These Healthy Apple Cookies are simple and delicious cookies made with just 4 base ingredients and loaded with green apple flavors and they are ready in under 25 minutes!
I love making apple recipes when the apple season is in full swings. Green apples bring the perfect balance of sourness, sweetness, and flavor to make anything taste delicious! Try my Apple Donut Holes, Apple Rings, or Baked Apple Fritters if you’re not convinced yet!
But today, I wanted to have these flavors in cookies. So I’ve found a way to make extremely simple cookies with only 4 base ingredients that you can flavor and adjust in many, many ways!
Ingredients and Substitutions
You only need 4 base ingredients for this recipe, but it’s very easy to adapt and change its flavor with more!
- Quick Oats – These provide the base texture and structure for the cookies. Quick oats absorb moisture well and create a softer, chewier cookie. They can be replaced with rolled oats (pulse them a few times in a blender for a finer texture), or gluten-free oats if necessary.
- Cinnamon Applesauce – Applesauce adds natural sweetness, moisture, and a warm cinnamon flavor. It can be replaced with pear sauce with some cinnamon.
- Almond Butter – Almond butter acts as a binder and gives a rich, nutty flavor. It can be swapped with other nut butters like peanut butter, cashew butter, or a nut-free alternative like sunflower seed butter for those with nut allergies.
- Apple Syrup – Apple syrup adds a natural sweetness and enhances the apple flavor. You can replace it with maple syrup, agave syrup, or even date syrup for a different flavor.
- Chopped Green Apple – These are optional but they provide a fresh, juicy element and extra texture.
How to Make Healthy Apple Cookies
This is a super easy recipe to make in a few steps.
Pour all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Stir with a spatula until it makes a sticky dough.
Roll small cookies dough balls with your oiled hands and place them on a baking sheet.
Bake the healthy apple cookies for 12-16 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) until golden-brown on the edges.
Expert Tips
- Use Fresh Oats – Make sure your quick oats are fresh and not stale. Stale oats can affect the taste and texture of the cookies.
- Pulse the Oats – If using rolled oats instead of quick oats, pulse them in a blender to make them finer, as larger oats might make the cookies crumbly.
- Adjust Consistency – If your dough feels too wet or sticky, you can add a small amount of oats to firm it up. Alternatively, if it’s too dry, a teaspoon of applesauce can help bind it together.
- Chill the Dough – If your dough feels too soft, chilling it for 10-15 minutes in the fridge can help firm it up for easier handling and shaping.
- Even Size Balls – Form even-sized balls of dough to ensure that all cookies bake at the same rate and come out with a uniform texture.
- Flatten Before Baking – Press down the cookie dough balls lightly before baking, as these cookies won’t spread much on their own.
- Don’t Overbake – These cookies can dry out quickly, so keep a close eye on them and remove them from the oven as soon as they’re firm and golden brown on the edges.
- Storage – Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to a week. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months for a quick snack on the go.
More Apple Dessert Recipes
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Healthy Apple Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quick Oats - (note 1)
- 3 tablespoons Cinnamon Applesauce - or unsweetened apple sauce + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup Almond Butter - (note 2)
- ¼ cup Apple Syrup - (note 3)
Optional
- ⅓ cup Chopped Green Apple - cored, finely chopped, peeled
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 2-3 tablespoons Walnuts - chopped. Or chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add quick oats, peanut butter, cinnamon apple sauce, and maple syrup.
- Stir until it forms a sticky cookie dough, then fold in the finely chopped green apple.
- Form small cookie dough balls in your slightly oiled hands. Place each ball on the prepared cookie sheet leaving a thumb of space between each of them.
- Press down lightly the top with your hand to flatten the cookies.
- Bake the apple cookies for 12-16 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) until golden-brown on the edges.
- Serve with a drizzle of peanut butter caramel or plain.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Carine , I appreciate your kind and respect for your followers , thank you for sharing your recipes, be always healthy and happy
Would it be possible to use almond flour instead?
No, it wouldn’t work in this recipe without many other adjustments!