These Caramel Apple Walnut Cookies are filled with a layer of caramel, home made apple pie filling with ground cinnamon and topped with a pie pastry lattice. A delicious two bite cookie will make you think you are eating a slice of apple pie.
Caramel Apple Walnut Cookie Recipe
- Yield: 12- 2 1/2" cookies 1x
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon – divided
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg- divided
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup caramel ice cream topping
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts-optional
Instructions
- Peel, core and dice apples, place in saucepan with butter, brown sugar, salt and 1 teaspoon of each spice.
- On medium heat, cook apples until soft and thickened. Remove from heat and cool.
- Unroll one crust, using a 2 ½” round cookie cutter, cut out 12 cookie rounds.
- Place rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush tops of pie crust cookies with caramel topping. Add a ½ teaspoon apple filling over top of cookie round. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.
- Unroll remaining crust and cut long strips of dough ¼ “ wide. Weave dough strips to create a lattice design.
- Cut cookie lattice with round cookie cutter to create clean edges.
- Mix ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and nutmeg Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
- Bake cookies for 30 minutes at 350. Drizzle cookies with caramel sauce if desired. Best served warm.
Notes
Recipe Adapted: http://cincyshopper.com/caramel-apple-pie-cookies/ blog.
Caramel Apple Walnut Cookies| 5 Simple Steps
Step 1: Preparing the cookie-apple filling
Dice apples, add cinnamon, butter and sugars to saucepan.Cook apples over medium high heat for 15 minutes or until apples are soft and juice has formed. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When the filling cools it will thicken. The pectin in the apples will cause the filling to thicken, if you want the filling to be thicker, add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch or arrowroot to 1/4 cup cold water, stir the cornstarch to dissolve, then add to hot filling. Cook filling until cornstarch water is blended and mixture is thickened.
Step 2: Cut-out Cookie rounds add Caramel & Walnuts
Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut refrigerated pie pastry into several rounds and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I like to use two baking sheets stacked together for baking cookies. (This gives the baking sheet more stability while baking and double lining the sheets keeps them from buckling under the heat).
Brush each round with caramel topping, and sprinkle with toasted diced walnuts.
Step 3: Weave the lattice cookie top
Cut pastry into 1/8 ” to 1/4″ strips using a ruler and pizza wheel or sharp knife. No need to roll pie crust dough, just unroll the crust and begin cutting into strips. Add 1 teaspoon of pie filling to center of caramel coated cookie base. Add more filling if you want more ooze or juicy cookie. Keep in mind, if you get to much filling, it will melt out of the top crust and puddle around the cookie base.
Take two crust strips and form a plus (+) sign on the center of the cookie. Next, add two more vertical strips to the right and the left of the center strip. See photo to see the weave pattern. Repeat process to completely cover the entire base with weave.
Step 4: Cut out the cookie
Place the cookie cutter over the woven pieces and recut the shape of the cookie. Remove excess pastry pieces. This also will help seal the edges of the cookies. Take your fingers and pinch the edges where the lattice meets the base if necessary. For a decorative edge you could use the tines of a salad fork. With a spatula pick up cookie and place on baking sheet.
Step 5: The Grand Finale
Brush cookie tops with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. This recipe and technique will give you 12- 2 inch cookies with no waste in pastry/product.
As you bite into this little bit-of- heaven, the apple filling with its cinnamon walnut bites ooze from the sides of the cookies and with the generous amount of cinnamon and sugar that is sprinkled over the tops.. well.. it is mouth watering good!
Serve this cookie for any fall harvest party or gathering with family and friends. They will love it.
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