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    Home » Recipes » Decorated Cookies

    Apple Cookies

    Modified: Aug 4, '23 · Published: Sep 12, '14 · By: Beth Klosterboer · Commission earned on paid or sponsored links.

    Jump to Recipe

    These decorated Apple Cookies are filled with candy and are topped with icing flavored with apple juice. They are fun back-to-school treats and make great teacher gifts. They are also a wonderful dessert to serve at a fall party.

    decorated apple cookies filled with red M&Ms and topped with icing that is flavored with apple juice.

    I recently hosted a fall party and created apple-themed desserts to serve my guests.

    My friends flipped over my candy-filled Apple Piñata Cookies. They not only looked like apples, but they also tasted like apples. The icing on the cookies was flavored with apple juice. They had a deliciously fresh flavor.

    These three-layer cookies can be filled with red M&M's or your favorite candies.

    apple desserts party table including a Rice Krispie Treat Tree, apple cookies, gummy apples, apple cups, red M&M's.

    My guests also loved Rice Krispie Treat Apple Tree which was the centerpiece on my dessert table. My guests were able to pull branches, cereal treat leaves, and M&M apples off the tree and eat it for dessert.

    I also serve apple sauce in hollowed-out apples and some apple-shaped gummy candies which were made using apple and grape juice.

    All of these ideas could be used for a back-to-school party or teacher's appreciation day.

    candy-filled apple cookies on a black background

    Ingredients

    • all-purpose flour
    • salt
    • baking powder
    • unsalted butter, softened slightly
    • sugar
    • eggs
    • vanilla extract
    • almond extract
    • red food coloring (the amount you'll need will depend on what type you use)

    Apple Flavored Royal Icing

    • 7 tablespoons Apple Juice, plus more to thin icing
    • 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar
    • 3 tablespoons meringue powder

    Supplies

    • rolling pin
    • silicone mat (or use a flour-dusted countertop)
    • large 5-inch apple cookie cutter
    • 4-inch round cookie cutter
    • baking sheets topped with parchment paper

    Instructions

    Make the cookie dough.

    • Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.
    • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
    • Stir in eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and some drops of red food coloring.
    • Add more coloring until you get a really bright shade of red and mix until well combined.
    • Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and stir just until it's mixed in.
    • Note: Once you add the flour the color will tone down.
    cutting out red cookie dough using an apple cookie cutter.

    Cut out the apple-shaped cookies.

    • Roll your cookie dough out to ¼ inch thickness either on a flour-dusted cutting board or between two non-stick silicone mats.
    • Cut out 16 apple-shaped cookies that are ¼ inch thick.
    • Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 min.
    • Note: I used a 4-inch round cookie cutter and simply shaped it into an apple. I didn't want to use an actual apple cutter as I didn't want the stem or leave cut out, but you could if you prefer to ice the stem and leaf.
    cutting a circle out of apple-shaped cookie cut-outs.

    Cut out the centers.

    • Roll the remaining cookie dough out to ⅜ inch thickness.
    • Cut out some apples, set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then cut a circle out of the center of each cookie.
    • Re-roll the dough and repeat making a total of 8 cookies with holes in the middle. Refrigerate for 30 min.

    Note: It has to be thick enough for a Candy Apple M&M to fit inside so it's important for the dough to be at least ⅜ inch thick.

    • Preheat the oven to 375°.
    • Bake cookies for 12 to 14 min. allow them to cool completely.
    making red royal icing using apple juice.

    Make apple juice icing.

    • Heat the Mott's apple juice in the microwave for 15-25 seconds, just until warm.
    • Make the royal icing by beating the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, apple juice, almond extract, and red gel or paste food coloring until light and fluffy (about 7 to 10 min.) I highly recommend using a stand mixer for this job.
    filling Apple Pinata Cookies with candy apple M&M's and attaching the cookies layers using red apple-flavored royal icing.

    Fill with candy.

    • Stack your cookies with one solid cookie on the bottom, one with a hole in it in the middle, and another solid one on top. Try to find the cookies that match up the best.
    • Pipe a bead of icing on the backside of one of the holey cookies and stick it to a whole cookie.
    • Fill the hole with (Candy Apple M&M's - no longer available), red M&M's, Red Sixlets, or Skittles, and then pipe a bead of icing around the edge of the cookie and stack another whole cookie on top.
    decorating Apple Cookies with apple icing, chocolate Pocky Sticks, and green wafer leaves.

    Ice and decorate the cookies.

    • Pipe a border of icing around the edge of the Apple cookies.
    • Then thin out the remaining icing with a little bit more apple juice. Stir in 1 teaspoon at a time until you can drop a spoonful of icing into the bowl and it should completely flatten out.
    • Pipe the thin icing inside the border of the Apple cookies flooding the entire area.
    • While the icing is still wet, add a chocolate cookie stick stem and wafer paper leaf.
    Apple Cookies decorated with red icing, chocolate cookie stick stems, and wafer paper leaves.

