Apple pie cookies

These are regular cookies with a small indentation for the cinnamon apple filling, which goes in before baking. I drizzle caramel over them once they cool. I make the dough with either an egg or milk and baking powder, depending on who is eating them.

Method

1. Cook the diced apple with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cornflour, and lemon juice over medium heat until the apple is tender and the juices are thick, about 6–8 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Beat the butter and sugars for the dough until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and either the egg or the milk. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt; for the eggless version, add the baking powder here too. Mix just until combined, then chill for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 180°C and line two baking trays. Divide the dough into 12 balls and set them well apart. Press a small, shallow indentation into the middle of each cookie with the back of a teaspoon.
4. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of cooled apple filling into each indentation. Bake once, with the filling, for 13–15 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden. Let the cookies firm up on the tray for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a rack.
5. Drizzle caramel sauce over the cooled cookies.

Egg and eggless versions

Use the egg or the milk and baking powder for a batch, never both. If the eggless dough feels soft, chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes before baking.