Soft Apple Cinnamon Cookies With Apple Cider Icing

These apple cinnamon cookies are soft drop cookies made with fresh chopped apple, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Once baked, they are finished with a thin cinnamon apple cider icing that sets over the tops.

I originally developed these cookies around the flavours of a traditional wassail bowl. Apple, orange and warm spices all belong naturally in that flavour profile, but making them as an easy drop cookie gives you those flavours without the work of a rolled Christmas cookie.

These soft apple cinnamon cookies bake in 10–12 minutes and use one fresh apple chopped directly into the dough. The orange zest is important because it brightens the heavier cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice.

For a thicker bakery-style apple cookie, try my Apple Crisp Cookies with fresh cinnamon apples and a buttery oat topping.

Quick Answer

Apple cinnamon cookies are soft drop cookies made with fresh chopped apple, orange zest and warm spices including cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. This wassail-inspired version is finished with a thin apple cider icing and bakes in 10–12 minutes.

Why These Apple Cinnamon Cookies Are Wassail-Inspired

I first made this recipe when I wanted something different for Christmas baking. Rather than making another traditional holiday cookie, I worked from the flavours found in wassail: apple, citrus and warming spices.

Wassailing is an old British Twelfth Night tradition associated with apple orchards, cider and the communal wassail bowl. The National Trust has a good overview of the history of wassailing if you want to read more about where those flavours and traditions come from.

The cookie dough uses fresh apple along with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Orange zest is mixed directly into the dough, while apple cider and orange juice are used in the icing.

These are still very much apple cinnamon cookies, rather than a cookie that requires someone to know what wassail is. The wassail idea explains the combination of fruit and spices and is what makes this particular apple cookie different.

Why You’ll Love These Apple Cinnamon Cookies

Fresh Apple Pieces: One chopped apple is mixed throughout the cookie dough rather than relying on apple flavouring.

Easy Drop Cookie: The dough does not need to be rolled or cut into shapes.

No Chilling Time: Once the dough is mixed, the cookies can be portioned onto the baking sheet.

Warm Spice Blend: Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice give the cookies the flavour that originally inspired the wassail theme.

Apple Cider Icing: The thin icing adds another apple element without changing the soft texture of the cookie itself.

How to Make Apple Cinnamon Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add the softened butter and white sugar to a large mixing bowl. Cream them together until the sugar is evenly worked through the butter, then add the egg and mix until combined.

Add the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the butter mixture and a soft cookie dough forms.

Chop the apple into small pieces. Smaller pieces distribute more evenly through the dough and are easier to contain inside a spoonful of cookie dough.

Add the chopped apple, vanilla and orange zest. Mix only long enough to distribute the apple pieces and zest throughout the dough.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. If you want rounder cookies, gently shape the outside edges without flattening the cookies completely.

Bake for 10–12 minutes. The edges should be only lightly golden when the cookies are ready. Avoid leaving them in the oven simply because the centres still look soft; overbaking takes away the tender texture that works well with the fresh apple.

Move the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let them cool slightly while you prepare the icing.

Make the Apple Cider Icing

Add the icing sugar, orange juice, apple cider, cinnamon and nutmeg to a small bowl or measuring cup.

Stir until smooth. The icing should be thin enough to drizzle from the end of a spoon but not so thin that it immediately disappears into the cookie.

Drizzle the icing over the slightly warm cookies, starting near the centre and allowing it to spread naturally over the tops.

Let the cookies cool completely so the apple cider icing has time to set before serving or stacking them.

Ingredients:

These cookies use a simple butter drop-cookie dough with fresh apple, orange zest and a fuller spice blend than a standard cinnamon cookie.

All-Purpose Flour: Regular white all-purpose flour provides the structure for the soft cookie dough.

Cinnamon: Cinnamon provides the main warm-spice flavour and connects naturally with the fresh apple.

Cloves: Cloves are much stronger than cinnamon, so the smaller amount adds depth without becoming the dominant flavour.

Nutmeg: Nutmeg rounds out the cinnamon and cloves and contributes to the wassail-inspired spice blend.

Allspice: A small amount adds another warm note without requiring a separate spice mixture.

