Caramel Apple Cookies are soft, chewy cookies with brown sugar, buttery caramel, and sweet-tart apple. All of the delicious flavors of caramel apples, in cookie form.
Why you'll love this recipe
Caramel Apple Cookies will remind you of thick and chewy, frosted Crumbl cookies!
The apple flavor and soft texture come from apple butter in the dough. Apple butter is a highly concentrated apple puree that's delicious in baked goods, providing moisture and flavor.
The caramel frosting is amazing with lots of dark brown sugar and butter flavor. It's a soft frosting that firms enough for stacking and packaging.
Top the cookies with a drizzle of melted caramel and chips made from sweet tart apple bits. For best results when shipping, skip the caramel drizzle and add sprinkles instead.
These apple butter cookies maintain their soft texture for up to 7 days, making them great care package treats any time of year or make ahead sweets for holiday parties or gifts. Enjoy some, share some.
Cookie and frosting ingredients
Decorating ingredients
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cookies
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars, then mix in the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until firm.
- Scoop dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, at least 2” apart.
- Flatten each cookie dough ball into a ½" thick disc.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Bring butter, cream, and brown sugar to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioner’s sugar.
- Cool to room temperature, then add additional confectioner’s sugar, if needed, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency.
- Use a knife or spatula to spread icing on top of the cookies.
Decorating
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- Drizzle melted caramel over one cookie at a time.
- Immediately, sprinkle with bits of apple chips before the caramel cools. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Storage
Store caramel apple cookies at room temperature in an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper, for up to 7 days.
Tips
- This recipe can be made with store bought or homemade apple butter. Keep in mind that store bought apple butter contains spices and some contain additional sugar.
- If you make your own apple butter without spices, you will need to add some apple pie spice to taste for this recipe.
- Don't over bake. These cookies don't brown and their caramel color only deepens slightly. Baking beyond 10 minutes will result in dry cookies.
- Important tip for care package shipping: when shipping, I recommend skipping the caramel drizzle. Either just use frosting or add sprinkles immediately after spreading the frosting.
- If the melted caramel is too thick to drizzle, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of cream until the caramel is the desired consistency.
- For salted caramel flavor, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top of the melted caramel drizzle.
- The apple chips on top soften within a day, but are still delicious on this cookie.
Frequently asked questions
Apple butter is concentrated applesauce. When the applesauce is heated, water evaporates, intensifying the natural flavor, and the sugars caramelize.
Apple butter is sold in most major supermarkets in the jams and jellies aisle.
The apple caramel flavor comes from the combination of the apple spice cookie and the caramel icing. If you skip the icing the cookies will taste like spiced apples.
More caramel recipes
Amsterdam Caramel Cookies these award winning butter cookies are speckled with bits of crunchy homemade caramel candy. An extra special cookie for the fall season!
Melted caramel in the dough makes slice and bake Caramel Biscuits deliciously crunchy. These chocolate caramel cookies are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!
Caramel Whole Wheat Flour Cookies are chewy cookies that combine the nutty flavor of whole wheat with the creamy, sweet flavor of caramel.
For a delicious crunchy treat that tastes like Cracker Jacks, try Caramel Popcorn with Peanuts.
Caramel Chocolate Cookies are soft, chewy caramel flavored cookies speckled with chopped chocolate.
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Caramel Apple Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar dark or light
- ¼ cup apple butter spiced
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Caramel Icing
- 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed dark or light
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decorating (optional)
- 22 soft caramel candies
- ½ cup dried apple chips broken into small pieces
- 1-2 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars.
- Mix in apple butter, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and flour.
- Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.
- When ready to bake: Heat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop cookie dough with medium (2 tablespoon)cookie scoop and place at least 2” apart on prepared cookie sheets.
- Gently flatten dough balls into ½” thick discs.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, cream, and brown sugar. Stir constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon until boiling.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioner’s sugar.
- Cool the caramel mixture to room temperature, then add additional confectioner’s sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency.
- Use a knife or spatula to frost each cookie.
- If using sprinkles to decorate, add them immediately to each cookie while the frosting is wet.
- If using caramel drizzle: melt caramel candies in a small bowl in the microwave or in a double boiler. If the caramel is too thick to drizzle add 1-2 teaspoons of cream until desired consistency. Use a spoon to drizzle the caramel over the frosted cookies. Add apple chip bits immediately to each cookie after drizzling.
- Allow icing and caramel to dry completely before storing.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container, with cookie layers separated with wax paper, for up to 7 days.
Notes
- This recipe can be made with store bought or homemade apple butter. Keep in mind that store bought apple butter contains spices and some contain additional sugar.
- If you make your own apple butter without spices, you will need to add some apple pie spice to taste for this recipe.
- Don't over bake. These cookies don't brown and their caramel color only deepens slightly. Baking beyond 10 minutes will result in dry cookies.
- Important tip for care package shipping: when shipping, I recommend skipping the caramel drizzle. Either just use frosting or add sprinkles immediately after spreading the frosting.
- For salted caramel flavor, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top of the melted caramel drizzle.
- The apple chips on top soften within a day, but are still delicious on this cookie.
- For frosted cookies without caramel drizzle, double wrap pairs of cookies (with bottoms together) in plastic wrap, then place snugly in an airtight container or freezer weight ziplock bag.
- For cookies with caramel drizzle stack 2-4 cookies with wax paper squares between cookies. Wrap in plastic wrap, then stack in an airtight container or freezer weight ziplock bag.
Nutrition
First Published: November 27, 2015. Last Updated: August 10, 2023. Updated for additional information, improved photos, and better reader experience.
Lily June
Love these! I made them for Thanksgiving and they were devoured in minutes. I didn't let the icing completely cool before I put the sugar in, and it still turned out well!
Erica
I never comment on recipes, however, I cannot stop eating these cookies and needed to sing their praises! They remind me of the frosted sugar cookies from the grocery store (Publix here in Nashville) but not as cloyingly sweet. The dough didn't impart as much of the apple spice flavor but once cooked, it really came through beautifully. I ended up making my own quick/small batch apple butter (https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2018/10/small-batch-stovetop-apple-butter.html) for the cookies and also added a little to the frosting- highly recommend. Now to figure out how to ration the cookies through the week!
Sally
These cookies are delicious! However, please help. Some of these cookies have had a bitter taste to them, but it is so inconsistent. Any thoughts?
Wendy Sondov
I'm glad you are enjoying the cookies, but we need to get rid of that bitter taste! The only ingredient that could cause bitterness is the baking powder (unless your apple butter is oddly bitter). Is it possible that the baking powder didn't mix in properly? To help disperse the baking powder evenly, try whisking the baking powder and flour together before adding to the cookie dough. I hope this solves the problem!
Sandy
Made them today. Delicious! Will definitely be making them again and again.
Wendy Sondov
I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying these cookies as much as we do!
Lisa
No eggs?? Interesting.
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Lisa. No eggs. The apple butter should provide plenty of moisture and the baking powder provide the rise.
Lisa
Hello, I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but definitely going to add to my collection. I want to know what are the sprinkles you put on top of your. Name or where you purchased it from. Thank you for sharing.
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Lisa. The sprinkles on the cookies are gold colored nonpareils sprinkles. The sprinkles in the photo came from World Market, but they don't seem to carry them any more. No worries! I found the same kind on Amazon. This is an Amazon affiliate link, but you can also Google "gold nonpareil sprinkles" to see if they are available at a store near you. https://amzn.to/2R7X2KI . Happy baking! I hope you'll love the cookies and come back to leave a 5 star review!
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
Since my husband adores caramel apples, I'm fairly sure that he'll flip over these cookies!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Michelle! The apple butter in the recipe gives the cookies a real apple flavor that goes so well with the caramel icing. Treat your husband to a batch! 😉
Lisa
These cookies sound divine! Both my kids just had braces put on their teeth a month ago, much to their displeasure. We're about due for a tightening, so I'll have to make these to give them a treat afterwards (but I promise I won't tell the orthodontist!). 😀
The Monday Box
Thank you, Lisa. Though the name doesn't suggest a soft cookie, these really are a great cookie for braces. They are soft with no damaging crunch at all. The orthodontist may not be thrilled with the sugar....but no need to tell! 😉