Sourdough Apple Butter Cookies (Apple Snickerdoodles)

These sourdough apple butter cookies have the thick, chewy (not cakey!) texture of my favorite snickerdoodles, with a cozy apple twist! They’re made with toasty brown butter, sourdough starter, and real apple butter, then rolled in apple pie-spiced sugar and finished with a simple apple butter glaze that really lets the apple flavor shine. Warm, buttery, perfectly spiced, and with no chilling the dough, these apple snickerdoodles taste like everything wonderful about fall wrapped up in one irresistible cookie!

Perfect For…

• Cozy fall baking: Brown butter, apple butter, and apple pie spices make these cookies especially fitting for a crisp autumn day.
• Thanksgiving dessert tables: Serve them alongside the pies for a fun, handheld apple dessert your guests won’t expect. If you’re looking for an apple dessert even more similar to Thanksgiving apple pie, try my sourdough apple pie cookies!
• Friendsgiving gatherings: These glazed apple snickerdoodles are a festive fall treat made for sharing with friends.
• Using up a jar of apple butter: Turn a jar of store-bought apple butter into a thick, chewy sourdough cookie that really lets the apple flavor shine.

The Story Behind These Sourdough Apple Butter Cookies

The first time I ever tasted apple butter, I was at a restaurant with my husband (just a friend at the time!). I fell in love with it instantly. The apple butter I mean…not the husband. That came later.

As soon as I started planning my fall cookie recipes for this year, I simply knew I had to create an apple butter cookie! I make homemade apple butter every year, but I developed this recipe with store-bought apple butter on purpose. That’s what most people have on hand, and I wanted these cookies to turn out perfectly with a jar you can pick up at the store!

I started developing this recipe by taking a look at my delicious sourdough pumpkin cookie recipe. However, I quickly realized that sweetened apple butter behaves very differently than unsweetened pumpkin. My first batches were way too sweet and spread too thin. When I cut back the sugar, they swung the other way and puffed up like little apple muffins! It took six rounds of testing, but I finally landed on the thick, chewy cookie (my favorite kind!) I was dreaming of. I’ll share exactly what made the difference below!

Along the way, my husband, Patrick, pointed out that apple butter actually tastes more of warm spice than fresh apple. So I leaned into it with a roll of apple pie-spiced sugar, then added a simple apple butter glaze to really highlight the apple flavor. We taste-tested the final batch together, and it was unanimous: rolled AND glazed is the one! If you love my classic Soft Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies, think of these as their cozy fall cousin.

I’ve heard an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I’ll let you know what an apple butter cookie a day does, because I might just have one every day all fall long!

Essentials for the Perfect Sourdough Apple Butter Cookies

• Digital Kitchen Scale: Thick, chewy cookies depend on the right balance of flour, starter, apple butter, and moisture. A digital kitchen scale removes the guesswork so your cookies spread properly while keeping those soft, chewy centers. I have used this exact scale in my kitchen for years, and it has never failed me!
• Stand Mixer: Properly mixing the butter and sugars creates the foundation for that dense, bakery-style texture. A quality stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment makes quick work of this thick dough, but a handheld electric mixer works too. Just be careful not to overmix once the flour is added!
• Large Cookie Scoop: In order to get big, bakery-style sourdough cookies, you need to use larger-than-average scoops of dough. Using a large cookie scoop makes quick work of this and gives you the same size and shape every time, which also helps them bake up evenly!