Salt: Salt balances the sweet dough and spices.

Salted Butter: One cup provides the fat and moisture for the cookie dough. Soften it enough to cream with the sugar but do not melt it.

White Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the cookies and is creamed with the butter before the other ingredients are added.

Egg: One large egg binds the cookie dough.

Vanilla: Vanilla softens the sharper edges of the warm spices and citrus.

Fresh Apple: Chop one firm apple into small pieces so the fruit distributes evenly through the cookie dough. If you are choosing apples in Ontario, Foodland Ontario has a useful guide to common apple varieties and their availability.

Orange Zest: Use the full two tablespoons. The citrus helps balance the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice and is an important part of the original wassail-inspired flavour.

For the Apple Cider Icing

Icing Sugar: Forms the base of the thin glaze.

Orange Juice: Adds citrus flavour and helps thin the icing.

Apple Cider: Gives the glaze its apple cider flavour. The cider is used in the icing rather than the cookie dough.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg: A small amount of spice carries the flavour of the cookie through to the glaze.

Substitutions and Add-Ins for Apple Cinnamon Cookies

These cookies depend on fresh apple, orange and the warm spice blend for their identity, so I would keep substitutions fairly conservative.

All-Purpose Flour: Up to half of the white flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour. Expect a slightly heavier, nuttier cookie rather than exactly the same soft texture.

Fresh Apple: Different apple varieties can be used. Keep the pieces small regardless of variety so the apple distributes properly through the cookie dough. Replacing the apple completely with pear or another fruit would make this a different fruit cookie rather than apple cinnamon cookies.

Orange Zest: I would keep the orange zest if you want the original wassail-inspired flavour. The citrus is there to balance the heavier warm spices.

Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg and Allspice: The amounts can change the flavour quite noticeably, particularly the cloves and allspice. Reducing or removing several of them will produce a simpler apple cinnamon cookie rather than the intended spice profile.

Egg: An egg substitute has not been tested in this recipe.

Butter: Alternative fats have not been tested. Because the dough contains a full cup of butter, changing the fat may affect both spreading and texture.

Apple Cider: Apple cider is what makes this an apple cider icing. Omitting it and using only orange juice would produce a citrus glaze instead.

Expert Tips, Serving and Storing Suggestions

Tip #1: Chop the Apple Small: Large pieces are harder to distribute through a spoonful of cookie dough. Smaller pieces give you apple throughout the batch.

Tip #2: Use the Full Amount of Orange Zest: The orange is not just decorative flavour. It helps brighten the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice.

Tip #3: Do Not Overbake the Cookies: Remove the cookies when the edges are only lightly golden. These are intended to remain soft rather than baking until crisp.

Tip #4: Watch the Icing Consistency: The apple cider icing should drizzle easily from a spoon but still remain visible on the cookie. If it is excessively thin, it will not set as neatly on top.

Serving Suggestions

Serve these apple cinnamon cookies once the icing has set. They work especially well for fall baking, a Christmas cookie tray, or with coffee or tea.

If you want another way to use fresh apples in a soft baked recipe, my Apple Cinnamon Rolls With Biscuit Dough use fresh apple and cinnamon in a quick no-yeast dough.

For another simple apple bake, try my Apple Tea Bread. If you want a much thicker cookie instead, the Apple Crisp Cookies use a brown sugar base with cinnamon apples and oat crumble.

Storing Apple Cinnamon Cookies

Let the apple cider icing set completely before placing the cookies in an airtight container. If stacking them, separate the layers so the glaze does not stick to the cookies above it.

Freezing these finished iced cookies has not been tested.

These apple cinnamon cookies started as my attempt to turn the flavours of a wassail bowl into a simple Christmas cookie, but the fresh apple makes them just as useful for fall baking.

What variety of apple did you use in your cookies?

Meet Amber

I’m the home cook and recipe creator behind A Cents For Cookery. I learned to cook growing up off-grid in Northern Ontario, where meals were made on a woodstove and preserving, baking, and making ingredients stretch were part of everyday life. Here I share practical family recipes, homemade baking, vintage-inspired cooking, and the kitchen knowledge I’ve picked up over the years to help you make the most of the food you have.

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