These fresh apple oatmeal cookies are like a warm hug— filled with chopped pecans, freshly diced apples, cinnamon & cardamom spice, with crispy brown edges and soft middles. I had lots of fun getting to whip these up for for my friends over at Yes! Apples. Let’s bake!
This recipe is sponsored by Yes! Apples.
Say Hello to Yes! Apples
Yes! Apples are NY-grown, woman-owned, and family farmed. Their apples are fresh, delicious, and delight with every bite. They work with seasoned growers to bring you the best apples New York (and the world) has to offer.
One of my favorite bits about them? They are sustainability-focused! They partner with 1% for the Planet to give back to Mother Nature and its people. Learn more about their sustainability mission here!
The KORU Apple = True Love
When selecting the right apple for these apple oatmeal cookies, I knew the KORU just had to be the star. Crispy, crunchy, juicy, sweet—they truly have it all! They’re also slow to brown, which was going to work out perfectly for a recipe with some chill time and to help them last even longer after the bake.
Hop on the Yes! Apples train now friends, trust me! Find a retailer near you and grab some to make these babies!
Chilling the Dough
For these apple oatmeal cookies, the dough can be a bit wet! This really just comes from those apple juices—which also lends to the overall flavor and texture. So because of this, yes, there’s some chill time involved. I promise it’s completely necessary as I tried a batch without chilling before scooping and I/the kitchen was a mess.
I recommend chilling the dough after it comes together for at least an hour, though depending on where you live and time of year, it could take up to 2 hours. You could also make the dough and chill it overnight like I did! Sometimes separating the steps makes life a bit easier. That way all you have to do next-day is take them out of the fridge, scoop, and bake!
You just want the dough to be firm enough to work with and not be overly-sticky! So if you’ve chilled it for an hour and it’s easier to handle—go for it! Otherwise just keep it in the fridge until time and temp. have done their thing.
Materials You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment
- Two medium-sized mixing bowls
- Measuring cups & spoons (love these adjustable spoons)
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Cookie Scoop (can just use a tablespoon also)
- Large baking sheet(s)
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
I hope to see lots of fresh apple oatmeal cookies out in the world! Tag me over on Instagram @joshisbaking if you make them so I can see and be sure to drop a review/comment below so I know how things went! Your feedback helps me build better recipes, so it only helps yourself out in the end.
Let me know if you run into an issues! Otherwise…happy baking, friends!
Print
Fresh Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 Min. + 1-2 Hrs. Chill Time
- Cook Time: 30 Min.
- Total Time: ~2-3 Hrs.
- Yield: 16–18 Cookies 1x
Description
Fresh apple oatmeal cookies filled with chopped pecans, cinnamon & cardamom spice, with crispy brown edges and soft middles. These cookies are truly a warm hug.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (200g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (3g)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (5g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (2g)
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (185g)
- 1 cup pecan halves (110g), coarsely chopped (plus a few for topping cookies)
- 1 KORU Apple from Yes! Apples, peeled & diced (110g, roughly 1 cup)
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp. (166g)
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed (290g)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract (3g)
- 1 large egg, room temp. (50g)
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Set aside. In a different medium-sized mixing bowl, toss together your rolled oats, chopped pecans, & diced apples. Set aside as well.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together your butter and light brown sugar on medium-high speed for about 1 minute, stopping to scrape the bowl halfway through. Then add your egg + vanilla extract and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds until fully incorporated.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add your flour mixture spoonfuls at a time until just combined and no flour streaks remain. Then take your bowl off of the stand mixer and fold in your oat/pecan/apple mixture with a spatula.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or lid if you have one and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours (see notes below) or overnight. When the dough has about 15 minutes left to chill, preheat the oven to 375°F, positioning your racks on the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Prep two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out 3 tablespoons of dough at a time and roll into balls in your hands. Place 8 on each baking sheet spaced a few inches apart. You may have a few balls of dough left, so just keep those in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them.
- Bake at 375°F for 15-17 minutes until the edges start to brown, rotating your baking sheets 180° and top to bottom halfway through. This ensures an even bake as the top of your oven is typically warmest.
- Take them out of the oven and quickly (also gently) push one pecan half into the top of each. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to separate racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cookies will last for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature. The moisture from the apples will keep them soft, though they may begin to brown after the first day.
- Refrigerating the Dough: Just make sure it’s not too wet (the juice from the apples does this) and easy to handle/roll into balls before baking. If it’s too wet, just keep in the fridge until it’s easier to scoop and handle. I left mine in the fridge overnight and just let it thaw for about 10 minutes before I starting scooping and rolling! This also helps minimize spread during the bake, which would completely change the consistency.
- Pecan Half on Top: You can either place the single pecan half on top of each cookie right as they come out of the oven or carefully place them on when the cookies still have about 3 minutes left to bake. Either way, you just want to make sure they’re resting inside the dough enough so they stick without falling off.
- Grab some Yes! Apples: Click here to find a retailer near you! Trust me, their KORU apple is a game changer and totally takes this recipe to another level.
Keywords: cookies, oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, apple cookies, yes apples, fresh apple, cookie recipe, cookie recipes, fresh apple oatmeal cookies, apple oatmeal cookies
Anyone try making this with gluten free flour?
These just went live the other day, so I’m sure no one’s had time yet! But you could possibly try Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour? I’ve had success with that in the past when replacing 1-to-1 with regular all-purpose flour. Something like almond, oat, etc. won’t work for this. Also beware that you’re changing the recipe/in experimentation mode, so I can’t tell you what the texture/end result will be. Let me know know it goes!
Link for the retailer of suggested KORU apples does not load. Any suggestions as to where they can be found near Orange County, CA?
Hmm, it loads just fine for me! Maybe try again (may be something on their end since all of the links in the blog are working) or visit this link: https://yesapples.com/buy/ If you also head to yesapples.com and click on “where to buy” at the top it’ll take you to the same page. Thanks!
Hi Josh, would the recipe work using whole-wheat flour?
Hey Patrycia! I haven’t tested this recipe with whole-wheat flour, but typically you’d want to use less than regular all-purpose. It weighs less, but also absorbs a lot more moisture—so swapping 1-to-1 will definitely change the end result! If anything, they’ll probably be a bit dry and might fall apart easier? Check out this article for some tips on swapping (hope this helped!): https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/06/22/how-to-substitute-whole-wheat-for-white-flour-in-baking