Maple Cream Cookies
Maple cream cookies, also known as maple leaf creme cookies, maple leaf cookies, maple creme cookies, maple leaf cremes and maple cremes, are synonymous with Canada at this point. But the best maple leaf cookie isn't just about the cream. Nope, you have to add a little maple to the cookie dough too.
Equipment
- Maple Extract
- Organic Maple Sugar, Grade A
- Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder
- Organic Vermont Maple Syrup, Grade A Dark Robust
- Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract
- Domino Powdered Sugar
- Diamond Crystal Table Iodized Salt
- King Arthur Flour, 100% Organic All-Purpose Flour Unbleached
- Baking Trays Half Sheet (2 Pack)
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
- IF YOU CARE FSC Certified Parchment Baking Paper, 70 sq ft
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter cubed, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp maple extract
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Maple Cream Filling
- 1/4 cup butter cubed and at room temperature
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1-2 tbsp milk or cream
- 1 1/2- 2 cups of powdered sugar confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp maple extract
Instructions
- Maple Cream Cookie Directions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attached (or use an electric mixer), cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg, vanilla and maple syrup to butter mix.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time with your mixer on low speed until just combined.
- Turn out your dough on a counter and split dough into two balls (it will be sticky).
- Wrap each ball in plastic wrap, pushing the ball down into a disk about 1/2 inch thick.
- Put plastic wrapped dough in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and have your prepared baking sheets next to you.
- Generously flour your counter top (or preferred work surface).
- Take out one disc at a time to roll.
- Using a rolling pin, roll your maple leaf creme cookie dough into a circle or square that is about 1/4- 1/8 inch thick.
- Use your maple leaf cookie cutter to cut out as many maple cookies as you can fit on your rolled out dough.
- Place each cookie on your lined baking sheet, leaving about an inch between each cookie.
- Form a ball with the left over dough, and roll it out again, using your cooking cutter to make more maple leaves.
- Continue until you only have a bit of dough left. Stick that leftover dough back in the plastic wrap and pop it in the freezer.
- Take out your second disc of maple dough, and repeat the same, rolling and cutting, process.
- If you have any scraps leftover, combine it with the scraps in the freezer and try to squeeze out one or two last cookies from the dough.
- As you fill up a parchment lined cookie tray, stick it in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes before baking, laying it flat so the cookies don't slide around. This will help the cookies retain their shape.
- Hand cutting veins in your maple cookies: If you want to put leaf veins in your maple sugar cookies, pull your dough out after 5 minutes and make leaf vein slices in your cookie (see my cookie photos for ideas). You want to go deep enough for it to hold during the bake, but not so deep you go straight through to the baking sheet. Pop your cookies back in the freezer for another 5 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on your cookie size, until it just starts to get golden brown on the bottom and around the edges.
- Cool the maple cookies for at least 5 minutes after taking them out of the oven before you move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, spoon your maple cream (recipe below) filling onto the backside of one cookie (note: if your cookie cutter is like mine, you may have to put maple cream on the top of one cookie so your leaf pattern goes in the same direction.)
- Place another cookie on top, making sure the top of the cookie is facing you and looks its best.
- Maple Cream Filling
- Beat the butter, maple syrup, maple extract and vanilla together.
- Gradually add in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add 1 tbsp of milk or cream at a time until you get a nice frosting consistency that won't drip.
Notes
• If you don't have maple sugar handy, you can take the vanilla out of the recipe and use 1/4 cup granulated sugar + 3/4 maple extract to get that delicious maple flavor.
• You can make these cookies and eat them as is or with the maple frosting on the side too. Sometimes, we just dip our maple leaf cookies right into the cream and munch away.