Apple Pie Cookies

I love coffee cake...well, I love crumb topping.  I found a recipe for coffee cake cookies and knew I had to try them.  My only problem was that my husband really didn't want me to make them.  I couldn't figure it out....they were crumbly, they had sugar....they looked good.  Finally I realized he thought coffee cake and therefore coffee cake cookies had coffee in it.  In my church we follow the word of wisdom which includes, among other things, not drinking coffee.  My husband couldn't figure out why I was okay making desserts with coffee in them if we didn't drink it.  Once I explained you are just suppose to eat them with coffee and the dessert was coffee free he was a little more on board, especially after I told him I would call them crumb cookies instead.  :)

The original recipe was so much fun to make and I just had to put my own little twist on it.  I added pie filling and viola!  Apple pie cookies were born!  The pie filling was just what the cookie needed.  An awesome punch of flavor, with the buttery cookie and touch of cinnamon.   It is just like a bite size pie but better since it is a cookie!  Once again, sorry for the awful pics....someday I will get a better camera and learn how to make food look as good as it tastes!!

Apple Pie Cookies

Makes about 20 large cookies

Crumb Topping:

1/2 Cup butter, softened

1/3 Cup brown sugar

1/3 Cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup flour

Mix all ingredients and set aside in fridge

Cookies:

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 Cups flour

Pie filling - Any type of pie will work

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to  350 degrees.  Use a non stick cookie sheet or spray your cookie sheet pan.

For the cookies:

Mix together butter and sugars until smooth.  Add cinnamon, eggs, and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.  Then mix in baking soda, salt, and flour until just combined.

Scoop out cookies using a cookie scoop (3 Tbsp) size or use a large spoon.  Make sure the dough is in a ball if you use a normal spoon.  I put 8 cookies per sheet.  Make a fairly deep indent into each cookie.  I use a smaller cookie scoop to do this but a small spoon or your fingers would work great too.  Make the hole big enough to get all that delicious filling and crumb top on there.  For any chunky pie fillings cut up into smaller pieces before you fill the cookie.  Spoon the pie filling into the cookie and top with about 1 Tbsp of crumb topping.  Press the crumb topping down into the pie filling and don't be afraid to pack it in there!

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to get golden.

Let cookies cool for a few minutes and dust with powdered sugar.  Transfer to a cooling rack or your counter.   They taste the best slightly warm....mmmm... enjoy!