Brown Sugar Maple Cookies
These Brown Sugar Maple Cookies have a thick, soft and chewy maple cookie base and are topped with a delicious maple glaze! They're made with Grade A maple syrup and are the perfect cozy autumn cookies! They are so simple to make; all you need is a whisk and spatula! No mixer required! If that wasn't enough, these fall cookies are gluten free, nut free, egg free and can easily be made vegan!
Servings: 12 large cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, melted and cooled
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar (keep the 1 tablespoon separate)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Maple Glaze
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ tablespoon water , room temperature
Instructions
For the Maple Cookies
- Place the ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick in a heat safe bowl. Place a paper towel on top of the bowl so the butter doesn't splatter. Microwave in 11 second increments until halfway melted. Whisk the butter until the residual heat melts the rest of the butter. Set aside to cool.It should be smooth and creamy.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups gluten free flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch and the 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
- Into the cooled melted butter, combine the 1 cup dark brown sugar, the ¼ cup maple syrup, the 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract and the cornstarch water. Whisk until it is all fully combined and blended. It may appear slightly chunky. That's normal.
- Starting and ending with the flour mixture, whisk half the flour into the melted butter mixture. Then add the ¼ cup milk and whisk to combine.Add in the second half of the flour gently with a spatula. Do not over mix or the dough will become shiny and too sticky.
- The dough will be very sticky. Add it to a freezer safe bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and pop the entire bowl of dough in the freezer for 30 min. When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Do not grease.
- After 30 min, using a large cookie scoop, make 12 scoops with the dough. (I use a 2 ounce cookie scoop).If the dough is sticking to the cookie scoop, wash the scoop half way through to get off any stuck on dough.
- In a small bowl, using clean hands work the 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar into the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar until there are no clumps and it's combined.
- Drop the dough balls into the sugar mixture and coat completely.
- Place the balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 16 minutes.I only bake 6 at a time. Pop the rest of the dough balls in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
- Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them into a circle and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack with parchment aper underneath. If you don't let them cool on the pan, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess when you try to lift them up.Repeat this with the remaining dough.
For the Maple Glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup and ½ tablespoon of water until combined and smooth.
- Drizzle the maple glaze on top of the cool cookies. If you drizzle it on warm cookies, the glaze will melt.It is easier to hold your hand about 6 inches above the cookies and move your arm side to side while drizzling to create a horizontal pattern. Then get more glaze and move your arm from top to bottom to create a vertical pattern.Let the glaze harden prior to eating or it will have a strong confectioners' super flavor.
Notes
For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 13-1 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches. Should make 24 cookies.
Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, a non-dairy milk and vegan maple syrup.
All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 packed cups of regular flour (336 grams) and 2 tablespoons of milk. Still chill the dough.
Storing: Once the glaze has hardened, store the cookies in an airtight container or zip top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freezing Baked Cookies: To freeze already baked cookies, place cookies (not stacked) on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer uncovered. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are completely frozen. Once frozen, you can store them stacked in a freezer safe airtight container or zip top bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. To defrost, take the container out and leave at room temperature until soft. 1-2 hours.
If it is super humid outside, do not put the glaze on the cookies until they are defrosted, the day you plan on serving them. When it is humid, the glaze tends to be very wet when defrosting.
Freezing Raw Dough: Form the dough into balls. Place dough balls (not stacked) on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer uncovered. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or until the dough balls are completely frozen. Once frozen, store in a zip top bag for 1 month. When ready to use, bake at the same temperature for 18-19 minutes instead of 15.
Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.