Ingredients

Sourdough Apple Butter Cookie Ingredients

• ½ cup salted butter (1 stick / 113g), browned and chilled to dent soft: Browning the butter gives these cookies a nutty, caramel-like depth that pairs beautifully with apple butter. It also cooks off the water in the butter, which helps keep these cookies chewy instead of cakey. Weigh the butter before browning. After browning, you’ll chill it until it’s “dent soft”, meaning it’s opaque and solid, and it should indent easily when pressed but still feel cool and offer some resistance. It should not look melted, shiny, or oily. To use unsalted butter, add ¼ tsp additional salt.
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed (165g): Pack it tight! Brown sugar holds onto moisture for that soft, chewy center and adds a caramel note that tastes amazing with apple butter.
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar (12.5g): Just a touch helps the cookies spread and gives them their crackly tops.
• ¼ cup sourdough starter, active or discard, stirred down (75g): You’ll notice this is less starter than most of my cookies use. The apple butter brings plenty of moisture of its own, so I cut back the starter to keep the texture chewy. Active or discard works! Stir it down well before measuring by volume. For best accuracy, measure by weight.
• ¼ cup thick apple butter (75g): Use a thick, spoonable apple butter, not applesauce or a thin apple spread. Apple butter is apples cooked low and slow with warm spices until they’re deep, dark, and concentrated, and that’s what gives these cookies their cozy flavor. I tested this recipe with a thick, store-bought apple butter (mine was from a local farm), since that’s what most people use. If there’s a little puddle of liquid on top, don’t stir it in. Scoop from the thick edges instead. For consistency’s sake, I haven’t tested it with my homemade apple butter. It’s sweetened with maple syrup, so it may bake differently.
• 2 large egg yolks (40g): Yolks only (skipping the egg whites) give the cookies a dense, chewy center that is never cakey.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (5g): Pure vanilla extract provides the cleanest, best flavor.
• ¾ tsp salt (4.5g): Sea salt is preferred over iodized salt for a cleaner flavor profile. A little extra salt balances the sweetness of the apple butter and glaze.
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon: Just enough to warm up the dough from the inside. Most of the spice comes from the apple pie-spiced sugar coating.
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, scooped (not spooned or sifted) (198g): I designed this volume measurement to be scooped directly out of the bag (not sifted or spooned and leveled). Pro Tip: For the best accuracy and overall cookie texture, measure flour by weight.
• ¾ tsp baking soda (4.5g): Ensure you are using baking soda, not baking powder. They’re not interchangeable here. Apple butter is naturally acidic, so this recipe uses a little less baking soda than my other cookies to keep them from puffing up too much.
• Apple pie-spiced sugar, for rolling: To make this, mix 2½ tbsp (31g) granulated sugar with 1¼ tsp apple pie spice in a small bowl. Don’t have apple pie spice? Use 1 tsp ground cinnamon plus ⅛ tsp each ground nutmeg and ground allspice. Both options work perfectly! This coating gives these cookies their sparkly, crackly snickerdoodle top.

Apple Butter Glaze Ingredients

• ½ tbsp salted butter, melted (7g): A little butter keeps the glaze soft and rich.
• 1½ tbsp thick apple butter (28g): This is where the apple flavor really shines! The glaze is what brings the apple butter forward in every bite.
• ½ cup powdered sugar (62.5g): This small batch is just right for drizzling a full batch of cookies.
• Pinch salt: Balances the sweetness.
• ½–1 tsp milk: Add it slowly! Because you’ll warm the butter and apple butter first, the glaze needs very little milk, and that’s what helps it set.

How to Make Sourdough Apple Butter Cookies

Step 1: Brown & Chill the Butter

Place the butter in a small, light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often. It will foam up, then the foam will settle, and it will quickly turn golden with brown flecks and smell nutty. Remove it from the heat, transfer it to a shallow dish (scrape in all those brown bits!), and refrigerate until it’s solid again and dent soft, about 1 hour. Pro Tip: A light-colored pan makes it much easier to see when the butter has browned, so it doesn’t go from brown to burnt.

Step 2: Preheat Oven & Prep

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 3: Cream the Butter & Sugars

Beat the chilled browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined and the mixture looks like wet beach sand.

Step 4: Add the Wet Ingredients

Add the sourdough starter, apple butter, egg yolks, vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon. Beat until smooth. Pro Tip: Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the starter and apple butter are fully incorporated with no streaks remaining.

Step 5: Incorporate the Dry Ingredients

Add the flour and sprinkle the baking soda evenly over the top. Turn the mixer to low speed and mix until the dough is just combined. It will be thick. Pro Tip: Make sure it’s fully combined, but do not overmix. Pockets of unmixed flour are one of the biggest reasons some cookies on the sheet bake thicker than others.

Step 6: Scoop & Roll

Portion the dough into large scoops using a cookie scoop or spoon (3 tbsp / about 62g each). Pack and level the scoop the same way every time so every flat-bottomed dome is the same size and height. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and apple pie spice. Roll each entire dough ball in the apple pie-spiced sugar, keeping the flat bottom. Place 6 scoops per baking sheet to allow space for spreading.

Step 7: Bake

Bake for 13–15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove when the edges are set but the centers still look soft. Pro Tip: Immediately after removing the pan from the oven, firmly bang it against a heatproof surface several times. This settles the cookies for a denser, chewier texture and cracks those beautiful spiced-sugar tops. Bake 6 cookies per sheet. This recipe makes about 11, so you’ll bake 2 batches.

Step 8: Cool on Baking Sheet

Allow the cookies to set on the hot baking sheet for 7 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Let them cool completely before glazing.

