Apple butter cookies are the fall cookie you didn't know you were missing. Regular snickerdoodle-style cookies are great, but they can feel a little plain when you're craving something with more depth. These fix that by folding thick, concentrated apple butter right into the dough so every bite is warmly spiced, soft, and packed with that rich, caramelized apple flavor.
The apple butter gets cooked down with a little cornstarch first, which is the move that makes these so good. It thickens into a paste so it stays swirled through the dough instead of melting away in the oven. You get visible pockets of apple butter in every cookie!
These are the kind of cookies that make your whole house smell like fall the second they hit the oven. If you love baking with warm fall flavors, my apple cider caramel thumbprint cookies need to be on your list too.
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Why We Love It!
- Real apple butter flavor - Cooking the apple butter down with cornstarch keeps it thick and visible in the dough, so you actually taste it in every bite instead of it baking away. The flavors intensify the longer they sit!
- Soft and chewy centers - These cookies come out of the oven with that perfect soft, almost doughy center that stays that way even after they cool (and even days later).
- Cinnamon sugar finish - Instead of rolling these in cinnamon sugar before baking (we don't want to smoosh the swirls), it gets sprinkled on top straight out of the oven so it clings to the warm cookie perfectly.
Ingredients
- Apple butter. The star of the show! Use a thick, deeply flavored apple butter - I used Musselman's for this recipe which is widely available in most stores.
- Cornstarch. This gets cooked with the apple butter to thicken it into a paste. It's the step that keeps the apple butter visible and flavorful in the finished cookie.
- Cream of tartar. This is what gives you that snickerdoodle-esque vibe. It gives the cookies a slight tang and that signature soft, chewy texture. Don't skip it.
- Butter. Needs to be room temperature so it creams up properly. Not sure what that means exactly? My room temperature butter guide breaks it down!
- Two sugars. Granulated for the base, brown sugar for extra depth and chew.
- Cinnamon. A bit mixed into the dough, and used in the finishing sugar for that classic fall flavor.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap apple butter for pumpkin butter for a fun seasonal variation.
- Add ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or ginger to the dough itself for extra spice.
- Mix a little cardamom or nutmeg into the cinnamon sugar topping for a chai-spiced finish.
- Add a pinch of flaky sea salt on top right after the cinnamon sugar while the cookies are still hot.
- Make them jumbo by using a 3-tablespoon scoop and adding 3-4 minutes to the bake time.
📸 Step By Step Overview
This is a quick visual overview. See the recipe card for full, detailed instructions.
- Step 1: Mix together the apple butter, cornstarch, and water and cook until considerably thicker.
- Step 2: Transfer to a plate and cool in the fridge while you make the dough.
- Step 3: Cream together the butter, sugars, and vanilla for a few minutes.
- Step 4: Add the egg and mix to combine.
- Step 5: Add the dry ingredients and mix slowly to incorporate.
- Step 6: Use a spoon or spatula to make a bunch of holes in the dough.
- Step 7: Fill the holes with spoonfuls of the cooled, thickened apple butter.
- Step 8: Gently fold the dough a few times, going from the bottom and outsides to the center.
- Step 9: Use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to create the balls of douhgh.
- Step 10: Bake, sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the tops, and cool on the pan for a few minutes.
Pro tip
Rolling vs Sprinkling
Sprinkling the cinnamon sugar while the cookies are hot means it sticks beautifully and removes the step of rolling the cookies (and further smooshing the apple butter into the dough).
Tips for Success
- Cool the cooked apple butter paste completely before adding it to the dough. If it's even slightly warm, it will soften the butter and affect the texture.
- Measure the flour with a kitchen scale or use the fluff-and-scoop method. Too much flour makes these cakey instead of soft and chewy.
- Pull the cookies when they still look underdone in the center - they finish cooking on the hot pan.
- Don't skip the round cutter trick right after baking. It takes 10 seconds and gives you that bakery-style round cookie every time.
- Be generous with the cinnamon sugar on top. Really go for it - you won't regret it!
- The dough will be softer than a standard cookie dough because of the apple butter. That's totally normal and exactly what you want.
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Testing Notes
- This recipe gave me a bit of a run for my money! I ended up testing this one a total of 5 times to get it just right.
- I really wanted to be able to just fold some uncooked apple butter right into the dough, but it just melted into the cookies too much. I tried this with both a chilled dough and unchilled dough. The flavor was there, but wasn’t the look I was going for.
- Adding the cornstarch to the apple butter to make it thicker made a HUGE difference. This prevented the apple butter from completely dissolving, kept the streaks throughout the dough, and led to a more prominent apple butter flavor overall.
- I also tried rolling the cookies through the cinnamon sugar, but because the dough is quite wet, it was difficult to do and it smooshed the apple butter streaks into the dough more than I wanted.
- The compromise to this is not rolling the dough (they bake nice and smooth anyway), and sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top after baking so it slightly melts into the dough, but still gives a bit of crunch.
Common Questions
Cooking the apple butter with cornstarch thickens it into a paste so it doesn't melt away into the dough during baking. This keeps it visible and flavorful in the finished cookie instead of disappearing.
Yes, absolutely! I like to use Musselman's brand, which is available in most stores.
Yes! The apple butter adds moisture to the dough, so it will be softer than a standard cookie dough. Scoop quickly and confidently.
You can chill the fully mixed dough for up to 24 hours in the fridge. The flavor actually deepens a little with time. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before scooping if it's very firm.
Storage
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days. The apple butter keeps them soft and moist - they're honestly sometimes even better on day two once the flavors have settled.
To freeze baked cookies, let them cool completely then layer between pieces of parchment paper in an airtight container or zip-top bag. Freeze for up to two months and thaw at room temperature.
To freeze the dough, scoop the dough balls onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and flash freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to two months. Bake straight from frozen at 350°F, adding 2-3 minutes to the bake time. Add the cinnamon sugar topping as soon as they come out of the oven!
I do the same flash freeze method for my brown butter chocolate chip cookies. It's the best way to have fresh cookies on demand whenever the mood strikes.
General Tid Bits
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
📖Recipe
Apple Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Small frying pan or sauce pot
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- 2 Large baking sheet
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ cup apple butter
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg room temperature
Cinnamon Sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the apple butter, cornstarch and water to a small pot or pan over medium heat and stir to combine. Heat until lightly bubbling and becomes a thick paste (a few minutes). Transfer to a plate and cool in the fridge.½ cup apple butter, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and set aside.1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), cream together the butter, sugars, and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy (~2 minutes) then scrape down the sides.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the egg and mix on low until combined, then scrape down the sides again.1 large egg
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until mostly combined.
- Make deep indents all over the top of the dough, then spoon in the cooled apple butter into each hole. Gently fold from the outside in (try to get down to the bottom first) and press down a bit. Don’t overmix, there should be lots of streaks!
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line two large sheet pans with parchment paper. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and scrape the excess off so it’s flush, then drop 6-8 onto each pan.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until set around the edges but still look underdone in the center. Use a round item slightly larger than the cookie to gently move it around the cookie to make it nice and round.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar generously over the tops while they’re still hot.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 1-2 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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