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
I made these cookies today, they turned out so good. I followed every step as mentioned and I am so proud and so thankful to you.
So delicious and so easy! My family gobbled them right up!
These cookies are so delicious and easy to make. 1 medium-large granny smith was all it took to get 1 cup of chopped apple, in case anyone was wondering. Also I used 1/2 up coconut oil instead of butter and got great results. The cookies did keep the shape straight out of the scoop so for the second batch I pressed them down a bit before baking.
The cookies had good flavor, but were so soft that they easily fell apart. They always were quite flat and I know that the butter was the right temperature, as I measured it. I baked them on the shorter time, perhaps if I had baked them for another minute or two, they would have been firmer.
Sorry you had trouble with the cookies, Dianne. If you made sure to measure all of the ingredients correctly, you can try chilling the dough for 30 minutes to an hour and that should help them bake up thicker. Every oven is different too, so if you make them again, try baking them for 2 to 3 more minutes and hopefully that will help them hold together better.
These were AMAZING! Thank you so much for this recipe. Such a great twist on an oatmeal cookie.
Yummm. Delicious and came out great.
These cookies are my go-to for so many situations!!
Everyone I’ve shared them with, loves them! It’s a very California-friendly recipe! Cookies with fresh fruit!? How could you go wrong?
I love them because they’re so reliable and flexible.
My favorite way to make them is to freeze the dough in a log, then overbake thin slices until they’re crispy 😃
But they’re delicious when they’re soft, when they’re crispy on the bottom and soft on top; they’re delicious as big cookies and they’re delicious as mini cookies too!
These cookies are the recipe that made me a fan of your site!
🙂🙏❤️
Thank you, Eve! So happy you loved the cookies!
I’m allergic to eggs. Would this recipe work with egg replacer?
I haven’t tried it, but if you’ve had success using egg replacer in other cookies then it may be okay in this recipe.
Hey, I was wondering if the temperature in celsius is for a fan oven or a regular oven? I would also like to thank you for including the measurements in grams as well as in cups, I’m from the UK and literally never use cups for measuring 😋
It’s for a regular oven, for a convection oven you can bake them at 325°F (163°C).
I just made this recipe and it turned out amazing! I love the crispy edges and the hint of nutmeg, it’s a simple and wonderful baking project. The only thing I changed was that I only used 25 g granulated sugar and next time I might omit it altogether, but it’s safe to say that I’m adding this recipe to my favorites. Thank you 🙂
Just made these cookies. They are lovely. Stuck to the recipe, i just added a splash of oat soya milk because I thought the mixture was a bit dry, but I think they would have been fine without it.
Love them. Will definitely make them again.
These were super easy to make!
However, mine did turn out a bit dry – I don’t know whether I used too little butter or if I left them in the oven for too long.
They still tasted so delicious though! 🙂
WOW!!! These are SO good! I used the apples from my Grandma’s apple tree – it was delicious! When I gave them to my Grandparents, my Grandpa said, “This is the best cookie I’ve had in years!” And he’s had a lot of cookies! This recipe is DEFINITELY a keeper, thanks!!! -Ben
I made these today and this will be a recipe I will be repeating. They are so so delicious.
I guess I made mine bigger as I only got 16, but they were all uniform and came out perfectly.
Easy to follow the instructions.
Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!!!
I only have quick rolling oats instead of old fashioned. Can I still make this recipe?
Thanks!
Yes, you can use an equal amount of quick oats.
I had to write another review because my hubby raved about these cookies! (He used to like a certain brand of oatmeal apple cookie – and he said these reminded him of them.) And I tasted them for breakfast (I KNOW you’ve heard of breakfast cookies – and with oatmeal and apples…) and ate two! (Yeah, I know.)
Mine turned out puffy and cakey (maybe b/c I halved the recipe but left the whole egg in?). But they had good flavor plus right amount of sugar and spices. A raw flour taste I detected shortly taking them out of the oven dissipated.
I just made these and I have to say that it was such a simple and delicious recipe! I’m definitely making these as one of my Thanksgiving Day desserts (the list keeps growing). Now on to making your Baked Apple Cider Donuts. Thank you for always making easy to follow recipes! 🙂
Love your oatmeal-raisin recipe and will try this today but I have a newbie question. Do you core the apple before slicing/dicing and do you remove the skin? Thanks in advance….
JR Gordon
Yes, I peel the apple and core it before dicing it.
I made these cookies according the recipe as printed to the letter. They turned out exactly as pictured! I will make them again – they tasted great and had a nice texture. I do think I will cut the cinnamon in half and cut my apples into smaller pieces.
I will also add this was not a quick recipe, but well worth it in the end.