Apple Pie Cookies Baked Until the Edges Set

Apple Pie Cookies Baked Until the Edges Set is filed under Apples and built around apple peeled & diced into small pieces, light brown sugar not packed, and fresh lemon juice. Plan on 13 cookies.

Count on 40 minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cooking, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

For the Filling

• 1 ¼ cups apple peeled & diced into small pieces, ~1 granny smith apple
• ¼ cup light brown sugar not packed
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

For the cookies

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour fluffed, scooped & leveled
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup unsalted butter cold but pliable
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crumble

• 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

How the cooking goes

Prepare the apple pie filling

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples. They need to be small, about a 1 cm square, to fit the filling into the cookies.
2. Blend the apples, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Stir to coat evenly. Taste and adjust sugar, lemon juice, or spices as necessary.
3. Add the cornstarch then stir to coat evenly. Starting on a low heat, gently cook the apples until they begin to release their juices.
4. Once the apples are cooking in their own sauce, increase the heat to medium and heat it until it boils. Continue to cook over medium-low or medium heat, stirring often, until the apples have softened slightly and the sauce has thickened.
5. Tip the mixture onto a large plate or rimmed sheet pan and refrigerate until it is cool. This increased surface area will cool the filling more quickly.

Make the cookie dough

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (conventional, without a fan). Line two sheet pans with baking paper and set them aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Keep it to one side.
3. In the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, continue to soften the butter, if necessary.
4. Put the granulated sugar and light brown sugar to the butter in the electric mixer and mix on medium-low until a smooth paste forms. Scrape down the sides and the paddle, then mix again.
5. Put the egg and vanilla extract and mix on medium until lightened.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, one large scoop at a time. You typically use the spatula to do this. You add the next scoop as the last one has almost incorporated.
7. Portion using a ¼ cup cookie scoop and place directly onto sheet pan lined with parchments, about 2 inches apart. Roll into balls and use the back of a round tablespoon measure or a smaller cookie scoop or melon baller (a flashback to the 1970s) to press an indentation into the top of each ball.
8. Set in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the cookies.

Make the Crumble

1. Blend the flour, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and melted butter in a small mixing bowl, and stir with a fork until all the ingredients are equally moistened. They should hold together and then break into crumbles when squeezed in your hand.

Assemble & bake the cookies

1. Portion the filling into the center of each cookie dough ball. Scoop mostly apples, adding just enough sauce to moisten.
2. Top with some of the crumble, try to press it in a little. The cookie dough should still be soft, which will make that easier.
3. Oven-bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the edges are a deep gold. The warmer the cookie dough is when baked, the more the cookies will spread.
4. Cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool until it is no longer warm.

After it comes off the heat

Cool the sheet on a rack before the pieces are stacked. A covered tin keeps them for a few days.

If you want another plate from Apples, open French Apple Cake Baked Until the Center Springs Back and Apple Pie in a Pastry Shell.