Soft and slightly crinkly, these melt-in-your-mouth maple brown sugar cookies are made with all brown sugar and infused with warm tones of maple syrup.
This is a favorite cold-weather cookie of mine that I posted last year, and the photos have been updated & recipe has been updated to include metric measurements.
2016 has been a hectic, stressful, exhausting, but mostly, joyful, blur.
I’ve baked more (maple brown sugar) cookies than any other year of my life, learned more about Pinterest than anyone should ever need to know, slept less (mostly because of all the time spent on Pinterest — not even kidding), decoded my Rubik’s cube of a camera just a little bit more, and improved my photography as a result (see today’s pictures and the original pictures at the bottom of the post for comparison).
I’ve even begun to dabble in video on my Facebook page, but that’s an entirely new beast that I plan on going after with torch and pitchfork in 2017.
Sure, I’ve got a long way to go and I’m looking forward to growing this space even more in 2017, but right now I’m just so grateful for everything this year has been for me.
But now, let’s talk cookies.
I shared these maple brown sugar cookies over a year ago, but they were in dire need of a new photo shoot.
They’re one of my favorites, and actually served as the inspiration for my Worst Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe after I realized how utterly amazing maple syrup tasted in cookie dough.
Maple syrup has a wonderful and warm flavor to it, an almost “cozy” taste, and it goes perfectly with a warm plate of cookies in the cold weather — they’re great fall or winter cookies and belong next to a glass of milk for Santa on Christmas Eve (only one day left!).
I’ve made these cookies many times using both pure (pricey!) maple syrup and plain old Aunt Jemima, and I’ve finally admitted to myself that I firmly prefer the inauthentic maple syrup.
Is that embarrassing? I feel like I should prefer the fancy tree-tapped stuff, but I don’t.
These will still certainly taste wonderful with pure maple syrup, but faux-syrup seems to be more prominent, more fragrant, and is far less expensive!
Combined with all brown sugar, these cookies are soft, chewy and simply perfect and rich in fall flavors. The dough is amazing — don’t taste it if you can help it, because it’s addictive.
These maple brown sugar cookies nearly melt in your mouth– the maple flavor a subtle warmth on your tongue.
If all goes as planned, this will be my last post of 2016. I have a lot of trouble going any length of time without posting, but I’m going to try to take off from doing so next week — I’ll still be doing plenty of behind-the-scenes work, though.
Before I figuratively sign off for the year, though, I wanted to give a special THANK YOU to all of you, for visiting my website, trying my recipes, leaving kind comments and writing encouraging e-mails. It’s because of you that I have been able to build Sugar Spun Run up to be what it has become in 2016.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year — let’s make 2017 a great one!!
Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
Soft, flavorful maple brown sugar cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled (226g)
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar tightly packed (300g)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup (pure or faux -- I honestly prefer Aunt Jemima!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (room temperature & lightly beaten.)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Granulated sugar for rolling or sprinkling
Instructions
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Melt butter in large, microwave-safe bowl and allow to cool completely.
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Stir in brown sugar and maple syrup until completely combined.
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Stir in vanilla extract and maple extract (if using).
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Add egg and stir until well-combined.
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In separate, medium-sized bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
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Gradually (about 1/4 of the mixture at a time), add the flour mix to the butter mixture and stir until completely combined.
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Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
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Once dough is about 30 minutes from being ready, preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Scoop dough into round 1 1/2" scoops. Roll in or sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes.
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Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet. Do not put dough for following batches on hot cookie sheets, cookie sheets should always be room temperature or colder.
Recipe Notes
I rolled these cookies in coarse sugar and sprinkled with golden sugar sprinkles and stars for decoration while they were cooling.
Original photos
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Maple Brown Sugar Cookies were originally posted 11/18/15 — Updated 12/23/16
lauren says
The taste of them is good, however I had some issues with the dough not cooking correctly. I followed the recipe exactly and chilled it as directed. It made more than enough to trial different tempatures, sizes of dough, etc. mine never even began to flatten or spread out. How I put them on the sheet was the shape they cooked and stayed at. Although tasty, they look weird and are almost biscuit like.
Sam says
Very odd, I haven’t experienced that and I can’t say for sure what might have caused it, unless possibly the flour was over-measured? Thank you for sharing your feedback!
Jen says
I just made these and had a similar experience, in that mine only flattened out partly – not as much as the ones in your photo. They were still delicious, however! I will definitely make these again.
Kristiba says
Approximately how many cookies does this make per batch?
