Apple Pie Cookie

Apple Cider Syrup

• Start with a half gallon of apple cider. Add the cider into a pot set on medium high heat and reduce the apple cider down to about a cup of liquid. This will take 45-60 minutes. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Also, pay attention to the liquid because it can boil over and create a large sticky mess (you don’t need to learn from experience like myself)

Apple Caramel

• With the remaining apple cider syrup, heat until it becomes slightly thicker than a syrup consistency. Instead of just coating the back of the spoon, you should be able to use a spatula, drag a line in the pot from one side to the other and the liquid just barely come back together.

• Once it has reached that consistency, take off the heat and add 4 tablespoons of butter and mix quickly into the liquid.

• Once the butter is incorporated, add 6 ounces of heavy cream to the pot and stir quickly again.

• After this, give the caramel a taste. If you think it needs more cream, add 1 tablespoon at a time. This part is very subjective as it depends on how much you let the apple cider reduce. There is some wiggle room built into the recipe just in case your apple cider reduces differently than mine did.  

Filling

• You will need 4 tablespoons of room temperature butter. No, melted butter is not going to work in this case.

• In a bowl, add the room temperature butter, ½ cup of brown sugar, ¼ cup of apple cider syrup, and ½ a tablespoon of cinnamon into a bowl and combine.

• Once combined, line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Then place penny size drops of the butter mixture onto the tray. 

• Once all the butter is now in little droplets, place in the fridge, not freezer, for at least 2 hours or until ready to use in the dough. 

Cinnamon Apple Topping

• Dice 2 granny smith apples into small cubes, about ⅛ inch cubes.

• In a pan, add the diced apples, along with 6 tablespoons of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

• Cook this on medium heat until the sugar is melted and coats the apples, also the apples should be cooked through.

Cookie Dough

• Add 2 softened, not melted, sticks of butter to a bowl and combine it with 1 ⅓ cup of white sugar and ⅓ cup of brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy in texture.

• Next, add the 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the sugar mixture and combine.

• Once those have all combined, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1.5 teaspoons of cream of tartar to the mixture and combine.

• Next, add 3.75 cups of flour into the mixture and combine.

• Now, take the apple cider butter droplets out of the fridge and while they are still cold, add them directly to the cookie dough and mix until the droplets are even combined.

• To bake the cookies, shape them into 1 inch balls and roll in a cinnamon sugar mixture (⅓ of a cup of white sugar and 1.5 tablespoons of cinnamon). 

• Next, place the coated cookie dough balls on a sheet tray about 3 inches apart and place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.**

• Once the cookies have cooled, add about a tablespoon of the caramel apples and drizzle on about a teaspoon of the apple cider caramel. 
  

**Here’s a trick that is not needed, but I used for this recipe.

• When the cookies come out of the oven, immediately place them on a flat surface, like a counter, and take a cup and place the open side over the cookie and then gently but quickly move the cup in a circular motion to shape the warm cookie.**

This just helps the cookies have a nice circular shape, and helps prevent the edges from becoming too thin and crispy. With this recipe, there will be some cookies that spread too much because it may have more of the butter droplets in it than another cookie will. This will cause the mixture to essentially melt and spread a lot. It will look like a mistake, but if you do this trick, it will save the cookie. And if it doesn’t, you have something to snack on!

This recipe will take about 4 hours in total. Yes it takes a long time, however there are 5 components to these cookies, and every component makes the cookies that much better.