    Dry.

    • Allow the icing to dry completely overnight.

    This cookie recipe is so good that these cookies can sit on your counter for days and still taste fresh. The apple-flavored icing has just a nice hint of apple flavor. I might use this recipe whenever I'm making decorated cookies.

    Decorated Apple Pinata Cookies

    Variations

    You can just make decorated apple-shaped cookies without filling them with candy. Don't cut holes out of any of the apples.

    You can make the cookies smaller using smaller cookie cutters.

    You'll need more icing and decorations.

    Related Recipes

    If you are looking for more apple-themed desserts, give these recipes a try.

    caramel fudge-filled apples.

    Inside-Out Caramel Apples

    fudge apples - white chocolate fudge shaped into apples and personalized with messages to teachers

    White Chocolate Fudge Apples

    apple dip with apple shaped pie-crust cookies.

    Apple Dip with
    Apple Pita Chips

    Recipe

    apple cookies filled with candy.
    Print
    Apple Cookies Filled With Candies
    Prep Time
    1 hr
    Cook Time
    14 mins
    Total Time
    1 hr 14 mins
     

    Candy filled apple shaped cookies frosted with an apple juice royal icing are great for summer parties, back to school, teacher appreciation, and much more.

    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: apple cookies, pinata cookies
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 861 kcal
    Author: Beth Klosterboer
    Ingredients
    Apple Cookies
    • 4 ¼ cups all purpose flour
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened slightly
    • 1 ½ cups sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • ¾ teaspoon almond extract
    • red food coloring (the amount you'll need will depend on what type you use)
    Apple Flavored Royal Icing
    • 7 tablespoons Apple Juice, plus more to thin icing
    • 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar
    • 3 tablespoons meringue powder
    • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
    • red food coloring
    Other
    • 1 cup candies (red M&M's, Sixlets, or Skittles)
    • 8 Pocky cookie sticks or pretzel sticks
    • 8 edible leaves
    Instructions
    Apple cookies
    1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.

    2. Cream together the butter and sugar.

    3. Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until combined

    4. Then, add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

    5. Roll the dough out to ¼ inch thickness.

    6. Cut 16 apple-shaped cookies using 5-inch apple cookie cutters.

    7. Roll dough out to ⅜ inch thickness.

    8. Cut eight apple-shaped cookies and then cut a 4-inch circle out of the center of these cookies.

    9. Refrigerate the cut-out cookie dough for 30 min.

    10. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

    11. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes until set around the edges.

    12. Cool the apple cookies completely before decorating.

    Apple icing
    1. Heat apple juice in microwave until warm.

    2. Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, apple juice and red coloring until light and fluffy, 7 to 10 min.

    3. Use icing to glue together one Apple cookie and one cookie with a hole in it. Fill hole with candies. Glue a solid Apple cookie on top.
    4. Ice the top of the cookies. While the icing is wet attach a stem and leaf.
    Recipe Notes

    Store your apple cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

       

    • Author
    • Recent Posts
    Beth Klosterboer
    Beth Klosterboer
    Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com
    Beth Klosterboer
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    1. plasterer bristol says

      December 01, 2014 at 7:00 am

      Yum yum, these sound lovely, thanks for uploading this recipe.

      Simon

      Reply
    2. Karen @ Sugartown Sweets says

      September 17, 2014 at 3:26 am

      Look at all the awesome sweets you are creating! This cookie I love! I was so excited today to find the brand new candy apple M&Ms and you have utilized them in the cutest way. Looks like everybody had a great time at the party. :o)

      Reply
    3. The Bearfoot Baker says

      September 12, 2014 at 9:32 pm

      Everything about this post is amazing! I love the apple cookies!

      Reply
    4. The Partiologist says

      September 12, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      What a wonderful party - and how I wish I could have attended, it looks like such fun. You did a terrific job on the apple cookies with the m & m's inside. Also, your mom's paintings are gorgeous!

      Reply
    5. Sue says

      September 12, 2014 at 5:57 pm

      What a fun party! Your treat table is amazing! Your apple pinata cookies are fantastic and have definitely inspired me. 🙂

      Reply
    6. Cindyzs (cindy zemble stewart/freespiritczs) says

      September 12, 2014 at 1:50 pm

      would love to see how you made the tree!! great job as always 🙂 !

      Reply
    Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    Welcome to Hungry Happenings!

    I'm Beth. I've been a professional chocolatier & baker for over 30 years, have written 5 cookbooks, and love creating fun food for holidays and special occasions.

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