Bready or Not Original: Soft Maple Sugar Cookies
Soft Maple Sugar Cookies! That’s right, this recipe combines two of the best things ever for an original treat.
It has been way too long since I offered up a maple-flavored treat. These are so good, they make up for that lapse in a major way.
These are soft, chewy cookies. Maple flavor is built into the dough, and the drizzle of glaze adds a touch more.
I wish I could say how long these cookies will keep, but I don’t know. They stayed delicious for at least one full day, then they went to my husband’s work and were goooooooone.
You’ll have to bake them yourself and see how long they last!
Bready or Not Original: Soft Maple Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- teaspoon scoop
- parchment paper
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened 1 stick
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Glaze
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar plus more is needed for thickness
- 1/4 cup half & half or milk
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 300-degrees. In a large bowl, beat together butter and shortening. Add both sugars, maple syrup, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat for about 2 minutes, scraping bottle of bowl often. Add egg yolks one at a time, followed by vanilla extract and maple flavor. Mix in flour until just combined.
- Use a scoop or spoon to dollop dough onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, spacing out to account for spread. Bake for 11 to 16 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to completely cool.
- Once all cookies are baked and cooled, move them back to the parchment-covered pan, close together, before mixing glaze.
- In a small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Add the confectioners' sugar to bowl, followed by half & half and maple syrup. Stir. Add more sugar, if needed, to form a thick consistency. Drizzle all over cookies. Let set for 30 minutes to 1 hour before moving to sealed containers.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Maple Nut Pie Bars
Bready or Not returns to the theme of maple goodness with these delicious Maple Nut Pie Bars.
These are like pecan pie, but BETTER because they are portable and easily shared. And really, I love the variety of nuts.
That ‘easily shared’ bit is important, as this recipe bakes up an entire 13×9-inch dish of goodness. That’s quite a bounty to keep to oneself.
Each bar is exquisite, too: a shortbread base covered with sweetened mixed nuts. The variety of tastes and textures is perfection.
Store these in the fridge when all is done, and note that you can also freeze them for later. Make the goodness last even longer!
Modified from Brownies & Bars Magazine.
Bready or Not: Maple Nut Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups mixed nuts chopped
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor or substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and grease with nonstick spray or butter. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Use a pastry blender or a knife and fork to cut in the butter until it resembles small crumbs. Evenly press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, until light brown.
- As that bakes, make the filling. In a medium bowl, lightly stir the eggs. Add the mixed nuts, brown sugar, maple syrup, melted butter, and maple flavoring. Spread over the hot crust.
- Bake for another 18 to 20 minutes, until top is golden and set. Cool in pan for several hours. Lift contents onto a cutting board using the foil and slice into bars.
- Store with waxed paper between layers in a sealed container in fridge. Bars can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
We made it three weeks into 2019 before we hit a maple recipe. Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies, to be exact.
This is a recipe that involved heavy experimentation for me. The base recipe made maple logs, which were then dipped in chocolate. I found the log-making process awkward. I didn’t want milk chocolate paired with maple, either.
Therefore, I tweaked and twisted things around, and the end result was a cookie that reminds me a lot of Pecan Sandies from the grocery store, just with a necessary oomph of maple.
Instead of making the cookies into logs, I press them flat and used by bench knife to slice them into squares. A drizzle of maple glaze added just the right touch of sweetness after baking.
These are ideal cookies to go along with coffee or tea. They are a little dry and crumbly, but easy to eat in a bite or two.
Plus, you can omit the pecans if necessary! You’ll get fewer cookies, but the texture and maple goodness are still downright scrummy.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoon + milk or half & half
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the vanilla and maple flavor.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, oats, pecans bits, and salt. Gradually combine with the wet mixture until it forms a cohesive mix.
- Clean off a space of counter or tear off a large piece of parchment paper. Dump the cookie dough out and form it a roughly 8x8 square. Use a bench knife or a pizza cutter to slice into squares about an inch in diameter.
- Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Add a little space between cookies, but they won't spread much.
- Bake for 14-17 minutes, until cookies are set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- Once all the cookies are baked and at room temperature, set out another piece of parchment paper. Place the cookies there, close together.
- In a small bowl, mix together glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to create a dribbling consistency. Use a fork to dribble glaze or the back of a spoon to coat each one. Leave out for an hour or so to set, then seal in container at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Earl Grey Maple Gingerbread Sheet Cake
Let’s kick off the 2018 holiday season the right way: with cake! A Glazed Earl Grey Maple Gingerbread Sheet Cake, to be exact.
