Learn how to make the best maple cookies with this easy recipe. This Milk Bar-inspired recipe is made with maple sugar, maple flakes, maple fudge candy, maple cream cookies, and maple extract so these soft and chewy cookies are loaded with maple flavour! These giant thick bakery-style maple sugar cookies do not disappoint because they have the perfect soft and chewy texture.
This maple cookie recipe is one I developed while taking an online baking class with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar (I highly recommend the book, which is available on Amazon). The base for this recipe is the Milk Bar sugar cookie but modified in a few important ways to bring maple flavour into the recipe.
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Ingredients
Maple flavour can get lost in a recipe, so to create maple cookies with a lot of flavour, you need to add as many maple-flavour sources as you can!
Please note that you will probably have to go shopping for this recipe and if you don't live in an area where maple products are sold year-round, you may have to do some ordering online:
- maple sugar: all the granulated sugar in a traditional sugar cookie is replaced with maple sugar, which is made from 100 % maple syrup, boiled down and crystallized. If you live outside of an area that produces maple syrup, you might have to order maple sugar from Amazon.
- maple extract: the vanilla extract was replaced with a hefty dose of imitation maple extract because maple is a delicate flavour and if you want to taste it, the extract helps boost the flavour. Your grocery should carry maple extract, but if not, get it on Amazon.
- maple flakes are incorporated into the dough but also sprinkled on top of the scoops of cookie dough, which adds a crunchy texture and a lot more maple flavour. Maple flakes are sold in most Quebec grocery stores and local markets. Outside of the area, you may have to order them from Amazon.
- chunks of maple fudge candy, made from 100 % maple syrup, is paddled into the cookie dough to add even more maple flavour. You can buy it on Amazon.
- maple leaf cookies, also called maple cream cookies are incorporated into the cookie dough as well to add a crunchy texture and more maple flavour. These cookies are sold in all grocery stores in Quebec, but outside of Quebec, you might have to order a box from Amazon.
- glucose—glucose is a syrup sold in specialty baking stores and also specialized cooking/restaurant supply stores. It helps with preservation but also to achieve the perfect bakery-style cookie texture.
- cream of tartar: this is an acidic white powder that you may have used for snickerdoodles or when whipping egg whites. It is usually sold in the spice section of your grocery store, and not necessarily the baking section.
- baking soda: you will need baking soda, not baking powder for this recipe. Please read about baking soda versus baking powder if you are not sure what the difference is
- flour—use bleached all-purpose flour, though you likely could get away with unbleached in this recipe
- butter—use unsalted butter that is softened (read about the importance of butter temperature in baking if you don't know why the texture is important). If using salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe
- eggs—use large eggs please, as specified in the recipe
- salt—use Diamond Crystal Fine Kosher salt. If replacing with table salt, use half the amount.
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Maple cream cookies, you can use homemade maple cream cookies or store-bought.
- Maple extract, I used artificial maple extract. Natural maple extract will also work.
- Glucose—the Milk Bar recipes often contain glucose. You can replace it with corn syrup (use half the amount of corn syrup because it contains more water)
I also added a little homemade bacon brittle to the cookie dough to add a little salt and smokiness to the cookies, but it's entirely optional. I ground it down in the food processor into a fine but still granular mixture. This popcorn brittle could also work here, which makes pretty awesome popcorn brittle brownies.
How to Make the Best Maple Sugar Cookies
To make these maple cookies, you will use the creaming method, where the butter and sugar are whipped for 3 minutes before adding the eggs, and then the mixture is whipped for another 8 minutes.
Do not skip this and make sure to beat the mixture at each step for the full time to incorporate a ton of air but to also properly emulsify the fats with the other ingredients.
Step 1: Combine the butter, maple sugar, and glucose in the bowl of the stand mixer (image 1) fitted with the paddle attachment (or a flex-beater attachment if you have one). Beat them until very light and fluffy before adding in the eggs and the maple extract (image 2). You will whip these ingredients together for a long time and the mixture will be very smooth, light, and creamy (image 3).
Tip: It's very important to scrape down the bowl between each addition to make sure that all the ingredients are combined and whipped together sufficiently. Use a large flexible spatula for this. If you don't spend enough time on the creaming step, your cookies may spread too much and the texture will be off. If you struggle with this, read about the reasons cookies spread.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients using a Danish dough whisk (image 4) before adding the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (image 5). Stir in the dry ingredients until they are almost fully incorporated (image 6).
Step 3: Chop the maple cream cookies into small pieces (image 7) and chop the maple fudge candy into three or four small pieces as well (image 8).
Step 4: Add the chopped maple cream cookies and candies to the mixer bowl to stir them in (image 9). Then use a large scoop to portion out the dough into 100-gram scoops. You should get 14–15 portions. Place them on a sheet pan to chill for one hour or overnight (image 10).
Step 5: When it's time to bake (meaning the dough has chilled enough and you've preheated the oven), place 4 scoops of cookie dough per half-sheet pan (image 11) and bake the cookies until puffed but set on the edges (image 12). Note they will settle and deflate a little once out of the oven, but not too much.
