Skip to Content

Apple Peanut Butter Cookies

Sharing is caring!

Grated apples combine with creamy peanut butter to create a fun and unique spin on a classic combination. Serve these Apple Peanut Butter Cookies alongside a glass of ice cold milk and you have the perfect after-school snack for a chilly fall day.

5 apple peanut butter cookies stacked on a white plate. The top cookie has a bite taken out of it

Sometimes recipe inspiration comes from the most mundane and random of places.

Like slicing up and apple and giving it to your kid alongside a big spoonful of peanut butter when she gets home from school.

I love peanut butter and usually think about pairing it with jelly (in Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars) or chocolate (in Peanut Butter Cup Cookies), but serving Elle her after-school snack made me think about how well peanut butter goes with apples!

Ingredients for apple peanut butter cookies arranged on a marble countertop

WHAT ARE APPLE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES?

How many times as a kid did you find yourself dipping apple slices into peanut butter? If you’re anything like me, you probably still find yourself snacking on apples and peanut butter pretty regularly. 

These Apple Peanut Butter Cookies are the cookie version of that classic snack! 

But these cookies aren’t quite like classic peanut butter cookies. They are a bit puffier and chewier and of course have a hint of apple in each and every delicious bite.

Whisk stirring together the dry ingredients for apple peanut butter cookies in a glass mixing bowl

HOW TO MAKE APPLE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Start by gathering your ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon homemade apple pie spice
  • 1/2 cup grated peeled apple, lightly squeezed to remove excess moisture (about 1 large apple)
Spatula stirring apple peanut butter cookie dough in a white mixing bowl

Using an electric mixer, cream together the softened butter and the peanut butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. If you forgot to set your butter out to soften, don’t worry – I have some tips for how to soften butter quickly.

Beat in the egg and the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and apple pie spice

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, mixing until combined, then stir in the grated apple.

Spoonfuls of apple peanut butter cookie dough portioned on a parchment-lined cookie sheet

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. These cookies do spread during baking, so be sure you still leave a couple of inches between each cookie. 

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before trying to transfer them to a cooling rack.

Apple peanut butter cookies scattered on a wire cooling rack

FREEZING TIPS

If you’re anything like me, you like to freeze cookies for snacking on later. These Apple Peanut Butter Cookies are a great one to freeze!

You can freeze the cookie dough or the baked cookies. If you want to freeze the dough, just follow the steps in my guide on how to freeze cookie dough.

White plate filled with apple peanut butter cookies

This is my favorite option because there’s nothing better than having freshly baked cookies on demand.

If you prefer to freeze the baked cookies, that’s an option, too. Just pop the cooled cookies into an airtight container or a zip-top freezer bag and freeze them for up to 2 months. 

Apple peanut butter cookie, with a bite taken out of it, balancing on the edge of a glass of milk
5 apple peanut butter cookies stacked on a white plate. The top cookie has a bite taken out of it

Apple Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Grated apples combine with creamy peanut butter to create a fun and unique spin on a classic combination. Serve these Apple Peanut Butter Cookies alongside a glass of ice cold milk and you have the perfect after-school snack for a chilly fall day.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon homemade apple pie spice
  • 1/2 cup grated peeled apple, lightly squeezed to remove excess moisture (about 1 large apple)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and apple pie spice. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in grated apple.
  3. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Notes

If you want a little crunch, feel free to substitute crunchy peanut butter for the creamy.

Adapted from Taste of Home

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information
Yield 24 Serving Size 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving Calories 129Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 18mgSodium 101mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 9gProtein 2g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on social! I want to see what you made! @jamiemba

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

katina

Sunday 2nd of November 2014

made these with my boyfriend this weekend! we went apple picking and wanted to make something out of our granny smiths, and we came across your recipe - it's so good! only, we doubled, or possibly even tripled the amount of apple since we wanted the apple flavor to stand out. thanks for the recipe.

katina

Jamie

Tuesday 4th of November 2014

Katina- I'm so glad the recipe worked for you. Thanks for visiting.

-Jamie

Carrie

Sunday 14th of September 2014

I was looking for a quick recipe for a friend's party and came across this recipe both on the Taste of Homes website and yours... I figured I'd give it a shot, after seeing it on your blog! Overall, it's a good recipe. The apple flavor is definitely faint; peanut butter shines through most. I had some homemade caramel sauce in the fridge that I drizzled over each cookie to make them a little prettier and everyone enjoyed that addition. Everyone really liked them--they all disappeared! While I'm not sure I'll make them again (too many other fun recipes out there to try!), it was still a fun and unique cookie to make. Thanks for posting!

Jamie

Sunday 14th of September 2014

Thanks for the feed back and I appreciate you stopping by.

-Jamie

Laura

Tuesday 26th of August 2014

Wow, these were so good! This will now be my new go to cookie recipe. The only thing I did different was use butter. Thanks for another awesome recipe, Jamie! :)

Jamie

Wednesday 27th of August 2014

I'm so glad the cookies worked out for you. Thanks for stopping by.

-Jamie

Jenn E

Friday 22nd of August 2014

Uh-May-Zing. Seriously. I needed to bring something to a pot luck BBQ tomorrow and had this sitting in my "Trying Soon" Pinterest board for forever. I'm so happy I made these (with the help of my 3-year-old). Now I need to keep my hands off of them until then. :-X

Almost forgot- I used butter. Marvelous.

Jamie

Saturday 23rd of August 2014

So glad that these cookies worked out for you. Thanks for stopping by.

-Jamie

Paula B.

Tuesday 8th of October 2013

Somehow, I had missed these cookies, but when they showed up at the bottom of a more recent one of your posts I knew I had to make them immediately. Only had butter, added shredded coconut for some additional texture as well as throwing in some chocolate chips. Had to coarsely chop my Mac apple as it became applesauce when I tried my hand grater on it. Batter tasted delish, almost as yummy as the very hot cookie bits I am now enjoying. What a great combination of flavors, thanks for the new cookie.

Jamie

Tuesday 8th of October 2013

Paula- I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies! I agree - definitely a great combo of flavors. Have a great day and thank so much for stopping by. -Jamie

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe