Whole wheat oatmeal cookies studded with pieces of gooey caramel and chunks of whole apple. All the best flavors of a caramel apple, none of the mess!

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whole wheat, caramel, apple, caramel apple, cookies

The caramel apple. Pretty much the most amazing fall dessert ever. Also pretty much the most challenging to eat fall dessert ever. And, if you were anything like me, you only wanted to eat the bites of the apple with the caramel on it. Then you had a whole apple middle that was, let’s face it, not dessert at all, just fruit on a stick.

Enter: caramel apple cookies. With oatmeal and whole wheat flour for extra goodness.

Let’s talk ingredients

There’s quite an ingredient list here but everything is important for this perfect fall cookie!

Brown sugar and maple syrup: we use brown sugar to add moisture and the maple syrup adds complexity and sweetness. Because it’s technically “sweeter” than sugar, we don’t need to use too much maple syrup to pack a delicious maple punch. Just be sure you use pure maple syrup and not that fake stuff you put on your pancakes as a kid.
Cinnamon and nutmeg: warming spices that just scream autumn!
Whole wheat flour: whole wheat flour uses all the parts of the wheat to create a hearty flavor that combines nicely with the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Oatmeal: you can use either old fashioned oats or quick oats. I used old fashioned oats for this recipe. Quick oat will absorb more of the water from the apples so your cookies may have a thicker, cakier texture.
Apples: dice ’em up small. You want little pockets of apple awesome. The apples will lend a little bit of tartness to the cookie.
Caramels: I chopped up regular Kraft caramels for this recipe but I found these caramel bits work really nicely in cookies to create little pockets of caramel awesomeness.

Whole Wheat Caramel Apple Cookies

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 17

Servings 2 dozen

Equipment

Mixer

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened,
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups oatmeal or whole grain breakfast cereal
1 cup chopped apples
12 chopped caramels

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. If using a stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment.
In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup until fluffy.
Beat in egg, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Slowly mix in flour and beat until just combined.
Using a rubber spatula or large spoon, fold in oatmeal, chopped apples, and caramels. Take care with the caramels. If they all are stuck together, be sure to break them up so that all of the cookies have delicious caramelly bits.
On a greased or parchment lined baking sheet, plop tablespoonfuls of dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy.

Notes

I used the Kraft wrapped caramels for this recipe, although I would imagine the Kraft caramel bits would work just as well and you wouldn’t have to chop them!

Looking for other cookie recipes? You might want to try these chocolate chip caramel cookies for more ooey gooey caramel goodness or these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for chewy chocolate delight!

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Happy Baking!