Maple Leaf Cookies

Time for a delicious (and patriotic!) sweet treat perfect for Sugar Bush season!

Jump to Recipe (permalink#recipe)

If you grew up anywhere near a maple farm in Canada, there is a really good chance that at least one of your class field trips was there during sugaring-off season. We would go and do some sort of outdoor activity coupled with learning about the process of tree tapping, identifying which trees were good, and of course making the liquid gold we know and love. I vividly remember "learning" (AKA struggling) to snowshoe along the trails, knowing that at least I would get a treat at the end of it all. From maple syrup on snow (which you must try if you haven't!) to the quinessential pancakes with fresh butter and loads of syrup, it was always a great way to get in from the cold.

One of the other core memories I'm sure Canadians from all over the country have are the taste of LeClerc or Dare Maple Leaf cookies. Dainty 2-3 bite maple flavoured cookies sandwiching a maple cream filling, they were (and maybe still are) often on snack and dessert tables at parties and given out at school because they were nut-free. It's been a very long time since I've had one of these, but when I was thinking of cookies to bring with me to the US over New Year's, I knew I had to bring out the Canadian pride in force. I slightly modified a recipe from Food Nouveau to get these gorgeous shortbread-esque cookies, and I opted to not include the filling (as good as it tastes!) just to make packaging / transport easier. Instead, I lightly pressed maple flakes (large shards of maple sugar) and edible gold flakes into the tops of each cookie. If you do want a filled cookie, either use the recipe on Food Nouveau or cheat and use either maple butter (I strongly recommend this one) or the Canadian cult favourite Map-O Spread (which contains no maple syrup but it screams childhood to me). 

Maple Leaf Cookies

Makes ~24 (depending on cookie cutter size)

1 cup salted butter, cut into chunks and softened

1 cup maple sugar 

½ cup + 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (dark amber if possible!) 

1 tsp maple extract (optional, if you want super-mapley cookies)

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oat flour

½ tsp baking powder

Maple flakes and edible gold flakes to decorate (optional)

1. In a bowl (I used a stand mixer) cream together the butter, sugar, maple syrup, maple extract and vanilla until creamy. 
2. Slowly stir in the flours and baking powder until a cohesive dough forms (you may need a bit of extra water if your house is particularly dry!)
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 pieces. 
4. Place one piece onto a sheet of plastic wrap, place another piece of plastic wrap on top and roll out to about 1/8" thick. Wrap in plastic and place on a small baking sheet (to keep it flat). Repeat with remaining dough).
5. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, until very firm. You can also freeze the sheets of dough at this stage and let them thaw slightly before proceeding on baking day.
6. Heat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
7. Unwrap one sheet of cookie dough (keep the other chilled) and sprinkle with the maple flakes and edible gold, if using. Use a rolling pin to lightly press these into the cookie dough.
8. Use a maple leaf shaped cutter to cut out cookies, keeping cuts as close together as possible. You can re-gather and use dough remnants which will be peppered with the maple flakes and gold - I recommend waiting until you've cut out both sheets (if you're baking them all at once, of course) to minimize re-rolling.
9. Place cut cookies on the sheets about 3/4" apart and use the dull side of a knife to trace the leaf veins on each cookie.
10. Bake, one sheet at a time, for about 10 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets.