These Crumbl caramel apple cookies are a delicious copycat for the real deal. They are made with a cinnamon cookie base, topped with caramel cream cheese frosting, homemade streusel, green apple chunks, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. So good!
Preheat the oven to 350F, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the streusel
Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Remove from the heat, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and mix until fully moistened and forming small clumps. Return to the heat, stirring frequently until the streusel turns golden brown. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, concentrated apple juice, and vanilla extract, and mix to combine.
1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1 large egg, 2 tbsp concentrated apple juice, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Gently mix in the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until the flour mixture disappears.
2 cup AP flour, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
Using a large cookie scoop (1/4 cup or 4 tbsp), scoop out 9 equal-sized cookie dough balls, place them on the baking sheet, and bake for 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool down.
Make the cream cheese frosting
Cream the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and caramel, and whip until light and fluffy.
Frost the cooled-down cookies with the cream cheese frosting, top with cubed green apples, a sprinkle of homemade streusel, and a drizzle of caramel. Enjoy!
1 green apple
Notes
Apple juice concentrate: Use frozen canned concentrate, thawed but not diluted. No concentrate? Use the same amount of apple butter, or simmer ½ cup apple juice down to 2 tablespoons. Unsweetened applesauce works in a pinch, but the apple flavor is milder.Dough texture: The dough is thick, and that’s normal. Spoon and level your flour (or weigh it), and don’t flatten the dough balls before baking.Spices: Cinnamon is the main spice. The nutmeg, ginger, and allspice are optional if you want a simpler cinnamon flavor.Keep the apples bright: Toss the diced green apple with a little lemon juice, and add it right before serving.Make ahead: Bake the cookies and make the frosting up to 1 day ahead. Store them separately in the fridge, then frost and top before serving.Storage: Keep frosted cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.Freezing: Freeze unfrosted cookies, or freeze the dough balls and bake from frozen.Mini cookies: Make 18 smaller dough balls and bake for about 10 minutes.