I combined two recipes for this creation. First is from food.com and the other is by Joy the Baker. There are definitely a lot of steps - including refrigerating for an hour - but they are delicious.
Apple Mixture
1/2 cup butter
3 small apples, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch kosher salt
Dry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
"Wet" Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Add by Hand
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup finely diced pecans
cooked apples (from above)
For Coating
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
a big pinch of kosher salt
Take out your eggs so they can warm to room temperature.
Prepare apples first. On the stove, melt 1 stick of butter over medium heat. Allow to cook until lightly browned and golden in color; will begin to smell nutty. Add apples and cook until browned in butter, about 2 minutes. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Spoon into small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Cream butter with the sugars and beat on medium speed until aerated and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. At this point you may also add some of the melted/browned butter that is pooling in the apples. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minutes between each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary.
Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter mixture and beat on low speed. Hand-stir in the dried apples, butterscotch chips, and pecans.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the dough to plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
Just before baking, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350˚ F. We use Silpat baking mats, but you could line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together sugar, cinnamon and salt. Form the dough into 2 tablespoon balls. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each ball about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake until golden and puffed for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Uncooked dough can be portioned (not rolled in sugar) and frozen in balls first on a baking sheet, then in a freezer safe bag. Bake cookies from frozen for 14 or so minutes.
