Apple Oatmeal Cookies
These thick and soft apple oatmeal cookies are guaranteed to be your new favorite cookie for fall. These cookies are perfectly spiced and incredibly easy to make too!
When it comes to cookies, one of my favorites would have to be oatmeal cookies. There’s something so comforting about biting into one that they’re almost impossible to resist. So today I wanted to share a fall inspired version with this apple oatmeal cookie recipe!
Why You Will Love These Cookies
- They’re super soft and delicious
- You get chunks of apples in every bite
- There’s no dough chilling required
- These cookies are made with simple ingredients
Not only are these cookies incredibly easy to make, but they taste incredible too. I’m also sharing everything you need to know for how to freeze this cookie dough and change up the recipe to make it your own!
How To Make Apple Oatmeal Cookies
To make these cookies, you’ll start by whisking together some flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Then, stir in some old-fashioned rolled oats. Set the mixture aside and prepare the wet ingredients.
For the wet ingredients, you’ll mix together a stick of butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for one to two minutes or until they’re well combined. Then, you’ll mix in a room temperature egg and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. I suggest stopping and scraping down your bowl, then mixing again to ensure that all of the wet ingredients are well combined.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix the two together until just combined. Then, just peel, core, and chop a medium apple into bite-sized pieces (about 1 cup) and mix in into your cookie dough.
Once the dough is ready, scoop it onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. I prefer to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for these cookies because it’s the perfect size. The cookies will take about 12 to 15 minutes in the oven, you will know they are done when the tops of the cookies look set.
I prefer to let my cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before I transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. But let’s be honest, these cookies are really delicious while they’re still warm too!
Freezing Instructions
I get a lot of questions about whether or not it’s okay to freeze the cookie dough or baked cookies since these have chopped apples in them. These answer is yes!
How To Freeze The Cookie Dough:
Once the cookie dough is ready, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and scoop the cookie dough onto it. Slightly flatten each ball of cookie dough, then place the baking sheet with the cookie dough in the freezer. Once the dough is frozen, store it in a freezer bag or container in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake the cookie dough, you can bake it from frozen and just add 1 to 2 extra minutes of baking time if needed.
How To Freeze The Baked Cookies:
Once the cookies have cooled completely, store the cookies in a freezer bag. For extra reassurance that they don’t stick to each other, you can place a piece of parchment paper between each layer of cookies. When you’re ready to enjoy the cookies, place them on the counter for a few hours and allow them to come to room temperature.
Recipe Variations
While these apple oatmeal cookies are fantastic just the way that they are, there are a few ways that you can change them up! Here are some of my favorite variations:
- Make sandwich cookies and use my homemade vanilla buttercream frosting in the center
- Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cinnamon baking chips to the cookie dough
- Once the cookies have cooled completely top them with a maple cinnamon glaze
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, make sure to spoon and level it into your measuring cup. Too much flour can lead to super thick cookies that won’t spread very much in the oven.
- Any kind of baking apple is fine in these cookies! My favorite options are Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Granny Smith.
- I suggest peeling and coring your apple first, then chopping it into smaller bite-sized pieces.
- Don’t have any nutmeg on hand? You can omit it from the recipe or replace it with another 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Keep in mind that the chopped apples add moisture to these cookies, so they’re best eaten the same day you make them. However, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
More Cookie Recipes To Try!
- Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Lemon Cookies
- Monster Cookies
- Classic No-Bake Cookies
Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 3/4 cups (175 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 grams) chopped apple
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Stir in the old-fashioned rolled oats and set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until fully combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract, making sure to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped apple until fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop balls of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Great recipe! Thank you for sharing it. I added a half cup each of chopped pecans and raisins and they turned out great. Thanks, again.
These are amazing with a brown butter frosting glob on top!! Must try! Soooo delicious!
easy to make and super delicious, especially when they are still warm
can you use irish oats instead of old-fashioned oats?
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe.
Hello, if I wanted to double or triple this recipe do I just double or tripal all ingredients or do I have to modify some in some way?
You can just double or triple all of the ingredients.
My family actually found these cookies quite dry. If I make these again, I will try using quick cooking oats instead of regular rolled oats.
Quick oats will just make them even more dry. If you made sure to spoon and level your flour, you can try reducing it by a couple tablespoons next time you make them.
