I asked Matt what he wanted me to make for dessert for our last camping trip. He said he wanted oatmeal cookies.
When he says "oatmeal cookies" he is actually referring to oatmeal raisin cookies... his favorite. Personally, I don't like oatmeal raisin cookies. There's just something about the texture of the raisins that doesn't sit well with me. So, I asked him if he'd settle for a different variety of oatmeal cookie and randomly tossed out the idea of caramel apple. He got pretty excited.
I used pre-bagged Kraft caramel bits (I found them at Target) and diced fresh apples and ended up with super soft and chewy cookies. I think it'd be impossible to dry these suckers out. I don't even care that caramel apple is usually a fall flavor... these hit the spot!
If you can't find the bagged caramel bits, you can use the larger individually wrapped caramel candies. Just unwrap them and cut them into pea-sized chunks and they should work just fine. Enjoy!
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Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 56 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 ½ cup Kraft Caramel Bits
- 2 small gala apples, peeled, cored, and diced into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, beat together the butter and both sugars until smooth and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stopping when just a few streaks of flour remain.
- Fold in the caramel bits and diced apples, mixing slowly and carefully until remaining flour streaks have been combined into the mixture and the caramel and apples are evenly distributed in the dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
- Using a large cookie scoop (about 2 TBS worth), place lumps of dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Return remaining dough to the refrigerator. Bake for 14-15 minutes until cookies are starting to turn deep golden. These are soft cookies, so you want them to get a good browning before taking them out of the oven so that they don't fall apart.
- Allow cookies to cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a flat surface to cool, as the caramel bits will be a bit melty and if they are moved to an elevated cooling rack too soon the bits will fall through the cookies.
- Repeat baking steps with remaining dough, allowing the baking sheet to cool (or using a different one) between each batch and returning the dough to the refrigerator during the baking process.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
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how to store after baking for days?
Hi! I would keep them in a cool-ish room, sealed up in an airtight container.
Cookies spread because of the butter, because there is so much water in butter. You probably could substitute Crisco, but would lose the buttery-ness. Maybe 1/2 and 1/2 would do. But it's the butter that causes it to need to be refrigerated. Baking from the frozen state might be even better, but you would need to test a few at a time to see about the length of time needed to get them baked properly.
Can this dough be made say... a week in advance and frozen until I need them? This recipe makes so many cookies that I wanted to bake some for home and some for an event at the end of the month.
Yes, they should freeze well! I would flash freeze the dough balls on a cookie sheet and then toss them into a ziplock bag after they are mostly hardened. That would be the easiest way. Hope these work out for you!
I made 2 batches of these cookies. I did exactly what the instructions said, refrigerated 4 hours,. The spread quite a bit. Should I add a little more oats to the already made dough or just put them in the refrigerator overnight first and try baking them again??
Refrigerating for longer time could definitely help, and make sure to use a totally cooled (or better, chilled) pan for each batch that goes into the oven, and return the dough to the freezer between batches. Also, cookies will spread less on dark-colored pans. 🙂 Hope these tips help!
Maybe it would be best to try dried apples instead of actual fruit? That will cut down on water content?
Just bought some similar to these at the Apple farm and want to make my own! Can I use quick cooking oats?
You can use quick oats, though the texture will be a little different. They should still taste wonderful!
I love this recipe and have made it several times. But, I’m looking for a suggestion…..the caramel pieces that are along the sides of the cookies ooze and then burn while baking. How could I prevent this from happening?
That's a tricky one. You could wait to add the caramel bits until after the unbaked cookies are on the cookie sheet and then press them in where you want them, but even then the bite are likely to drift and settle where they want as the cookies flatten out as they bake. Maybe bake a couple of individual cookies from your next batch trying different placement of the bits and see what happens? Happy holidays!!
Does the dough have to be refrigerated? I read the recipe from the top down which starts with preheating the oven only to get to the bottom where it says refrigerate and now my oven is preheated
You can bake them without refrigerating but the cookies will spread quite a bit more in the oven. Maybe pop them into the freezer for 15-20 minutes, and between batches return the dough to the freezer. That should help the butter from getting too soft before baking.
I just made these and they are delicious! I did make a couple adjustments. I used dried apples that I crumbled into pieces and rehydrated and added cinnamon. My kids are going to be so happy when they get home!
Ps: I tied to add a picture of mine but it won’t let me. Sorry!
Awesome! That sounds like a great tweak to the recipe. If you upload a photo to any social media you can tag me in it! I'm @erinbrowne on Twitter, @ebrowniebites on Instagram and you can find Brownie Bites Blog on Facebook! 🙂
Thank you! Incredibly yummy, delicious, an absolute treat and easy to make.
I have made these many times for my family. I was a Kindergarten teacher for 21 years, I cooked through the alphabet with my classes and they always loved these cookies too.
★★★★★
These cookies look absolutely delicious! Will definitely be baking a patch to try on the kiddies. Love it!
★★★★★
Thanks, Natalia! Your kiddos will love them!
These cookies are perfection!
Why thank you! 🙂
I absolutely love oatmeal cookies! You have just topped them off with caramel bits, and apples - YUM!
★★★★★
They really are the greatest - I love the texture!
These looks so good.
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Thanks, Neha! Let me know what you think if you give them a try.