The technique behind this recipe is what makes it extra special. Roasting the slices of apples before filling the apple pie allows you to cram over 4 pounds (2 kilos) of apples into one single 9-inch apple pie! This is a technique I also use for rhubarb pie and rhubarb crumble, allowing me to load up my fruit desserts with lots of fruit.

What You Need to Make Maple-Flavoured Apple Pie

• pie crust—I bake most of my pies with all-butter pie crust made in the food processor. You can also make pie dough by hand or use a stand mixer to make flaky crust
• apples—bake pies with the freshest apples you can get. Use apples that can withstand heat without breaking down, such as Cortland (what I generally use), Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Gala, or even Golden Delicious. Don't use Macintosh apples which will turn the filling to sauce
• maple syrup—use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup (which is flavoured corn syrup)
• maple sugar—you may need additional maple sugar to sweeten the pie filling. It depends on the apples you choose and whether they are very acidic and tart-tasting
• egg—the egg is diluted in a little water for the egg wash that you brush on the top crust before baking. This allows the turbinado or cinnamon sugar garnish to adhere to the top of the pie. You can replace it with whipping cream
• flour—we are using just a little flour as the thickener for the filling because the pre-roasted apples don't need a strong thickener
• cinnamon sugar—garnish the top crust with turbinado sugar or cinnamon sugar

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Variations And Substitutions

• Spices: Sometimes, I add a little cinnamon to the filling or a teaspoon of pumpkin pie or apple pie spice mix
• Vanilla: Sometimes, I add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste to the filling, but you don't have to. You can also add vanilla extract instead.

How To Make Apple Pie With Roasted Apples

Start by roasting the apples because they will need to cool down completely before you make your pie!

Step 1—Combine sliced apple with maple syrup on two half-sheet pans (image 1) and roast until softened (image 2). Let cool completely, then transfer the roasted apples to a bowl and mix with flour and extra maple sugar (if using) (image 3).

Tip: Make your pie dough before roasting your apples. Then while you work on the apples, your pie dough has time to chill. By the time the apples are done baking, you will be able to roll out the dough and move on to the next steps!

Step 2—Roll out your two disks of pie crust to at least 14 inches wide on a lightly floured surface (image 4). If using a pie crust cutter like my favourite NordicWare pie tool, lay one rolled out crust over top (image 5) and use a rolling pin to roll over the crust on the cutter (image 6) to punch out the detailed pattern (image 7).

If making pie crust from scratch scares you, be sure to check out my pie crust masterclass, which includes video tutorials for making pie crust in the stand mixer, food processor, and by hand!

Step 3—Transfer the cooled apple pie filling to a pie plate lined with the bottom crust (image 8). Trim the excess of dough (image 9) before laying the top crust over the filling (image 10).

Step 4—Tuck the edges of the top crust under the bottom crust (image 11) and crimp the edge all around (image 13) before brushing the surface with egg wash and sprinkling the top with turbinado or cinnamon sugar (image 13).

Step 5—Set the pie on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan (image 14) and bake until golden brown (image 15).

Pie baking tip: Bake the pie on the bottom rack of the oven and start the pie at a high temperature to set the crust before dropping the oven temperature to evenly bake the pie from edge to edge.

Top Apple Pie Tips

As much as I love ALL pie, I hate when I bake a double-crust apple pie and when I pull it from the oven, I find that the filling has shrunk down a good inch or two from the puffed top crust, creating a big gap between the crust and the filling. How do we bake an apple pie without that big gap?

The answer is to soften the apples first. There are a few ways to do so to yield soft and pliable fruit that you can pack more tightly into a double-crust pie:

• macerate the apples in sugar (and a little lemon juice to prevent browning), like for this peach mango pie or this blueberry pie. You can then cook down the juices before filling the pie.
• roast the apples, which is a trick I also used for rhubarb lattice pie, rhubarb crisp, and even this blueberry rhubarb crisp
• poach the apples (like for this wine-poached pear pie)

For this pie, I started with 12 cups of sliced apples (that's 4 pounds of whole apples!). Yes, you read that right: TWELVE cups of apple slices. I roasted the slices for about 45 minutes. They didn't appear to have shrunk that much, but when I compared the volume of apple after baking, I realized I was left with a lot less, like 4-to-5-ish cups. That seemed just crazy to me but I had "so little"  roasted apple that when I later filled the pie plate with the apples, it filled the crust snuggly without having to make a big mound in the centre.

