into the filling while it's still over medium heat. Cook, stirring for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until the juices are thickened up enough that you can spoon the filling into your cookies. Remove from heat immediately once thickened to your liking, and pour into a bowl to cool.

Nutrition