Like a delicious taste of fall, these decadent cookies have all the warm flavors of apple cider and apple pie in one completely irresistible cookie. They’re chewy yet crunchy, soft yet crisp, and 100% addicting. In fact, addiction is an understatement. Embedded with soft chunks of apple, crisp bits of cereal, crunchy pieces of pecans, and notes of cinnamon for added flavor and texture, these cookies are love at first bite and are guaranteed to please. The sweet, buttery dough is mixed with apple cider powder and Nilla wafer crumbs, resulting in one incredible cookie that screams cozy.
This recipe was developed as part of an intense creative baking course where we explored the art of baking. We developed and honed our baking skills through a variety of different baked goods. Through the class, we found the balance of what baking is all about; art and science. We created our own recipes each anchored in their own flavor story that's true to Barth Bakery.
For this recipe, the flavor story was Fall in New England, specifically apple season. We used apple cider, apple fritters, and apple pie as our inspiration.
Makes about 18 large cookies
Ingredients
Apple Pie Toast Crunch Cereal Crunch
130g Apple Pie Toast Crunch cereal (limited edition of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal)
30g non-fat milk powder
30g granulated sugar
2g kosher salt
100g unsalted butter, melted
Apple Cider Dough
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
125g granulated sugar
125g powdered apple cider drink mix (I used Alpine Spiced Apple Cider original)
75g light brown sugar
1 large egg
4g pure dark vanilla extract
135g all-purpose flour
135g Nilla wafer “flour” (Nilla wafers ground down into powder in a food processor)
4g baking powder
2g baking soda
5g kosher salt
2g ground cinnamon
130g dehydrated shredded apple (dehydrated at 135°F in a food dehydrator for approx. 2.5 hours) (NOTE: These are not dried apples; you want slightly dehydrated apples to remove much, but not all, of the moisture.)
100g plain toasted pecans, roughly chopped
160g Apple Pie Toast Crunch cereal crunch (recipe included)
Directions
Apple Pie Toast Crunch Cereal Crunch
Preheat oven to 275°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, lightly crush the Apple Pie Toast Crunch cereal with your hands to about half of the original size.
Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix.
Add the melted butter to the cereal mixture and toss until the cereal is evenly coated.
Using your fingers or a spatula, spread the mixture evenly onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. (The cereal should be gently crunchy when chewed after they cool.) Set aside to cool.
Apple Cider Dough
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars and cream together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle, add the egg and vanilla, and beat on high for 7-8 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl every few minutes as needed, until very light and fluffy.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together until thoroughly mixed.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until the ingredients are evenly distributed, about 30-45 seconds. (Do not overmix!)
Add the shredded apple, pecans, and Apple Pie Toast Crunch cereal crunch. On low speed, mix just until incorporated, no more than 30-45 seconds.
Use a 2.75oz ice cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 3-inches apart. Use your hand or the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten the cookies.
Wrap the baking sheets tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Bake the chilled cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the edges. Cool the cookies for about 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.