Imagine having to pile 12 cups of apples in a pie for a second. That'd basically be impossible had I not roasted the apples first. Perhaps the only plausible way to get all those raw apple slices into a pie would be to make a pie in a deep dish springform pan, arranging them ever so neatly to avoid any wasted space and gaps. Maybe that would work. Maybe.

APPLE PIE TIP: Roast apple slices before making pie to soften the fruit so that the filling doesn't shrink so dramatically as it bakes! You'll also be able to fill the pie with more apples this way!

Pre-cooking the apples for pie makes the perfect apple pie. The pie cuts beautifully, and there is hardly a gap between the top crust and the apple filling. The filling has an intense apple flavour that isn't masked by a thickener because there's hardly a need for a thickener here. Fine, it takes an extra hour (when you count the time to cool the apples) to prep the apples, but I think it's absolutely worth it.

Easy Decorative Pie Crust

This pie top cutter from Nordic Ware is one of my favourite pie tools! It's super handy for making a decorative top crust quickly. It's basically a giant cookie cutter designed to make a decorative pie crust. Because of its intricacy and its size, it's a little tricky to use because you have to be sure to press evenly and hard enough to cut through the dough. Make sure your rolled-out sheet of dough is cold to make cutting easier. Press firmly and evenly all over. Use a rolling pin, rolled back and forth over the plastic cutter to put even pressure all over so you cut through the dough.

Tip: Inevitably, when you make a pie, you will be left with a pile of pie dough scraps. Gather them up and press them together to shape them into a disk and use them to make pie crust cookies!

If you would prefer a more classic look, read about how to make a lattice pie crust so you can use this technique on your maple apple pie.

Other Apple Baking Recipes

While there's nothing quite like this maple syrup pie or an apple butter pie, this maple apple pie is an excellent pie to bake with fall fruit. Short on time? Try this quick and easy recipe for apple crisp or this easy apple galette instead! And for the more advanced bakers, try the classic apple tarte tatin.

If you tried this recipe for the best maple apple pie (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!

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Maple Apple Pie

Even better than a traditional apple pie, this maple apple pie recipe is made with maple roasted apples, which are tossed with maple sugar before pouring into the pie crust and baking. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 1 pie

Calories 431kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Food processor
• Rolling pin
• Metal pie plate
• Pie Top Cutter

Ingredients

Apple filling

• 2 kg Cortland apple(s)
• 234 grams pure maple syrup
• 100 grams maple sugar more or less depending on how sweet your apples are (sometimes I even skip this extra sugar!)
• 30 mL bleached all-purpose flour

All-butter double pie crust

• 312 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 173 grams unsalted butter cold, cut into small chunks
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 105 mL cold water

Egg wash

• 1 large egg(s) don't add it to the dough! Brush it on the pastry before baking

Metric - US

Instructions

For the filling

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Lline two half sheet pans with parchment and set aside.
• Peel and core the apples. Cut them into quarters, then cut each quarter into three.
• Place the apple slices in a big bowl with the maple syrup and toss them to evenly coat them in syrup.
• Divide the slices between the two parchment-lined half sheet pans, arranging them in a single layer. Roast the apples for about 45 minutes, rotating the pans every so often.
• Let the apples cool then toss them with the flour and the maple sugar.

For the crust

• In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour and salt.
• Drop in the cold butter chunks and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse almond meal. Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture forms a dough.
• Divide the dough into two, pat into disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 45 minutes.
• Roll out one disk on a floured surface into a 13" disk. Transfer to a metal pie dish and trim the edges to ½". I like this dark metal pie plate available on Amazon.
• Pour filling into the pie and smooth it out.
• Roll the second disk of dough and use the Nordic Ware pie crust cutter to stamp out a pattern from the top crust, then top the pie with the crust. Trim the edge to 1" then fold the excess under. Crimp the edge of the pie.
• Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush it over the entire surface of the pie crust. Freeze the pie for 45 minutes, then bake the pie on a baking sheet on the bottom rack for 30 minutes at 400ºF, then 50 minutes at 350ºF.
• Let cool slightly before serving.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• You can buy maple sugar in many markets and grocery stores in the New England area and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. You can also order it online from Amazon.

Nutrition

Calories: 431kcal

The post Maple Apple Pie appeared first on The Bake School.

