Soft, chewy browned butter cookies with just the right crisp edges filled with bites of creamy white chocolate and apple pie spices. These white chocolate apple butter cookies are the fusion of apple pie, snickerdoodles, and a classic chocolate chip cookie that will disappear as fast as they come out of the oven!
I'm not usually one to yell, but please, if you do ONE thing this fall season...bake these cookies. Like right now. Get in the kitchen and start browning the butter because these cookies are addictingly good.
There's a lot to unpack in just one cookie, but here's the highlight reel:- crisp edges
- chewy centers
- no chill batter
- toasty browned butter
- sweet, jammy apple butter
- creamy white chocolate
- dusting of sugary apple pie spices
- optional caramel drizzle and salt flake sprinkle
Besides all the beautiful, sweet, fall flavors going on in this cookie the texture is really what brings it home for me. The edges are just the right amount of crisp and the cookie is melt in your mouth chewy and soft. And if you opt-in for the caramel drizzle you've got some gooey texture going on too. Oh man, it's just so dang good.
I tested a batch of these cookies while my parents were over and my mom requested the recipe before the post was ready. These are can't wait for it good. So let's get on with cookie making!
How to make apple butter cookies
If you want some apple butter cookies, you're going to need some apple butter. It's super simple to make homemade apple butter or you can hit the easy button and just buy it at the store. It's usually in with the jams and jellies.
You also need to brown some butter. That toasty browned milk fat adds some but subtle goodness to a cookie!
Do you have to brown the butter?
No, they'll still be tasty. But, they'll be tastier with browned butter. Once the milk fats are browned, transfer the hot butter to a small bowl and store in the freezer for about 10 minutes. You want the butter to be cool, not hot, or too cold to beat.
Then we make cookies! Whip that butter, add the apple butter, egg, vanilla, mix in the dry ingredients then it's time for chocolate!
But, wait, there's one last step! We're going to take a page out of the snickerdoodle book and roll the scooped cookie dough in an apple pie spiced sugar before baking.
Now we get to the extras....
GIMME THAT CARAMEL DRIZZLE
Caramel is the way to my heart 100% of the time, followed by pasta but that's a different recipe. So I'm throwing the option to make these apple butter cookies more like caramel apples.
Simple caramels melted with a little cream or whip up some salted caramel sauce. Use a spoon or a small spatula and drizzle over those fresh-baked bites!
Go ahead and sprinkle those salt flakes if ya got 'em or just dive right into Autumn cookie nirvana.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating and comment below! Don't forget to post a picture of your homemade treats on Pinterest for everyone to see!
White Chocolate Apple Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup apple butter (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 egg (at room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped white chocolate
Spiced Sugar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
Optional Caramel Drizzle:
- ½ cup caramel melts
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Brown the butter. In a small sauté or saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. The milk fats in the butter will begin to darken, about 3 to 5 minutes. As the butter cooks, it will start to foam, about 2 to 3 minutes, use a spatula or wooden spoon to drag through the butter to check the color. Once the milk fats are a rich brown color and the butter is foamy, remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Store in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the browned butter and unsalted butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until combined and fluffy. Reduced the speed to medium-low and combine the apple butter, egg, and vanilla with the batter.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat to combine, scraping down the bowl if needed. On low speed, mix in the chocolate chips and the chocolate chunks. If you want some white chocolate chunks on the top of each cookie, save about half the chopped chocolate for just before baking.
- Roll the cookies. In a small bowl combine the sugar and spices. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough, roll gently into a ball, and roll through the sugar and spice mixture. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Optional: top with leftover chopped white chocolate.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, remove the sheet tray from the oven and bang each side of the pan on the stovetop or counter and return to the oven for 4 minutes.
- Cool and drizzle. Let the cookies cool slightly and transfer to a cooling rack. Optional. Drizzle the cookies with melted caramels and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
Notes
- Butter can be browned in advanced and left out to cool or refrigerated and brought out in advance with soften.
Nutrition
Angela says
These are amazing. They are now one of the top 2 cookie recipes in my house and we are cookie snobs!
Lauren says
This makes my day!! One of my personal favorites too! Thank you!
Pamela K. says
I’m just loving my new discovery of your site!
Lauren says
thank you!!