These Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting are soft, moist and sweet with the comforting flavors of cinnamon and clove.
What is your favorite color in fall?
As I sit here writing this, it is pouring rain outside. The air is crisp with the threat of fall, yet all I can do is gaze in wonder at the beauty around me. Fall, being my favorite time of year, is littered in leaves (in a good way!) in all my favorite colors – all of which I associate with food, of course. Orange, sage green, the rich auburns of chili powder, the glittering yellows of turmeric, the deep reds of saffron, the comforting browns of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
The colors so vibrant and inviting, it makes me want to taste the leaves! Who knows? They could taste like Caramel Apple Pie. Have you ever tried one? 🙂
Even the dead leaves are beautiful – dark, charcoal gray – reminds me of poppy seeds.
Food and color – it surrounds us.
The wonder of fall. I feel like I’m in the perfect dreamland, and all the things I love, are speaking softly to me.
But, instead of dreaming about fall, how about we talk about cookies.
Tell me dear readers, do you sometimes have cookie rejects? You know, the cookies that are a bit homely that you don’t want to share with anyone?
You do know, you have to eat those fast, right? Sure! Before anyone sees them!
Let’s talk about why that sometimes happens.
It was like that with these cookies.
The first 3 sheet pans turned out beautifully. The cookies puffed up and cooked into perfect rounds, like good little cookies should. By the 4th sheet pan, a few of the cookies ran a bit, spreading and separating a bit more than I liked. Yes. They were homely.
Poor ugly little buggers. They didn’t last long. 😉 Ugly, but tasty. Yum, yum!
A quick stir of your batter will likely solve this problem, as you evenly distribute the fats/oils in your cookies, which has settled from sitting there waiting for their turn in the oven.
They can be impatient little cookie monsters. 🙂
What I do know is, you will love the batter in this recipe. It’s soft and moist.
Looking at the batter, you may worry that the cookies will spread. But, they won’t. They’ll bake beautifully into little cloud-soft applesauce puffs perfectly in 8-10 minutes.
In this recipe, I did substitute regular white granular sugar for organic coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is darker in color, has a creamy, caramel sweetness and is a great substitute for regular sugar. It comes from the nectar of the coconut tree!
These cookies are super soft, full of fall flavors with cinnamon and cloves and apple-y goodness. Not overly sweet, but the coconut sugar definitely imparts a lovely, rich caramel flavor!
Enjoy!
p.s. This recipe made a whopping 57 cookies, so you’ll have plenty to eat! 🙂
Applesauce Cookies
Ingredients
Applesauce Cookies
- 2 cups coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups applesauce
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. cloves
Caramel Frosting
- 6 Tbsp. butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- In a large bowl, cream sugar, shortening and butter together.
- Add eggs and applesauce and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop, drop spoonfuls of batter on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and leave cookies on baking sheet for an additional 1-2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Frosting
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, heavy cream and brown sugar.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool, then stir in the powdered sugar.
- Spread frosting over cookies.
Applesauce Cookies recipe modified from Chef-In-Training.
Cailee @ http://hellohealthyeating.com says
Ahhh!! YUM!! These look delightful!! Gotta love apples in the fall! Just ate one this morning! So crispy and fresh and delicious! These cookies look soooo good!
Kristi says
Thanks Cailee! Don’t you love fall? Fall is all about apples and pumpkin – I love both!
Manali @ CookWithManali says
Yumm, I wanna grab one of these right now! 🙂 And it was lovely reading your take on fall, it really is so beautiful outside, even though it’s raining here everyday!
Kristi says
It’s raining here too Manali – so I know exactly what you mean! Regardless, the leaves are beautiful, the grass is glistened with drops of rain, and I love the filtered light! Ah…the life of a food photographer – we live life differently, yes? xoxo
Krystle(Baking Beauty) says
Yum these look delicious! Not sure I should be trusted with 50+ cookies at one time though! 🙂
Pinned!
Kristi says
Hahaha! That made me LOL Krystle! 50+ cookies is a lot. Bring on the eatin’ pants! 😉
Renee@Two in the Kitchen says
“Taste the leaves” Baha!!! That cracked me up!! You know what, I’ll ask my son for you: With everything he puts in his mouth, I am SURE he has tried leaves at some point in his young life!! Honestly, this post was so poetic that it gave me a real soothing feel! I love your take on the colors of fall! And these cookies look fantastic!! I am still loving everything apple!! 🙂
Kristi says
Haha! I’m LOLing right now Renee – please DO ask your son to try the leaves, if they do taste like apple pie, I have a *LOT* of eating to do! So glad you like my take on fall – it’s my favorite time of year, so I love to share it. xoxo
marcie says
It rained here yesterday, and today was sunny but cool. I ran outside and couldn’t think about how beautiful it was with the gorgeous fall leaves blowing everywhere. I love fall! And these cookies look SO delicious — I can’t tell you how much I want some! I just bought coconut sugar at Costco and can’t wait to bust it out and try these. Pinning. 🙂
Kristi says
Thanks Marcie! Running in the sunny by cool weather sounds marvelous! I’m a runner myself, but not consistent. I wish I was, because I always love it when I do!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I have shockingly never baked with apple sauce before.. you definitely have got me thinking that I need to change that Kristi! These cookies look incredibly soft and delicious!
Kristi says
Using applesauce is a great way to cut out the oil and fat! 🙂 You should try it – it makes everything so moist!
Kelly - A Side of Sweet says
Ooo, these cookies look perfectly soft and fluffy! I love applesauce and baking with it is such a nice and healthy addition to sweets!
Kristi says
I love it too Kelly – it’s a great way to replace the oil!
Connie @ Sprig and Flours says
I love baking with applesauce! Applesauce cookies sound perfect for the season and these look delicious (: Pinned!
Kristi says
Thanks for the pin Connie! I love baking with applesauce too ~ it adds such moisture to desserts! Have a great weekend!
Alyssa @ My Sequined Life says
I would like to eat all 57 please!!! 🙂 These are my kinds of cookies, Kristi! I’ve never used coconut sugar before but it sounds like an experiment is in order.
Kristi says
Yes Alyssa – you should definitely try it! A much stronger flavor + caramel flavor than sugar. I hope you love it!
Ashley @ My Midwest Table says
57 cookies?! This is my kind of recipe! 🙂 These cookies sound like the perfect fall cookie–all the flavors I love!
Kristi says
Thanks Ashley! It did not take us long to polish off 57 cookies! LOL
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
Such a great post! From the (tasty! lol 😀 ) colors of fall, to yummy but homely little cookie rejects! You’re just the cutest! Although I’m such a summer girl at heart, I love the gorgeous, gorgeous colors of fall – and we’ve got loads of ‘em in Ohio! What else do I love? Cookies, no doubt! Great swap here to use coconut sugar, and I appreciated the hint that it imparts a hint of caramel-y sweetness! Well done, as always! 😀
Kristi says
Thanks Shelley – you are always the sweeetest! Have a great week!
Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking says
Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy! These cookies look delicious! I want that frosting in a bowl with a spoon right now! Piiiinnnnneeed!
Kristi says
Thank you for the pin Lindsey! Cookies are fall food, right? And winter. And spring. And summer. Ah – they are for ALL time! 🙂
Sarah @ SnixyKitchen says
Yum! I’d eat that whole 4th baking sheet for you…you know, for the sake of keeping things pretty for photos. 😉
Kristi says
Hahaha! You made me LOL Sarah! Thanks for the blog love!
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com says
These look so good! I imagine they’d also make great whoopie pies. Only one way to find out… 😉 Yum!
Kristi says
OMGosh Elizabeth, I’ve never had a whoopie pie, but you’re making me think about them now! Can’t wait to see them on your blog!!! 😉
Tash says
I don’t really have a favourite colour…my favourite colour IS fall! It’s a rainbow if natures finest shades! 🙂 <3 P.S. These apple sauce cookies behold too much deliciousness for me to handle. Nom nom
Kristi says
Thanks Tash! I agree with you – fall IS a favorite color! Have a beautiful weekend!
Loranne says
Yummmm these looks so delicious! I was wondering Im in New Zealand and we don’t have shortening would butter work and if so how much? Im actually a Canadian living in New Zealand so I really miss shortening! Especially for making pastry! We are just heading into spring here but in my mind it still should be Fall. Love Autumn!!
Kristi says
Hi Loranne! Such a great question! I have to admit, I have never tried it, but I did find this resource for you: http://allrecipes.com/howto/common-ingredient-substitutions/ Hopefully that will tell you how to make a 1:1 substitution that will result in great cookie success! Thank you so much for asking, and I’m glad you stopped by to visit!
Cyndi @ My Kitchen Craze says
These cookies look amazing! I could eat a ton of them a be in big trouble! 🙂 Pinned!
Kristi says
Thanks for the pin Cyndi! You will love these! They are so soft and moist. It’s like eating tasty clouds! 🙂