Maple cinnamon buns are also called maple brioche buns in Quebec or "roulés à l'érable" in French. The trick to the best cinnamon buns is starting with a homemade brioche dough recipe, enriched with milk, eggs, sugar, and lots of butter. These maple buns get the most maple flavour from the pure maple butter topping.

What You Need

• flour—I used regular bleached all-purpose flour for the brioche dough
• butter—I developed this recipe with unsalted butter. If using salted butter, you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add to the dough
• milk—I used whole milk (3.25 % fat), but 2 % milk also works great here
• eggs—I bake with large eggs. Using eggs that are larger or smaller may affect the consistency of the dough and you may have to adjust the liquids/flour quantities
• yeast—I prefer to use instant yeast. If you are using active yeast, you will have to heat the milk to a higher temperature to proof the yeast and the rise times will be longer and slower
• sugar—for this recipe, I used maple sugar for both the brioche dough and cinnamon bun filling. See the substitutions section for other options
• maple butter, either use homemade maple butter or you can buy it. Remember maple butter is 100 % pure maple syrup and not a compound butter made from butter and maple syrup! These are not interchangeable!
• maple flakes are crunchy, maple-flavoured flaky sprinkles. They are made from pure maple syrup and available at markets and grocery stores all over Quebec. You can also buy them on Amazon.
• cinnamon—regular ground cinnamon is fine. No need for anything fancy
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt. If you are using regular table salt, you should add half the amount to avoid the buns being too salty.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• sugar—the maple sugar in the dough can easily be replaced with regular granulated sugar, while the maple sugar in the filling can be replaced with light or dark brown sugar
• maple syrup—you can turn these into maple sticky buns by pouring up to ¾ cup (180 mL) of hot maple syrup over the hot buns as soon as they come out of the oven.

How to Make Maple Brioche Buns

Making this recipe from start to finish will take 3 to 4 hours. Plan accordingly! Here's how to make maple buns:

Step 1—In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside. Then start the dough by combining the warm milk, maple sugar, yeast, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (image 1). Once well mixed, add the whisked dry ingredients (image 2). Stir everything together until a shaggy dough forms (image 3), then switch to the hook attachment and knead the dough until smooth and elastic (image 4).

Step 2—Start adding the softened butter, a few pieces at a time (image 5). The smooth dough will become sticky as the fat of the butter interferes with the gluten (image 6). Once all the butter has been added, continue kneading the dough until it is soft, supple, smooth and elastic (image 7).

Step 3—Transfer the dough to a clear container (image 8) and mark the container to note where the top of the dough hits. Let the dough rise until doubled (image 9) in a warm, dry place.

Step 4—Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl (image 10). The mixture will be crumbly (image 11). Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a floured surface to a 12x16-inch (30.5x40.6-cm) rectangle (image 12) and crumble/smear the filling over top from edge-to-edge (image 13).

Step 5—Roll the dough into a 12-inch (30.5 cm) log (image 14) and cut it into twelve equal pieces (image 15).

Tip: You can use unflavored dental floss to cut the buns and preserve their round shape, but I generally use a metal bench scraper. Just don't smush the dough too hard with your hands and be swift about it to avoid distorting the shape too much. You can always gently reshape the buns between your palms.

Step 6—Transfer the twelve buns to your 9x13-in pan (23x31-cm) (image 16). Cover and let the buns proof slowly while you preheat the oven. When the buns are proofed (image 17), bake them until golden brown and baked through (image 18).

Step 7—After cooling slightly, with the back of a spoon, smear a spoonful of room-temperature maple butter over each bun (image 19) and sprinkle with a few maple flakes (image 20).

Maple Cinnamon Bun Baking FAQs

Other Maple-Flavoured Baking Recipes

If you love maple as much as I do, here are a few more maple-flavoured baking recipes to try:

If you tried this recipe for the best maple cinnamon buns (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!

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Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Learn how to make the best maple cinnamon rolls with this easy recipe. The brioche dough is kneaded in the stand mixer, simplifying the whole process!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Rise time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 457kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Mini offset
• Thermapen
• 9x13 baking pan

Ingredients

Cinnamon bun dough

• 500 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 7.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 250 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) warmed to 50–55 °C (122–131 °F)
• 70 grams maple sugar or granulated sugar (see Notes)
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 8 grams instant dry yeast 1 packet
• 150 grams unsalted butter softened and cut into small pieces

Filling for cinnamon rolls

• 80 grams unsalted butter softened
• 200 grams maple sugar or brown sugar (see Notes)
• 5 mL ground cinnamon

Topping

• 250 grams maple butter
• 20 grams maple flakes

Metric - US

Instructions

• Prepare a 9x13-inch (23x33-cm) baking pan by buttering and lining the inside with a large sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
• Prepare a large bowl or a Cambro, spraying it lightly with cooking spray or brushing a thin layer of neutral oil (like canola) all over the inside. Set aside.

