Dutch Apple Pie Cookies with a Caramel Apple Glaze | #TheMagicofTea

Hello, friend.

Halloween is over and November is in full swing! The days are colder and the nights are longer. During this time of year when I’m not spending my time in class or in the library studying, I can be found baking my little heart out in my tiny apartment kitchen. There is something therapeutic about coming home after a long day of school, out from the biting autumn winds of Illinois, and just baking my feelings. After I am all said and done, I take a deep sigh, brew myself a steaming cup of tea, sit down at my desk and proceed to go on a photo editing binge, the sounds of smooth jazz acoustics playing softly in the background. 

As I've gotten older, tea has become one of those drinks that has ever so quickly grown on me. Coffee has always had my heart (or at least since freshman year of college when I started drinking it), but there is something so powerful about the calming, floral flavors that tea provides. It's this which has recently gotten my hooked, the warm brew trickling down my throat with each savored sip. Tea reminds of late night study sessions at my or my friend's apartments, our laughter proceeded late into the evening. Happy memories and funny moments, all over a cup of tea, and  more specifically, Celestial Seasonings tea.

I discovered Celestial Seasoning's teas over a year ago when my parents brought home a shopping bag full of CS's holiday inspired teas. One sip of the caramel apple dream tea and I was instantly obsessed. So when Celestial reached out to me to be a part of their #TheMagicOfTea campaign, I was pretty dang excited. I and bunch of other bloggers are coming together and sharing some of our favorite tea-inspired recipes, so I'm eager to see what everyone creates. With Halloween over, I am now 110% Thanksgiving! And with the holiday season upon us, it is apple baking season (one of my favorite times of the year for baking). For this post, I am getting my apple game on and sharing my recipe for these decadent apple pie cookies. I’ve been making these Dutch Apple Pie Cookies for years now. I discovered this recipe when I started cooking (way back when in 2013) and I have been obsessed ever since. Next to Momma Crawford’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, it’s one of my favorite cookie recipes ever. 

This cookie is all the best parts of an apple pie but reconstructed and assembled onto a bite-sized, buttery, crust-like cookie. The cookie base is a hybrid between a shortbread cookie and a traditional pie crust which is so addicting. I can literally eat just this dough by itself it is that good. So warm. So butter. So divine. Then the apple filling layer is bubbly and perfectly cascaded over the cookie base with the warm, sugary crumble all spiced and tender over top. A drizzle of the caramel apple icing glaze over top and you have yourself an easy, peasy, dynamite cookie! It’s one of those recipes I can make in synch but still get all the beloved flavors of a traditional apple pie, which takes WAAY longer. (If you want to learn how to make an apple pie from scratch, check out this post here!) A cookie in one hand and a cup of tea in the other and friends and family around to share them with, and you have my definition of a wonderful time. 

Dutch Apple Pie Cookies with a Caramel Apple Glaze 
Original recipe adapted from Food Pusher

Ingredients

            For the crust

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 

1 tablespoons (3 tea bags) Caramel Apple Tea, dried leaves (not brewed!)

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, cubed and chilled

6 tablespoons shortening, chilled

6 tablespoons ice cold water

            For the topping + streusel

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup rolled oats  

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (1 tea bag) Caramel Apple Tea

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ cup canned apple pie filling, roughly chopped (a trick I found is using a sharp knife and cut the apples while still in the can)

Powdered sugar, for garnish

            For the caramel apple drizzle

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 (14oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

For the crust. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, tea, and salt. Cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the cold water and stir with a fork. Once the dough begins coming together, switch to your hands and gently work the dough into a ball.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll dough out to a 1/8” thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Place each round of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Collect the dough scraps and roll and cut more rounds. I ended up with 12 in total. Place the sheet pan into the fridge while you prepare the topping.

For the topping. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, oats, ground cinnamon, tea, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter chunks and mix with your fingers until all the butter is incorporated and it begins to form crumbles. Divide this mixture 2:1 between two separate bowls. In the bowl with more of the crumble mixture, add in the chopped apple pie filling and stir until well incorporated.

For assembly. Place a heaping tablespoon of the apple pie topping mixture over each round of crust. Sprinkle on roughly ½ a teaspoon of reserved crumble over each cookie. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned and the apple filling is oozing over the sides of the cookies (don’t worry, this is a good thing!). Remove from the oven and allow to cool. If desire, take a sharp knife and cut off the excess overflowed topping (a great snack to nibble on!). Transfer to a wire rack.

For the caramel apple drizzle. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and sweetened condensed milk until combined. Add the bourbon, vanilla, vinegar, and cinnamon. Drizzle over cooling cookies. Optional step: top each cookie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and just devour!

Huge thanks to Celestial Seasonings for including me in their #TheMagicOfTea campaign as well as sponsoring this recipe. Be sure to share your baking creations with the hashtag so we can obsess about tea and baking together. And as always, all opinions, ramblings, stories, and recipe/adaptations are my own. 

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Salted Caramel & Whiskey Apple Pie

Bourbon & Buttermilk Biscuit Apple Cobbler