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Apple Cider Doughnut Cookies, all the flavors we love most in apple cider, but in a yummy cookie instead! Homemade chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter, a mix of warming autumn spices, sweet brown sugar, apple butter, and oats. A classic cookie made better with the addition of apples, spices, and, of course, plenty of melty chocolate. These cookies are finished off with a light dusting of cinnamon-sugar for a sweet cinnamony bite. The perfect fall cookie.
If there’s one cookie you need to make this fall, I do think it’s these. They’re kind of like fall, baked up into a super sweet cookie. Such a delicious treat as the weather begins to cool off.
Ever since September first hit, I’ve wanted to make my favorite apple cider doughnuts. I’ve been craving those warm, sweet fall flavors for a while now. Since I’ve already shared my go-to baked apple cider doughnut recipe with you all, I wanted to share something new.
I was stumped for a while. Other than a muffin, which was just not exciting me, I was not sure what to create. But when I had the idea for a cookie, it sounded so fun, and, of course, really good.
I love to use apple butter in cookies, I swear it’s the secret to a great fall cookie.
To make these I used my homemade apple butter and added a mix of warm spices. Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and even some all-spice. These are the spices commonly found in chai and what I often use when making homemade cider.
Adding them to these cookies makes them perfectly spiced!
Here are the steps for the perfect fall cookie
Step 1: brown the butter
As with a lot of my cookie recipes, start with browning the butter. I like to use a medium skillet and brown both sticks of butter over medium heat. Then simply let the butter cook until it bubbles up and foams on top. This is when I turn the heat off and continue to allow the butter to cook in the pan.
Little brown bits will form on the bottom of the pan. Those are the nutty little bits that will make your recipes extra delicious. Especially with the oats. I found the pairing to be really special.
Step 2: mix in the wet ingredients
When the butter has browned, the rest goes pretty much as you would think. You can use a mixer, but a good old-fashioned spatula will do the trick too. Mix the butter with brown sugar, apple butter, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
While I love using my recipe for apple butter, I understand that time does not always allow for that. So store-bought is great too!
Step 3: mix in the dry ingredients
Add flour, oats, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all-spice, and a pinch of salt to the bowl with all of the wet ingredients.
Then mix, mix, mix, and fold in chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or a combination! I like to use both!
Step 4: let the dough sit, then bake
Next, let the dough sit and hang out for 10 minutes. As dough sits, it will stiffen up and be easier to form into cookies.
Once the dough has chilled out, roll it into dough balls and bake away!
Step 5: cinnamon sugar
While the cookies bake, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Then when the cookies come out of the oven, you can sprinkle each with cinnamon-sugar to make these just like a cinnamon-sugar coated doughnut.
So heavenly. I’m telling you all, you will love every bite! So simple, and so delicious. It’s hard to beat a great fall flavored chocolate chip cookie – these are pretty special!
Looking for more sweet fall recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Chai Spiced Maple Sugar Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cider Doughnut Holes
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Lastly, if you make these Apple Cider Doughnut Cookies be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Apple Cider Doughnut Cookies
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 224 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/3 cup apple butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool 5 minutes or so.3. To the brown butter, mix in the brown sugar, maple syrup, apple butter, eggs, and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the flour, oats, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold in the chocolate. Let the dough sit and set up, about 10 minutes. 4. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon-size balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the dough down. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, rotate, and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten. Bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges.5. Mix the cinnamon and sugar. Brush each cookie very lightly with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Eat warm (highly recommended) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Ok, i made these with cinnamon chips instead of chocolate, and they were amazing! Such a great fall cookie!
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you’re having a lovely week! xT
These cookies were delicious! My teenage son and his friends ate almost all of them after coming inside after playing basketball on a chilly evening. Fall was in the air and these cookies tasted like everything you would want them to. My daughter who does not eat oatmeal cookies even loved them. I made your maple apple butter recipe the day before and used this for the cookies. Thank you for another perfect recipe!!
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you’re having a lovely week! xT
I made these without the chocolate and they were AMAZING! Bonus that your house smells incredible by the time they’re done. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you’re having a lovely week! xT
These cookies are delicious! I will definitely make these again. Thank you.
Thank you sooo much for trying out the recipe! xT
I made these cookies yesterday and was very underwhelmed 🙁 All I could taste was the browned butter and then chocolate. I was expecting the spices to be rich and to taste the apple butter more than I did. If I were to make them again, I would add more spice, less butter (skip the butter on the top), and less chocolate.
Hey, I’m so sorry these cookies weren’t enjoyed! Thanks for the feedback!
Our verdict is delicious, but next time we will skip the chocolate chips and instead add chopped apple.
Chopped apple would be a great addition! xT
Delicious!!!
Thank you Kate! xT
I made the base recipe as written with a few tweaks for my taste. I used only cinnamon and ginger for the spices and I reduced the vanilla slightly and added a half-teaspoon of maple extract. I wanted to emphasize that flavor. I chopped up dried apples (to make about 1-1/3 cups) and used that with about 1/3 cup slivered almonds instead of chocolate. I adore chocolate but I wanted these to be about apple and maple.
I am not fond of excessively buttery things so l didn’t dip them in butter. Instead, I just dipped the warm cookies in cinnamon sugar.
I did refrigerate the dough before baking.
They were a huge hit and I will make them again
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Hope you’re having a lovely weekend! 🙂 xT
I made these cookies yesterday and they are delicious, such a great autumnal recipe. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Hope you’re having a lovely weekend! 🙂 xT
I really love apple and pumpkin recipes but more recipes with plums and pears for autumn please please please 🙏🏼🧡
Thank you for the feedback! Love this suggestion! xT
I’m going to bake these this weekend. Would oat flour be ok to swap out for the all purpose flour? Or would it change the texture?
Hey Robyn! I haven’t ever tried out this recipe with oat flour so I can’t say for sure! xT
Super delicious! Wanted a change from all the pumpkin flavored treats and these were amazing. The dough is very wet after mixing so I was a little worried that they would spread everywhere, but they actually held their shape well. I also wasn’t sure about adding the chocolate chips either (thought they would be way too sweet) but they work perfectly!
Go ahead and give them a try! They are worth it.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Hope you’re having a lovely weekend! 🙂 xT
Loved the cookies, we needed a little taste of fall, after a long hot summer in the CA desert. I changed a couple of things 1. I cut the chocolate in half and 2. I toasted some chopped pecans sprinkled them on top of the cookies then the melted butter and cinnamon sugar. They are a hit. Thanks ps. Next time I’m thinking of cutting some of the oatmeal and using some grated apples
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have an awesome weekend! xT
Just a question on the added spices, my store bought Apple butter is seasoned already, do I still add the addition spices, especially all that cinnamon? You use your homemade butter, is it already seasoned too?
Hi Joan! Yes, you still add the additional spices! You can decrease the cinnamon if you don’t want a ton of cinnamon in it! My homemade apple butter is also already seasoned with spices. 🙂 xT
I substituted cinnamon chips for the chocolate chips! These were fantastic warm, waiting for them to cool down.
Could I suggest a gram measurement for cookie size be added? I started portioning with a T scoop and quickly figured it was much too small, would have made 100 cookies. I increased to a #30 and still ended up with 3 dozen
Oooh yummy! Thank you for letting me know! xT
That sounds like a perfect swap!!!