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Home » Cookies » Turkish Apple Cookies - Elmali Kurabiye

Published: Sep 18, 2017 · Modified: Dec 19, 2020 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Turkish Apple Cookies - Elmali Kurabiye

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Turkish apple cookies (elmali kurabiye) are everyone’s childhood favorite in Turkey. These are slightly crispy and wonderfully buttery on the outside and melting in your mouth on the inside. The apple filling gives you the feeling of bite-sized apple pie.

Turkish cookies on a white plate, powdered sugar sprinkled on them, some more cookies on a cooling rack on the side.

Apple stuffed cookies are loaded with fall flavors, but they are not limited to the fall season. We make them all year round. As they keep well for several days, we never make a small batch. 

These are not overly sweet, so it is hard to stop eating after the first one. Especially if you are having them with coffee or tea. 

Jump to:
  • What Is Elmali Kurabiye?
  • About The Ingredients
  • How To Make Turkish Apple Cookies
  • Tips
  • How To Store
  • More Turkish Pastries
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

What Is Elmali Kurabiye?

These apple filled cookies are one of the classic Turkish pastries. Turkish moms often make these at gatherings and serve them along with several other tasty treats. It is no surprising to see a type of borek, pogaca, kisir and elmali kurabiye (cookies with apples) served all together at a table when you are invited to a traditional Turkish home.

You can find these apple cookies in many pastry shops in Turkey. The dough of these apple cookies must be buttery, a little crispy and melting in your mouth when baked.

The filling is always the same: A mixture of grated apples, cinnamon and walnuts. It is a very simple filling that is cooked in a pan.

The shape of them might change though. Some of them are so thin and small, some are thicker, some have little filling, some have a generous amount of it. So you are free to make such changes when you make them at home. 

About The Ingredients

Apples, walnuts, sugar, egg, lemon zest, butter, flour, cinnamon, icing sugar and baking powder on a dark background.

For The Filling

Apples: You can use any type of apples, but the sweet ones work better. We sometimes peel them, sometimes leave their skin on. The filling looks more jammy without the skin. So it is up to you. 

Sugar: We don’t use too much sugar for this recipe, just 2 tablespoons. But you can use more if you like. Caster sugar, granulated sugar or brown sugar all work fine.

Cinnamon: It is the key ingredient that gives you the fall feeling when eating these cookies. You can use as much as you want. 

Walnuts: Traditionally, we use crumbled walnuts, but pecans or hazelnuts are ok too. You need to cook them with the apple mixture in the pan.

For The Cookie Dough

Butter: It has to be softened at room temperature. Don’t ever try to use cold butter. It is always better to let it sit on the counter until it is perfectly softened. So when you decide to make apple cookies, the first thing you should do is to remove the butter from the fridge.

Yogurt: It makes the dough moist and easy to roll out. Use plain yogurt. Greek style yogurt works fine.

Egg: It helps everything in the dough hold together well. So the dough won’t tear and you can roll it out easily.

Lemon zest: This is just to have a little refreshing touch. It is completely optional, so you can leave it out if you want.

Cornstarch (Cornflour): This helps the apple cookies come out with a crumbly and melt-in-mouth texture. This is not the same as cornmeal, so please don’t get confused.

Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar): It combines well with the other ingredients, so you have a smooth dough. This is important when rolling it out. We don’t recommend granulated sugar for the dough. We use it both in the dough and for sprinkling over the baked apple cookies.

Baking powder: We use little of it, so the cookies won’t get double in size. They will just have a slightly fluffy texture.

Flour: We use all purpose flour. You can use a combination of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour if you want.

How To Make Turkish Apple Cookies

This is an easy-to-make cookie recipe but takes some time as there are three stages: Cooking the filling, preparing the dough and stuffing the dough with the filling.

Apple filling in a pan and a wooden spoon in it.

Cook The Filling:

  1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Cook the grated apples and sugar until soft and almost no juice left, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add in cinnamon and walnuts. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool completely.
A collage of pictures showing how to shape Turkish apple filled cookies.

Prepare The Dough:

  1. Whisk together the softened butter, yogurt, egg, lemon zest, powdered sugar and cornstarch.
  2. Gradually add in the flour and mix using your hand or a stand mixer until everything holds together. You will have a soft, non-sticky dough. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10 equal balls. 

Shape The Cookies And Bake:

  1. Dust the counter with a little flour. Place one of the dough balls on it and using a rolling pin, roll it into a circle (7 inch / 17 cm diameter and ⅕ inch / ½ cm thick). It doesn’t have to be perfect.
  2.  Use a knife or pizza cutter and slice it into 8 equal pieces. Put about 1 teaspoon of the filling on the wide side of each triangle and roll them up. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  3. Repeat the same steps with the remaining dough balls. You might need to use 2 baking sheets. And bake in a preheated oven (350F / 180C) until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer them onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle as much powdered sugar as you want on each. 
Turkish apple cookies on a cooling rack.

Tips

  • You can make the filling ahead of time. It keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  • Make sure the butter you use is perfectly softened. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to make the dough.
  • These measurements give you 80 cookies filled with apple and walnut mixture. This might sound too many, but these are small and everyone eats at least three (or 4 or 5!) at a time. Also, they keep well for several days at room temperature. Alternatively, you can either use half of the measurements or freeze the unbaked cookies for later.
  • The thickness is a matter of preference. If you want your apple stuffed cookies thicker, roll the dough into a smaller circle.

How To Store

Turkish apple cookies (elmali kurabiye) don’t need to be kept in an airtight container at room temperature. As these are a little crispy, we don’t want them to soften. So keep them in a container partly sealed. They keep well for up to a week. They might start losing their crispy texture a bit after the second day but they will still taste amazing.

To freeze, prepare the apple cookie rolls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and keep in the freezer unbaked for 40-50 minutes. Then put them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can bake them without thawing.

More Turkish Pastries

  • Sigara Boregi
  • Gözleme
  • Sesame Cookies

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📖 Recipe

Turkish Apple Cookies - Elmali Kurabiye

Turkish apple cookies dusted with powdered sugar on a plate.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Melt-in-your-mouth cookies filled with a mixture of apples, cinnamon and walnuts.

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 80 mini pieces 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

Scale

For The Filling:

  • 5 apples, peeled and grated
  • 2 tablespoons sugar 
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
  • ½ cup walnuts, crumbled 

For The Dough:

  • 2 sticks and 2 tablespoons butter (250 gr), softened at room temperature
  • ½ cup yogurt, at room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • ½ cup powdered sugar (plus extra for sprinkling over the cookies)
  • ½ cup cornstarch (cornflour)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups all purpose flour

Instructions

Cook The Filling:

  1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Cook the grated apples and sugar until soft and almost no juice left, about 10 minutes.

  2. Add in cinnamon and walnuts. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool completely.

Prepare The Dough:

  1. Whisk together the softened butter, yogurt, egg, lemon zest, powdered sugar and cornstarch.

  2. Gradually add in the flour and mix using your hand or a stand mixer until everything holds together. You will have a soft, non-sticky dough. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10 equal balls. 

Shape The Cookies And Bake:

  1. Preheat the oven at 350F / 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Dust the counter with a little flour. Place one of the dough balls on it and using a rolling pin, roll it into a circle (7 inch / 17 cm diameter and ⅕ inch / ½ cm thick). It doesn’t have to be perfect.

  3.  Use a knife or pizza cutter and slice it into 8 equal pieces. Put about 1 teaspoon of the filling on the wide side of each triangle and roll them up. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.

  4. Repeat the same steps with the remaining dough balls. You might need to use 2 baking sheets. And bake until very lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer them onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle as much powdered sugar as you want on each and serve.

Notes

  1. You can make the filling ahead of time. It keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  2. Make sure the butter you use is perfectly softened. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to make the dough.
  3. These measurements give you 80 cookies filled with apple and walnut mixture. This might sound too many, but these are small and everyone eats at least three (or 4 or 5!) at a time. Also, they keep well for several days at room temperature. Alternatively, you can either use half of the measurements or freeze the unbaked cookies for later.
  4. The thickness is a matter of preference. If you want your apple stuffed cookies thicker, roll the dough into a smaller circle.
  5. As these are a little crispy, we don’t want them to soften. So keep them in a container partly sealed. They keep well for up to a week. They might start losing their crispy texture a bit after the second day but they will still taste amazing.
  6. To freeze, prepare the apple cookie rolls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and keep in the freezer unbaked for 40-50 minutes. Then put them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can bake them without thawing.

 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 6-7 cookies
  • Calories: 387
  • Sugar: 15.6 g
  • Sodium: 14.6 mg
  • Fat: 19.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 47.9 g
  • Protein: 5.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 57.5 mg

Keywords: apple cookies, Turkish cookies, elmali kurabiye

Did you make this recipe?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Meenakshi says

    December 18, 2022 at 2:46 am

    Can I replace some or all of the butter with olive oil?

    Reply
    • Zerrin & Yusuf says

      December 18, 2022 at 4:30 am

      Hi Meenakshi,

      We have never tried it with olive oil, so we don't want to mislead you.

      We assume that you won't get that melting-in-mouth effect when it is made with olive oil.

      Reply
  2. Jen says

    August 23, 2019 at 6:38 am

    Am I correct that this will make 80 pieces?
    10 discs each cut into 8 triangles.....

    Reply
  3. Vivian says

    November 03, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    I ate this once in my friend's house in Turkey and fell in love with it, thanks for the recipe! I just made them this morning and they taste heavenly. Saw you mentioning whole wheat flour - do you also use 3 cups for it or less? I feel like trying the next time I made them

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      November 03, 2017 at 11:31 pm

      Hi Vivian,
      Glad you like the recipe. They make perfect quick breakfast, don't they?
      I don't remember exactly, but I guess I use the same amount of whole wheat flour. It's always better to add the flour gradually to understand the right amount. Hope this helps.

      Reply
  4. Kelly Mahan says

    October 05, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    These sure look delicious! And the best part is there are so many different (and delicious!) ways to make them that we'll never get sick of eating them!

    Reply
  5. Makos(@thehungrybites) says

    September 24, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    Hey, Zerrin!
    This dough looks really tender and crumbly! Your cookies must be amazing!

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      September 25, 2017 at 2:08 am

      Hi Makos! Thanks a lot! These are literally melting in your mouth. And the apple filling inside is like icing on the cake!

      Reply
  6. susan maltby says

    September 18, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    what is wheat starch?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      September 18, 2017 at 8:38 pm

      You can use corn starch if you can't find wheat starch.

      Reply
  7. Cecilia says

    September 18, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    They look yummy! What apples do you suggest?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      September 18, 2017 at 8:39 pm

      Thank you Ceilia! You can use any sweet apples.

      Reply
  8. cathy james says

    September 30, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    How much butter what temp?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      October 02, 2015 at 9:42 pm

      Hi Cathy, thanks for asking this question! How come I forgot to write the oven degree? Bake it at 350F. And 1 stick of butter will be enough. Hope I'm not too late to reply your questions.

      Reply
  9. Ilke says

    October 07, 2013 at 12:45 am

    I love apple and those pastries. Used to have them from the bakery a lot in Istanbul...And all that powdered sugar on top! 🙂
    Once it is fall-like again here, I will try your recipe. I miss it a lot!

    Reply

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Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

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