A healthier take on holiday cookies, this recipe doesn’t use butter — substituting applesauce and a bit of oil. It also incorporates whole wheat flour for a hearty, cake-like drop cookie. I think it would be great to add some dried apples or raisins to the recipe for some added intrigue.
“This recipe came about by my experimenting to get the same flavor as Twin Hill Apple Farm’s Apple Bread that they have at their farm in Sebastopol.” — Maria Ferjancsik
Sebastopol Applesauce Cookies
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup smooth applesauce
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Cinnamon sugar for top of cookies:
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together whole wheat flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In separate bowl, mix together sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture, stirring well to combine. Take walnut-sized spoonfuls of batter and place on ungreased baking sheets, leaving 1-2 inches between cookies. Flatten slightly with a spoon. Combine ¼ cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle each cookie generously with cinnamon sugar. Bake 10-14 minutes in oven. Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheets before moving to wire wracks to cool completely.