I’m a big fan of snickerdoodles, and I’m always looking for ways to make generic recipes a little more seasonal. It’s autumn, which means apples, apple cider, and all that other apple goodness. It also means cinnamon. Apple, cinnamon, a classic combination, but what about apple-cinnamon snickerdoodles?
I had a few options to try to make these. I have fresh apples I could have used, but getting fresh fruit to come through in a dough like this without messing up the texture is tricky. I could have used cider — and I still might, next time I pick some up — but I didn’t have any on hand. What I do have, though, is apple butter.
Apple butter, as it turns out, works great for this kind of purpose. It’s basically apple sauce that has been cooked down and thickened, almost like a jam but thinner. Since it’s so concentrated, it has a ton of apple flavor, while still being a great dough ingredient that won’t mess with your consistency too much.
My one word of warning with this recipe is that the cookie dough is very sticky. It’s one of those doughs you really need to chill before you try to work with it, because when it warms up, it’s really tricky to handle. I recommend handling it in batches for that reason.
It also tends to puff up a lot. I flattened out some to see how they turned out, but they still rose quite a bit. On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about them spreading out and running into each other! They’re very cake-like in that respect. They turned out great, so I highly recommend giving it a try!
Apple Butter Snickerdoodles
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Rubber Spatula
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 3 Cups Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ Cup Butter Softened
- 1¼ Cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup Apple Butter
- ½ Tsp Cinnamon
For the Topping
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Then add one egg and mix well.
- Add the second egg, vanilla, and apple butter, mixing to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until it comes together. Warning: it will be a very soft and sticky dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or cover the bowl and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours to make it easier to handle.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix up the cinnamon-sugar topping in a shallow tray to roll dough balls in.
- Use a spoon or scoop, separate the dough into one tablespoon balls. Roll these up and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar topping to coat.
- Place each dough ball on your baking sheet and press with a spoon or other flat-ish object to flatten them out. They'll puff up during baking.
- Bake each batch for about 12 minutes. When done, let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling.