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Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies

These Maple Leaf Cookies are bursting with maple flavor: the combination of the sablé cookies with the irresistible maple butter filling makes them melt in the mouth. Just dreamy!

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

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If you’ve ever traveled to Canada, you’ve most likely seen displays of maple leaf cookie boxes in airport duty-free stores and souvenir shops. They sure look like a gimmick, given the steep price at which they are sold and the fact that they bring together two of Canada’s conspicuous icons: the maple leaf, and maple syrup. It may surprise you to learn that we actually grew up eating them! You see, boxes of maple leaf cookies (made with real maple syrup!) were also sold at grocery stores for a fraction of the souvenir shop price, so those addictive treats were no more an indulgence than say, Oreo cookies. At home when I was a kid, biscuits feuilles d’érable were on heavy rotation in the lineup of cookies that took up a whole shelf in our pantry, and they were always my first choice when they did make an appearance.

Commercial maple leaf cookies:

Commercial maple leaf cookies // FoodNouveau.com
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While I know my parents still buy maple leaf cookies from time to time, I almost never get them from the store anymore. Instead, I make them at home! No surprise—homemade maple leaf cookies are even better than the store-bought treat. Not only is the creamy maple butter frosting bursting with maple flavor (I may or may not have eaten some by the spoonful), but the cookies, which are made with maple sugar instead of regular granulated sugar, have an incredibly appealing sablé texture that melts in the mouth.

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

Maple leaf cookies are not cheap cookies to make: the recipe does require a nice quantity of maple products (sugar, syrup, and butter), but the yield is impressive, especially if you make the cookies in a smaller size. Plus, I swear the result is better than any maple-flavored store-bought cookie you’ll ever buy!

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

Of course, you can make these cookies even if you don’t have a maple leaf-shaped cookie cutter and use any other cookie cutter you have on hand. But to me, the maple leaf shape just adds to the charm!

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

BONUS QUÉBEC TRAVEL TIP! If you come to Québec and want to buy maple products, skip the souvenir shop and head to a local grocery store. Most carry maple syrup and maple butter year-round, as well as maple leaf cookies too, of course (in the regular cookie aisle). They may not come in decorative containers or boxes, but you’ll get much more for your buck. You can also search for a Quebec maple producer that ships worldwide.

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

Maple Desserts & Treats Cookbook

Love maple? Then you need to get your hands on my Maple Desserts & Treats Cookbook! Filled with 25 maple-centric recipes, from timeless classics to modern treats, Maple Desserts & Treats is a downloadable eBook with a collection of irresistible recipes made with nature’s most aromatic sugar. Get it all in a handy, “save it everywhere” PDF format! LEARN MORE

Maple Desserts & Treats, a recipe eBook by award-winning author of FoodNouveau.com, Marie Asselin

 
Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies

These Maple Leaf Cookies are bursting with flavor: the sablé cookies and the irresistible maple butter frosting melt in the mouth. Dreamy!
Prep Time:1 hour
Cook Time:10 minutes
Total Time:1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 32 cookies (varies depending on the size of cookie cutter used)
Author Marie Asselin, FoodNouveau.com

Ingredients

For the maple leaf cookies

For the maple butter frosting

Instructions

To make the cookies:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, beat the butter with the granulated maple sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the maple syrup and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  • In a second bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the maple mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Using your hands, gather the dough into a flattened ball (the dough will be slightly sticky.) Cut the dough into 4 portions. Keep one portion out and wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap.
  • Set a large rectangle of parchment paper over the working surface. Lightly flour the parchment paper. Set a portion of dough over the parchment paper, then cover with a second sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the maple cookie dough to a 1/8-in (0.3-cm) thickness. (Rolling out the maple cookie dough between sheets of parchment paper will prevent the soft dough from sticking to the rolling pin and avoid adding too much extra flour to the recipe.)
  • Using a maple leaf cookie cutter (or another shape of your choosing), cut out as many cookies as possible, gently transferring them to the parchment paper-lined baking sheet as you go. (An offset spatula is helpful to transfer the cookies.) The cookies can be placed close to one another on the baking sheet because they won’t spread out while baking.
  • If using a maple leaf cookie cutter, you can use the dull side of a knife to trace shallow lines over each cookie in order to create a maple leaf pattern.
    Lightly brush each cookie with milk. Bake until the cookies are lightly golden on the edges. Depending on the size of the cookie cutter used, this could take between 6 and 10 minutes. Let cool completely on wire racks. Repeat the rolling and baking process to bake all the cookies.
    Homemade Maple Leaf Cookies // FoodNouveau.com

To make the maple butter frosting:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, beat the maple butter with the softened butter until fully incorporated and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and whisk on low speed until the sugar is mixed in, thenincrease the speed to medium-high. Beat until the maple butter frosting islight and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Transfer the frosting to an airtight container and keep it at room temp erature until you’re ready to assemble thecookies.

To assemble the maple leaf cookies:

  • Spread a generous layer of cream filling on one cookie, then cover with a second cookie.Repeat to assemble all cookies. Eat any remaining maple butter filling by thespoonful!
  • STORAGE: The assembled cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The maple leaf cookies will be crispy on their first day, and then soften a bit upon resting. Both textures are delightful, but I find the cookies to be at their very best after a 24-hour rest.
  • CLEVER TIP: HOW TO PREPARE MAPLE LEAF COOKIES AHEAD OF TIME
    You can freeze the raw cookie dough carefully wrapped in plastic for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then bring back to room temperature 1 hourbefore rolling.
    You can also make the frosting in advance andrefrigerate it for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight and bring back to room temperature 1 hour before using. Give the frosting an energetic stir before using it to fill the cookies.

Did you make this?

Tell me how you liked it! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag it with @foodnouveau on Instagram.

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Author: Marie Asselin

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?

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Recipe Rating




  1. 5 stars
    I didn’t have a maple leaf cookie cutter but I made regular shaped cookies and all I can say is OMG! I won’t tell you how many of them I ate, but my family was lucky I left them any

  2. 5 stars
    these are so cute and so adorable. I am sure it will be a fun baking project for my kids. I am planning to get my hands on this recipe on Wednesday so that i have all the ingredients.

  3. 5 stars
    Wow talk about bringing back childhood memories. I love maple leaf cookies, the wonderful crumb of the cookie and then that creamy, dreamy maple butter filling! Yummy!
    My way of tackling these cookies is to carefully separate the cookies, scrape all of that filling in my mouth to melt and be savored. Then dunk the cookies in my milk and feel them just disdintegrate in my mouth with all that flavor running on my tongue! StupendousI think your right your home made would take this experience to the next level!😁🥰❤👍🙏

    • Hahaha I FEEL SEEN, I used to eat my maple leaf cookies exactly the way you do! Store-bought maple leaf cookies are honestly really really good, but wait until you taste these homemade ones… You’ll fall head over heels in love with the treat all over again!

  4. 5 stars
    I fell in love with these at from Trader Joes and when I saw this recipe, I had to try to make them!! Homemade is even more incredible. I love the filling. These are my new favorite cookie!!

  5. Such an innovative recipe. Looks so beautiful and delicious. Love to try these cookies once I gather all the ingredients.