Apple Cream Pennies ...

Do you remember Mrs. Fields cookie shops in your local mall? Remember her chocolate chip cookies warm from the glass case? I forget how much one cookie cost, but it was worth every penny! Well, this cookie recipe comes from the same cookie goddess. She published a cookie cook book in the early 90's that made our household very happy cookie monsters. In it was this wonderful light sandwich with a spicy creamy filling of cream cheese and apple butter and a chewy soft outer cookie shell. Totally killer!

This is a cookie recipe that's coming out of the vault, in that I have not made them in at least a decade. Why is that, I ask? I can't honestly answer that question, but I have a good idea. Our entire family loves them, but the recipe doesn't make more than two and a half dozen, plus they are a bit labor intensive. Put five cookie hounds on two and half dozen cookies and they last a nanosecond. Therein may lie the reason for infrequent use of this excellent recipe. Plus, they use apple butter and I haven't made it or been gifted with a jar in a while. Last Christmas, however, I received a jar from a friend and set it aside in the jam cupboard.  I found it today, as I was looking to see how much strawberry jam we have left from last year's jam sessions. Sweet! Thanks again, Denise!

I used to make these for special treats because the kids would suck them up like anything, so they needed to be dessert for dinner, case closed. The use of apple butter is what makes them really special. When it's mixed with the cream cheese, its spiciness is lightened to a fluffy sublime cream filling. Add a bit of rum flavor and it is really special. The cookies are light and chewy. They are just barely set when removed from the oven and make for a moist bite or two. So very delicious!

Apple Cream Pennies - printer friendly

A few words about the recipe ... you can buy apple butter in the jam aisle of your super. I believe Smucker's makes a product. In a strange coincidence, I was scoping out my fave blogs last night and saw Angela's post over at The Good Soup. If you can't find apple butter in your super, you can make the recipe she posted! Timely, huh?

As far as mixing up the recipe goes ... really break up the brown sugar and white sugar until the grains of white sugar are totally dispersed in the brown. This makes sure that the brown sugar has no lumps to melt at high heat and  'goo a cookie out of shape'.  See what I mean?

Making sure to leave adequate space between the cookie dough balls is important too, as these little cookies really spread out when they bake.

I actually moved these guys a bit further apart ... about 2 inches apart to be exact. That insured nice round cookies. I also used just a small melon baller utensil to get the right amount of dough, when I 

rolled them into sticky little dough balls.

I waited until all the cookies were baked and then matched them up by size to make perfect sandwich cookies. A dollop of the apple butter cream filling ... and ... squish!

... perfect Apple Cream Pennies ...

Apple Cream Pennies

a recipe from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book

Cookie Ingredients:

2½ c. flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 c. dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ c. sugar
1 c. butter (I use 1 stick of margarine and 1 stick of butter), softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. apple butter
1 tbsp. spiced rum
Making the Cookies:
1. Pre heat the oven to 300° F.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a deep bowl, mix the brown and white sugars with a fork until completely mixed.

4. Beat in the butter until creamy and light.

5. Add the vanilla and the eggs and continue beating until light and fluffy.

6. Add the dry ingredients and mix to make a smooth, sticky dough.

7. Make small ¾ -inch balls of dough and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

8. Bake them for just 11 minutes. Remove and let rest on the sheets for a minute before removing them to a flat surface. Cool completely.

9. When all the cookies have been baked, match the cookies into pairs by uniform size.

10. Whip the cream cheese, sugar, apple butter and rum in a medium-sized bowl until it is smooth and creamy.

11. Make sandwich cookies and store them in a closed cookie jar, stacking them carefully.

12. Enjoy the goodness!