These soft and chewy apple butter cookies are the perfect Fall treat, and the best part is you don't have to wait for the dough to chill before baking them!
About These Easy Chewy Apple Cookies
These chewy apple butter cookies are now a family favorite after I adapted my snickerdoodle cookie recipe to use up apple butter I had in my fridge. After spending weeks making, re-making and adjusting measurements for these cookies, I have found the perfect recipe for apple butter cookies that do not need to be chilled and still stay soft, moist, chewy and lofty and they have an amazing crisp cinnamon sugar outside.
These cookies will not spread much at all and the flavor is incredible. The best part is the apple butter gives all the delicious flavor to these cookies.
As with all things, good quality ingredients are key to a really good cookie especially with the apple butter. So make sure to buy an apple butter that tastes like Fall with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg and even a touch of clove.
Aside from that, these cookies are easy and you only need to mix the ingredients, scoop and bake. You will love these once you try them.
Ingredients And Substitutions
- All-purpose flour
- Apple butter: Use a good quality brand or homemade apple butter.
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature. I use unsalted butter so I can control how much salt is in the cookies.
- Kosher salt: The salt elevates the sweet and buttery flavors.
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar: This helps with the chewy texture.
- Vanilla Extract
- Large egg: At room temperature.
- Cream of tarter: If you are in a pinch and do not have this, you can substitute baking powder. To do this, leave out the cream of tarter and leave out the baking soda and use baking powder in their place.
- Baking soda
How To Make Apple Butter Cookies
- Mix Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tarter.
- Cream: In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla and egg by mixing on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer until creamy then mix in the apple butter until well combines.
- Combine: Combine the creamy apple butter mixture with the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
- Scoop: With a medium cookie scoop, scoop out the dough then add it to a small bowl of cinnamon and sugar and coat all sides. Place on a lined baking sheet making sure they are about 1 inch apart.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes or until they are a golden brown all over.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely since they will firm up some during cooling.
Recipe Tips & Storing
- Do Not Chill: These are no chill cookies and they stay nice and thick without chilling. If you do chill them they will stay round after baking (I tried it!)
- Stir that apple butter: Apple butter when stored can develop water on top from the liquid rising to the top. Make sure to stir the apple butter well before measuring it out for baking.
- Making the dough ahead of time: If you want to make the dough ahead of time, scoop the dough on to a baking sheet then freeze or refrigerate. When you are ready to use the dough, place the frozen or chilled dough on a cookie sheet on the counter and allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking.
- Storing: These cookies will stay nice and chewy for as long as they last, which usually in my house is about 4 hours (or up to one week). Store them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh.
- Make the cookies smaller: This recipe makes a pretty good sized cookie. If you prefer them smaller, go ahead and do that. Just make sure you adjust the baking time down accordingly.
- Bring all ingredients to room temperature: Making sure all of the ingredients (butter and egg) are room temperature is important to ensure the cookies bake correctly.
- Using a good quality butter: Lately, I have noticed that some brands of butter have been increasing their water content. This creates baked goods that spread too much or do not set up properly. Make sure to use a good quality butter. It doesn't need to be a high fat content European butter, just butter that is creamy and that you have used in baking with good results.
Recipe Faqs
No. Apple butter is made from apples and spices that have been slow cooked until creamy and thick.
Apple butter should be thick and spreadable.
Apple butter is made with fresh apples and spices that are cooked for a long period of time together until the apples are soft and spreadable.
More Apple Recipes You'll Love!
Soft And Chewy Apple Butter Cookies (No Chill!)
Equipment
- medium cookie scoop about a 2 tablespoon scoop
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoon of All-purpose flour
- 1 Large egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup Apple butter stirred well and try to use an apple butter with Fall spices in it (cinnamon, clove, allspice). See note below!
- ⅛ cup plus one teaspoon brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract optional
- ¾ teaspoon Cream of tarter
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt If using regular table salt, make sure to half the amount.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt then set aside.1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoon of All-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon Cream of tarter, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- In a separate large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer, add butter and both sugars and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, ⅛ cup plus one teaspoon brown sugar
- Now add vanilla, apple butter and the egg and mix until combined.1 Large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ cup Apple butter
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until it comes together.
- Add parchment paper to a baking sheet. If you do not have this, just omit this step.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or a ⅛ measuring cup, scoop out the dough then add it to a small bowl of cinnamon and sugar and coat all sides. Place on a lined baking sheet making sure they are about 1 inch apart.½ cup Granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- Do this with all of the cookie dough until it is all used up.
- Bake cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until golden brown all over.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. They will firm up while cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Patricia D Adams says
What kind of apple butter do you use? Sugar free? Some come with cinnamon and other spices. So which should we use?
Melissa says
Hi Patricia. The brands vary by store but the one I use is called Essenhaus. It has cinnamon, clove and allspice in it. I would look for an apple butter with spices that you like since that will be the flavor coming through in the cookies 🙂
Meg says
Thank you for sharing this recipe