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These Apple Butter Snickerdoodles are an easy snickerdoodle recipe made with apple butter and a warm cinnamon sugar coating. These snickerdoodles soft and chewy with a hint of apple – they’re the perfect fall cookie recipe.
This cookie recipe has been edited as of 2024 and returned to the original recipe created in 2012.
Are you guys apple butter lovers? Apple butter wasn’t ever really on my radar until a few years ago. It is the perfect fall treat and it tastes so good in these cookies. Apple Butter Snickerdoodles are another perfect fall cookie recipe; they’re soft and chewy with lots of apple and cinnamon flavor.
Ingredients Needed
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is the perfect ingredient to add sweetness to this recipe, and it helps make the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Flour: I always use All-Purpose Flour
- Cinnamon: This fall spice is a must in any fall cookie recipe.
- Apple Butter: You can use homemade or a jar (found in the peanut butter aisle).
- Butter: I used unsalted butter that’s been softened.
How to make Apple Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Whisk dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy.
- Mix in eggs, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and apple butter. Beat just until mixed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just blended together. Chill dough in a large bowl or it will be too soft to scoop.
- Preheat oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Scoop balls of cookie dough and roll them in cinnamon sugar.
- Place cookie dough balls on your prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies until they lose their glossy sheen and are puffed and perfect.
Expert Tips
- The dough MUST be chilled. With the butter and the apple butter, if you bake a warm dough you’re going to get flat cookies. If you like flat cookies, go for it. But if you want a puffy cookie, please follow the chilling instructions.
- The apple butter is more of an underlying flavor – when you take a bite you’re hit with the warm cinnamon and then the slight apple flavor totally hits you.
Storage
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. You can also freeze the baked and cooled cookies.
Apple Butter Snickerdoodles Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup Apple Butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
For the topping:
- ⅓ cup (67g) granualted sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and 1 ¼ cups sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, vanilla, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and apple butter.
- Beat just until mixed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just blended together. Chill your dough at least 2 hours.
- This dough MUST be cold before baking. Because of all the butter and apple butter, the cookies will spread quite a bit if you skip the chilling!
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment or a silpat baking mat.
- Place 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ⅓ cup sugar in a small bowl.
- Scoop balls of cookie dough (mine were done using a 1 or 2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
- Place on your cookie sheet. I recommend only scooping 2 cookie sheets at a time, then re-chill the dough for while those two trays bake.
- Bake cookies for 11-15 minutes or until they're no longer glossy and light golden around the edges. Cool at least 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.
These didnโt work for me. I made two separate batches. The first batch seemed like it would work out perfectly because the dough was not sticky at all and formed perfect little balls. However, the cookies did not come out like a snickerdoodle, but cakey and more like a scone. The second batch of dough was very sticky, even after adding flour to at the end. These ones turned out even cakier. The flavor is delicious, but not quite like the cookie I was hoping for.
I loved the idea of these fall flavored snickerdoodle cookies. The batter was nothing like the consistency of my traditional recipe, even after 6 hours in the fridge. It was far too sticky and I had to add another cup of flour, and it was still sticky. The cookies were tasty, but not quite what I was expecting.
Followed recipe as written. Although the flavor is good, the apple is not super prominent. And they were a little dry. A good recipe but next time would cook a little less time. We like them a little gooier.
Is it supposed to be a Tablespoon of vanilla?? Or just a teaspoon?
It can be either – in the old days I’d use a tablespoon because I loved using lots of vanilla. As prices have increased I’ve started just using a teaspoon!
I noticed almond flour leaves a different texture. Did I ruin the cookies?
I do not bake with almond flour so I wouldn’t know.
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