Apple Pie–Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
These cookies are vegan, take only 20 minutes, and “oh, my apple pie,” they are good!
Ingredients
Cinnamon Apples:
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, or nonstick spray, for saucepan
- 1/3 cup peeled, cored and chopped Honeycrisp apple
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Sugar Cookie Dough:
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup melted vegan butter
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour (for gluten-free, I like King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure)
Vanilla Icing (adds 20 calories per cookie):
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare the cinnamon apples: Heat a small saucepan over medium heat with the vegan butter or nonstick spray. Once hot, add the apple and season with the cinnamon. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Prepare the sugar cookie dough: In a small bowl, mix the flaxseed meal with the warm water. Set aside for 2 minutes, or until a gel forms, to make flax eggs. In a medium-sized bowl, use a fork to mix together the melted vegan butter, cane sugar, flax eggs, almond milk, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Add the flour and mix until a cookie dough forms. Fold in the cinnamon apples.
- Use your hands to roll about a tablespoon (20 g) of cookie dough into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until the baking sheet is full, spacing the balls about 11⁄2 inches (4 cm) apart. You should have about 20 dough balls.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden on the edges and they lift easily off the parchment paper.
- While the cookies bake, prepare the vanilla icing: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, almond milk and vanilla, and beat with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool before drizzling the icing over them and serving.
Notes
Tip: These cookies are 120 calories each without frosting. You can leave out the apples and icing and bake these as classic sugar cookies, if you prefer!
Healthy Oat Flour Swap: Substitute the 11⁄4 cups (156 g) regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour with 2 cups (250 g) oat flour. This adds 16 calories per cookie.
Reprinted with permission from Light & Easy Vegan Baking by Jillian Glenn, Page Street Publishing Co. 2022. Photo credit: Jillian Glenn
Reprinted with permission from Light & Easy Vegan Baking by Jillian Glenn, Page Street Publishing Co. 2022. Photo credit: Jillian Glenn