Apple Cider Cookies with Cider Glaze
Soft, chewy apple cider cookies with a cup of apple cider reduced to a syrup for real apple flavor, brown sugar and cinnamon in the dough, and a cinnamon cider glaze on top. The pictured batch is glazed two ways, a thin coat and a piped zigzag, from the same glaze. Two dozen from one bowl.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup apple cider fresh, for reducing to 1/4 cup
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Cider Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp apple cider plus a third if needed
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
- Whisk
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
Instructions
Reduce the Cider and Make the Dough
- Reduce the cider. Simmer 1 cup of apple cider in a small saucepan over medium heat, uncovered, until reduced to 1/4 cup, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool completely.
- Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and cider. Beat in the egg and the cooled cider reduction until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a separate bowl, then mix into the butter mixture in 2 or 3 additions on low speed, just until no dry streaks remain.
- Chill. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets.
Scoop and Bake
- Scoop. Scoop the chilled dough into balls of about 1 1/2 tablespoons and space them 2 inches apart on the lined sheets.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway, until the edges are set and lightly golden and the centers still look slightly soft. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- Glaze the cookies. Whisk the powdered sugar, cinnamon, salt and 2 tablespoons of cider until it runs off the whisk in a slow ribbon, adding a little more cider if needed. Spread thinly over the cooled cookies with the back of a spoon, or pipe a zigzag from a small bag with the corner snipped, as pictured. Let set 20 minutes.
Notes
Pictured glaze: the cookies in the photos are finished two ways from one bowl of glaze, spread in a thin coat with the back of a spoon over some and piped in a zigzag from a small bag over the rest. Use either or both.
Reduction: simmer 1 cup of cider to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes, and cool it completely before adding it to the dough. It keeps in the refrigerator for a week.
Doneness: edges set and lightly golden, centers still slightly soft and pale. They finish on the hot sheet. Do not wait for them to brown deeply.
Make ahead: the dough keeps covered in the refrigerator for 2 days. Scooped dough balls freeze for 3 months and bake from frozen with 2 to 3 extra minutes.
Storage: airtight at room temperature for 4 days with parchment between layers, or freeze baked cookies for 3 months.
Substitutions: a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend with an hour of chilling; browned butter for a toffee note; a pinch of cardamom or ginger with the cinnamon; roll in cinnamon sugar and skip the glaze.
Nutrition values are an estimate for one glazed cookie.
Nutrition
Calories: 128kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.4mg