12 Days of Cookies: Day 9
I absolutely love recipes that I can use ingredients that I poured my love into canning. This year I processed two bushels of apples into various items like applesauce, apple butter and pie filling. With how quickly we are burning through my stash I might have to double that amount next year – especially since our youngest will be eating solid food by that point.
Apple butter is so incredibly easy to make and you can use it on more than just toast. It’s absolutely delicious on pancakes and I use it as a marinade for pork tenderloin. It also happens to be an excellent substitute for butter in baking. In this recipe I replaced half the butter with equal amounts of apple butter and ended up with these delicious, moist and rich apple flavored treats.
Oatmeal is extremely beneficial to your diet. It contains a powerful soluble fiber that can help lower your cholesterol. It can also help improve blood sugar levels and support weight loss. Another amazing benefit for breastfeeding moms is that it can help support and sometimes increase milk supply. Adding this super food to cookies is a great way to help make these treats just a bit healthier.
My only complaint about these cookies is that they taste so good you cannot eat just one. If you’re looking to change up the flavors a bit try adding a 1/2 cup of your favorite chopped nuts or a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter. I happened to make a batch of caramel apple butter this fall and I used it with this batch rather than regular apple butter – it was amazing!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter – softened
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t salt
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking pans with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream together butter, apple butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and gently mix in oats.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently.
- Drop cookies onto baking pans in heaping tablespoon sized balls approximately three inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the middle of the cookies look set.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking pan for five minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one week or place in freezer.
This recipe yields approximately four dozen cookies depending upon size.
The Petite Homestead 