One of my favorite bakeries in Phoenix makes the most delicious apple oatmeal cookies. I love that they use dried apples, so the texture is even chewier than your standard oatmeal cookies.

With this cookie in mind, I set out to make my own version. After searching various recipes, I settled on the idea of making caramel apple oatmeal cookies. I combined two different recipes and changed a few things, to make them my own.

The original cookie recipe I chose only used 1/2 cup of dried apples; I upped it to an entire 4.5 ounce bag, or just over a packed cup. I also decreased the amount of oats the original recipe used by 1/2 a cup, as the dough was very dry. If you like a moister cookie, I might even drop the oats to 2 cups.

The caramel sauce was an easy one-pot recipe that worked perfectly for these cookies. It added just a bit of extra sweetness and moistness to the cookies. Plus, they looked a lot prettier with the caramel drizzle.

I planned to leave some of the cookies plain, because my husband doesn’t like caramel. They taste really great without the caramel, but even better with it. My husband eventually tried them with caramel after sticking a few in the fridge so the caramel would harden–yep, he gobbled them right up.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 packed cup of dried chopped apples

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and apples.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets (I baked mine on parchment paper—less mess!). Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.

Super Easy Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. Turn off heat. Serve warm or refrigerate until cold. If sauce is thin, just continue cooking for a few more minutes.