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Soft and chewy apple cider cookies are packed with cinnamon spice and drizzled with sweet apple cider icing. They have all the flavors we love in a cozy mug of hot apple cider, baked into an easy fall cookie recipe!
My family’s favorite apple cider cookies are a sure sign that fall has arrived. They taste just like the hot apple cider we love to buy from the farmer’s market this time of year! The secret is powdered apple cider, which packs every bite with sweet and cozy apple spice. These cookies are soft and chewy, glazed with a simple apple cider icing at the end. Basically, it’s the perfect fall cookie!
Why I Love These Glazed Apple Cider Cookies
- The best flavor. Apple cider mix is the best flavor hack! The powder is more concentrated, so it solves the problem of adding more fresh apple cider (and more liquid) to get the same amount of cozy apple flavor.
- Perfect for fall. I can’t think of a better fall dessert than a platter of freshly baked, spice-scented apple cider cookies. Every bite tastes like bright mulled apples and cinnamon.
- Easy apple cider glaze. I finish my apple cider cookies off with a simple glaze made from real apple cider and a touch of cinnamon. It’s so simple and so delicious! Of course, you can change it up and add a drizzle of caramel sauce or icing instead.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Just like using freeze-dried strawberries in my strawberry cookies, powdered apple cider gives these cookies amazing flavor without watering down the dough. Here are some notes on the ingredients. Scroll to the recipe card for a printable list with the full recipe details.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, softened to room temperature.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar, or you can use light brown sugar for a richer flavor.
- Powdered Apple Cider – I use Apline’s original spiced apple cider instant drink mix. It comes in powdered form, similar to hot cocoa packets. You can find similar cider mixes in supermarkets and online.
- Vanilla – Make sure it’s real vanilla extract and not the imitation kind.
- Cinnamon – You can also use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice if you’d like.
- Baking Ingredients – You’ll also need dry ingredients like flour, baking soda, and baking powder, plus an egg.
For the Apple Cider Glaze
- Powdered Sugar – Also called confectioner’s sugar. I include a little cinnamon, too, for extra spice.
- Apple Cider – Or apple juice will work too
How To Make Apple Cider Cookies
These cookies are quick and easy, with a short chilling time. Chilling the apple cider cookie dough before baking prevents the cookies from overspreading in the oven and lets the flavors mingle. Follow the steps here, and scroll to the recipe card below the post for printable instructions.
- Make the dough. Start by creaming butter together with sugar, salt, and the dry cider packets, followed by the egg and vanilla. Next, add the dry ingredients and mix to form the dough.
- Chill. Pop the finished cook dough into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Bake. Scoop the dough into golf ball-sized portions and arrange the cookies on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 10 minutes.
- Add the glaze. While the cookies cool, whisk together the glaze ingredients in a bowl. Afterward, drizzle the glaze over the cookies and let it set.
Tips & Variations
- Cream the butter and sugar well. It can take a good 2 minutes or so to get the butter, sugar, and cider creamed and fluffy. Don’t rush!
- Don’t overmix. Once you’ve added the flour and dry ingredients, though, be careful not to overmix the dough. As with most baking recipes, overmixing here results in dense, tough cookies.
- Use a cookie scoop. It’s the quickest and easiest way to portion out cookie dough! Cookies that are the same size will bake more evenly.
- Don’t overbake. The secret to soft, chewy apple cider cookies is to take them out of the oven while they’re still a little underbaked. The cookies should be soft in the center but set at the edges. They’ll continue to set up on the baking sheet after they’re out of the oven.
- Add-ins. Fold in ½-1 cup of white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or toffee bits. You can also dice up freeze-dried apples and stir them into the batter.
- Caramel. Instead of the glaze, top these cookies with caramel sauce for caramel apple cider cookies. You could also melt down caramels to drizzle over top as I do for my caramel cashew clusters.
- Cinnamon sugar. For sparkle and crunch, roll the cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar before baking.
How To Store
- Storing. These cookies taste their best when they’re stored airtight at room temperature and enjoyed within 2-3 days.
- Freezing. These cookies freeze like a dream! I recommend freezing the unfrosted cookies whenever you can. Store the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze them for up to 1 month. They thaw pretty quickly at room temperature.
More Apple Recipes
Apple Cider Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 packets of Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons apple cider or juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cream together butter, sugar, salt, and cider packets together until light and creamy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg, and mix until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix until just combined. Place dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Scoop small balls of dough onto a baking sheet (about golf ball size). Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple minutes before removing to a wire rack.
- Meanwhile you can make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and whisk until smooth. You can adjust the sugar and juice amounts to get a thin and drizzle-able consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle over the cookies. Allow to cool and the glaze to completely harden before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Where can I find apple cider drink mix?
With the hot chocolate at the grocery store. It will come in a box just like hot chocolate does, with little pouches inside.
Yummy! I’m all over apples right now.
These cookies are so good! I made them last night for dessert and had them with coffee for breakfast. Perfection.
These apple cider cookies are incredible! The texture is perfectly soft and chewy, and the cinnamon spice really comes through.
I really like these cookies! They’re easy to make and turned out good! Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!
These Apple Cider Cookies are absolutely delicious! The spices paired with the apple cider give them a cozy, autumnal taste. They disappeared quickly at my office party, and everyone was asking for the recipe!
Wow, that glaze was seriously tasty. Thanks a bunch!
Wow these were totally incredible! Thanks for the easy recipe!