Sam says
You’ll get about 40 cookies 🙂
puja says
Mmmm, I love these cookies. These cookies look and sound absolutely perfect for this holiday season Sam. 🙂
Sara says
Yum
Mya says
Hi Sam! I recently discovered your blog because I Googled Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies after having some at a cookie exchange. I think your recipe is now my favorite go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! With that said, I made these (Maple Brown Sugar Cookies) today because you said they’re great on cold days and are cozy. You were right! The maple, butter an brown sugar flavors work so well together,while still being distinct somehow. I haven’t been this impressed with a new cookie recipe in a very long time. I never bother melting butter because it takes longer to have it solidify again and then even longer to put the mixed (but not baked) batter back into the fridge because ittends to be stickier, however I noticed a lot of your recipes call for that. Is there a difference between simply using softened butter and skipping those steps verses melting? Thanks again for sharing these amazing recipes! I’m really picky and so far, am a big fan. (This is also the first time I have commented on a food blog since I’ve started loving cooking and baking about 19 years ago!)
Sam says
Hi Mya!
I am so thrilled that you have enjoyed the cookies and especially honored that you are commenting on my blog!! 🙂
To answer your question about the butter:
I totally feel your pain about the butter taking a while to cool & the necessity of chilling the dough. However, I prefer to melt the butter because I’ve found that it always leads to chewier cookies with a richer (and butterier) flavor.
You could probably get away with just using softened butter, but your cookies would be less chewy, perhaps a bit drier, and they wouldn’t have the same rich taste as a cookie made with melted butter.
By melting the butter, every last bit of the dough is infused with flavor in a way that softened butter just can’t manage, and for that reason in most of my recipes, it is my preferred choice.
There’s also some science behind the chemical differences in creaming and melting the butter, too — creaming the butter and sugar together creates air pockets which gives the cookies a little bit of a lift while they bake, while the melted butter doesn’t provide that rise, leaving you with denser, chewier (and in my humble opinion — more delicious) cookies.
I hope this helps explain why I use melted butter in my recipes, but I’m definitely happy to discuss further if you have any more questions! 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
Candace Atkins says
Another winner, Samantha. Such an easy recipe for fabulous cookies. To gild the lily, I added a half-teaspoon of maple extract, and when the cookies came out of the oven, I pressed two toasted pecan halves on top of each. These babies are going to be entered in our county fair! Thanks again.
Sam says
This makes me so happy to hear, Candace!! I am so glad that you loved the cookies, the pecans on top sound like the perfect touch — I hope you win at the fair!!! <3
Sejohnson says
Haven’t tried them yet, but I make about 500 dozen cookies in late fall/Early Christmas. Obviously, some of them are frozen ahead of time. Sometimes the dough is frozen; sometimes the finished cookie. Do you have any recommendations about how this recipe would work with that in mind? Keep sharing those great recipes!
Sam says
I haven’t tried freezing these cookies once they’re baked, but I think freezing the dough would be just fine! You will still need to chill it in the refrigerator the recommended time, then I would scoop it into balls and then freeze those. Wrap them tightly in cling wrap and then store the wrapped balls in a freezer bag or airtight container, they should keep just fine for a few months (about 3). Enjoy!
Jessica Poth says
I just made these cookies tonight. Actually the last six are in the oven as I type. This is probably the first review I have ever left on a recipe, but I couldn’t resist. I’ve been rehearsing in my head for the last 1/2 hour what to say. These cookies are unbelievable! My husband loves anything maple so I had to try. These came out absolutely perfect. My 10 year old gave up having turtle pie for desert just so he could have a 2nd cookie. I’ve truly NEVER had cookies come out so soft and melt in your mouth good as these did. I’m actually fighting with my own conscience to have a 2nd myself. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Oh and I used the real maple syrup and 1tsp maple extract.
Sam says
I am so happy that you enjoyed them so much!! Thank you for coming back and letting me know how you liked them, and can I say that I am HONORED to be the recipient of your first review!!!!! 🙂
Monica says
Would these work if you roll the dough out and use bear cookie cutters to make little bears? Sorry if it is a dumb question, I don’t know a whole lot about baking.
Sam says
Hi Monica! Unfortunately this dough isn’t any good for rolling, they would spread too much. Sorry about that, but not a dumb question!
Jade says
I’m making these cookies right now and although I see both baking powder and baking soda on the ingredients list, I only see baking soda in the directions. I added the baking powder to the flour etc in that step, but I’m wondering if I just missed it or what. Possibly that is why someone else had a problem with them falling flat?
Sam says
You might be right, thank you so much for pointing that out to me! I just corrected the recipe, I hope you loved the cookies!
Marie says
Sam, my cookies came out slightly greasy on the bottom. Otherwise they were delicious. I used very soft butter rather than melted but I actually thought not melting it might make them less greasy. Any thoughts?
Sam says
Hi Marie! Hmm, I don’t think the soft butter would have caused this. Maybe just adding a pinch more flour could have fixed it?
Lea says
I made these today – they turned out perfectly. I only had maple syrup, and I don’t think they taste very maple-y, but still moist and delicious.
My 2nd batch did have a greasy bottom, but the dough was sitting on the counter so had warmed up. The first batch made straight from the fridge had no problems.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them! ☺️