Filled with apple flavour, with and half-cup of applesauce and apple pie spice in the dough, these apple cider snickerdoodles are the fall season in cookie form! This makes a lot of cute small, puffy cookies, and they freeze well. Whip up a batch and keep it in the freezer for treats all season long.
These are made without cream of tartar and are adapted from Kelly's snickerdoodles without cream of tartar.
For some more sweet seasonal cookies, try these pumpkin-shaped cinnamon sugar cookies, easy walnut chocolate chip cookies, or chewy vegan ginger cookies.
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Applesauce: this should be unsweetened applesauce. You can make it yourself or buy a jar.
- Apple cider drink powder: find this in the drink aisle at the grocery store.
- Apple pie spice: make your own or buy it. Substitute cinnamon if preferred.
- Brown sugar: use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Method
Step 1: mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.
Step 2: in another bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
Step 3: add the dry ingredients to the bowl.
Step 4: mix until well combined and no streaks of flour remain. Chill the dough.
Step 5: scoop small portions of dough with a tablespoon cookie scoop.
Step 6: roll the dough balls in apple pie spice sugar.
Step 7: place on a lined baking sheet.
Step 8: bake until puffy and lightly golden, about 15 minutes.
Top Tips
- Chill before baking: these cookies spread slightly during baking. If you prefer thicker, puffier snickerdoodles like those pictured, chill the sugar-coated dough balls for at least one hour before baking.
- For crunchier cookies: if you like your cookies crunchier, you can bake them for an additional 1-2 minutes but watch carefully to prevent burning.
- Glaze them: to make glazed apple cider snickerdoodles, mix ½ cup (60 grams) sifted powdered sugar with enough apple cider to make a thick icing and drizzle it over the cooled cookies.
Recipe Notes
Don't worry if the cookie dough looks a bit curdled when you add the egg to the creamed butter and sugar mixture – it'll come back together when you add the dry ingredients. Avoid this by using a room temperature egg rather than a cold one.
How to Store
Storage: keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If chilling the dough balls to bake later, roll them in the sugar mixture before chilling, or else the sugar will not stick, only the spices.
Freezing: once cool, store them in an airtight container. The cookies will stay fresh for up to two months, and they thaw quickly once removed from the freezer.
Make ahead: to make these cookies ahead of time, you can freeze unbaked sugar-coated dough balls for up to 2 months. Bake directly from frozen. You may need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the baking time.
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Apple Cider Snickerdoodles
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Electric hand or standing mixer
- baking sheet
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup apple cider powdered drink mix
- 1 tablespoon apple pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For Rolling
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon apple pie spice in a small bowl for rolling the cookies. Set aside.¼ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, apple cider drink powder, 1 tablespoon apple pie spice, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup apple cider powdered drink mix, 1 tablespoon apple pie spice, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, beat the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and the brown sugar on high speed for one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 1 minute more.1 cup salted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the applesauce, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. The mixture may look curdled. This is normal.½ cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 large egg, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour mixture. Switch to the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Stop the mixer and stir the dough with a spatula or wooden spoon to ensure all ingredients are well combined.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough into approximately 36 balls. Roll each dough ball between your hands to smooth (the dough will feel sticky but shouldn't stick to your hands). Roll each ball in the spiced sugar mixture to coat.
- Place the coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart (about 12 cookies per sheet). Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until puffy with pale gold bottoms.
- Transfer the sheets to wire racks and cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly to the racks to cool completely. Keep in a sealed container for up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
-
- These cookies spread slightly during baking. If you prefer thicker, puffier snickerdoodles, chill the sugar-coated dough balls for at least one hour before baking.
- To make glazed apple cider snickerdoodles, mix cup (60 g) sifted powdered sugar with enough apple cider to make a thick icing and drizzle it over the cooled cookies.
- If you like your cookies crunchier, you can bake them for an additional 1-2 minutes but watch carefully to prevent burning.
- To make these cookies ahead of time, you can freeze unbaked sugar-coated dough balls for up to 2 months. Bake directly from frozen. You may need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the baking time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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GREAT COOKIES. I ALWAYS HAVE APPLIE CIDER POWDER DRINK IN THE HOUSE AND NEVER THROUGHT TO ADD TO SNICKERDOODLES.