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These Apple Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and full of tart apple bits! They make the perfect after school snack or lunchbox treat!
If a cookie could be cozy, this would be the one. Warm cinnamon combined with nutty brown sugar, soft Granny Smith apples for a little bite, and comforting oats make for a cookie you want to eat. Whether it’s an after school or after work snack, or a midnight snack, there’s something about the flavor of an apple oatmeal cookie that is so comforting!
The Best Oats to Use
When you are in the grocery store looking for oats for your cookies, choose either rolled oats or old fashioned oats. These are the best choice because they give a really nice chewy texture to the cookie as well as hold their oat shape nicely during the cooking process. An oat like quick oats can start to dissolve and act more like an oat flour, not giving your the chewiness that you are looking for.
Freezing Apple Oatmeal Cookies
These cookies freeze really well! The method to do so is simple. Wait for the cookies to cool completely to room temperature, and then place them in a Ziploc bag. Push all the air out of the bag, this helps to make sure ice crystals don’t form, zip up your bag, and freeze.
How to Make Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- To begin, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or electric mixer, blend butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients- all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add this dry mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend well.
- Now you can mix in the oats.
- Peel and finely dice the apple. You should get about 1 cup of apple pieces. Stir the apple pieces into the cookie dough.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. No need for a cookie scoop.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browning on the edges of the cookies. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
While there are a lot of good apples out there like Gala, Fuji, and Honeycrisp apples, we like Granny Smith because they are slightly sour and offset the sweetness of the cookies. The apples mentioned above are already very sweet and would overwhelm the cookie with sweetness.
Any other dried fruit like raisins, cried cherries, dried apricots, or dried blueberries would be great. You could also try different types of chocolate chips such as butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and dark chocolate chips.
If you use a mix-in other than apples, just bake for 10 minutes instead of 12.
Choose either rolled oats or old fashioned oats. These are the best choice because they give a really nice chewy texture to the cookie as well as hold their oat shape nicely during the cooking process.
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More Cookie & Brownie Recipes
Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats or rolled oats
- 1 Granny Smith apple
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or electric mixer, blend butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add this dry mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend well. Mix in the oats.
- Peel and finely dice the apple. You should get about 1 cup of apple pieces.
- Stir the apple pieces into the dough.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place evenly on a lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browning on the edges of the cookies. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Notes
- The cookies will look a little unbaked on the top when they come out, but they will continue to cook on the pan.
- This oatmeal cookie recipe is a great base for other mix-ins like butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, or raisins. If you use a mix-in other than apples, just bake for 10 minutes instead of 12.
- These cookies freeze really well! Just place the baked and cooled cookies in a freezer bag or airtight container.
I followed this recipe as written. They did not bake well. They were very flat, good flavor… I am going to use them for topping on a apple crisp or crumble and press as a pie crust.
Sorry this didn’t work at as you had hoped– we will try to investigate and see what that could have happened with your cookies, Have you tested your oven lately to make sure it heats evenly and at the correct temperatures?
Turned out great. I added raisins too! Yum
Raisins are perfect for this one. 🙂
Wish I would have read the comments – these turned out very flat and sticky. Probably too much butter/not enough flour? Not sure. The taste is good.. but they are very ugly.
We are going to re-test this recipe. I’m sorry you didn’t get good results. Thank you for letting us know!
Great cookies! These came out nice and soft. Highly recommend.
My cookies flattened out a lot and couldn’t even taste the apple. Taste was good I was just hoping for more apple.
So disappointed. There is too much butter I think? They spread out and ended up sticky and almost lace like. It didn’t say to chill the dough which may have helped. Just not sure what the problem was/is.
Substitute 1/2 cup peanut butter for 1/2 cup butter
Substitute white & dark sugar – only 1 cup and add 1 cup raisins
it was sooooo good like slay
They were a little wet so I added more flour and ground flax. They had a good taste.