The fall season means apples and caramel apples are everywhere. Of course, this year is different because most of the fall fairs are canceled. I don't know what your fall fairs are like, but ours is food and fun. Between pie and cookie contests and which farm grew the biggest pumpkin, these fairs remind us of our youth as we watch the young kids having fun. This is my favorite time of year. It is just so different and sad that this year has been shadowed with fear and defiance. But my kitchen is warm, and the smells are a welcome reminder that this time will pass. Life will go on, and things will go back to normal.
Walking into our local grocery store, there are bins of all kinds of apples. It is hard sometimes to think about which is better for baking, but I found the Granny Smith to be an excellent choice. They are firm and hold up really well when you bake them. The Granny Smith apple is tart, which helps balance the sweetness of the brown sugar and caramel in this cookie. There are many health benefits to eating the Granny Smith apple. So do the best you can this year to keep it as normal as possible and yourself (plus family) safe.
Apple Caramel Oatmeal Cookies
Barbara HallIngredients
- 1 cup Butter unsalted 2 sticks room temperature
- 1 ½ cups Light brown sugar 339g
- ½ cup Sugar white 99g
- 1 Egg
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup Unsweetened applesauce
- 1 ¾ cups All-purpose flour 210g
- ½ teaspoon Apple pie spice
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ⅔ cup Granny Smith apples about ½ granny smith diced small
- ½ cup Caramel Chips with Sea Salt
- 2 ½ cups One-minute oats 248g
Instructions
- Weigh or measure the light brown and the white sugars into a bowl and set aside. Next, weigh or measure into another bowl flour, baking powder, apple pie spice, salt, and run a whisk through to blend. Take half a Granny Smith apple and take the core and skin off. You want to dice the ½ apple into small pieces.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer, add the butter and both sugars and mix on medium speed till the sugars are incorporated and 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix. I scrape down the bowl again and turn the mixer on low speed. Add the flour mixture about ⅓ at a time and incorporate. I stop and scrape down the sides again and add the oats, diced apples, and caramel chips mix till they are through the cookie dough. After taking the bowl off the stand, you can mix by hand with a spatula if you think it did not spread enough through the cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350°, and line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. I used a medium cookie scoop and put 12 on a pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They will look really soft when you pull them from the oven but leave them on the pan for at least 5 minutes, and you will have a soft oatmeal cookie. The longer they stay in the oven, the harder they will be when they cool.
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