To make the dough

• Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the warm milk, eggs, 70 grams (⅓ cup) sugar, and instant yeast. Stir them together for a few seconds on low just to get everything evenly mixed and to break up the eggs.
• Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and stir everything together on low speed to form a shaggy, evenly mixed dough.
• Switch to the hook attachment and knead the dough for 5 minutes until it's smooth and elastic dough. The bowl will be clean.
• With the mixer kneading on low, add the butter, a little bit at a time. Note the dough will become rough and sticky with the fat of the butter interfering with the gluten temporarily.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes in the mixer. You should end up with a smooth round ball of dough. The bowl will be clean again.
• Transfer the dough to the greased Cambro, cover with a towel, plastic wrap, or a shower cap, and let it rise until doubled in size (for about 45 minutes to an hour).

To make the filling

• In a bowl, cream together the softened butter, the sugars, and the cinnamon until you have a thick brown paste. Set aside.

Assemble the rolls

• When the dough has risen, remove the towel. Lightly flour your counter and transfer the dough to roll it out into a big rectangle of at least 12-x16-inches (30.5-x40.6-cm). Don't worry too much if it's a little bigger.
• Spread the filling over the entire surface of the dough, then roll neatly into a long 12-inch (30.5 cm) log.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal buns (you don't have to trim the ends much, if at all) and place them in the prepared baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel.
• Let the rolls rise until they have puffed and until proofed (if you lightly press your finger into the side of a roll, the indent should very slowly fill out and disappear).
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Bake the buns until golden brown. This takes about 30 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 190 °F (88 °C)—use an instant-read thermometer for this.
• Let the buns cool in the pan for 45 minutes to an hour before garnishing.

Topping the buns

• Dollop a spoonful of maple butter on each bun and use an offset spatula (or the back of a spoon) to spread it on top. Sprinkle with maple flakes. These are best served the day they are baked.

Notes

• Substitutions and variations:
  • sugar—the maple sugar in the dough can easily be replaced with regular granulated sugar, while the maple sugar in the filling can be replaced with light or dark brown sugar
  • maple syrup—you can turn these into maple sticky buns by pouring up to ¾ cup (180 mL) of hot maple syrup over the hot buns as soon as they come out of the oven.
  • yeast—I prefer to use instant yeast. If you are using active yeast, you will have to heat the milk to a higher temperature to proof the yeast and the rise times will be longer and slower.
  • maple butter—you can use homemade or store-bought maple butter. Remember maple butter is pure maple syrup, not to be confused with a maple-flavoured butter made by mixing softened butter with maple sugar or maple syrup.
  • You can find maple flakes, maple sugar, and maple butter on Amazon, though I prefer to get them at my local grocery stores and farmer's market.
  • This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
  •  

Nutrition

Calories: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 213mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 555IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 3mg

Make the dough and then let it rise, slowly on the counter for 3 hours. Punch it down and put it in the fridge before bed. Then in the morning, you just have to shape the dough into simple brioche buns, or for a different look, you can roll out the dough with a rolling pin, and cut out circles to form these brioche flowers (see step-by-step photos). Make sure you use pure maple sugar (like this one on Amazon and Amazon Canada).

For these mini maple brioche buns, I used maple sugar, the secret ingredient used in this maple apple pie. Maple sugar is crystallized maple syrup so baking with maple sugar allows you to add tons of maple flavour without the water in maple syrup. You can buy maple sugar on Amazon and use it in many other maple recipes or spread it thinly inside rolled crêpes.

The post Maple Cinnamon Buns appeared first on The Bake School.

One of our favourite ways to enjoy maple syrup, besides in maple fudge and maple cream cookies, is in a maple syrup pie, which is usually served in the spring during the sugaring-off season and the months when maple syrup is produced (March and April).

A maple syrup pie is also referred to as a maple pie or even a sugar pie. Maple pie is traditionally a single-crust pie with a filling made of eggs, maple syrup, milk or cream.

