Brown Sugar Maple Cookies

Brown sugar maple cookies are the perfect fall treat that combines the rich warmth of brown sugar with the cozy sweetness of pure maple syrup! These soft, chewy cookies are packed with chopped pecans and topped with a dreamy maple icing

Love More Cookies? Try My Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or this Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These brown sugar maple cookies hit every single comfort food note perfectly! The combination of dark brown sugar and real maple syrup creates the most incredible depth of flavor – it’s like autumn in cookie form. They’re soft and chewy with just the right amount of crunch from the pecans, and that maple icing? It’s absolutely divine!

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Ingredient List

Cookies

• 2 ⅓ cups (292 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 cup (200 g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg, room temp
• ⅓ cup (≈ 80 ml) pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• 1 cup (120 g) chopped pecans

Maple Icing

• 2 Tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
• ⅓ cup (≈ 80 ml) pure maple syrup
• 1 cup (112 g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt

Why These Ingredients Work

Dark brown sugar was my breakthrough moment. I kept grabbing light brown sugar by habit until my neighbor pointed out the extra molasses makes cookies way more moist with this incredible caramel-ish taste that goes crazy good with maple.

Pure maple syrup pulls double duty here – sweetens everything while keeping cookies tender. Learned my lesson using cheap pancake syrup once. Total disaster. Maple extract sounds like overkill but it punches up that maple flavor without making dough soupy. Room temperature butter and egg are mandatory for creaming properly.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Get your biggest mixing bowl plus stand mixer or hand mixer. Need a medium bowl for dry stuff, cookie sheets with parchment paper. My 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop is everything – no more wonky-sized cookies that bake weird. Wire racks are a must, plus small saucepan and whisk for that icing.

How To Make Brown Sugar Maple Cookies

1. Prepare Your Dry Mixture

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream the Butter and Sugar

Beat room temp butter with dark brown sugar 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Don’t cut corners here – this step makes cookies chewy instead of dense.

3. Add the Egg and Maple Goodness

Add egg, beat 30 seconds. Add maple syrup, vanilla, maple extract. Beat 1 more minute till smooth.

4. Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients

Lower mixer speed. Slowly add flour mixture. Stop mixing once flour disappears – overmixing = tough cookies.

5. Fold in the Pecans

Hand-stir pecans till scattered throughout. Dough should be soft and sticky.

6. Chill the Dough

Cover bowl, refrigerate minimum 2 hours. I make dough after dinner, chill overnight. Skipping this = flat cookie pancakes.

7. Preheat and Prepare

Oven to 350°F. Line sheets with parchment. Dough chilled over 3 hours? Let sit 30 minutes before scooping.

8. Shape the Cookies

Scoop 1½ tablespoons dough, roll into balls. Space 3 inches apart – they spread like crazy.

9. Bake to Perfection

Bake 12-13 minutes. Edges set, centers soft-looking. They look underdone but that’s right.

10. Cool Properly

Leave on hot sheet 5 minutes before moving to wire racks. Prevents cookie breakage.

11. Make the Maple Icing

Low heat: melt butter with maple syrup, stir constantly. Off heat, whisk in sifted powdered sugar and salt till smooth.

12. Drizzle and Enjoy

Drizzle cooled cookies with icing. Sets in an hour for glossy finish.

You Must Know

Dough MUST chill or you get flat disasters. I was impatient my first try and ended up with cookie pancakes because maple syrup makes dough super soft. Now I chill 2 hours minimum, sometimes overnight.

I sift powdered sugar for icing every time. Takes 30 seconds, prevents lumps that make icing look amateur. Also, pull cookies when they look slightly underdone.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Leave butter out an hour before baking – cold butter won’t cream with brown sugar right and you get dense cookies. Cookie scoop is worth every penny for same-size cookies that bake evenly.

Biggest mistake people make? Overbaking. Cookies should look underdone when you pull them. They cook more on the hot pan while you prep the next batch. Learned this burning my first dozen trying to get them “golden brown.”

Keep heat low when melting butter and maple syrup for icing. High heat makes it separate into greasy mess instead of smooth drizzle.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Last month I threw mini chocolate chips in with pecans – kids went nuts. Tastes like fancy artisan candy but costs way less making at home.

My spice-loving friends get cinnamon and tiny bit nutmeg mixed into dry ingredients. Creates this incredible warmth that screams fall. Sister can’t eat nuts so her batch gets no pecans and they’re still amazing. Sometimes I roll those plain ones in coarse sugar before baking for extra sweetness and crunch.

Make-Ahead Options

This recipe saves my busy weeks because dough keeps great in fridge 3 days. Make batch Sunday, bake fresh cookies all week when we need dessert.

Real time-saver is freezing scooped cookie balls. Scoop onto sheets, freeze solid, transfer to freezer bags. Bake straight from frozen with just one extra minute – perfect when company shows up unexpected. Finished cookies freeze 3 months too, though they never last that long here.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Don’t skip maple extract if you can find it – flavor difference is crazy good. I buy online when grocery store doesn’t have it. Dark brown sugar really beats light brown sugar for deeper molasses taste.

Making icing takes patience. Keep heat low, stir constantly. Icing too thick? Whisk in teaspoon warm maple syrup. Too thin? Add more powdered sugar bit by bit. I always make extra because I want to drizzle it on everything.

Serving Suggestions

These cookies are dangerous with cold milk – I’ve killed half a batch watching Netflix this way. Also incredible with vanilla ice cream for fancy dessert that looks like you spent hours in kitchen.

I pack these in mason jars for teacher gifts during holidays. Maple icing makes them look bakery-quality but taste way better than store-bought. For parties, I arrange them on grandma’s vintage platter with scattered pecans for decoration – people think I’m way more talented than I am.

How to Store Your Brown Sugar Maple Cookies

Keep covered at room temp 2 days, or fridge for a week. Both iced and plain cookies freeze great for 3 months – just thaw on counter when ready.

Day-old cookies getting soft? Toss in 300°F oven 2-3 minutes to crisp back up. Works every time.

Allergy Information

Contains: Wheat, eggs, dairy, tree nuts (pecans)

Need swaps? Use 1:1 gluten-free flour blend instead of regular flour. Vegan butter works fine. Ditch pecans for nut-free version. Try flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water, sit 5 minutes) instead of regular egg.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use light brown sugar instead of dark?

Sure thing! Your cookies won’t have quite as much molasses flavor, but they’ll still taste great. I prefer dark brown sugar because it gives that richer, deeper taste that works so well with maple.

My icing turned out too thick – help!

Happens to me sometimes when the maple mixture cools down too much. Just whisk in an extra teaspoon of warm maple syrup until it reaches drizzling consistency.

Are these cookies good without the icing?

Absolutely! I make them plain all the time when I’m feeling lazy. Sometimes I’ll roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before baking for a little sparkly sweetness.

Why did my cookies spread into pancakes?

Nine times out of ten, it’s because the dough wasn’t chilled long enough. That maple syrup makes everything super soft, so you really need that full 2-hour minimum chill time. Also check that your butter wasn’t too melty when you started mixing.

Can I use the fake maple syrup instead?

Technically yes, but please don’t if you can help it! The flavor difference between real maple syrup and corn syrup-based pancake syrup is huge. Real maple syrup is worth every penny for these cookies.

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