Note: we’ll make this dough about an hour before baking the cookies, they need a short rest for the flour to hydrate and the butter to cool.

Brown the butter & bloom the spices: Set the butter in a light colored frying pan over medium heat. Cook as the butter melts and begins to sputter. Small panko-like bits will fall to the bottom, keep cooking and stirring while those bits turn brown. The butter will smell nutty and it will stop sputtering, going silent as all of the water has evaporated and the milk solids have turned a toasty brown color. Pour into a bowl and add the cinnamon and allspice if using and stir. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Make the cookie dough: add the salt, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar to the bowl and whisk well. Add the egg yolk and whisk well to combine. Whisk in the apple butter. Switch to a rubber spatula and add the flour and baking soda, stir until combined. Grind the freeze dried apples in a food processor until it’s a mix of little bits and powder, add it to the cookie dough and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap to seal and rest the dough at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.

Bake the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 F. if you’d like to do a cinnamon sugar coating, whisk together a quarter cup (50g) coarse granulated sugar with a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper and scoop the cookie dough in mounds of 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Dip them into the sugar to coat all over. Ensure the cookies are spaced out so there’s only six cookies per pan. Bake the cookies until they have puffed up and cracked, and edges turn golden brown, about 13-15 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, use a flat bottom measuring cup or something similar to gently flatten the cookies. Let cool briefly then enjoy! Leftovers should be kept in an airtight container.