Apple Gingerbread Cakelets are chewy gingerbread cookies made with apple butter and baked in a Nordic Ware’s Apple Cakelet Pan. These adorable shaped treats fill cookie jars and care packages with spicy fall flavor.
Why you'll love this recipe
I baked some memories of fall orchard trips with Nordic Ware's Apple Cakelet pan in the form of Apple Gingerbread Cakelets.
These cakelets are firm and chewy, more like a thick cookie than a cake. They are full of gingerbread spices, with a touch of sweetness from apple butter.
These cake-like cookies are pretty adorable right out of the pan. Some are half apples with a leaf and others are cut apples with seeds. They bake to a beautiful rich golden brown.
The pan has 14 cavities. Two of the cavities are deep and round without any details. These can be used with other recipes for sandwiching two cakelets together to form a complete apple.
I didn’t use those cavities. I used the molds of cut apples with seeds inside and the molds of apple halves with leaves.
To make them extra special for Thanksgiving care packages and gift giving, I turned some of the cakelets into Golden Apples.
The concept of a Golden Apple appears in folktales from many cultures. In Norse legends, the Golden Apple is a divine food and a source of immortality. I don’t know about the immortality part, but Apple Gingerbread Cakelets do taste divine.
Making Golden Apples adds a small, easy craft project to this baking project. Two squares of gold foil candy wrappers, one on the top and one on the bottom, are pressed around the half apple cakelets to create the sparkling Golden Apples.
Instructions
This is an overview of the ingredients. The full measurements and detailed instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Fill 12 apple molds (cut apple and apple with leaves only) with dough, pressing firmly to avoid air pockets. Deep molds should be filled up to ¼” from the top. Shallow molds should be filled up to ⅛” from the top. There will be enough dough for 4 more cakes remaining.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- To wrap in foil to create Golden Apples, wrap the bottom, flat surface of the cakelet first, bringing any extra foil up toward the upper rounded surface of the apple.
Tips for creating golden apples
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- When wrapping cakelets in foil, don’t worry about wrinkles. It’s nearly impossible to apply the foil without wrinkles, and the added texture looks lovely.
- If using two 4” x 4” foil squares, like I did, wrap the bottom of the cakelet first, set the cakelet on a flat surface and lay the second foil square on top of the cakelet. Holding the foil in place, use a fingertip to rub over the leaf first to emphasize the leaf edges and veins. Then press the rest of the top foil into place.
Baking tips
- I use Musselmans Apple Butter which already contains spices, so only ½ teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon is used. If your apple butter doesn’t contain spices, you may need to adjust the amount of spices added to the dough.
- The individual molds on the Nordic Ware Apple Cakelet Pan hold varying amounts of dough. Rather than providing an exact amount of dough to use for each cakelet, my suggestion is that the deep molds be filled up to ¼” from the top edge and that the more shallow molds be filled up to ⅛” from the top edge. The deep molds need to be filled a little more so that all of the cakelets bake evenly.
- Be sure to press the dough firmly into each mold to minimize air bubbles and maximize the leaf and seed details on the cakelets.
I had so much fun baking with the cakelet pan. The Nordic Ware Apple Cakelet Pan is part of Nordic Ware’s Fall Harvest collection.
The heavyduty, cast aluminum pan has a beautiful sparkly copper colored finish. For this recipe, the pan did not require any greasing. Every one of my little cakelets popped out of the mold with one tap on the counter.
These cookie-cakes are an memorable care package treat and would also be a show stopper dessert for any fall gathering!
Related recipes
I hope you have enjoyed the many recipes that are part of #AppleWeek. The Monday Box contributed Apple Gingerbread Cakelets, Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies and Apple Cherry Jam Cookies.
Caramel Apple Cookies are soft, chewy cookies made with apple butter and topped with soft caramel icing.
Banana Pudding Cookies are thick, chewy, and bursting with fruity banana flavor.
Raspberry Rally Cookies are crunchy Girl Scout cookie copycats, a pink raspberry cookie coated in chocolate.