The maple filling is adapted from a recipe printed on the lids of some cans of Quebec maple syrup. The original recipe called for brown sugar, but I used maple sugar because I didn't want any other sugar flavours interfering with my beloved maple. The filling is like a maple custard that is perfectly set, smooth, and with a pronounced maple flavour. I encourage you to serve this pie à la mode with homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

What You Need to Make This Maple Pie

• pie crust—store-bought or homemade (you can make pie crust in the food processor, pie dough by hand, or flaky pie crust in a stand mixer)
• maple syrup—use a medium or dark maple syrup which has more flavour. Don't confuse maple syrup and maple-flavoured pancake syrup (which is corn syrup)
• maple sugar—available in grocery stores and farmer's markets in the North-East of the US and Eastern Canada, but you can also buy it online
• eggs—use large eggs or the texture of the filling may be looser or firmer
• milk—I prefer to make this pie with whole milk (3.25 % fat)

Inevitably, when you make a pie, you will be left with a pile of pie dough scraps. Gather them, press them together to shape them into a disk, and use them to make pie crust cookies!

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Sugar—Some add brown sugar to the filling, in which case, less maple is used. Though brown sugar does add a nice molasses flavour to the filling, some may add more brown sugar than maple syrup to reduce the costs of making maple pies since brown sugar is much cheaper than maple syrup and maple sugar. For this maple pie, I used a combination of maple syrup and maple sugar.
• Flour—Some recipes also add a little flour to the maple pie filling which acts as a thickener and also ensures that the consistency of the filling is more even throughout the pie after baking. Without the flour, you may notice a little maple syrup between the filling and the baked crust.

Whether or not you add flour to the filling is a matter of personal preference. Maple pie is, by far, one of my favourite maple syrup recipes.

How To Make a Pie With Maple Syrup

Maple pie is as easy to make as most single crusts pies, like these pumpkin tarts or this apple butter pie:

1. Make the pie dough: The crust is made from an all-butter pie dough made in the food processor, so it truly doesn't get easier than that.
2. Chill the pie dough: Chilling the pie dough helps the gluten relax a little and allows the butter to firm up. The water in the recipe hydrates the flour as the dough chills, making the pie dough easier to work with.
3. Roll out the pie dough and line the pie pan: I like to use a French rolling pin and a metal pie plate when I make pies. I find I have more control when I roll out doughs with tapered French rolling pins and the metal pie pans help the bottom crust bake better and brown more. Here's an example of a dark metal pie pan from Amazon and a French rolling pin from Amazon so you can see examples of what I mean.
4. Chill the unbaked crust while you make the filling
5. Whisk together the maple pie filling ingredients, a mixture of maple syrup, maple sugar (or brown sugar), eggs, and milk.
6. Pour the filling into the chilled unbaked pie shell.
7. Bake the pie. The filling will puff and bubble and you may end up with a few caramelized spots. All signs of a good maple pie.
8. Cool and chill. The toughest part of making a maple pie is the waiting because not only does the pie have to cool to room temperature, but then you also have to chill it in the fridge for several hours to ensure the filling is properly set. Patience!

If making pie crust from scratch scares you, be sure to check out my pie crust masterclass, which includes video tutorials for making pie crust in the stand mixer, food processor, and by hand!

If you are looking for a more traditional fall fruit pie with lots of maple syrup flavour, try my maple apple pie. Or if you hate making pie dough, you might prefer this maple apple clafoutis recipe.

This maple pie recipe makes a great maple-flavoured sugar pie. I baked this pie on the bottom rack of my oven, without blind baking the shell first, and it was baked just enough on the bottom. I appreciate being able to skip the blind baking step. Ain't nobody got time for that!

If you tried this recipe for the best maple syrup pie (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!

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Maple Syrup Pie

A recipe for maple syrup pie, also known as sugar pie or tarte au sucre in Quebec. The texture of the filling is quite similar to a custard pie. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Calories 261kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Food processor
• Rolling pin
• Metal pie plate
• OXO balloon whisk

Ingredients

For the crust

• 219 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 115 grams salted butter cold, cut into cubes
• 75 mL cold water more or less

For the maple filling

• 250 mL pure maple syrup medium grade
• 100 grams maple sugar
• 2 large egg(s)
• 188 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)

Metric - US

Instructions

• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour and the Stirling Creamery butter until the mixture resembles a fine crumble. Add the water, bit by bit, until a dough forms. Pat the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Roll the dough to ⅛" thick (~14" diameter circle) and transfer to a pie tin (preferably dark metal). Trim and crimp the edges. Chill while you prepare the filling
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, sugar, and eggs, then whisk in the milk.
• Pour the filling into the chilled tart shell and bake on the bottom oven rack for approximately 50 minutes (note the filling will still seem very fluid and jiggly, but you will notice some spots where it's beginning to bubble and brown).
• Let the pie chill on a wire rack for at least 4 hours, then overnight in the fridge.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• I like to make pie crusts with higher-fat European butter (82–84 % fat) if possible. 

