Autumn is my favorite season of the year. Not just because the temperatures are now getting cooler, but also because it contains some of my favorite smells and flavors! Pumpkins, apples, warm baking spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger.
Don't get me started on the smell of autumn leaves and that beautiful crispness in the air!! Yep, I am officially a girl who just loves autumn!
To celebrate the first day of Autumn, I decided to bake some of my favorite cookies, Applesauce Cookies. Oh I do so love a good applesauce cookie or cake! Don't you?
This recipe is a small batch recipe and makes only 18 delicious cookies. I got the recipe from the cookbook by Debbie G Harman entitled, Cooking for Two, a collection of quick and easy recipes sized just for two.
I love this book and have had it for quite a while. Published in 2007 by Covenant Communications. All of the recipes in the book are pretty basic for the most part and sized for the smaller family. They use simple ingredients and methods.
It is filled with charming illustrations and script. I think it would make a great gift for a young couple just starting out and it is the perfect book for a set of empty nesters or singletons who don't want complicated food or cooking in their lives on a day to day basis!
The applesauce cookie recipe was one which I had flagged for quite a while now. I love anything applesauce, especially cookies and cakes! Autumn is the perfect time to enjoy them!
These are soft and cake-like moist cookies, crisp around the edges and studded throughout with plenty of toasted pecan nuts and sticky sweet raisins. Nicely spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon and cloves for a lovely warmth. The glaze is my own addition.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE APPLESAUCE COOKIES
Plain simple storecupboard and baking cupboard ingredients. There is nothing complicated or out of the ordinary here!
For the cookies:
- 1/2 cup (125g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate)
- 1 cup (140g) plain, all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 large free range egg well beaten
- chocolate chips, toasted nuts, or raisins to taste (I added 1/2 cup of toasted nuts and 1/2 cup of raisins)
For the glaze:
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter
- 2 TBS heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (45g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
You know those lunch box sized containers of applesauce? They are just the right size for this recipe. I used one container of it and it worked beautifully. Un-spiced and unsweetened.
Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature and you won't have any problems. It is easy to bring an egg to room temperature. Simply place it into a bowl of really warm (not hot) tap water. Leave for 2 to 5 minutes and the egg should be okay.
I used granulated sugar. I use the organic unbleached sugar that you can get at Costco. But you can use any granulated sugar. Its simply a personal preference for me.
I always like to toast my nuts before baking with them. Just pop them onto a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 10 minutes in a moderate (350*F/180*C) oven. Leave to cool and then use as per the recipe.
Toasted nuts just taste nuttier. You can toast them a whole bag at a time and then store them in your freezer. Its not a bad idea to store your nuts in the freezer anyways. This keeps them from going rancid and prevents waste!
You can use any kind of toasted nut. I used pecans. I did not add any chocolate chips, but you certainly can. I think regular or even white chocolate chips would be nice. Oh, and butterscotch chips? Heavenly!
HOW TO MAKE APPLESAUCE COOKIES
These are a real simple, quick and easy make. As I said the glaze was my own idea. You can leave it off entirely if you wish, but it really adds a delicious touch.
Preheat the oven to 400*F/s00*C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
Stir the baking soda into the applesauce and leave it to sit while you cream the butter, sugar and egg together. Sift the flour, cinnamon and cloves together.
Beat the applesauce mixture into the creamed mixture. Add the dry ingredients and stir well together. Fold in the nuts, raisins, etc. as desired.
Drop by heaped spoons (I used a cookie scoop) onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown on the bottom and a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean.
Leave on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes then scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, melt the butter, sugar and cream together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take off the heat. Whisk in the vanilla. Leave to cool for a few minutes before sifting in the icing sugar and cinnamon.
Using a spoon drizzle this mixture over the cookies in a decorative manner. Leave to set before serving.
Store in an airtight container with wax paper between the layers. Will keep up to 4 days, should you have them so long.
These were really lovely cookies and had a really old fashioned flair to them. They reminded me very much of the kinds of cookies that my grandmother, mother and aunts used to bake. There is nothing pretentious here!
These are the perfect cookie to enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk, or with a hot cup of tea or coffee. They would be perfect for dessert along with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream! They would also be really wonderful wrapped up in wax paper and tucked into lunches!
APPLE JACK COOKIES - Apple Jack is a type of cider that was popular during the American Colonial age. The only thing these cookies have in common with them is the name and apples. There is no cider in these cookies! Think of your favorite chocolate chip cookie . . . crisp edged, with a buttery and chewy almost caramel like texture. Studded throughout not with chocolate chips but sweet chunks of eating apple. Delicious!
APPLE CIDER DONUT WHOOPIE PIES - These Apple Cider Donut Whoopie Pies are a real favorite around here! No surprise there. The cakes are lovely and light and moist with beautiful spicy flavors. Cinnamon and nutmeg for the most part, but a touch of cloves and ground ginger. Rolled in butter and a spiced sugar after baking, once cooled they are paired together with a lush cream cheese frosting. Oh so delicious!
Yield: about 18 cookies
Applesauce Cookies
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 11 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 31 Min
These soft cake-like cookies taste just like autumn with their apple and warm baking spice flavors. The crunch of toasted pecans and the sticky sweetness of raisins add to the pleasure of eating these. I added a caramel fudge drizzle. All I can say is wow!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1/2 cup (125g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate)
- 1 cup (140g) plain, all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 large free range egg well beaten
- chocolate chips, toasted nuts, or raisins to taste (I added 1/2 cup of toasted nuts and 1/2 cup of raisins)
For the glaze:
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter
- 2 TBS heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (45g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/s00*C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
- Stir the baking soda into the applesauce and leave it to sit while you cream the butter, sugar and egg together. Sift the flour, cinnamon and cloves together.
- Beat the applesauce mixture into the creamed mixture. Add the dry ingredients and stir well together. Fold in the nuts, raisins, etc. as desired.
- Drop by heaped spoons (I used a cookie scoop) onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown on the bottom and a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean.
- Leave on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes then scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, melt the butter, sugar and cream together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take off the heat. Whisk in the vanilla. Leave to cool for a few minutes before sifting in the icing sugar and cinnamon.
- Using a spoon drizzle this mixture over the cookies in a decorative manner. Leave to set before serving.
- Store in an airtight container with wax paper between the layers. Will keep up to 4 days, should you have them so long.
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These sound perfect for fall snacking!
ReplyDeleteThank you! They really are! xo
DeleteI saved this recipe to make later, as they looked so good and reminded me of a cookie my Mom used to make. I didn't feel like waiting for the butter to come to room temperature so, I zapped in the microwave to soften. I apparently microwaved to the point that the butter was really soft so, the cookies spread out too much. I won't do that again! I think that sticking the dough in the refrigerator would have helped with this but alas, I am home with a bad cold and just wanted a hot cup of tea and a tasty cookie to help me feel better. I used my homemade applesauce in the recipe. Even though the cookies spread, they were still SO good! I will definitely make these again, and follow the recipe exactly! Thank you for this recipe.
ReplyDelete