Giant Apple Cookie

Giant apple cookie reimagines the cookie as a sliceable, shareable centerpiece, more like a free-form fruit tart than a traditional cookie. Reduced dried apples pack the filling with intense concentrated apple flavor, chopped walnuts and golden raisins add texture, and a lemon-cream icing drizzle finishes the whole thing for a finished look that earns oohs at any party.

The pre-cooking of the dried apples is the technique that defines this cookie. Simmering them in apple juice and lemon juice rehydrates the fruit while concentrating its flavor through reduction. Skip this step and you’ve baked dry, chewy apple bits into the cookie that never soften. Boil hard for the last 10 minutes (watching carefully so they don’t scorch) to drive off most of the liquid.

Using a pizza pan lined with foil with an overhang is the slip-out technique. After baking, you slide the cookie out of the pan still on the foil, cool on a rack, then separate from the foil with a spatula. Trying to flip a 12-inch cookie out of a pan unsupported is a great way to break it in half.

The icing drizzle uses chilled heavy cream (not whipped), powdered sugar, and lemon juice. The cold cream keeps the icing thin and pourable as it falls in long lines across the cookie surface.

Cut into wedges like a pizza for serving. The portion control is built in.

Pro Tips

• Use real dried apple slices, not chopped dried apple bits, the larger pieces hold texture better
• Press the dough out to ¼ inch from the pan edges, fully edged dough crusts before the center sets
• Let the cookie cool 30 minutes before lifting, hot cookies tear in half
• Drizzle the icing in irregular crisscross lines for the prettiest finish

Variations

• Sub dried cranberries or dates for the raisins
• Swap walnuts for toasted pecans or almonds
• Add a teaspoon of ginger or allspice for warmer spice notes