Applesauce Cookies

I have a love-hate relationship with baking cookies. They’re both my favourite thing to bake, because I can easily trial multiple different baking styles, times, ect… but I ALWAYS end up with a stomach ache because I’ve eaten too much dough. I know, why don’t I try practising some self control… it’s not that easy ok, cookie dough is my FAVOURITE! I remember whenever we would bake cookies when I was a kid, my little sister and I would roll a cookie and then sneakily (well we thought we were being sneaky) turn around and eat it instead of putting it on the baking tray. Cookie dough has been a problem of mine for a really long time, ok!? Don’t judge! And this applesauce cookie dough, is EPIC!

The apple sauce and cinnamon combo just made this applesauce cookie dough irresistible, but you know what… it tasted even better baked! *gasp* I know, I’ve never said that about ANY cookie before, especially a butterless cookie! Usually the cookie dough is where it’s AT! But not with these, the cookie dough is great, but once that apple sauce has baked the aroma is intoxicating and every little bite tastes like apple pie! They’re the perfect balance between soft and fluffy, the perfect blend of apple and cinnamon, and the crunchy icing sugar crust is just the icing on the ‘cookie’. Of which was a last second addition to this cookie actually—my original batch turned out soo sticky because of the apple sauce and sugar, that they stuck to the baking paper and were just an unpleasant texture, so I thought, "I know, I’ll roll them in icing sugar so they don’t stick." And voila! They magically transformed into crinkle cookies, which was just the most perfect little accident. Eating cookie dough was my favourite part of baking when I was kid, as an adult, it’s these happy accidents that put a smile on my face (and the cookie dough too).

A HANDY TIP! Applesauce is an awesome substitute for oil in any recipe. If you’re baking and aren’t a huge fan of using oil by the cup full, you can use equal amounts of applesauce instead. I know oil works, but I always feel kind of wrong tipping cups of oil into a recipe. It just feels so unhealthy… never mind the cups of sugar already in there (shhhh).

MY TOP TIPS FOR MASTERING THIS BAKE

1. This dough, although it’s a butterless cookie dough, gets thick quickly so do ensure that you lightly whisk your eggs with a fork before tipping them into your dough to ensure that they are distributed through the dough evenly and you don’t end up with egg white streaks in your crinkle cookies.
2. It’s really important to only work with one applesauce cookie at a time, or maybe two maximum! The reason being that after you’ve scooped your cold dough, it will begin to warm up, and as the dough warms up, it gets harder to work with and will lose its shape. This both makes it harder to roll in the icing sugar, but also ideally for the crinkle pattern, you want your ball of dough to retain its shape while you roll it through the sugar, then only start to warm up and ‘spread’ slightly AFTER it’s been placed on the baking tray. This will help to make that crinkle pattern perfect! You may even see it starting to crack before it’s put in the oven!
3. These applesauce cookies don’t feel done when you remove them from the oven, their hard(ish) cookie shell doesn’t form until after the cookies have cooled back to room temperature, so don’t be tempted to keep them in the oven for longer than the recommended 12 minutes even if they don’t look done or they will go rock solid. But by all means, keep them in for less if you want them doughy.