How to Make the Apple Butter Glaze

Warm the Butter & Apple Butter: Melt the butter, then stir in the apple butter. Microwave the two together for 8–10 seconds, or until just warm. Apple butter usually comes straight from the fridge, and warming it means the glaze needs much less milk.

Whisk in the Powdered Sugar & Salt: Add the powdered sugar and salt, and whisk until smooth.

Check the Consistency: Add ½ tsp milk, then up to ½ tsp more, a few drops at a time. It should be thick but spreadable for spooning, or a little thinner for drizzling. Pro Tip: If the glaze thickens while you work, warm it for 5 seconds instead of adding more milk. Extra milk prevents the glaze from setting.

Glaze the Cookies: Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled cookies with a fork, or from a zip-top bag with a tiny corner snipped off, going back and forth until it’s all used up. For even more apple flavor in every bite, spoon some onto the center of each cookie and spread it out, leaving a ring of spiced sugar showing. Let the cookies sit on the rack until the glaze sets. It stays soft, not hard, but it won’t be wet.

Storage Tips

• Store unglazed cookies in an airtight container for up to 3–4 days at room temperature.
• Glaze the day you serve them. As glazed cookies sit overnight in a container, moisture from the glaze moves into the cookie and makes it softer and a little crumbly. For the best texture, keep the cookies unglazed and make the glaze fresh. It only takes a few minutes!

Why This Recipe Works

Apple butter is wonderful in cookies, but it brings two challenges: plenty of moisture and its own added sugar. Here’s how this recipe balances both:

• Less water, more chew. Too much moisture turns to steam and a cakey crumb in the oven. Browning the butter cooks off its water (and adds a toasty, caramel-like flavor!), and cutting back the sourdough starter makes room for the apple butter, so these bake up dense and chewy instead of muffin-like.
• Less sugar in the dough. Sweetened apple butter already contains sugar, so this dough uses less brown sugar than my classic snickerdoodles. That keeps these cookies sweet but not overkill, even with the spiced-sugar roll and glaze. See below for options to cut back the sweetness if desired.
• A spiced-sugar roll that stays true to apple butter. Apple butter tastes more of warm spice than fresh apple, so the apple pie-spiced sugar coating doubles down on that cozy flavor and gives these apple snickerdoodles their sparkly, crackly tops.
• A warm apple butter glaze. The glaze carries the apple flavor front and center. Warming the butter and apple butter first means it needs only a splash of milk, which is what lets it set soft instead of staying gummy.
• Two egg yolks and a little less baking soda. Two yolks keep the center dense and rich, and a lighter hand with the baking soda keeps the acidic apple butter from puffing the cookies up.

The Sourdough Cookie Lady Tips

• Scoop from the thickest part of the jar. If you open your apple butter and see a little puddle of liquid in the middle, don’t stir it back in! Instead, scoop from the edges where the apple butter is thickest. Skipping that extra moisture gives you a denser, chewier cookie.
• Scoop every cookie the same way. Pack and level the scoop the same way each time, and keep the flat-bottomed dome. Evenly shaped dough balls bake up evenly thick.
• Warm the glaze, don’t thin it. Warm the butter and apple butter before adding the powdered sugar, add milk only by drops, and rewarm for 5 seconds if it thickens too quickly.
• Glaze the day of serving. Store the cookies unglazed and glaze them fresh for the best texture.
• Let the browned butter become “dent soft.” To keep this dough no-chill, chill the browned butter until it indents easily when pressed but still feels cool and offers some resistance. It should not look melted, shiny, or oily.
• Do not overbake the cookies. Remove them when the edges are set but the centers still look soft and slightly underbaked. They will continue to firm up on the hot baking sheet, giving you that dense, chewy center instead of a dry or cakey texture.
• Measure the flour, sourdough starter, and apple butter by weight if possible. The balance between flour and moisture makes a big difference in the final texture. Weighing them helps prevent cookies that spread too much or turn out overly thick and cakey.
• Bang the pan after baking. Banging the pan right out of the oven settles the centers for a denser, chewier bite and cracks the spiced-sugar tops.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do these cookies taste like apple?

Yes, and the glaze is the secret! The cookie itself tastes like a cozy, warmly spiced snickerdoodle with a subtle apple butter flavor, since apple butter naturally tastes more of spice than fresh apple. The apple butter glaze is what brings the apple flavor forward. The cookie and glaze work hand in hand to create the most cozy apple butter flavor in cookie form!

Can I make these less sweet?

