With cinnamon and nutmeg, these delicious Apple Cookies with Butterscotch have all the seasonal fall flavors you love. Made from scratch, these cake-like, soft cookies are decadent and a great dessert for sharing with friends and family for Thanksgiving and beyond.
I vividly remember when my mom used to make these Apple Cookies with Butterscotch for us as kids. They smelled SO good and we knew they tasted even better.
They're super soft, more cake-y than crispy, and full of butterscotch flavor. Fall is the perfect time to make these! If you've never tried Apple Butterscotch Cookies you don't even know what you're missing!
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I consider this a family recipe even though I am certain we did not create it. I don't come from a family of bakers, but rather a family that enjoys a GOOD dessert.
This recipe has been made by my mom for years and is one she passed on to me when I moved out. It's always a crowd-pleaser and one that people will ask you for the recipe.
The combination of the apples and butterscotch chips makes these cookies the perfect fall treat. Put them out at your holiday gatherings and see what I mean. Cookie mayhem!
NOTE: As I am not a trained baker I want to call out a note about the final baked cookies. These are very soft. And they do crumble and fall apart very easily.
There is probably something that can be tweaked in the recipe to make them a little sturdier. I just don't know what that is. The flavor is THE BEST! but the texture is not the best.
If you know what to do to make it better, please do that! I love easy desserts but I'm definitely not an expert baker!
Ingredients
These cookies are really easy to make which is good because otherwise, I'd never make them. You make a simple cookie batter and then include a few key ingredients to make them next level.
These cookies have all the flavors of fall including nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. This recipe also calls for brown sugar which adds even more flavor.
I used Honeycrisp apples since those are my favorite. I think they taste amazing but if you feel like you want to swap it out for another type, by all means, be my guest. I've also used Red Delicious apples and they were also delish.
And here is probably the biggest tip I can give you about making this cookie recipe: DO NOT open the bag of butterscotch chips too early or you will eat them all and you won't have any left for the cookies.
Not like that has really happened or anything... (hangs head in shame).
I usually add more than 6 oz. of the chips because the bag comes with more. My cookies tend to be borderline on Butterscotch Cookies with Apple due to my chips to apple ratio...
Directions
In a medium sized bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Mix well and set aside.
The cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves smell so good. Feel free to leave out a spice if you don't love it.
In a larger mixing bowl, cream brown sugar and butter with a hand mixer (or stand mixer).
Then add eggs and milk and beat well.
Beat half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until incorporated. Then add the other half and mix well.
Stir in chopped apples and butterscotch chips to the cookie batter and mix it up.
You can see in the photo above how large I left the apples. I like nice, big chunks in my cookies. But you can absolutely cut them smaller if you prefer it.
Also, the apples are peeled. The skin would become chewy and we don't want that.
This is where you would also add the walnuts if using (see my FAQs!)
Drop the batter on to cookie sheets. I used parchment paper but you could also use a Silpat sheet if you have one.
The cookies do spread a bit so be sure to space them out and not overcrowd your pan.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
I added a little bit of Maldon sea salt to some of the cookies before baking. I love that sweet and salty combo in my desserts.
Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet immediately and let them cool on cooling racks.
The original recipe says it makes 4 dozen cookies. I got about 2 dozen from the recipe. This could also be why they fall apart. If I made them smaller, they wouldn't crumble as much, I think.
I think the apples have extra moisture that helps to keep the cookies moist but also means they don't last as long once baked.
My 11 year old ate one of these cookies and said, "These taste like Christmas!!!" Which is funny, because they are one of my go-to holiday cookies. But also the spices...
If you love these warm, seasonal spices like I do you may also want to make my Nutmeg Cake.
I stored these cookies in an air-tight container and they were great for a day or two. After that, they started to get even more crumbly. I'm not a quitter so I ate all of them, but to ensure freshness, I would only keep them for a few days.
These Butterscotch Apple Cookies are best served fresh. And unfortunately, they don't travel well.
After reading this post back, these cookies sound super flawed. But the flavor more than makes up for it. They are that tasty!
Give them a try this year and let me know what you think!
Frequently Asked Questions
The original recipe also calls for walnuts but because we have a nut allergy in our house, we usually leave out all nuts. So feel free to add them back in!
If you're having trouble getting hold of them white chocolate chips would be a good substitute I think. Or you could use a mix of both which would also be delicious.
A few more easy recipes you might also enjoy!
- Best Butterscotch Cookies with Walnuts
- Healthy Greek Yogurt Dip for Fruit
- Best Slow Cooker Apple Dump Cake
- Cinnamon Apple Dip
- How To Make Microwave Applesauce
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Apple Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar and butter with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Add eggs and milk; beat well.
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl.
- Add ½ the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finish with the second half and mix until combined.
- Stir in apples, butterscotch chips and walnuts, if using.
- Drop by tablespoon on well-greased baking sheets (or use parchment).
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove from baking sheets immediately; cool on racks.
- Makes about 4 dozen cookies (or 2 dozen if you made ginormous cookies like I did).
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 19, 2012, and has now been updated with updated links, and more information and instructions!
Rahkia says
I made these and used the batter to make muffins instead of cookies and they turned out delicious!
Deb says
Sept. 2021 WOW WOW WOW THANK YOU From a lifelong 40+ years love cooking and baking I just made these APPLE/Butterscotch cookies and must write to say these are "out of this world delicious" and all time BEST EVER cookies. I refrigerated the dough mix overnight. I used Parchment Paper on the baking sheets. The taste of these cookies is so superb and the baked texture perfecto! Thank you Sharon G. I will follow your recipes
Sharon Garofalow says
So glad you love them! I really need to make a batch of these soon!
MARY says
This Is Why You Should Chill Cookie Dough | Taste of Homehttps://www.tasteofhome.com › ... › Baking
Jul 8, 2019 — Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you ...
Sharon Garofalow says
Thank you for this tip! I'll have to try that. I usually skip recipes that have extra steps like that because I'm lazy, but these cookies are worth it!
Raja Aisyah says
I made these today. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar normally, I melted the butter and used evaporated milk instead of regular milk. It turned out like a cross between a cookie and a cake. Haha. I liked it tho :) thanks for the recipe!
Sharon Garofalow says
Interesting swap outs! The cookie/cake combo doesn't sound half bad!
robin says
hi- could NOT find my recipe - BUT did find yours. very similar- i think it is the same- except for aplle juice..... however-- with mine i somehow melted some butterscotch and made a drizzle from that..... the drizzle made it very sweet but very excellent.... half with the drizzle and half w/o went out on the table.... n-e way- in a hurry--- just wanted to say a big THANKS!!
Sharon Garofalow says
Oh my gosh that drizzle sounds amazing!!! I will have to try that!