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies are buttery cookies that will melt in your mouth.
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple butter
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars.
- Mix in apple butter, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and flour, until a dough forms.
- Fill 12 apple molds (cut apple and apple with leaves only) with dough, pressing firmly to avoid air pockets. Deep molds should be filled up to ¼” from the top. Shallow molds should be filled up to ⅛” from the top. There will be enough dough for 4 more cakelets remaining.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cakelets to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan.
- To remove the cakelets, turn the pan over on countertop. Tap the pan on the countertop to release the cakelets. If any of the cakelets remain in the mold, use the tip of a butter knife to loosen and remove the cakelet.
- Place the cakelets on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Use the remaining dough to fill 4 cakelet molds and bake just like the first pan of cakelets.
- To wrap cakelets in foil to create Golden Apples
- Wrap the bottom, flat surface of the cakelet first, bringing any extra foil up toward the upper rounded surface of the apple.
- Set the cakelet on a flat surface and lay the second foil square on top of the cakelet.
- Holding the foil in place, use a fingertip to rub over the leaf first to emphasize the leaf edges and veins. Then press the rest of the top foil into place.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Notes
- I use Musselmans Apple Butter which already contains spices, so only ½ teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon is used in Apple Gingerbread Cakelets. If your apple butter doesn’t contain spices, you may need to adjust the amount of spices added to the dough.
- The individual molds on the Nordic Ware Apple Cakelet Pan hold varying amounts of dough. Rather than providing an exact amount of dough to use for each cakelet, my suggestion is that the deep molds be filled up to ¼” from the top edge and that the more shallow molds be filled up to ⅛” from the top edge. The deep molds need to be filled a little more so that all of the cakelets bake evenly.
- Be sure to press the dough firmly into each mold to minimize air bubbles and maximize the apple leaf and seed details on the cakelets.
- When wrapping cakelets in foil, don’t worry about wrinkles. It’s nearly impossible to apply the foil without wrinkles, and the added texture looks lovely.
- If using two 4” x 4” foil squares, like I did, wrap the bottom of the cakelet first, set the cakelet on a flat surface and lay the second foil square on top of the cakelet. Holding the foil in place, use a fingertip to rub over the leaf first to emphasize the leaf edges and veins. Then press the rest of the top foil into place.
Nutrition
First Published: September 28, 2018. Last Updated: July 24, 2023. Updated for better reader experience.
Miz Helen
Your Apple Gingerbread Cakelets look adorable! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday, we have really enjoyed it. Hope you have a great day and come back soon!
Miz Helen
The Monday Box
Thank you, Miz Helen! This pan does make the cookies look adorable!
Lee MacArthur
These look great and I bet they'd be good for children's lunch boxes. Thank you for sharing.
The Monday Box
Thanks, Lee! I think these cakelets would be great for lunch boxes! They are sturdy, chewy cookies (not delicate, fluffy cake) and they travel well. Not to mention, that i think their cuteness would be the hit of the lunchroom! 🙂
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
These are awesome! What a great gift to give to your Thanksgiving hostess!! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party! Have a lovely week and hope to see you next week too!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
These look gorgeous, especially wrapped in foil! Love that pan!!!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Colleen! The shapes from Nordic Ware pans are always fun to work with. The shapes and designs make the baked goods look special. 🙂
Carlee Scharnhorst
These could not be any more adorable and the wrapped one are extra precious! It looks like I am going to have to add that pan to my wish list!
The Monday Box
Goodies baked in Nordic Ware pans always have special appeal! I've been thinking of all kinds of occasions where apple shaped cookies or cakelets would be so much fun!
Linda
I just don't need another Nordic cake pan and now I NEED this one. These are so darned cute. It would be so easy to order this. I'm going to try not to think about it. But this recipe sounds so good. Hmmmmmm!
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Saltandserenity
These are beyond cute! And I
am cursing you because I saw these Nordicware apple cake pans last fall and managed not to buy them. You have started those lustful feelings of need all over again.
I’m enjoying all these apple treats! Fun idea.