These high altitude appledoodles are so soft and chewy, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with a subtle crunch from oats and chopped pecans. Apple cider cookies get their apple flavor and chewy texture from apple cider concentrate or boiled cider, so be sure to read through the whole post to find out how to make your own, or where to buy it. These cookies are the most delicious treat on a cool fall day, after a day at an apple orchard or pumpkin patch!
Looking for more fall recipes? You’ll love these fluffy pumpkin pancakes with maple cinnamon butter leaves, chai tea spice cake, and caramel apple crumble with bourbon toffee sauce.
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Why You’ll Love These Cookies
So Soft and Chewy. I also added a handful of oats and chopped pecans for texture and crunch, with cinnamon and nutmeg for spice. These appledoodles are so, so good, and similar to an apple butter cookie. They bake up with slightly crisp edges and chewy centers when they’re fresh from the oven. But then they soften more as they sit, making them the perfect soft and chewy cookie full of spiced apple flavor for fall.
Quick and Easy to Make. This is an easy recipe, with just a few minutes needed to mix up the cookie dough, and a very brief chill time before baking.
Perfect for Fall. What’s cozier on a chilly fall day than a steaming mug of spiced apple cider and a plate of delicious cookies?
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
So What Is Boiled Cider?
The concept of boiled cider is simple. Apple cider is boiled down for hours and hours, until it becomes a thick, sweet, amber-colored syrup that’s only about 1/8 of its original volume. And the result is an intensely flavored apple syrup that’s tart, sweet, and absolutely delicious.
The flavor of the syrup is so concentrated, that it’s ideal for baking with, as you can add a lot of apple flavor into a recipe without adding too much extra liquid. You can buy boiled cider, or make your own! In addition to their recipe for boiled cider, King Arthur Baking also has an article full of suggested recipes for using the syrup. The apple cider caramels sound mouthwatering.
Last fall, I was so intrigued by King Arthur Baking Company’s recipe for Boiled Cider, that I immediately bought a gallon of apple cider to boil my own. With more boiled cider on hand than I knew what to do with, we drizzled some over slices of ham last Christmas. Then I made an apple cider buttercream. But my favorite was these apple cider cookies that I decided to call appledoodles.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. Adds flavor, fat and richness to cookies.
- Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar. The sugar adds sweetness, as well as moisture to cookies, while the dark brown sugar adds a hint of molasses and a chewy texture. The cookie dough balls are also rolled in granulated sugar before baking.
- Eggs. Eggs add structure and bind the dough together so it isn’t crumbly.
- Boiled Apple Cider. The boiled cider adds a strong apple flavor to these apple cider cookies.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- All-purpose Flour + Corn Starch. The flour adds protein and structure, while a little corn starch keeps the cookies soft and chewy.
- Oats + Pecans. For crunch and texture. I use old-fashioned oats, not quick oats. You can also substitute walnuts for the pecans.
- Baking Soda. Adds a bit of leavening to the cookies.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg. A little spice nicely complements the flavor of the boiled cider.
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until fluffy.
- Add the eggs, mixing on low to combine, then mix in the boiled cider and vanilla. The mixture will look a little lumpy or curdled at this point.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, corn starch, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients by spoonfuls, mixing just to combine. Use a spatula if you need to bring it together to incorporate all the flour.
- Use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop with a release lever to portion the dough into 26 balls.
- Roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar.
- Place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, and flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Refrigerate the dough balls for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Place the chilled dough balls three inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake on the center oven rack for 10 minutes.
- Cool the appledoodles on the pan for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can buy boiled apple cider here.
Yes, it’s very easy to make your own boiled cider, and just takes a little time. King Arthur Baking has a good instructional post on making your own boiled cider.
While I have not tested this substitution, it may work just fine. However, by using apple butter, you’ll only get a hint of apple flavor. I have experimented with replacing one of the eggs with 1/4 cup of apple butter, and the recipe works just as perfectly as the original version. I’m not sure if it would work to replace both eggs and/or the boiled cider with apple butter, but it might.
