Description
Deliciously soft and chewy brown sugar maple cookies made with pure maple syrup and topped with a dreamy maple icing. Perfect for fall baking!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ⅓ cups (292 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 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’ (powdered) sugar
- Pinch of salt (to taste)
Instructions
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
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.
Add egg, beat 30 seconds. Add maple syrup, vanilla, maple extract. Beat 1 more minute till smooth.
Lower mixer speed. Slowly add flour mixture. Stop mixing once flour disappears – overmixing = tough cookies.
Hand-stir pecans till scattered throughout. Dough should be soft and sticky.
Cover bowl, refrigerate minimum 2 hours. I make dough after dinner, chill overnight. Skipping this = flat cookie pancakes.
Oven to 350°F. Line sheets with parchment. Dough chilled over 3 hours? Let sit 30 minutes before scooping.
Scoop 1½ tablespoons dough, roll into balls. Space 3 inches apart – they spread like crazy.
Bake 12-13 minutes. Edges set, centers soft-looking. They look underdone but that’s right.
Leave on hot sheet 5 minutes before moving to wire racks. Prevents cookie breakage.
Low heat: melt butter with maple syrup, stir constantly. Off heat, whisk in sifted powdered sugar and salt till smooth.
Drizzle cooled cookies with icing. Sets in an hour for glossy finish.
Notes
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.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American