Homemade Apple Cider Cookies are chewy and sweet made by reducing apple cider syrup on the stop for the maximum cider flavor in your cookie!
Make sure to try my Homemade Apple Cider Caramel Sauce too! It’s so good drizzled on my Apple Pie!
If there was ever a cookie that screamed fall, these Apple Cider Cookies are it! I absolutely adore how this idea that I had panned out. It took a few tries to come up with the perfect chewy, sweet, apple cookie that wasn’t cakey, but I nailed it! The trick is making apple cider syrup, simply by boiling down apple cider until it becomes a thick honey-like syrup and adding that right into the cookie dough.
What To Expect:
- What you get is a crunchy, sweet exterior, thanks to the coarse sugar you roll the dough in prior to baking, with buttery edges, and a sweet sweet apple spiced interior. The perfect combination of sugar cookie + snickerdoodle + apple cider, like an apple cider donut in cookie form!
- The apple cider syrup adds flavor and texture to this cookie. Don’t try subbing in applesauce for the cider syrup, as applesauce won’t impart the same flavor intensity, nor will it produce the same chewy cookie texture.
- The apple cider syrup is an intense flavor on its own, but when added to the cookie dough it adds a subtle apple sweetness.
Ingredients
- Butter at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Large egg
- Apple cider
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
- Ground cinnamon. You could also use Apple Pie Spice, or a combination of spices like nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon.
- All purpose flour
- Coarse sugar to coat, like Sugar in the raw. If you don’t have coarse sugar, you can also use granulated sugar in its place to coat the cookie dough. The coarse sugar just gives the exterior a slightly crunchyy texture.
How To Make Apple Cider Syrup
The apple cider syrup is the secret sauce in this recipe. It takes about an hour to make, but it’s basically a hands-off process! Here’s how:
- Pour 4 cups of apple cider into a heavy bottomed sauce pot. I like to use a small, enamel covered Dutch oven (like a Le Creuset). A heavy bottomed pot like an enamel covered cast iron pot heats evenly and isn’t prone to hot spots.
- Bring the cider to a boil over medium-low heat. As the cider begins to boil skim off the foam that forms.
- Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat if necessary. You want a low-rolling boil, not a simmer.
- Continue boiling until you have 1/3 – 1/4 cup of apple cider syrup, this can take up to 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Remove the syrup to a small bowl to cool for 30 minutes until it’s lukewarm. You will only be using 1/4 cup of this syrup.
- TIP: The mixture will thicken significantly as it cools. We want the most intense apple flavor, requiring us to boil it as much as possible while still allowing it to remain a liquid, but as it cools it can firm up. If it cools completely it will become a very thick caramel/candy that can be hard to mix into the cookie dough, which is why lukewarm temperature works best. If you want to make the syrup ahead you can reheat it and allow it to cool slightly, so it will mix into the dough easily. To reheat in the microwave heat at 20 seconds increments, stirring after each until it is the consistency of molasses or honey.
Can I Use Apple Juice Instead Of Apple Cider?
If you don’t have apple cider you can use a high quality apple juice and it will produce a similar result. I might recommend adding a cinnamon stick or two into the boiling juice to really amp up the seasonal vibes. But of course these are “apple cider cookies”, so…
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and the granulated sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes, place the additional sugar in a small bowl for later.
- Add in the egg, apple cider syrup, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix for an additional minute, until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just combined. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour. Enough time that the dough is less sticky. The warm apple syrup makes the dough a little more sticky and as that cools completely, the dough will be less sticky.
- Place the coarse sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoon) portion out the dough and roll into balls in the palm of your hand. Roll the cookie dough ball into the coarse sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet 3- inches apart.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the edges are set.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
I have some great tips for you when making not only these cookies, but all your cookie recipes!
- If the cookies are misshapen when they come out of the oven, use a spatula to form them back into perfect circles. This works only when they first come out and haven’t cooled. I do this with so many cookies if they spread funny. You’ll have bakery perfect cookies every time!
- I always bake my cookies for 1 minutes LESS than the recipe calls for to check how they are baking. Ovens can bake inconsistently and oven temperatures can vary, so checking them a little before they’re done can help prevent over or under baking!