These apple cider cookies will stay soft for at least 3-5 days, stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them for 3-6 months, and they will be just as soft when you thaw them out.
The chopped pecans and oats add a little crunch, but you can leave them out if you prefer. It’s possible you’d need to replace the oats with 1-2 tablespoons of flour, or you may be able to simply omit them with no changes needed. A baker commented that she left them out completely and the cookies turned out great.
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High Altitude Appledoodles (Apple Cider Cookies)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling the cookies
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup boiled apple cider or cider concentrate (see note)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing on low to combine, then mix in the boiled cider and vanilla. The mixture will look a little lumpy or curdled at this point.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, corn starch, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients by spoonfuls, mixing just to combine. Use a spatula if you need to bring it together to incorporate all the flour.
- Use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop with a release lever to portion the dough into 26 balls. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, and flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand. Refrigerate the dough balls for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Place the chilled dough balls three inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake on the center oven rack for 10 minutes. Cool on the pan for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Amazing! The best flavor and texture! My new favorite fall cookie! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Absolutely wonderful! These cookies came out perfectly and are a new fan favorite with family and friends.
Jenni,
Thanks so much, I’m so happy your family loved them!
I made these today. Delicious!! I, unfortunately, didn’t read all the ingredients beforehand but had already promised to make them for my Mom (the cookie lover!) I omitted the oatmeal and pecans and still came out great! Definitely a keeper!
I’m so glad! And that’s helpful to know the recipe works well without the oats and pecans.
I love these cookies! I added the step of dipping the pre-baked tops into a powdered apple cider drink mix to push the flavor over the top. New fall/winter favorite
Hello! I was wondering if this recipe needs to be adjusted if you’re not baking at a high altitude?? This recipe is so unique and I think it’ll be so perfect for my Christmas cookie swap! I’m really excited to try it. Thank you!
Marlene,
I wish I could say for sure, but I don’t know if the other people who commented were at high altitude or sea level. My guess is you could probably make them as is, or just with a few minor changes, such as increasing the sugar by 2 tablespoons and decreasing the flour by 2 tablespoons. At high altitude, the struggle with cookies is that they spread too much, so we have to use more flour and less sugar. Because of that, they may not spread quite enough for you without a little adjustment.
I made these cookies a few days ago as you suggested for sea-level baking and I just have to say that they are easily the best cookies I’ve ever made! I bake a lot and my fiancé, who has NO sweet tooth and rarely eats cookies, just can’t get enough of them. These are absolutely going to be a staple recipe for me, I just can’t believe how perfectly chewy and slightly crispy around the edges they are. The only change I made was swapping out chopped almonds for chopped walnuts because I couldn’t find almonds at the grocery store, but they still came out delicious! Thank you so much for the amazing recipe!
I’m so glad you loved them!
So tasty and seasonal! Not to mention a pretty forgiving recipe! I tried to make my own boiled cider from a jug of Tree Top fresh cider. Made it the night before and it turned to cider jelly in the fridge. Still used it and it was tasty! (Just maybe not on the mark for texture). Also live in a nut-free home, so added crushed apple chips (the baked kind that come in a bag). Used a few more of those crushed apple chips with the sugar to roll the dough in, and it was very appley! Finally, I wanna say “hey neighbor” cause I’m in CO too but at 8k feet, so they took a little longer to cook. Even with ALL of that, they were really delicious! Thank you!
I made my own boiled cider and was looking for ways to use it. This recipe was perfect! I love snickerdoodles but this recipe takes it up a notch. The only thing I did differently was put a little cinnamon and nutmeg in the sugar I rolled the cookies. My new favorite cookie!
My cookies fell victim to elevation. My cookies were just a little too thin despite following the recipe precisely. They did not have the same texture or color pictured. I live at 6,700′. Reducing the amount of sugar may do the trick.
Since you’re quite a bit higher than me, please see my FAQs for making adjustments: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/