Oatmeal Cookies for Everyone Who Hates Raisins

Is it even fall if you haven't been apple picking? And have you even been apple picking if you couldn't decide what to bake first? Our recommendation: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies by Sally’s Baking. Essentially the redemption arc oatmeal-raisin cookies desperately needed (raisin haters, this one’s for you), the no-chilling-necessary recipe combines tender chunks of apple, chewy oats, reduced applesauce, warming spices, and a decadent drizzle of creamy maple icing. Enjoy them with your coziest sweater and an episode of Gilmore Girls — and you'll understand why one fan said, “These are a problem. They’re so good.” 

The Time Commitment: About an hour.

Key Tips: Don’t skip the step of reducing the (unsweetened) applesauce — it’s what gives these cookies their concentrated apple flavor. And make sure to use whole rolled oats: Quick oats could make them too powdery, and steel-cut oats are too hard. 

Other Takes: For more cookies that are the culinary equivalent of the perfect leaf crunch, try…

• Chai Sugar Cookies. Loaded with cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger, these gloriously thick cookies are better than the fall drink — and they’re ready in 25 minutes, too.

• Brown Butter & Maple Chewy Pumpkin Cookies. According to one commenter, this is the “BEST COOKIE I HAVE EVER TASTED. And I’m over 70 and tasted a lot of cookies.” We trust her implicitly. 

• Apple Crisp Cookies. The love child of an apple crisp and a brown-sugar cookie, this treat is covered with a buttery cinnamon-oat streusel topping that’s impossible not to pick at (speaking from experience).

What’s new in food & home: