Cookie Dough

1. Mix the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or use a large bowl and a hand mixer.
2. Separate the egg and add the egg yolk along with the water to the batter. (Reserve the egg white to brush on top of the cookies before baking.)
3. Add the flour and mix until all the flour is incorporated.
4. Place the cookie dough on some parchment paper or aluminum foil and form it into the shape of a disc. Wrap it up in the parchment paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Apple Filling

1. Meanwhile, make the apple filling. Peel and chop the apples. Add the apples and the sugar to a skillet. Bring to a boil on medium high heat.
2. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, until the apples are soft.
3. Take off the heat and add the lemon juice and vanilla. You can also add some cinnamon. Cool.
4. Store the apple filling in the refrigerator. If you want to make a large batch to have on hand, sterilize the glass jar and lid, add the filling to the jar, seal with the lids and place the jar with the apple filling in a pot with boiling water, covering the jars by at least 1 inch. Cook for 10 minutes. Lift the jars out of the pot and cool.

Assembling and Baking the Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. When the cookie dough has chilled, roll out half of it on a well floured surface. Use a cookie or biscuit cutter or even an inverted cup/glass and press out as many circles as you can. My biscuit cutter was 3 inches, but you can make the circles even bigger, if you want.
3. Take all the extra dough, scrunch it up and place in the refrigerator to chill while you are making the cookies. I usually place it in the freezer, so it chills faster. Just don’t forget about it. You can use every last scrap of dough for cookies.
4. Place about a heaping teaspoon or so of filling in the center of the circles. Fold the circle over the filling, pinch the seams closed with your fingers and then use a fork to make sure the cookies are sealed well. Make sure there are no air pockets in the cookies, or they might burst as they bake.
5. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Use a fork to whisk up the egg white that you set aside earlier when making the dough. If you made the dough ahead of time and didn’t save the egg white, just use a whole egg, whisk it up with a fork. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg white on top of the cookies. Sprinkle sugar on top of the cookies.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 22-30 minutes, depending on how thin you rolled out the dough and how big you made your cookies. The cookies should be lightly golden.
8. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough and the cookie dough scraps.