Absolutely! Skip the spiced-sugar roll and mix the 1¼ tsp apple pie spice (or the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice) into the dough with the salt and cinnamon in Step 4. They still turn out great! Unrolled dough balls may spread a little wider, and you’ll miss the sparkly, crackly tops and lightly crunchy exterior, but the glaze will still give you plenty of apple flavor.

Why didn’t my glaze set?

Glaze that stays sticky usually has too much liquid. Warming the butter and apple butter together first lets the powdered sugar dissolve with only ½–1 tsp of milk. If you skip the warming step, you’ll need a lot more milk, and the glaze will stay gummy. If your glaze thickens while you work, warm it for 5 seconds instead of adding more milk. This glaze sets soft, not hard, but it shouldn’t feel wet.

Can I use applesauce instead of apple butter?

No, I don’t recommend it. Applesauce has much more water and much less flavor than apple butter, so the cookies would bake up cakey and bland. Use a thick, spoonable apple butter.

Can I use homemade apple butter?

I haven’t tested it, so I can’t promise the same results. I developed this recipe with thick, store-bought apple butter because that’s what most people use. My homemade apple butter is sweetened with maple syrup, and homemade batches can vary in thickness and sweetness. Both of those affect how much the cookies spread and how sweet they taste. For the most predictable results, use a thick, store-bought apple butter.

Can I skip browning the butter?

I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Browning the butter isn’t only for flavor here. It also cooks off water that would make these apple butter cookies cakey. To save time, you can brown the butter ahead and keep it in the fridge, then let it soften to dent soft before baking.

Will these cookies taste sour?

No, they won’t! In this recipe, the sourdough starter works behind the scenes for texture more than flavor. To make sure the cookies do not taste sour, use starter or discard that has been fed within the last two weeks. The warm spices and apple butter glaze balance any tang beautifully.

Why did my cookies come out cakey instead of chewy?

Cakey cookies are commonly caused by too much moisture. Make sure you’re using thick apple butter (not applesauce), only egg yolks (no whites), and browning the butter. Adding too much flour and overbaking can also dry them out. For the best texture, weigh the flour, starter, and apple butter in grams, and remove the cookies when the edges are set but the centers still look soft.

Do I have to chill the dough before baking?

No, you don’t! This is a no-chill dough, so you can bake right away. The only chilling is for the browned butter. If you’d like deeper sourdough flavor, you can refrigerate the dough scoops for up to 48 hours. See the long-fermentation directions below for the full method.

Can I freeze sourdough apple butter cookie dough?

Absolutely! For best results, follow this flash-freezing method:

1. Scoop: Portion the dough into balls (3 tbsp / about 62g each) and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They can be close together, but make sure they are not touching. Don’t roll them in the spiced sugar yet.
2. Flash Freeze: Place the sheet in the freezer for about 1 hour, or until the dough balls are firm to the touch.
3. Store: Transfer the frozen dough balls into a gallon freezer bag. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months!

Pro Tip: Make a double batch in the fall and freeze half before the holidays get busy. Bake them from your freezer stash for Thanksgiving, and whisk up the glaze in just a few minutes while they cool!

Tips for Baking Frozen Dough:

Thaw Partially: For best results, allow frozen dough to sit at room temperature for 30–60 minutes before baking. Then roll the dough balls in the apple pie-spiced sugar. This helps achieve a texture and baking time nearly identical to a fresh batch of dough.

Potentially Increase Bake Time: You may need to add 1–2 minutes to the baking time if the dough is still colder than fresh dough would be.

How to Make Long-Fermented Sourdough Apple Butter Cookies

For deeper sourdough flavor and a slower fermentation that some bakers prefer, follow these simple directions:

1. Prepare & Portion: Make the dough as directed, then portion it into large scoops (3 tbsp / about 62g each). Don’t roll them in the spiced sugar yet.
2. Cold Ferment: Place the scoops in an airtight container, or cover them tightly on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for up to 48 hours. The longer the dough ferments, the tangier it may taste.
3. Soften & Roll: Let the portions sit at room temperature for about 15–30 minutes, until they feel cool but not cold and a gentle press leaves a slight dent. Warmer kitchens will be on the shorter end. Then roll them in the apple pie-spiced sugar.
4. Bake: Place 6 portions on a lined baking sheet and bake according to the recipe directions!

Troubleshooting: If the cookies stay thick and don’t spread, the dough was still too cold. Give the portions a little more time on the counter next time.

More Apple & Spice Sourdough Cookies

• Sourdough Apple Pie Cookies
• Caramel Apple Sourdough Cookies
• Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Sourdough Chai Cookies

Sourdough Apple Butter Cookie Recipe:

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