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Apple Butter Snickerdoodles are an easy snickerdoodle recipe made with apple butter and warm cinnamon. These snickerdoodles soft and chewy and are the perfect fall cookie recipe.

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stack of apple butter snickerdoodles


Apple Butter Snickerdoodles

Are you guys apple butter lovers? Apple butter wasn’t ever really on my radar until a few years ago. Since I’m not a huge plain applesauce fan (I like it mix into ice cream or desserts but not plain) I’d never thought to try apple butter.

In case you’re wondering, apple butter is made by cooking apples and apple cider longer than you would for applesauce. Since it cooks so long, the sugar in the apples caramelizes which turns the butter a deep brown. The extra amount of sugar also makes the apple butter have a longer shelf-life than applesauce. Basically, it’s more like apple preserves than applesauce. Where you might eat applesauce with a spoon, apple butter is something you’d spread on toast.

The smell of apple butter right out of the jar is amazing so my favorite way to use is to bake with it.#ofcourse

I first used Apple Butter when I made pie bars and then I made some peanut butter energy bites with apple butter as the sweetener. THEN I made these Apple Butter Snickerdoodles!

Apple Butter Snickerdoodles are another perfect fall cookie recipe; they’re soft and chewy with lots of apple and cinnamon flavor.

apple butter snickerdoodles in a stack

Apple Butter Uses in Baking

Apple butter works like applesauce in that you can substitute it for oil and butter, if you want. It gives recipes a super rich depth of flavor, and pretty much smells like fall in a bottle, which is why it’s perfect for snickerdoodles.

After all, snickerdoodles are the quintessential fall and winter cookie, are they not? (You’ve already shown me you love my pumpkin spice snickerdoodles, so this is a natural progression.) With the rich butter flavor and the warm cinnamon, they’re perfect for this time of year. And they marry so well with apple butter!

Where do you buy apple butter?

If you’re looking for this delicious spread, you can find it at most grocery stores. It will either be with the jams and jellies and peanut butter or near the applesauce. Occasionally it ends up in the baking aisle but most often I find it in the jelly section.

You can also make your own apple butter easily!

What makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle?

I know that plain old snickerdoodles are what you normally see, but making new flavors is so much fun. In fact, I have several different recipes on this blog and each one is delicious.

A snickerdoodle is a snickerdoodle not just because it’s rolled in cinnamon sugar, but because it also has cream of tartar in the dough. That gives the cookies a bit of tang and makes them telltale snickerdoodles.

apple butter snickerdoodles in a stack with bite missing

How to make Apple Butter Snickerdoodles

  1. Whisk flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and apple butter.
  3. Beat just until mixed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just blended together. Chill your dough at least 4 hours.
  4. This dough MUST be cold before baking. Because of all the butter and apple butter, the cookies will spread quite a bit if you skip the chilling!
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment or a silpat baking mat.
  6. Place 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl.
  7. Scoop balls of cookie dough (mine were done using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
  8. Place on your cookie sheet. I recommend only scooping 2 cookie sheets at a time, then re-chill the dough for while those two trays bake.
  9. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes for slightly underdone, 13-14 minutes for fully done. I like my cookies half raw, but if you don’t, cook them for the full 13-14 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheets.

Tips for Cookie Success

  • The dough MUST be chilled. With the butter and the apple butter, if you bake a warm dough you’re going to get flat cookies. If you like flat cookies, go for it. But if you want a puffy cookie, please follow the chilling instructions.
  • The apple butter is more of an underlying flavor – when you take a bite you’re hit with the warm cinnamon and then the slight apple flavor totally hits you.
  • These cookies would be perfect with a glass of hot apple cider, or a caramel latte.
  • My favorite brand of apple butter is Mussleman’s because it has more flavor than generic.

If you love snickerdoodles, try my other favorite recipes:

Have you made this recipe?

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apple butter snickerdoodles in a stack

Apple Butter Snickerdoodles

4.86 from 81 votes
Apple Butter Snickerdoodles are an easy snickerdoodle recipe made with apple butter and warm cinnamon. These snickerdoodles soft and chewy and are the perfect fall cookie recipe.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Yield 28 cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie

Ingredients
 

  • 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter softened
  • 1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup Apple Butter
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

For the topping:

  • cup (67g) granualted sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
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Instructions

  • Whisk flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Cream butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and apple butter.
  • Beat just until mixed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just blended together. Chill your dough at least 4 hours.
  • This dough MUST be cold before baking. Because of all the butter and apple butter, the cookies will spread quite a bit if you skip the chilling!
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment or a silpat baking mat.
  • Place 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl.
  • Scoop balls of cookie dough (mine were done using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
  • Place on your cookie sheet. I recommend only scooping 2 cookie sheets at a time, then re-chill the dough for while those two trays bake.
  • Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes for slightly underdone, 13-14 minutes for fully done. I like my cookies half raw, but if you don’t, cook them for the full 13-14 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheets.

Recipe Video

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 70mg | Potassium: 53mg | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**

collage photo of apple butter snickerdoodles

Last Updated on September 10, 2021



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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Recipe Rating




67 Comments

  1. Made these for the first time today, and I give them an A+! Nobody has tasted them yet besides me, but I predict they will be a popular addition to this year’s Christmas boxes!

    I make my own apple butter from my mother’s 60-year-old recipe & my cousin’s organic Gravenstien apples from her 40-year-old tree. This great recipe combined with homemade apple butter make them a winner!

  2. This was my first attempt at snickerdoodles, and I need look no further!  They are delicious with a perfect texture!  I threw a few raisins into the mix, and now I can’t make them fast enough!  

  3. I was so pleased with these cookies! I didn’t change a thing and they were perfect. I had made a surplus of apple butter in my slow cooker and was too lazy to can it. This recipe was everything it should be. Light and fluffy and earthy sweetness. Thanks for sharing!

  4. Just thought I’d let you know that these have been a huge hit with my friends and coworkers! I made a batch to bring to work and they disappeared fast. Then I made a second batch to bring to friends – and they were very grateful. This time the third batch was to use up the rest of my giant jar of apple butter, and I’ll be serving the cookies at a fall-themed potluck tomorrow. Thanks for a great recipe! 

  5. I made these for the office folk and ran out by 10 am. So I made a double batch the next day. At least those lasted to the afternoon. These are seriously the best cookies ever!

  6. I made these tonight with my own homemade apple butter from the apples on our trees. My teenage sons love the result and so do I! I made one tweak; I used an entire cup of apple butter and reduced the butter to one-half cup. Thank you for this recipe; it’s a keeper!

      1. How were they with 1 tsp of vanilla?? I’d like to make but not sure whether to use a tsp or a tbsp??

  7. These are amazing! Even my husband who was whining about me making snickerdoodles instead of chocolate chip cookies liked them 🙂

  8. What a wonderful combination! I made the dough last night and left it to chill overnight. I just finished baking the last batch, and they are amazing! Mine did not spread out much at all and kept a little of the ball shape, which I think is cute. They have just the right amount of cinnamon and that hint of apple. These cookies will definitely become a fall tradition for my family. For anyone that is already “pumpkin-spiced-out” this is a great fall dessert alternative. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!

  9. Man, it’s too darn bad you have a blog full of recipes that don’t sound any good.
    Are you kidding me?! First of all, snickerdoodles are my all-time favorite cookie. Ever. Second, apple butter?! What? I could lick a jar of it to the bottom. I am all. over. these. That is, once I have a functioning kitchen again. Kill me now.