These maple cookies are literally heaven on a plate. They have the perfect taste of maple– not overpowering but definitely not negligible. The dough can be made in 10 minutes, there is no resting period, and the cookies bake for about 10 minutes in the oven. Can you think of anything more perfect in these beautiful fall months? I sure can’t!
Baking (along with reading) is, always and forever, my happy place. I love baking all the time, but I especially love baking on the days when life seems like it’s out of my control.
There’s something comforting about following a recipe to the T. There’s something reassuring about knowing that if you put exactly 1 cup of flour and exactly ½ cup of butter in your recipe, your creation will turn out exactly like it’s supposed to.
I will say this until the day I die: when my life feels like it’s outside of my control, I bake.
As the year was coming to an end, I REALLY wanted to try my hand at making up my own cookie recipe. The idea scared me, but the thought of finally coming up with my own perfect recipe– and my own perfect Maple Cookie Recipe nonetheless– was too enticing to scare me off.
I made FIVE batches of these Maple Cookies before I finally got them right! And thank goodness I finally did, because I think my pants were starting to fit a little tighter thanks to all of that cookie dough (oops!).
Why Make this Recipe
- Perfect for Fall: If you’re looking to get into the fall spirit, you’ve come to the right place. The maple flavor of this cookie just screams fall. Apple cider, changing leaves, pumpkins… these cookies will transport you there in no time.
- A Quick Cookie Recipe: I don’t know about you, but my biggest pet peeve is when cookies have to rest. I get it, it keeps the dough from spreading… But if you tell me I have to wait to put cookies in the oven, I will ALWAYS go on to the next recipe. I want my dessert NOW! 😉 This recipe eliminates any “resting” time for the dough, meaning that within 20 minutes you can start with ingredients and finish with freshly baked, tasty, and aromatic cookies.
- Sweet and Just a Little Salty: These cookies, with their oat flour base and maple extract, almost remind me of my favorite morning breakfast of Brown Sugar Oatmeal. They certainly are cozy enough to give the same vibes! The salt in the recipe, though, adds a great contrast that hits your mouth right at the end. Sweet and just a tiny bit salty in cookie recipes is the way to go and these cookies prove it!
What Ingredients are in this Recipe?
- Oat Flour: Oat flour can be hard to find, and expensive at that. Instead of buying oat flour, I typically use Old Fashioned Oats to make my own. I measure out the same measurements of oats as the recipe calls for in oat flour (ex: 1 cup oat flour= 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats). I simply put the oats in a blender (particularly my magic bullet), and grind them up. The result is a fresh oat flour perfect for baking!
- Maple Extract: Maple extract is really what’s going to give your cookies that major punch of maple-y flavor. There’s so much flavoring in one drop! You can normally find maple extract in the grocery store near the other extracts (including vanilla extract, almond extract, etc). If you are unable to find Maple Extract in the grocery store, it can also be purchased online.
- Maple Syrup: Because this recipe is built entirely around the flavor of maple, I don’t skimp in the Maple Syrup category here. Though you may have some heavily processed, more molasses-type maple syrup at home (think Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima), these aren’t brands I would use for this recipe. Instead, I choose all-natural maple syrup from Canada or Vermont. This is the thinner, more flavorful maple syrup that we all know and love.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter in this and all baking recipes. Microwave your butter until it is almost completely melted, but not quite. An example can be found above in the recipe shot.
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Make the Dough
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter until fluffy.
Crack the egg into the mixture and beat until just combined. Then add the maple syrup, vanilla extract, and maple extract and beat again until just combined.
Use a spatula or a wooden spoon and mix in the oat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until the dough comes together.
Step 2: Form into Cookies and Bake
Use a cookie scoop to form the dough into cookies and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cookies have spread but still look the slightest bit raw (they will continue cooking once removed from the oven).
Expert Tips
- The instructions dictate to “beat until just combined”. This step is important as it helps create the right texture for the cookies. If you beat the egg for too long, the cookies will turn out stiff, and, occasionally, don’t spread as well. When this phrase appears in the instructions, beat until you can no longer see remnants of egg white or yolk anywhere in the dough, then stop.
- Though I normally love hugely large cookies, with this recipe I prefer to use a smaller cookie scoop. These cookies cook more evenly with a small scoop, allowing them to achieve the perfect texture! I use the 1-1/2″ cookie scoop! The recipe should give you about 24 cookies.
- As mentioned above, I love that this recipe is mostly sweet with a little bit of salty. The best way to add the final touch of flavor to this recipe comes in the form of sea salt! After you’ve scooped the cookies but before you put them in the oven, add a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt to the top of each cookie dough ball. The cookies will bake and spread, and each bite will have a nice little touch of salt. If you’d prefer to omit this step, you are welcome to!
Recipe FAQs
Are Maple Cookies Canadian?
They definitely sound like it, eh? Hehe, sorry.
Anyways, it’s a safe assumption that pretty much any recipe with maple syrup is Canadian in origin. In fact, Canada produces more than 80% of the world’s maple syrup, and they even have a stash in case of a natural disaster! They can’t live without it!
This recipe was entirely of my own creation, but maple cookies are a favorite in Canada (and you’re about to see why!).
Can I Use Baking Powder Instead of Baking Soda?
Unfortunately, no. Though the two ingredients sound the same, they function completely differently in baked good recipes.
Baking Soda is meant to be used in recipes that use a natural acid. These natural acids can include lemon juice, molasses, or buttermilk. Surprisingly enough, brown sugar is an “acid” that requires baking soda! The brown sugar in this recipe calls for baking soda instead of powder!
Can Dogs Eat Maple Cookies?
Lol okay so I use this website called answerthepublic.com and you can type in any word and it will tell you the most common questions people google about that word. So I typed in “maple cookies” and this was one of the most common questions??
I’m not quite sure what these humans are thinking, but I figured I’d humor them (as long as you promise to humor me!)
Ummmm my guess is that dogs CAN eat maple cookies? But CAN does not equal SHOULD. I would advise you to keep the maple cookies away from your dog’s tummy, just to stay on the safe side. Lol, what the heck, internet.
Anyways, you should make this recipe for maple cookies. And if you do, you should leave a comment letting me know what you thought!
And if you liked this recipe, you’ll also like:
- Cocadas (Coconut Cookies from Bolivia)
- Tahini Cookies from Armenia
- Shortbread Cookies with Jelly Filling from Algeria
- Sheqerpare (Albian Shortbread Cookies with Syrup)
Maple Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter mostly melted
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 3/4-1 tsp maple flavoring depending on flavor preference
- 1 cup oat flour or old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- If using oats instead of oat flour, simply use a blender or food processor to grind the oats into a powder… now you have oat flour!
- Melt butter almost completely. In the bowl of stand mixer (or with an electric mixer) cream the butter together with brown sugar and granulated sugar until just combined.
- Add egg and mix until just combined.
- Add maple syrup, vanilla extract, and maple extract and mix until just combined.
- Use a wooden spoon to hand-mix baking soda, salt, oat flour, and all purpose flour.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave on the cookie sheet to continue cooking until cooled.
Katie Ackerman says
Made these for a Christmas cookie exchange and they were so good! Simple and chewy – definitely will make them again!
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Yay! I’m so glad that you liked them Katie 🙂 Soft and chewy is the only way I like my cookies lol