Apple Butter Sugar Cookies
Need an easy, last minute Thanksgiving dessert?
These delicious Apple Butter Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy and the apple butter frosting is to die for!
To make the frosting I used Musselman’s apple butter and let me tell you, it took these traditional sugar cookies to a whole new level of yumminess.
These Apple Butter Sugar Cookies have all the flavors of fall/Thanksgiving that the whole family will love.
APPLE BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES INGREDIENTS
● BUTTER: 1 cup (2 sticks) butter. Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature before making these cookies.
● APPLE BUTTER: 1/4 cup apple butter. My favorite apple butter is from Musselman’s.
● SUGAR: 1 cup of granulated sugar.
● EGGS: 2 large eggs.
● EGG YOLKS: you will need 3 egg yolks. It’s very important that you separate the egg yolks, this recipe will NOT turn out if you use 3 whole eggs.
● VANILLA EXTRACT: just 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
● ALMOND EXTRACT: 2/4 teaspoon almond extract.
● ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.
● BAKING POWDER: 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. Just a quick baking tip, make sure your using a new container of baking powder.
● SALT: just 1/2 teaspoon salt.
● POWDERED SUGAR: 4 cups of powdered sugar to make the frosting.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES
STEP 1: In a large bowl, cream butter, apple butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
STEP 2: Beat in eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and almond extract.
STEP 3: In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
STEP 4: Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
STEP 5: Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
STEP 6: Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop, scoop dough into balls about 2 Tablespoons each, place onto prepared baking sheet. Put 1/4 c of sugar and a pinch of salt in a dish. Stick the bottom of a glass in it. This is going to be your cookie press. Firmly press it into the center of your dough ball. You want your dough to spill out over the sides of the glass. If there is a lip it’s even better. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Let cool before frosting.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE FROSTING:
STEP 7: In a medium-sized bowl, mix powdered sugar, apple butter, melted butter and vanilla extract together until combined. Frost cooled cookies and sprinkle with sprinkles.
ADDITIONAL BAKING TIPS
DON’T OVERMIX: With almost all my cookie recipes, I always make sure to remind you to not OVERMIX the cookie dough. Meaning, when you mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, only mix them together until just combined…you should still see some flour in your mixing bowl.
SCOOPING THE COOKIE DOUGH: I always use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop, each cookie dough ball has “2 scoops” of cookie dough, meaning that each cookie dough ball is 2 Tablespoons in size. In my opinion, this is the perfect sized cookie. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can use an ice cream scooper but you will only need 1 ice cream scoop of cookie dough.
★ And to make it super easier for you to learn how to scoop the perfect cookie, I created a step-by-step guide on How To Scoop The Perfect Cookie!
COOKIE PRESS: After you scoop the cookie dough into balls, you want to use the bottom of a glass (see below) to press the cookie dough balls into a flatter cookie. I also like to dip the bottom of my glass into a bowl of sugar, this helps the dough not to stick to the bottom of the glass.
BAKING TOOLS NEEDED
MIXER: I love my KitchenAid Mixer, I use it for everything. Makes baking so much easier!
BAKING SHEET: You will need a large 16×11 inch baking sheet.
SILICONE BAKING MAT OR PARCHMENT PAPER: If you don’t have a silicone baking mat…YOU NEED ONE!
MORE COOKIE RECIPES
Apple Butter Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
SUGAR COOKIES:
- 1 cup butter, softened, 2 sticks
- ¼ cup Musselman’s Apple Butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
FROSTING:
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup Musselman’s Apple Butter
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream butter, apple butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and almond extract.
- In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop, scoop dough into balls about 2 Tablespoons each, place onto prepared baking sheet. Put 1/4 c of sugar and a pinch of salt in a dish. Stick the bottom of a glass in it. This is going to be your cookie press. Firmly press it into the center of your dough ball. You want your dough to spill out over the sides of the glass. If there is a lip it’s even better. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Let cool before frosting.
MAKE THE FROSTING:
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix powdered sugar, apple butter, melted butter, vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream together until combined. Frost cooled cookies and sprinkle with sprinkles.
Notes
- DON'T OVERMIX: With almost all my cookie recipes, I always make sure to remind you to not OVERMIX the cookie dough. Meaning, when you mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, only mix them together until just combined...you should still see some flour in your mixing bowl.
- SCOOPING THE COOKIE DOUGH: I always use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop, each cookie dough ball has "2 scoops" of cookie dough, meaning that each cookie dough ball is 2 Tablespoons in size. In my opinion, this is the perfect sized cookie. If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can use an ice cream scooper but you will only need 1 ice cream scoop of cookie dough.
- ★ And to make it super easier for you to learn how to scoop the perfect cookie, I created a step-by-step guide on How To Scoop The Perfect Cookie!
- COOKIE PRESS: After you scoop the cookie dough into balls, you want to use the bottom of a glass (see below) to press the cookie dough balls into a flatter cookie. I also like to dip the bottom of my glass into a bowl of sugar, this helps the dough not to stick to the bottom of the glass.
PIN IT
APPLE BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES
Cookies are my favorite, especially sugar cookies. These cookies taste delicious! I wasn’t sure about the apple but its the perfect taste!
Yum! Definitely making these with our homemade apple butter!
These look so yummy! I love apple butter on toast – I’m sure they’d make even better cookies
Now these look like a perfect fall treat!
Love this idea! Apple butter is one of my favorites. Never thought about adding it to cookies…yum!
The apple butter makes these cookies so tender and delicious. Love them!
Using apple butter in sugar cookies is such a great idea! Yum!
I am totally loving the addition of the apple butter in here- such a subtle but awesome flavor profile 🙂