These Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies are rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with a maple icing (maple glaze). These cinnamon maple sugar cookies are incredibly chewy, and they come together easily! Plus, you could make this maple sugar cookie recipe without the maple icing…but, why not indulge a bit…
I adore these Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies. They are like this amazing combination between a chewy snickerdoodle, a maple cookie, and a sugar cookie. They’re just fantastic.
I’d love to say I didn’t eat my body weight in these cookies.
I’d also love to say I won the lottery and have a vacation house in the Bahamas.
I think we all know those statements aren’t true, but let’s not dwell on that fact.
Instead, let’s dwell on the fact that these Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies might be the best Christmas cookie I’ve made this season (hence the eating of my body weight in them).
They’re incredibly chewy, packed with cinnamon maple flavor and practically irresistible.
All right, so when I was working on this recipe, I was originally opting for a soft maple sugar cookie recipe.
After making these Soft Pumpkin Cookies, I was thinking something equally as soft and melt-in-your-mouth but in maple flavor.
As I working on the recipe, I guess it just sort of transformed. I kept thinking about snickerdoodles and molasses cookies and how nice and chewy they are, and well, these soft maple sugar cookies suddenly became nice chewy maple cookies.
And it was a wonderful decision. These chewy sugar cookies with maple syrup (and maple icing) are so simple and flavorful.
All right, so there are few ways you can change up this maple sugar cookie recipe.
- First of all, you don’t have to roll in cinnamon sugar if you don’t want to. Granted, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to add some cinnamon sugar goodness to these cinnamon maple sugar cookies, but you know, to each their own.
- Secondly, you can omit the maple glaze if you prefer. Again, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to give it a nice maple drizzle…but, I’ll let you live your own life. 😉
- Finally, I used a tiny bit of almond extract here. You can omit if you’d like, but I find that the little bit of almond extract just enhances the maple, vanilla and cinnamon flavors in these maple cookies. It’s not enough to overwhelm the cookies with almond flavor, but it just adds a hint.
Tips and Tricks for these Chewy Maple Sugar Cookies:
- This dough does need to be chilled, but it doesn’t need to be chilled for very long. Thirty minutes to an hour is all it takes; basically, you’re chilling the sugar cookie dough so that it’s a little stiffer when you roll it into balls to bake.
- These cookies definitely need space while they’re baking so don’t crowd the sheet pan. Roll the dough into 1” sized balls and make sure they are spaced about 2-3” apart on the pan. For me, I used a half sheet pan to bake these and only put 8 cookies on to bake at a time.
- The maple icing used for these sugar cookies is the same recipe I use for donuts, scones and my Maple Glazed Banana Bread. It’s one of the best/easiest recipes that can add so much flavor to something for such little effort.
Cookies are my love language.
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (this combo makes the cookies extra chewy)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup sugar + 1-2 Tbsp ground cinnamon)
- 1/8 cup butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
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With a standing mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
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Add in granulated sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
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Next, add in the egg and the egg yolk. Beat until well combined.
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Add in the vanilla extract and almond extract, mixing until well combined.
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Lastly, add in the flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until all flour is incorporated into the dough.
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Chill dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
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Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Roll dough into about 1” balls, and roll in cinnamon sugar.
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Place dough on the baking sheets, making sure they are spaced out evenly, about 2-3” apart (these cookies expand).
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Bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown. Allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing them from the tray and allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.
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Over low heat, melt butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract together. Once everything is melted, remove from the heat.
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Sift in powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined. Allow the icing to cool about 8-10 minutes, which allows the icing to thicken.
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Once the icing has thickened, give it a quick stir then drizzle it over the cookies (I used a spoon to drizzle the icing).
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Store cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
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Enjoy!
Here are some other maple recipes you might love:
Carol says
I love this recipe and will definitely be topping them with the icing. Just that drizzle looks so pretty and adds that extra little bit of sweetness that makes life worthwhile. I am wondering if you flatten the cookies when you roll them. Seems to me that whenever I make a recipe that calls for rolling the batter into balls that they do not flatten and I end up having round cookies instead of nice flat ones.