Let the cookies cool until firm before moving them because they may break when they are hot.
Baking Tips
To make perfect bakery-style cookies every time, here are a few suggestions:
- Scrape down the mixer bowl often because if you don't, you may end up with streaks of butter and sugar in the cookie dough that will cause textural imperfections and may cause spreading too.
- Use a disher to create even, equal-sized cookies: invest in a large cookie scooper (also called a disher) that portions dough into roughly 90–100 gram scoops. The cookie scoop I used is by the brand Vollrath (specifically the 2-⅔ oz Stainless Steel Disher - Size 12) and you can order it from Amazon. This scoop is useful for making large cookies and also for scooping muffin batter. You can also use it for ice cream.
- Chill the dough: The cookie dough has to chill for 1 hour before baking in order to set the butter and firm up the dough so that the cookies don't spread too much. This is very important to achieving the perfect texture and look. Remember, chilling cookie dough may reduce spreading!
- Use a large round cookie cutter to fix the shape after baking: If the cookie edges do spread a little (especially because of the maple fudge), you can use a very large cookie cutter or the back of a spoon to gently push the edges back in towards the centre to help round out the edges. Be gentle!
Check out my list of Milk Bar baking essentials for all the tools and specialty ingredients on Amazon USA and Amazon Canada!
FAQs About Baking With Maple
Maple syrup can be used in baking, but not in every recipe. Cookies aren't made with much (or any) water-containing ingredients in them. So if you want to incorporate maple flavour in a cookie recipe, maple syrup isn't appropriate. Instead, opt for maple sugar (replacing sugar cup-for-cup or gram-for-gram). In a cake recipe, you may get away with using maple syrup instead of some of the sugar, but you will also have to reduce the volume of liquids in the recipe by about 45–60 mL (3–4 tablespoons) for each cup of maple syrup added to a recipe.
Store these maple cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They will soften after 24 hours making them delightfully soft and chewy, then they may begin to dry out a little. For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the fridge.
These maple cookies have a crackled finish like a typical sugar cookie (akin to these chocolate crinkle cookies and soft lemon cookies). On the first day they are baked, they are crispy/chewy on the outside, and almost fudgy on the inside. Stored in an airtight container, they soften a little and lose their crispy edges, but they still taste great! They store really well, actually.
Other Milk Bar-Inspired Recipes to Try
I am a big fan of Milk Bar, for both the recipes and interesting baking techniques. Here are a few more Milk Bar-inspired recipes to try:
If you haven't purchased it yet, I highly recommend the Milk Bar baking book, which is available on Amazon. It's a favourite of mine.
If you tried this recipe for maple cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Maple Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 230 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 300 grams maple sugar
- 50 grams Wilton glucose
- 2 large egg(s)
- 15 mL imitation maple extract
- 400 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 50 grams nonfat dry milk powder
- 12.5 mL cream of tartar
- 10 mL baking soda
- 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 140 grams maple leaf cookies chopped, plus a little more for garnishing before baking
- 75 grams maple fudge candy chopped, plus a little more for garnishing before baking
- 40 grams maple flakes plus a little more for sprinkling on top
Optional
- 100 grams bacon brittle ground in food processor
Instructions
- Combine the butter, maple sugar, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the bowl every minute to make sure the ingredients combine properly.
- Add the eggs and maple extract, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes on medium–high. Stop the mixer a few times to scrape down the sides to make sure the eggs and all the ingredients mix together properly and evenly.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute.
- Add the chopped cookies, maple fudge, maple flakes, and bacon brittle (if using)
- Using a large 2-⅔ oz ice cream scoop (or a ⅓-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Garnish with extra maple flakes, cookie pieces, and maple fudge, if you have extra. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature—they will not bake properly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
- Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. I fit about 4 on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very lightly browned on the edges (golden brown on the bottom).
- Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.
Notes
- Store these maple cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They will soften after 24 hours making them delightfully soft and chewy, then they may begin to dry out a little. For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the fridge.
- Substitution for glucose: the Milk Bar recipes often contain glucose. You can replace it with corn syrup (use half the amount of corn syrup because it contains more water).
- Baking tips:
- Scrape down the mixer bowl often because if you don't, you may end up with streaks of butter and sugar in the cookie dough that will cause textural imperfections and may cause spreading too.
- Use a disher to create even, equal-sized cookies: invest in a large cookie scooper (also called a disher) that portions dough into roughly 90–100 gram scoops. The cookie scoop I used is by the brand Vollrath (specifically the 2-⅔ oz Stainless Steel Disher - Size 12) and you can order it from Amazon. This scoop is useful for making large cookies and also for scooping muffin batter. You can also use it for ice cream.
- Chill the dough: The cookie dough has to chill for 1 hour before baking in order to set the butter and firm up the dough so that the cookies don't spread too much. This is very important to achieving the perfect texture and look. Remember, chilling cookie dough may reduce spreading!
- Use a large round cookie cutter to fix the shape after baking: If the cookie edges do spread a little (especially because of the maple fudge), you can use a very large cookie cutter or the back of a spoon to gently push the edges back in towards the centre to help round out the edges. Be gentle!
- Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.
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