These thick, soft, and chewy apple oatmeal cookies are guaranteed to be your new favorite cookie for fall!
Do you ever have those days where you feel like nothing is working in your favor? I think I can honestly say that I felt this way this past weekend. I went to the store early to get some groceries and got to work in the kitchen testing recipes. After a few failed recipe attempts, I was about to throw in the towel when I saw a few apples and a container of oats sitting on my kitchen counter.
My mind immediately went back to the delicious Apple Spice Whoopie Pies my friend Michelle posted and these Cinnamon Caramel Apple Cookies another friend Jess posted. I immediately knew that an apple oatmeal cookie had to happen and immediately.
I quickly gathered some oatmeal cookie ingredients and made a batch, then tossed in some chopped apple. Once these came out of the oven, I felt like I finally had a winning recipe. But once I took a bite of the cookies? I immediately knew I had a winning recipe!
I won’t admit how many cookies I actually ate, but lets just say I had to take the rest to work to get them out of the house as quickly as possible. The verdict? Everyone else loved them too!
Just like some of my other cookie recipes, I let the dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Not only does it make the dough a bit easier to work with, but the cookies also bake up thicker too.
I usually bake most of my cookies for about 10 minutes, but I found that these need to bake just a bit longer (mine were perfect right at 13 minutes). But no worries about over baking these, the chopped apple in these cookies helps to keep them super soft for several days!
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
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cup (175 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 medium apple (120 grams) peeled, cored, and chopped into small pieces
Instructions
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In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla, making sure to mix well after each ingredient.
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Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in the oats, then the chopped apple until fully combined.
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Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silipat mat.
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Remove the dough from the refrigerator and scoop two tablespoon sized pieces of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
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Baked at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Notes
Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2-3 days.
I believe that anyone, even beginners, can bake amazing desserts!
Danielle, you and your site are now my best friend! I made these a couple weeks ago and ever since then I’ve had nothing but those apple cookies on my mind! I’m making them again right now! I found an apple I want to use called a Sweetie Apple! I’m so excited to make them and top them with a Browned butter frosting…oooohhhh…it’s heaven! I ate more of the last batch then all 3 of my kids…combined!! Thank you for ALL these perfected yummy treats you have infused with your time, energy, and love! As my husband always says..you can tell when it’s made with love! Thank you a million times over! You’re amazing!
Stephanie, thank you so much for the kind comment! I appreciate this SO much! And now I think I need to go make another batch of these cookies and some browned butter frosting to go on them because that sounds incredible!
Hi. 🙂 I made these last night and am having some right now with my coffee. Mine aren’t as pretty as in your pictures, but they taste delicious. I’ll certainly make them again.
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Julie. As long as they taste delicious, that’s all that matters! 🙂
Do these need to be refrigerated after cooking? I wasn’t sure with the apples. And are they supposed to come out on the softer side when done?
I usually just store them on the counter, they’ll keep for 2-3 days. But you can certainly refrigerate them if you like! And they are on the softer side because of the apples in them 🙂
Hello! I’m looking to make these in a few days for a housewarming party, and I’m super excited about it! I do plan to double the recipe for the number of people that will be there. My question is, what should be considered a medium size apple? I have an extra large (395 g) apple, but I want to make sure I’m not adding too much or too little.
Thank you for your lovely blog post and recipe!
Hi, Kierra! I weighed a few of my medium sized apples (with the peel and core) and they were about 180-200 grams. When I do peel, core, and chop them I usually end up with about 1 cup. So if you’re doubling this recipe it would probably be okay to use the whole apple you have, since it’s about twice the size of mine. Hope your housewarming party goes well!
Made these sometime last year, and was craving them again this weekend. Whipped up a batch (with the help of my sidekick-toddler) and they were a hit yet again! Used honeycrisp apples (our favorite!) and everyone at the office wanted the recipe. Perfect texture and just enough sweet that isn’t overwhelming.
Love that you made these with your toddler, Jen! I’m so glad you liked the cookies too 🙂
Greetings from the sunny south coast of England! I have just made these – delicious! Maybe it was something in my translation from cups to weight, etc, but the dough ended up a little tight, so I added another egg and some milk. They taste fabulous – chewy and gorgeous. I also drizzled them with a sugar glaze, as I had some icing sugar in the cupboard. Many thanks for the recipe – will certainly be doing them again.
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Susannah! The sugar glaze sounds like a great touch!
Hi! Thank you so much for this recipe. Made them last night and they were soo good =)
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Mara! 🙂
Hi, does it matter if I skip on the nutmeg?! I don’t have any!
That will be fine, Mary!
The perfect complement to these is a drizzle of brown butter icing. Amazing cookies!
Love the idea of using some brown butter icing on these cookies, Vanessa! So glad you liked the cookies too! 🙂
Just made these to welcome autumn in our home! They’re delish!!! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
So glad you liked the cookies, Anna! Definitely a great way to welcome fall 🙂
Went apple picking a few weeks ago and still have a few left so I wanted to bake some kind of cookie using apples. I just whipped this up in 15 minutes let sit in the fridge while oven preheated. Already on my 4th cookie! Hopefully there are still some left for my kid when she gets home from school! Absolutely delicious!! Thank you!
That’s so wonderful to hear, Megan! So glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
Thanks for this receipe, absolutely delicious. Wanted to do something different with the apples we got from the farm. Will definitely make these again.
