These chewy Caramel Apple Pie Snickerdoodle Cookies combine the warm flavors of fall with a chewy cookie base, topped with apple pie filling, a cheesecake center, icing glaze, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. The cookies are rolled in a fall spice sugar coating for extra flavor before baking.
Ingredients
- 225 g (2-3 large) apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced (Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or both)
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- 18 g (1½ Tbsp) light brown sugar
- 18 g (1½ Tbsp) granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- Pinch of salt (about ⅛ tsp)
- 30 ml (⅛ cup) fresh apple cider, plus more as needed
- Slurry: 6 g (2 tsp) cornstarch + 10 ml (2 tsp) fresh apple cider
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 8 g (½ Tbsp) salted butter
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 210 g (1¾ cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 g (½ tsp) baking soda
- 4 g (1¼ tsp) cream of tartar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp salt
- 142 g (10 Tbsp) salted butter, softened
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 22 g (1½ Tbsp) salted butter, cubed
- 45 ml (3 Tbsp) heavy cream, room temperature
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 113 g (½ brick / 4 oz) full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature (68–72°F)
- 30 g (¼ cup) powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt (about ⅛ tsp)
- 40 g (⅓ cup) powdered sugar
- 15-30 ml (1-2 Tbsp) heavy cream
Apple Pie Filling
Sugar Spice Coating
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Salted Caramel Sauce
Cheesecake Filling
Cream Glaze (optional)
Instructions
Apple Pie Filling
Mix apples, lemon juice, sugars, spices, and salt in a small saucepan. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Add ⅛ cup apple cider and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more cider if needed.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry, cooking for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. Cool completely before topping cookies.
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Mix all sugar spice coating ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla, beating on low until well combined, about 30 seconds.
Gently fold in dry ingredients with a spatula to form a soft dough.
Roll dough into 2-Tbsp balls, coat in spice sugar mixture, and chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, lightly covered with plastic wrap.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place chilled dough balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake for 6-9 minutes, until edges are golden and the top is soft. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, press a small indentation into each cookie with a spoon or thumb, and transfer to a wire rack to cool fully, about 1 hour.
Salted Caramel Sauce
Melt sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. The sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick amber-colored liquid, anywhere from 6-12 minutes. Be careful not to burn it or it will have a bitter taste.
Add butter, stirring until combined, then slowly drizzle in heavy cream. Boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat, stir in salt, and let cool for 10 minutes before using.
Cheesecake Filling
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium-high until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
Cream Glaze (optional)
Mix powdered sugar and cream until smooth and pourable. The glaze should be thick but pourable. Adjust with more cream or powdered sugar as needed. Set aside.
Assembly
Pipe or spoon about 2-4 tsp of cheesecake filling into the cookie indentations, depending on the size of each cookie.
Spoon apple pie filling on top of the cheesecake.
Drizzle with cream glaze and caramel sauce.
Cover and chill cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving to firm up. (optional)
Notes
- Serving: 16-18 cookies with 2-Tbsp scoop, or 10-12 large cookies using a 3-Tbsp scoop.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Apple Cider Substitute: Use apple juice or water, though the flavor will be milder.
- Cheesecake: If you like your cheesecake a little sweeter, increase the powdered sugar to 40 g (⅓ cup) total. If you’d like to omit all together, these cookies are still awesome with just the apple pie filling.
- Overmixing: Overmixing the butter can cause the cookie to be cakey rather than chewy. Overmixing the batter can cause them to be dense.
- Chilling: Chilling dough ensures the cookies hold their shape during baking.
- Caramel: You can use premade caramel to save time.
- Cream Glaze: You can substitute the heavy cream for milk, but add a bit less since it tends to thin out the glaze faster than heavy cream.
- Sugar Coating: You’ll have some leftover spice sugar but can be stored tightly covered for a few months. We’ve tried halving the recipe, but it’s always just shy of what’s needed. Leftovers can be added to coffee (with a spoonful of pumpkin puree!) or sprinkled on toast or oatmeal.
- Doneness: The cookies should be just set around the edges but soft on the top to remain chewy. They will continue to set as they cool.
- Test Cookie: Bake one cookie first to check oven temp and dough consistency before baking the full batch. If your cookie spreads, it's likely they either need more chilling, or your oven temperature is too hot/cold (check with an oven thermometer).
Happy baking! ❤️
Emma & Eric
@birchberryco Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies 🍎🍃🍁 (Say that 10x fast) These snickerdoodle cookies are topped with glaze, salted caramel, cinnamon, and apple pie and cheesecake fillings, making it the best of Fall apple desserts! For the full recipe click Recipes on our site Birchberryco.com (link in bio!) Let us know how it goes!! 🤍 #applepiecookies #fallbaking #baking #bakingrecipe #bakingtherapy #baketok #aesthetic #asmr #cottagecore ♬ original sound - Ally Rendall
