Apple pie cookies are made with a soft cinnamon pie cookie base topped with apple compote and a cinnamon crumble.
If you love the cozy flavors of homemade apple pie but want an easier dessert, these apple pie drop cookies are the perfect treat. They’re soft, buttery cookies topped with a sweet apple compote and finished with a crisp cinnamon crumble topping for all the flavors of classic apple pie in a handheld cookie.
They’re simple to make, packed with warm fall spices, and perfect for holiday baking, cookie exchanges, or anytime you’re craving an easy apple dessert.
Ingredients
- Medium Granny Smith Apples
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- White Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Large Egg
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cornstarch
- Ground Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
How to Make Apple Pie Drop Cookies
Drop Cookies
- In an electric mixer, mix butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Slowly add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop to add mounds of dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Chill the baking sheet for 1 hour. While the cookies are in the fridge, make the compote and cinnamon crumble.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Place the baking sheet directly from the fridge into the oven and bake for 11-12 minutes, until the edges are crisp and the centers are still slightly underdone. Let cool.
Apple Compote
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add finely diced apples and cook until they are softened. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Cook until it is thickened.
- Remove from heat and let cool in the refrigerator. This helps thicken it for the cookie topping.
- Once the cookies are cooled, use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to add a mound of apple compote on top of each cookie.
Cinnamon Crumble
- In a bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add dry ingredients and mix. They should form together into crumbs.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes and break up any larger pieces while continuing to stir. They should firm up.
- Let cool, then sprinkle crumble on top of apple compote.
FAQ
Granny Smith apples are the move. Their tartness balances the sweetness of the sugars, and they hold their shape when cooked instead of turning to mush. A sweeter apple, like Fuji or Honeycrisp, will work in a pinch, but the filling will be noticeably sweeter.
Yes, peeling is recommended. Apple skin does not soften the same way the flesh does, so you would end up with chewy bits of skin in your compote.
Yes. Substitute ¾ teaspoon of apple pie spice in the compote in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg. For the cookie dough, swap the ½ teaspoon cinnamon for ½ teaspoon apple pie spice.
You can in a pinch, but homemade is worth it here. Store-bought filling tends to be much sweeter, and the apple pieces are larger, which makes it harder to spoon neatly onto a small cookie. The homemade compote is finely diced and thickens to the perfect consistency for topping with all the spices.
Chilling is an important step and should not be skipped. The cold dough goes straight from the fridge into a hot 400°F oven, which is what gives these cookies their thick, mounded shape. Skipping the chill will cause them to spread flat.
The most likely culprit is skipping or shortening the chill time or butter that was too warm when you mixed the dough. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are room temperature but not glossy or greasy before you start.
Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Because of the apple compote topping, the fridge is better than the counter for keeping them fresh.
You can freeze the baked cookie bases without the toppings. Once fully cooled, store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature and add the compote and crumble fresh before serving. Freezing assembled cookies is not recommended, as the compote and crumble do not hold up well.
Recommended Recipes
- 27 Best Frosted Drop Cookies
- Apple Butter Cupcakes
- Biscoff Butter Cookies
- Boozy Apple Cider Slushies
- Caramel Apple Drop Cookies
- No-Peel Instant Pot Apple Butter
- Oatmeal Drop Cookies
- Pumpkin Chai Drop Cookies
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Drop Cookies
Apple Pie Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Drop Cookies
- ¼ cup Butter room temperature
- 3 tablespoons Cream Cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar
- ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar packed
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Apple Compote
- 2 tablespoons Butter room temperature
- 2 Medium Granny Smith Apples peeled and finely diced
- 2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons White Granulated Sugar
- ¾ teaspoon Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- pinch of Salt
Cinnamon Cumble
- ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons Butter
Instructions
Drop Cookies
- In an electric mixer, mix butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Slowly add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop to add mounds of dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Chill the baking sheet for 1 hour. While the cookies are in the fridge, make the compote and cinnamon crumble.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Place the baking sheet directly from the fridge into the oven and bake for 11-12 minutes, until the edges are crisp and the centers are still slightly underdone. Let cool.
Apple Compote
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add finely diced apples and cook until they are softened. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Cook until it is thickened.
- Remove from heat and let cool in the refrigerator. This helps thicken it for the cookie topping.
- Once the cookies are cooled, use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to add a mound of apple compote on top of each cookie.
Cinnamon Crumble
- In a bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add dry ingredients and mix. They should form together into crumbs.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking up any larger pieces as you stir. They should firm up.
- Let cool, then sprinkle crumble on top of apple compote.
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