- Rotate your pan. So many ovens can heat higher in the back than the front, so it will never hurt to rotate your pan halfway through baking.
- If you prefer an extra soft cookie, underbake for 1 – 2 minutes. The centers will still be soft, but allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Storing and Freezing
These cookies freeze and store perfectly! Store them airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days for best freshness, or alternately bake, cool, and freeze in an airtight container for up to 30 days! Thaw at room temperature.
- Butterscotch Apple Pudding Cookies
- Iced Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
- Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Apple Snickerdoodle Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Making Apple Cider Syrup: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven/Stove Top
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These chewy cinnamon spiced Apple Cider Cookies are the most perfect fall cookie!
Ingredients
- 4 cups apple cider
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup coarse sugar
Instructions
- Make the apple cider syrup: Pour 4 cups of apple cider into a heavy bottomed sauce pot.
- Bring the cider to a boil over medium-low heat. As the cider begins to boil skim off the foam that forms. Continue boiling at a low-rolling boil until you have 1/4 – 1/3 cup of apple cider syrup (*see note) this can take up 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Remove the syrup to a small bowl to cool for 15 minutes until it’s lukewarm.
- Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes, place the additional sugar in a small bowl for later.
- Add in the egg, apple cider syrup, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix for an additional minute, until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just combined. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour, just enough time to chill slightly and make the dough less sticky.
- Place the coarse sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoon) portion out the dough and roll into balls in the palm of your hand. Roll the cookie dough ball into the coarse sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet 3- inches apart.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the edges are set.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
*The reduced apple cider will thicken significantly as it cools. Achieving the most intense apple flavor requires boiling the cider down as much as possible. But as the reduced syrup cools it can firm up to a stiff gel, which can be hard to mix evenly into the dough. So I like to make sure the cider reduction is lukewarm when mixing in, ensuring it will incorporate evenly, similar to the same consistency as molasses. If you want to make the syrup ahead it it cools too much before use, you can reheat it in the microwave and allow it to cool slightly. I recommend heating it in 20 second intervals, stirring after each.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Find more recipes like this:
PIN for later:
Hey there! I was going to try making these but it looks like the grocery stores near me only sell “sparkling apple cider” at the moment. Dumb question but would this still be okay to use, or would it be better to just go with apple juice at that point?
I would use just regular apple juice!
Oh my gosh these cookies are delicious. I like to get a jump on holiday cookie baking in mid Sept and I stumbled across this recipe and by chance I had a 64oz. Bottle of Apple Cider that needed to be used, so I went to work making a double batch. I rolled them in TBSP size balls and rolled in coarse crystal sugar and laid them on a cookie sheet and placed in freezer, I will divide them up tomorrow and put them in sealed bags for the freezer, decided to bake a couple since this is a new recipe for me and again soooooo good..
So glad you love these!
King Arthur sells bottled “Boiled Cider.” Can this be used?
YES! I just saw that for the first time a few weeks ago and had no idea. Great substitution!
I haven’t finished the recipe yet. I have boiled the cider. I didn’t know this was a thing and I love trying new cooking techniques. But I didn’t see the calories, fat, or sugar content. My husband has to shed 20 lbs. But I still occasionally like to make him cookies. Thanks.
Great cookie recipe!!! Hubby LOVED cookies!! But it takes a long time to get the syrup. had to make these in 3 stages. I made the dough without the syrup and the flour one day. The next day, made the syrup, added to dough, and added the flour. Then refrigerated that dough until the next day. Then actually baked the cookies the next day.
Are these shelf stable? For how long if so?
Totally awesome
Worth the effort! Made a double-batch this evening, and they are tasty. Lots of authentic apple flavor. I used silpats instead of parchment, and rolled in a cinnamon sugar mix instead of straight sugar. And my oven needed 11 minutes to get center done. But they are wonderful! To make the syrup, I brought cider to 210 degrees and set my timer every ten minutes to whisk while reducing. Took two hours almost on the dot. Thank you for another terrific recipe!
So glad you made them and thanks for sharing your experience!