What alternative flour can be used instead of regular flour?
You could probably use a gluten-free flour that substitutes 1:1 for all-purpose flour.
I love the flavor of these cookies but every time I make them they spread a lot when baking and come out thin and and crunchy instead of soft and cakey so I’m wondering what it is that I’m doing that makes them turn out like that?
Are you making any adjustments to the recipe?
This recipe is a 5-star launching pad that you can easily tailor to your specific tastes and dietary needs. Which is exactly what I was looking for.
For those interested: I used 1:1 gluten-free flour mix (Bob’s) and a monk fruit/allulose brown sugar (Besti) in place of these flour/sugars – no white sugar, total of 3/4 cups brown.
I also know I LOVE warm spices, so I doubled those quantities and added 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp maple extract. The result was VERY tasty. Because I peeked a few times (and due to my swaps) I let them bake for about 17 mins.
Like I said – 5 stars, because the base is easy to whip up with ingredients most folks have on hand, includes ingredient weights, and is infinitely customizable.
Is it possible to make these cookies NOT turn out cakey and have them spread and be a little more flat? Is there something I can leave out or add to make them less muffin like? I haven’t been able to find an apple cookie yet that isn’t cakey. Or should I just keep searching? Your recipe is wonderful and the cookies taste great, I just want them to be a different texture. I tried making them with fresh apples and then another time with dried apples (I saw that mentioned in the comments) but I got the same result. Is achieving a cookie like that possible? Thank you.
Hi, Gemma! The moisture in the apples is what causes them to be more cakey. If you’ve tried chopped freeze dried apples and that didn’t work, you could possibly grind them into a powder and incorporate them into the cookie dough. You would probably need to make other adjustments, like reducing the flour/oats slightly.
Very good recipe. I also added walnuts . Baking time varies they were getting very brown so only baked 10 minutes. Love them!!
Cookies were dry. In second batch, I used 3/4 c. flour instead of one and they were better. If I make them again, I may add 1/2 c. applesauce instead of reducing dry ingredients.
Hi..Great recipe… are the meant to be soft from inside & Crisp from inside?
What is the shelf life of these cookies???
Please help 😊
Because of the chopped apples, they are softer cookies. They will keep for 2 to 3 days at room temperature.
I’ve had such a craving for apple oatmeal cookies and these hit the spot perfectly! I used more apple (2 small ones) and less oats (~1 cup, because that’s all I had). Will definitely be making again! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Was wondering if frozen apples work and if so do I thaw them first or put the in frozen
I think that would be fine. I would thaw them first and make sure to get rid of any excess liquid after they’ve thawed.
These are the perfect fall cookie! I used a small ice cream scoop to make them a bit bigger and put a divot in the top with half of a Wurthers soft caramel before baking…so good! I’ll use more spices next time though; I’d like them just a tad more cinnamon-y. I’ll definitely be making these again!
What if I don’t have brown sugar? Would the cookie turn out good with just white sugar?
You do need brown sugar for this recipe. Do you have any molasses on hand? If so, you could use that and some white sugar to make your own. I have a post on how to do that here.
My cookie scoops aren’t measured in American tablespoon sizes. I’m from a different country and cookie scoops here are only labelled “small” “medium” “large”. How many grams of dough is 1.5 tablespoon? Is it 24 small cookies or large ones (75g+ raw dough each)? I have a small household so I’d like to know whether I need to half this recipe or if I can leave it as-is and scoop into larger balls.
They’re small-medium sized cookies, it’s about 25 to 30 grams of cookie dough.
Soft and delicious!
I would love to know the nutrition information on this recipe as I am making for someone with diabetis. Thank you!
Hi, Susan! I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
Best cookies I’ve ever made hands down, perfect texture and absolutely delicious.
Had apples for a while and didn’t want to waste and wanted something simple to make. Husband was hinting for homemade cookies. Saw your recipe which seemed simple. Easy to follow and did they taste great. I used coconut brown sugar just to cut calories. Plus aing dd walnuts . Thanks for tell everyone about your recipe
Lovely cookies, they don’t spread so I’d suggest flattening them a bit (pending the size you make them). I added walnuts to some, delicious. I also did some without apples but added dark chocolate chips, came out amazing as well. Will definitely make again ?