Meet Apple Pie Thumbprint Cookies: thick, chewy, and cinnamon-flavored cookies with apple pie filling inside and cinnamon glaze on top. Take a classic apple pie to new, easier heights with these no-chill cookies that scream fall and winter flavor! These are quick, easy, and so unique, so they are sure to impress any crowd at any festive gathering!


Why You NEED These Cookies
Chewy Cinnamon Cookie: This cookie is soft, chewy, and so flavorful!
Apple Pie Filling: Do you know that classic apple pie you know and love? The center of this cookie has that same filling!
No-Chill Dough: This dough is quick, easy, and requires no time waiting in the fridge or freezer.
Simple Glaze: This 3-ingredient glaze adds the most gorgeous touch and flavor!

Chewy Cinnamon Cookie Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour: Simple, plain, white all purpose flour is all you need is perfect in these cookies! Make sure to measure properly by using a kitchen scale or by using a spoon to transport your flour to your measuring cups before taking a knife and sweeping it across the top of the measuring cup. Overmeasuring flour will lead to dry, hard cookies!
- Baking Soda: Baking soda gives these cookies some rise and helps with the texture! Measure carefully and do not substitute with baking powder.
- Salt: You'll need just ¼ teaspoon of salt for an added kick of flavor and sweetness.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon. What is apple pie without cinnamon? It's the shining flavor!
- Unsalted Butter: You'll need ½ cup of unsalted butter at room temperature. Make sure this is butter in sticks, not butter spread. If you only have salted butter, leave out the ¼ teaspoon of salt in the recipe.
- Light Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: Both sugars add sweetness, flavor, moisture, and structure!
- Eggs: Eggs make these cookies chewy as ever! Use them at room temperature please and thank you. If you forget to leave them out ahead of time, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract enhances the flavor of these cinnamon thumbprint cookies!

Making Apple Pie Filling
- Chop Granny Smith (or other tart) apples into small chunks, none larger than about ½ inch in size.
- Combine butter and chopped apple pieces in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until soft, about 5 minutes total.
- Add light brown sugar and cinnamon to the apples, and lower heat. Continue cooking on medium-low heat for an additional 3-5 minutes until the apples are soft enough to squish with a spoon or spatula.
- Allow the filling to cool before storing in the fridge for use later or while you prepare the cookie dough.



FAQ
Though different recipes call for different techniques, this recipe calls for adding the apple pie filling after the cookies have baked.
These cute cookies require you to use your thumb to create a well in the center of each cookie. You'll use your thumb to create a dip in the center both before and after baking.
If your cookies went flat, you either used butter that was too soft, did not have enough flour, used baking soda that was not active, or underbaked your cookies.
Related Recipes
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Apple Pie Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies, Apple, Fall, Dessert, Holiday
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Meet Apple Pie Thumbprint Cookies: thick, chewy, and cinnamon-flavored cookies with apple pie filling inside and cinnamon glaze on top. Take a classic apple pie to new, easier heights with these no-chill cookies that scream fall and winter flavor! These are quick, easy, and so unique, so they are sure to impress any crowd at any festive gathering!
Ingredients
For the Apple Pie Filling
- 2 medium Granny Smith Apples, peeled and chopped (about 325g of chopped apples)
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (60g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon (4g) cinnamon
For the Cinnamon Cookies
- 2 ⅓ cup (327g) all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon (4g) ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (110g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (180g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (53g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (100g), room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8g) pure vanilla extract
- optional: ⅓ cup (70g) granulated sugar + ½ teaspoon (2g) ground cinnamon for rolling
For the Glaze
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- dash of cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon (15g) milk
Instructions
For the Apple Pie Filling
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat chopped apples and butter together for about 5 minutes until the apples are soft and begin to turn slightly more brown in color. Mix consistently to ensure that the apples heat evenly.
- Add light brown sugar and cinnamon to the apple mixture, and lower heat to medium-low. Heat for an additional 3-5 minutes until the apples are soft enough to break apart when you push down on them with a spoon. Stir as the mixture combines.
- Remove the apple pie filling from the heat and let the mixture cool as you prepare the cookies. If baking or assembling later, allow the apple pie filling to cool before storing in an airtight container or covering with cling wrap, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil. Place the filling in the fridge for up to 6 days and heat for about 1 minute in the microwave before adding to the cookies.
For the Cinnamon Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment paper to ensure the cookies do not stick to your pans.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon together until combined.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer that is fitted with a paddle attachment, beat room temperature butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until smooth, fluffy in texture, and pale and shiny in color. This should take about 3 minutes of mixing.
- Add eggs, one at a time, to the dough, beating thoroughly between each addition. Add vanilla extract, beating until smooth and fully incorporated. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, ensuring that all of the wet ingredients are combined.
- Slowly, add the dry ingredients to your dough. Beat until smooth, but do not mix past when you see the dry ingredients disappear into the batter.
- Form the dough into 1 ½-2 tablespoon sized balls, about 40-50g of dough per ball. Roll the dough balls in the mixture of granulated sugar and ground cinnamon if desired. Place the dough balls at least 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Use your thumb to make a well in the center of each cookie.
- Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes or until the tops are golden brown in color and the bottoms, when lifted with off the baking sheets with a spatula, are golden brown in color.
- If desired, use your thumb to make the well deeper and more defined as needed. Allow the cookies to fully cool before filling and decorating.
- After the cookies have cooled, fill each cookie with about 1 ½ tablespoons (about 35g) of apple pie filling in the center of the cookies.
For the Glaze & Decoration
- In a medium bowl, use a spoon to combine the milk, powdered sugar, and cinnamon to create the glaze.
- Glaze should be thick. You should be able to easily lift your spoon from the bowl and have the glaze slowly but consistently fall off of the spoon. It should not look wet or runny at all. If the glaze is too thick to stir and does not easily fall off of a lifted spoon, add an extra teaspoon of milk until desired consistency is reached. If mixture is too thin, add powdered sugar by the tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.
- Use a spoon, piping bag, parchment triangle, or Ziploc bag with the corner cut off to top the cookies with the glaze. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or tightly covered for up to a day or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Heat cookies in the microwave before serving if desired.
Keywords: Apple Pie, Thumbprint Cookies, Apple Cookies,
Katie says
I absolutely love this recipe!! Not only did it taste amazing but it was also super fun to make!! Definitely recommend!!!
Elise says
I'm so glad to hear this, Katie! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe and leaving such a sweet review!