A Southern Grace: i'll take my daily apple* in cookie form

May 27, 2009

i'll take my daily apple* in cookie form

Yum

*because "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" and all that...

I'm so tired of oatmeal raisin cookies (although that's not to say I won't eat them when they're available). Why should raisins get all the glory? There are many other and arguably tastier dried fruits out there. Blueberries and cranberries, for example. Better yet, how about CINNAMON APPLES?


You may recall that I received a bounty of treats from Oh! Nuts a while back. Among the goodies were some macadamia nuts (used in some mighty tasty and tropical Aloha Bars) and some sliced dried apples. I've been munching on the apples ever since, but I thought they'd be a unique and perfect add-in to some hearty oatmeal cookies.


Believe it or not, I don't have a go-to oatmeal cookie recipe, but the tried-and-true King Arthur Flour site seemed like a reasonable place to start. While the cookie base was good, I'm certain it could be better, so I won't be stopping my search here. Let me know if you have a winning recipe.


I said that the cookies were good, and I meant it. Chewy and soft, with an appropriate batter-to-mix-in ratio. The apples were definitely a welcome addition, especially since I smothered them with cinnamon before rehydrating them in hot water. The crunchy pistachios and tart cranberries didn't hurt either--I particularly enjoyed their vibrant green and maroon colors.

Doctor-Repellent Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups rehydrated dried apples, drained very well
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pistachios

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, salt, and vinegar. Beat in the egg, then the baking soda, flour, and oats. Stir in the apples, cranberries, and pistachios.
Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on a rack.

61 comments:

Leslie said...

Oh I love the bits of green apple in these cookies, sooo colorfull

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I agree that raisins shouldn't hog all the glory. Substitutions are great especially these dried apples!!

oneordinaryday said...

I love the look of the bright green in the cookies. Do you think it'd work with some granny smiths right from the get-go?
I saw a salted oatmeal cookie recently that I keep looking for an excuse to try out. : ) Go salt!

pigpigscorner said...

Apples in cookies?? Interesting. They sure gave the cookies some ncie colour...

OhioMom said...

YUM! I will take a baker's dozen :)

Albany Jane said...

Ah! Pistachios!

Another excellent recipe, Grace! I am a sucker for the might oat.

lisa is cooking said...

Great thinking! I love the idea of dried apples in an oatmeal cookie, and the cranberries and pistachios are nice additions too. There's a Martha cookie that I like a lot which is oatmeal, peanut butter, choc chip, and peanuts. It's more than just an oatmeal cookie, of course, but it's a favorite of mine. (would also be great with dried apples added)

Cara said...

sounds like a great combination! I really like my oatmeal cookie recipe - I like having more oats than flour, and I use the same principles I discovered that make the best chocolate chip cookies (melted and cooled butter and mixing very well with the sugar!)

Cara said...

oops, here's the link!
http://carascravings.blogspot.com/2007/09/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-pg.html

vanillasugarblog said...

dr. repellant! LOL
I get tired of the same old oatmeal too. very clever to add these in. I bet the smell of the green apples cookign away was good, no?

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree. I like the colors in your cookies! :)

Robin said...

And pistachios too! Gotta love that Grace! Nice looking cookie and reminds me of Fall-time too!

Jessica said...

I don't have a go-to oatmeal cookie recipe, either. I've been looking and trying but all of them seem to fall a little short. I love the idea of adding apples to the cookies in place of raisins, though. I bet that's so tasty!

Zoe said...

Ooh this looks great. I like this idea!

Lisa said...

I use a couple of different oatmeal cookie recipes but one of my favorites is inside the lid of Quaker Oats. Your cookies are pretty! I'll take dried cranberries and apples over raisins any day.

Lyndas recipe box said...

I love a good oatmeal cookie. I love your additions to the dr. repellant cookies :)- I think they'd be great with my coffe right now!
I made oatmeal cookies last week and was in such a hurry, I forgot the baking soda. I had little rocks!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Apples in cookies? That's brilliant!

oneordinaryday said...

I'm a dork. The green is the pistachios. LOL

Culinary Wannabe said...

Yea, forget about an apple when you could eat one of these!

♥Rosie♥ said...

Oh what great looking cookies Grace. Very clever idea.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Cinnamon apples sound waaaaaaaaaay better than yucky, raisins! Nice call!
~ingrid

Anonymous said...

this is a much tastier way to get more fruit than eating an apple, hahaha! great idea!