So glad you liked the cookies! These are one of my favorites!
These are delicious! I doubled it, left out the granulated sugar (wasn’t sure what that was) and added another apple. Almost left out half the butter too, but caught that just before adding the oats. Quickly creamed some up and stirred it into the mixture.
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies, Maddy! Granulated sugar is just another term for regular white sugar 🙂
These were very good! I was searching for a recipe that used fresh apples instead of dried, and called for ingredients that you always have on hand. These were so easy and I love that you get a little morsel of fresh apple with each bite. They baked up perfectly, following your recipe as written, no substitutions! I had some caramel topping on hand and drizzled a teaspoon or so on the top of each cookie after they cooled. Caramel apple cookies. They were pretty amazing. 🙂
Caramel is always a great idea, Tina! I’m glad you liked the cookies!
Just in case anyone thought about trying the caramel idea, please note that the drizzled cookies were good for the first few hours, then the caramel topping soaked into the cookie. 🙁 They still tasted good, but they were rather sticky! Next time I’m going to make a caramel glaze to drizzle over them.
Oh no! You could try mixing the caramel with some powdered sugar and that should help it set up as more of a glaze.
Made these cookies today. Saw cinnamon chips at the store, and threw them in. These cookies are awesome!!!! This is a keeper. Thanks.
Cinnamon chips are a great idea, Karyn! I’m glad you liked the cookies!
Sorry *can I add raisins in this too?
That would be fine! I would start with 1/2 cup and then add more if needed.
Thank you!
I thought that I saw alternative ingredients for gluten free apple oatmeal cookies. Could you please email or post those ingredients. The cookies are so good and make a great breakfast cookie. A friend needs gluten free for her daughter who loves cookies. Thank you so much. My grandchildren love these cookies
Hi, Sandy. I’m so glad your grandchildren loved the cookies! I don’t have much experience with gluten-free baking, so I can’t really give any suggestions for substitutions. You may be able to use gluten-free flour and oats, but I haven’t tried it before so it’s hard to say how they will turn out.
Yum! These sound great!
Thank you, Stephanie!
I made this recipe yesterday and I was not overly impressed. Although my wife toughly enjoyed them. I thought them to be lacking in apple, cinnamon and oatmeal flavor. They were also too fluffy, like a cake. If I were to use this recipe again I would definitely tweak it so it would not rise as much. I realized after making this recipe I prefer flatter and crisper oatmeal cookies. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t like the cookies as much, Arlo. The moisture in the apples is what makes these cookies softer and gives them a slightly cakier texture. I haven’t tried it yet, but you may be able to use freeze-dried apple pieces to get the apple flavor but keep the flatter, crispier cookie.
Oh my! Made these and they turned out exactly like the ones pictured. They are absolutely delicious!!! I used ruby frost apples. Next time I am going to try using white whole wheat flour and a little less sugar to make them a tad healthier so I can feel less guilty eating four of them at a time, lol.
I’m glad you liked the cookies, Katy! I haven’t tried ruby frost apples yet, I’ll have to keep an eye out for them! I think white whole wheat flour would be fine and you can reduce the sugar by 2-3 tablespoons too next time if you like.
Got my gf to make these and they were awesome. Used two honey crisp apples, may add some apple pie spice next time and leave our apples little more coarse. But great recipe. Thanks.
Apple pie spice would work great in these cookies, David! I’m glad you liked them.
I have never written to comment on anything but after making these cookies I just had to say thank you. I followed the recipe exactly and can say these are the best cookies I have ever had. I am not much of a baker and was browsing for something easy to make with ingredients I had on hand. I’m so happy I came across this recipe. Everyone loves them. Kudos!
Thank you, Chris! I’m glad you liked the cookies!
These are truly delicious! My 3 year old son woke me up wanting to bake and his choice was apple cookies. I googled and found your recipe first and am so glad we chose it. Next time I make them I’ll be turning some into ice cream sandwiches with a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two. They taste like, if not better than, apple crumble. Yum!!
How fun to bake these cookies with your son, Christin! I love the idea of turning these into ice cream sandwiches too. The cookies are kind of soft, so I think they would work perfectly!
OMG these are amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked the cookies, Colette!
These cookies are delicious! They were a big hit with my three kids and at the get together we brought them to.
So happy to hear that, Rebecca! This is one of my favorite cookie recipes 🙂
can you leave the peel on the apple?
That would be fine! I just prefer the pieces of apples without the peel in these cookies, but it would still be fine to leave it.
Would these freeze ok? Hoping to make a batch in advance of when I need them. Looks delicious!
Yes, you can thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or on the counter until they come to room temperature.
I just made these and HOLY MOLY they are good! I’m not much of a baker, but if you tasted these you’d have no idea. Thank you thank you!
So glad you liked the cookies, Katie!
Juts found this recipe, I too am in the South Of England where we have had a bumper crop of apples this year, so was looking for recipes to help me use them all up. Like a previous user I too needed to add extra egg as the dough was too dry, I think she’s right, its in the translation. I’ll take her advice and add a little milk next time too. Love this recipe, would be interested to know the average nutrition per cookie?? (especially carbs and sugar)
Hi, Lindy! I’m glad you liked the cookies! It may just be because of the difference in the size of the eggs, but the cookie dough certainly shouldn’t be dry. I’m not sure on the nutrition, but you can plug it into an online calculator to get an estimate.