Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies

Blog6 038You will rarely find me in the cookie aisle at the grocery store. Oh, believe me…I love store-bought cookies. Chips Ahoy are my favorite road food! Vanilla wafers make a lovely dessert crust. Ginger Snaps really call to me once in a while. However, for the most part I avoid the temptation because I know I can make a better quality cookie for less money.

BUT (you knew that was coming, right?) occasionally I just have to buy a package of those lovely maple leaf shaped cookies with maple frosting in the middle.

I’ve posted my recipe for Maple Shortbread before, and absolutely love those cookies, but this time I wanted to make a sandwich cookie with a sturdier dough since shortbread is a little fragile.  My first batch was a flop. Too crispy and buttery, though definitely yummy (there were no complaints from the menfolk) but not what I was looking for.

So I played with my shortbread dough a bit and think I have found a winner. I’ll never get the dense crunchy texture of the store bought variety, but this is very close, and satisfies my craving in a big way. The dough itself has a very mild maple flavor, with the frosting in the middle carrying the maple “punch”.

I even thinned some of the dough and piped leaf veins on the top cookies. I love the look of it, and will probably play with the dough-on-dough decorating idea in the near future.

Piping dough accents.

Piping dough accents.

Baked and frosted.

Baked and frosted.

Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies
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Makes about 18 sandwich cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. Mine was approximately 3" x 3".
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • ............
  • Frosting:
  • ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 4 tablespoons milk
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons maple flavoring (like Mapleine)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • milk for thinning frosting
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350F.
  2. Lightly grease two baking sheets. (Or use parchment.)
  3. In a large bowl, combine butter and powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
  4. Add egg yolk, maple syrup, and milk. Blend well.
  5. Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until it forms a smooth dough. The dough should be very stiff. If it's sticky, add a little more flour.
  6. Working with half the dough at a time, roll the dough out on a generously floured surface. (To make it really easy, roll it out between pieces of floured parchment.) You want the dough to be no more than ¼" thick. A little thinner is even better.
  7. Cut out shapes with a maple leaf cookie cutter.
  8. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup of dough with a couple of drops of maple flavoring and enough milk to make it easy to pipe. Put the dough in a pastry bag, or in a plastic zipper bag with the tip cut off, and pipe leaf veins on half of the cookies.
  9. Bake 9-10 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to show a little brown around the bottom edges.
  10. Cool completely on a rack. Frost the plain half with maple frosting (instructions below) and top with the decorated half.
  11. TO MAKE FROSTING:
  12. In a medium pan, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
  13. Add the maple flavoring and powdered sugar, beating well with a wooden spoon or whisk.
  14. Add milk, if necessary, a little at a time until the frosting has a consistency that's good for spreading. If it gets too firm while you're working with it, heat it on low or add a little more milk.

 

Flour generously. You actually want these cookies to be tough and crunchy!

Flour generously. You actually want these cookies to be tough and crunchy!

Cooking the frosting.

Cooking the frosting.

Add some frosting and top with another cookie.

Add some frosting and top with another cookie.

Now THIS is a cookie!

Now THIS is a cookie!

These are incredibly rich. Two is my limit, and I’m usually satisfied with one. They do disappear quickly though, so hide a few for yourself and savor the flavor when you have a peaceful moment.

4 thoughts on “Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies

  1. I love those maple cookies, too! I’m so excited to see a recipe! I even have a leaf cookie cutter I rarely use — maybe I will wear it out making this recipe a lot.

    • Dust off that cookie cutter, Mary Rose! I saw a neat maple leaf cookie mold online too…a little smaller (2 inches) but I’ll bet that would be great for these cookies.

    • Thanks! Hope you’ll give ’em a try. The piping was fun, and now there are all kinds of ideas floating through my brain. You could personalize cookies for kids – that would be fun!

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