Earl Grey adds a lovely spice and kick that contrasts and complements the sweetness of maple. As you can see, tea flecks freckle the entire cake.
The cake is super-soft, moist, and cakey. I was amazed at how high it rose. It pretty much went to the top of my casserole dish.
The cake itself isn’t heavily sweet, which is why the thin layer of glaze is just what it needs. It provides a more potent sweet maple flavor.
This is a cake that pairs well with tea (Earl Grey, hot, Picard-style?) and also with coffee. Serve this to a crowd! There’s plenty of cake to go around.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Earl Grey Maple Gingerbread Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups pure maple syrup
- 2 cups sour cream 16 ounce container
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 cube, melted
- 4 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 packets Earl Grey tea a heaping Tablespoon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon maple flavor
- 2 Tablespoons + milk almond milk works
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, maple syrup, sour cream, vanilla, and butter. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, Earl Grey tea, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir in the egg mixture. Spread batter in the ready pan.
- Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Cake will have risen a great deal. Cool in pan on wire rack for a few hours.
- Once the cake is room temperature, prepare the glaze. In a medium bowl, melt butter in microwave. Add confectioners' sugar, maple flavor, and two tablespoons milk. Stir until mixed and of spreadable thickness, adding more milk as necessary to loosen it or sugar to thicken.
- Spread glaze atop cake. To slice, lift up by foil and set on cutting board. Store slices in sealed container(s) at room temperature; keeps well for at least 2 days.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies
Do you like soft, cakey cookies? Do you like pumpkin? Oh, do I have the recipe for you!
These Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies are stunning. The cookies are soft and tender in the mouth, and the maple glaze adds just the right touch of sweetness.
I’ve done this annual feature of pumpkin recipes for several years now, and I think this is one of my all-time favorite recipes. It’s not just that it tastes good–it’s textually pleasing, too.
Do note that the dough needs to chill for a while, and even when cold, it can be difficult to work with. Be patient and prepare to have sticky fingers.
Trust me, it’ll be worthwhile in the end.
Modified from a recipe included with ads for Reynolds Parchment Paper.
Bready or Not: Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
Maple Glaze:
- 1 1/4-1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a big bowl, beat together the white sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl, then mix in vanilla and egg, followed by the pumpkin puree. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients.
- Cover dough and chill in fridge for at least two hours; overnight is fine.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a tablespoon scoop to place dollops of batter spaced out on the sheets; the dough will be sticky to work with.
- Bake cookies until golden brown, about 13 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets.
- To make the maple glaze, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, butter, maple flavor, and a tablespoon of water. Add more water or sugar, as needed, to reach a thick yet spreadable consistency. Use the back of a spoon to swirl a thin layer of glaze atop each cookie.
- Store cookies, between layers of parchment or wax paper, in a sealed container up to 3 days.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Blondies
This is a repost of an old favorite recipe: Glazed Maple Blondies.
Last fall when I prepared my Sweet Maple Cookbook, I remade and rewrote my original recipe. This wasn’t just to check the wording in the recipe, but to double check a major modification: using Golden Oreos.
That’s because some of us, in blighted wastelands (aka Arizona), don’t have a wide variety of maple products available year-round. Maple cream sandwich cookies are a brief Christmastime dream. Golden Oreos, however, are available year-round just about everywhere.
I found just the right balance of Golden Oreos and additional maple flavor to compensate for the lack of maple cookies. I tell you, my job is so strenuous at times.
My husband’s co-workers test and comment on most of my sweet recipes, and for them, this is an all-time favorite. Bake it up yourself, and see why!
Also, be sure to grab the Sweet Maple Cookbook over on Amazon! It includes this maple recipe and so much more.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Blondies
Ingredients
Blondies:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 box maple cream cookies
- 10 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons butter melted
- 3/4 teaspoon maple flavor
- 2 Tablespoons + milk almond milk works
Instructions
Blondies:
- Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Coarsely chop the cookies. Reserve 1/4 cup of the finer crumbs.
- In a mixing bowl, blend the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Add the eggs and vanilla. Pour in the flour mix until just combined, then stir in the white chocolate chips and cookie pieces.
- Spread batter in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondie layer cool completely. Place in fridge to speed the process along, if necessary.
Glaze:
- Combine glaze ingredients in bowl. Add enough milk to make the icing spreadable, not runny. Immediately dollop over blondies and smooth out. Quickly sprinkle on the reserved crumbs. Use fingers to gently press in.
- Place pan in fridge to set for hour or two. Use the foil to lift the blondies onto a cutting board for easy slicing. Store refrigerated in a sealed container, between wax paper layers.
- OM NOM NOM!