These applesauce chocolate chip cookies are one of those recipes that instantly takes me back to childhood. Every year when we visited my grandparents, Grandma kept a steady supply tucked inside her green McCoy cookie jar. If you knew where to look, there was a good chance you’d find a handful waiting for you.
I always think of these as “floating” cookies because that’s the best way I know how to describe them. They’re soft, moist, fluffy, and almost cake-like, with just enough chocolate chips to make them feel like a treat without being overly rich.
These cookies bring back memories of summer days spent at the lake with my cousins, exploring the attic, sitting under the weeping willow tree, and checking on the robin’s nest nearby. Like so many family recipes, they’re about more than the ingredients. They’re tied to the people, places, and moments that made them special.
If you’re looking for soft, old-fashioned applesauce chocolate chip cookies with a light, fluffy texture, this family recipe has been a favorite for generations.
Why I Call These Floating Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies
Most chocolate chip cookies are chewy, dense, or crispy around the edges. These aren’t.
The best way I know how to describe these applesauce chocolate chip cookies is that they seem to float. They’re soft, light, moist, and almost cake-like without being heavy. The applesauce gives them a tender texture, while the chocolate chips add just enough richness to balance everything out.
Grandma never called them floating cookies. That’s a name I gave them years later because I couldn’t think of a better way to describe how different they are from a traditional chocolate chip cookie.
If you’re expecting a thick bakery-style cookie with a chewy center, these may surprise you. But if you love old-fashioned recipes that are soft, fluffy, and full of nostalgia, there’s a good chance they’ll become a favorite.
What Makes These Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies So Soft?
The secret is the applesauce.
Unlike traditional chocolate chip cookies that rely heavily on butter for texture, applesauce adds moisture and helps create the soft, fluffy texture that makes these cookies so unique. The result is a cookie that feels lighter and more cake-like than a classic chocolate chip cookie.
The applesauce also blends into the background flavor-wise. You can tell something is making these cookies extra moist, but they don’t taste strongly of apples. Instead, it works quietly behind the scenes to create the texture that keeps people reaching for another cookie.
That’s one reason this recipe has remained a family favorite for so many years. It’s simple, dependable, and produces soft cookies every time.
Floating Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies
These floating chocolate chip applesauce cookies are the same cookies my grandma would make us when we were kids. Every year when we would come to visit, she would load up her McCoy green jug cookie jar so we always knew where to find them. She didn’t call them floating, but that is the best way I know how to describe their texture and how you feel when you eat them. They are moist, spongy and chocolatey without being too rich. It was always a fight to the death for the last one!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 C Shortening
- 1 C Sugar
- ¾ C Brown Sugar Packed and leveled
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 TBSP Milk
- 2 C Applesauce
Dry Ingredients:
- 5 C All-purpose flour Gently packed and leveled
- 1 ½ tsp Cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp Cloves
- 1 ½ tsp Baking soda
Additional Ingredients:
- 12 ounces Package semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
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Measure flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and the baking soda into a separate bowl. Mix well until incorporated. Cream together shortening, sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk and applesauce and mix with a hand mixer until incorporated. Stir vanilla into wet mixture last. Add flour to wet mix and stir until evenly moistened. Do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips.
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Place 1 to 2 TBSP of cookie dough on a baking sheet about two inches apart. Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10-17 minutes.
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Cook times vary with ovens, so you want to watch for browning on the pokey corners of the cookies. These cookies stay fatter and puffier than regular chocolate chip cookies, so they won’t look all the way done. The bottoms should be light golden brown when done.
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After cooling, store in an air-tight container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies!
Why These Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies Are Always a Favorite
These applesauce chocolate chip cookies have always been one of those recipes that people reach for again and again.
When Grandma made them, nobody took just one. People grabbed them by the handful, and there was usually a little friendly competition for the last cookie. I honestly can’t remember anyone not liking them.
Not only are they soft, the flavor is perfect. They have a nice balance of spices with the chocolate. Not too bland, and not too rich.
They also freeze beautifully, which makes them even more useful. Let the cookies cool completely, place them in a freezer-safe container, and freeze them for later. When you’re ready for a treat, pull out a few cookies and let them thaw on the counter.
Even weeks later, they’re still soft, moist, and absolutely decadent.
Old-Fashioned Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
Now for a little history. This recipe originally uses shortening, which was a common ingredient in many cookie recipes during the mid-1900s. Since this recipe is at least 50 years old, I’ve sometimes wondered whether an earlier version may have used lard before shortening became popular. I don’t know for certain, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Like many family recipes, this one has probably evolved a little over the years as ingredients and baking habits changed. Grandma made it with shortening, which works beautifully. I’ve also had good results using coconut oil instead.
That’s one of the things I enjoy about old recipes. They often survive because they’re flexible enough to adapt from one generation to the next while still tasting like the recipe everyone remembers.
AI Disclosure: This post was created with the assistance of AI tools for brainstorming, editing, and organization, which helps me manage chronic pain and physical limitations during long writing sessions. All content is based on my real-life experience and is reviewed and edited by me. Some or all images in this post may be AI-generated for illustration and inspiration. Learn more about how I use AI here.
Disclaimer: Jaimie is not the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, a lawyer, a doctor, a veterinarian, or a CPA. Nothing you read in my blog is a substitute for professional advice and doing your own good research. Remember that just because someone has credentials doesn’t guarantee their advice is golden or perfect. Put your smart hat on and do your due diligence. Good luck!
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