Pam said...

Yet another fabulous recipe - I love that you added pistachios. Yum!

noble pig said...

Brilliant with the cinnamon apple. I am going to try it.

foodhoe said...

very festive looking cookies. So are the dehydrated apples crunchy then?

giz said...

Cool - I like the idea of all the mixed goodies in there. I'll take 2 dozen please.

Christo Gonzales said...

what a great and unique cookie - I will also take two dozen...

unconfidentialcook said...

I love that you put pistachios in there...what a good idea!

kellypea said...

I got some loot from Oh Nuts! over the holidays and you are so right about those cheerful colors! Pistachios and cranberries...nomnomnom... These little nuggets are looking mighty fine being the sucker I am for anything with apples and cinnamon. Ah - yep.

Marjie said...

Cinnamon and apple are perfect together. Cinnamon is also perfect alone.

kat said...

Now that is a dreamy cookie!

Donna-FFW said...

Cinnamon, apple, pistachios.. what a terrific cookie! Tops raisins anyday!

Heather said...

a dessert that repels doctors?!? i don't believe you ;) it sounds tasty enough, though, that i'll give it a try.

Juliana said...

So creative...love the colors in the cookies...do you think that I could use fresh apples? Would love to try this recipe. Nice pictures.

Jaime said...

what a great way to use up those dried apples

Lexie said...

These look so soft and chewy...like the perfect cookie!

Chef Fresco said...

Apples in cookies?! Yum!

MaryBeth said...

These look incredible Grace... I love them to pieces, I will bring the milk!!

Emily said...

Mmm apples, pistachios, cranberries... I love it!

Deborah said...

I just made oatmeal applesauce cookies the other day - the apples would have been so good in them instead of raisins! I'll have to give this a try, because I can't have too many cookies!

La Bella Cooks said...

I love the colors going on in this cookies plus the fact they are chewy would be a plus as well. Gorgeous photo as well, Grace.

eatme_delicious said...

Mmm cinnamon apple oatmeal cookies! Delicious. These oatmeal cookies (http://www.eatmedelicious.com/2007/06/ultimate-oatmeal-cookies.html) were the ones that got me to like oatmeal cookies. I recommend trying them out. =)

Tabby said...

Wow, you really know how to get a pregnant girls mouth watering! They look delicious!

KaTom Restaurant Supplies said...

Interesting! I love the colors of the apple pieces peeking through the cookie.

:-D

Stacey said...

Great idea for an apple a day! Sign me up! These look super duper yum!

Ruth said...

What an amazing recipe so inventive. I have to try these

The Blonde Duck said...

Oh, that looks great! That's a fabulous cookie!

Unknown said...

your full of good ideas!I love this idea and the name for it!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

LOL I love the name of these-could you perhaps make a dentist repellent item? I dislike them more!

pam said...

Those are almost like a granola cookie!

Lori said...

I love these mixins.

I always use the Quaker "vanishing oatmeal" cookie recipe.

I too love the titles of your recipes. Crack me up. But I agree with Not QUite Nigella because I HATE dentists (nothing presonal, strictly negative conditioning). Dentists=pain.

Paula said...

Pistachios in a cookie? Sign me up! This is a great way to get in thine daily apple! Oh yeah, a great way! YUM!

Peter M said...

These have a mosaic look to them and I bet each bite has a different taste.

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Grace how are you?

Who could not love apple and cinnamon in a cookie - look fabulous and I bet the they tasted great.

Elyse said...

I love that you're mixing it up a bit with these cookies. No more plain ole oatmeal raisin; dried apples are here to stay! These look awesome. Man oh man, talk about a comforting, delicious cookie!

Erinn@SundayDish said...

Hi Grace,
I haven't been by in awhile and I see you are still tempting us all with sweet treats that are perfect with a morning cup o joe! These are simply so pretty and colorful!

Jacque said...

Mmmm, these get high marks in the colorful department. They seem like they belong on a Christmas cookie platter.

Way to be creative. They look wonderful.

Hornsfan said...

I'm loving the name...Dr. Repellent Cookies :) LOL

Laura said...

I completely agree. Dried apples sound much better to me. I frequently cub in cranberries, but apples sound even better.

test it comm said...

Those cookies look good! I like the colours in them.

Jude said...

Nice name for a cookie that has apples in it.