During this quarantine we seem to be discovering our ovens for the first time. We’re all craving something sweet and soothing, so why not try out that Cinnamon Pecan Banana Bread or those Salted Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies recipes that have been hanging on the fridge for the last thousand years?
I mean, the thirty pounds flour, twenty bags of sugar, and ten boxes of eggs (also known as the Covid-apocalypse hoard) aren’t going to bake themselves. Am I right?
The baking-solo show has been on for the last couple of weeks but it hasn’t exactly been a success for everyone — myself included.
The timer goes off and instead of having your house filled with the tasty smell of a freshly baked pie or of crispy chocolate cookies, there you have it: An impressive baking fail.
The other day I tried out a recipe for pistachio-cranberry biscotti and what came out of the oven were 16 rectangular-shaped cookies that had the consistency of building bricks. Great if you want to build a house, less so if your intent is to dunk ‘em in a glass of milk.
Not the first, easily not the last kitchen disaster I will succumb to.
However, the Soft Apple Crinkle Cookies were a great success.
I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for a while now, and I can proudly say without a hint of doubt that I finally perfected it and that the final result is uh-mazing.
You can think of these as apple pie in cookie form. Soft, moist, a bit chewy, light, and filled with apple chunks.
One cookie goes a long way and will leave you fully satisfied.
The recipe is straightforward and doesn’t require you to be a master baker.
It begins with a food processor, flour, and butter. Just as if you were making a regular pie dough. Then you add egg and sugar, a couple of pulses, and the dough magically comes together.
Knead in the apple chunks, roll in the powdered sugar, a quick trip in the oven, and you are left with perfect, soft, chewy, and addictive cookies.
These are perfect for breakfast, for an easy dessert, or when you just need something sweet to munch on.
I must warn you though, they’re quite addictive so you may want to exercise social distancing from them at least for a few hours a day. The risk is devouring the whole batch in one sitting, they’re that addictive!
Soft Apple Crinkle Cookies Print this recipe!
Ingredients
Makes 16 cookies
1 large apple, pitted, peeled and cut into small pieces
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (adjust to taste)
2 cups + 4 tablespoons flour (or whole wheat flour or GF flour), divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup butter, cold from the ridge
1 large egg, at room temperature
½ cup sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and place a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, place diced apple, ground cinnamon, and lemon juice. Give a good stir and set aside.
Place 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the cold cubed butter.
Pulse 3 times with three counts per pulse, until the butter pieces are the size of small peas.
Add egg and ½ cup of sugar and let the food processor run until the dough comes together (the food processor will start making a louder sound when this happens). Do not over process.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Drain apples from juice and start kneading them into the dough. Add remaining 4 tablespoons of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough is soft and a bit sticky, you don’t want to end up with a stiff and dry dough. Hence, you might need to add less or more flour than indicated; it depends on how watery the apples are.
Place powdered sugar in a shallow dish.
Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and using the palm of your hands roll into a ball. Roll into the powdered sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat to make 16 balls in total, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Do not over-bake, you want soft and chewy cookies.
Let cookies cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet and keep in an air-tight container up to one week.
Nutrition facts
One cookies yields 120 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, and 1 gram of protein.
In a medium bowl, place diced apple, ground cinnamon, and lemon juice. Give a good stir and set aside.
Place 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the cold cubed butter.
Pulse 3 times with three counts per pulse, until the butter pieces are the size of small peas.
Add egg and ½ cup of sugar and let the food processor run until the dough comes together (the food processor will start making a louder sound when this happens). Do not over process.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Drain apples from juice and start kneading them into the dough. Add remaining 4 tablespoons of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough is soft and a bit sticky, you don’t want to end up with a stiff and dry dough. Hence, you might need to add less or more flour than indicated; it depends on how watery the apples are.
Place powdered sugar in a shallow dish.
Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and using the palm of your hands roll into a ball. Roll into the powdered sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat to make 16 balls in total, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Do not over-bake, you want soft and chewy cookies.
Let cookies cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet and keep in an air-tight container up to one week.
Nutrition facts
One cookies yields 120 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, and 1 gram of protein.