Nutrition

Calories: 261kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 143mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 305IU | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg

Other recipes to make with maple syrup

Maple syrup is such a unique source of sweetness that adds so much flavour to recipes. Maple syrup tastes great and can be used to make:

1. maple butter, also known as maple cream, a creamy maple spread made from pure maple syrup
2. maple apple pie, where you use maple syrup to flavour the apples in a traditional double crust apple pie
3. maple cinnamon buns with layers of maple sugar rolled in between layers of buttery brioche
4. maple walnut fudge, a classic fudge flavour that is always a hit

I do my best to bake with the finest ingredients. Stirling Creamery, a Canadian company, has provided the butter for this post.

The post Maple Syrup Pie appeared first on The Bake School.

You can sweeten whipped cream with maple syrup, but it takes some adjustments in terms of the ingredients and quantities. Maple whipped cream is the perfect topping for this maple cake. Here's how to make it!

Ingredients

You only need 5 ingredients to make maple whipped cream. Here's what you need:

• cream—use full-fat 35 % whipping cream
• mascarpone—use full-fat mascarpone cheese
• maple syrup—I prefer the flavour of medium maple syrup when mixing with other ingredients because it has a more pronounced flavour
• vanilla—I bake with pure vanilla extract made from real vanilla beans
• salt—you only need a pinch of salt. I use Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt but regular table salt will also work.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Instructions

This recipe could not be easier! This topping is ready in 5 minutes. Here's how to make it:

I like to use my stand mixer to make whipped cream, but you can also use an electric hand mixer. You could whip it by hand too, but that will take more effort.

Step 1—combine all the ingredients in a mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment (the whipping cream, mascarpone, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt). Whip until it forms firm peaks.

Tip: Make sure all your ingredients are chilled before proceeding. If the cream is warm, it will not whip as quickly or as well.

Storage

What To Serve It With

I love using this maple whipped frosting as a topping for maple desserts, like this maple cake and this maple sweet potato pie. It's also a great accompaniment for these cheddar bacon biscuits, maple syrup pie, or even pumpkin pie.

Related

Looking for other maple recipes like this? Try these:

If you tried this recipe for maple whipped cream (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!

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Maple Whipped Cream

Learn how to make the best maple whipped cream with this easy recipe. All you have to do is combine the ingredients in a bowl and whip them together to make a thick, luscious maple-flavoured cream frosting for cakes and other desserts.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 83kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer

Ingredients

• 160 mL whipping cream (35 % fat) refrigerator cold
• 160 grams pure maple syrup refrigerator cold
• 75 grams mascarpone cheese refrigerator cold
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Metric - US

Instructions

• Combine all the cold ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the vanilla and salt too.
• Whip them on medium to medium–high speed until they come together to form a thick whipped topping with firm peaks.

Notes

• This recipe makes about 750 mL (3 cups) of maple whipped topping.
• For the maple syrup, use pure maple syrup (medium or dark preferably). Do not use maple-flavoured pancake syrup which is corn syrup and not as tasty.
• You can enhance the flavour of this maple-flavoured whipped cream with imitation maple extract.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Adapted from the book Sheet Cake by Abby Dodge.

Nutrition

Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 32mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 214IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 0.02mg

The post Maple Whipped Cream appeared first on The Bake School.

What You Need to Bake a Maple Cake

• butter—I bake with unsalted butter. If you want to use salted butter, please adjust the amount of salt in the recipe to avoid making the dessert too salty
• sugar—since this is a maple cake, you will need both maple sugar and maple syrup for this cake
• eggs—I bake with large eggs exclusively. If you use a different size of eggs, this will have an impact on the texture of the cake
• flour—I bake with bleached all-purpose flour. Unbleached will work but will have an impact on the texture of the cake
• leavening—you will need both baking powder and baking soda for this cake. Read about the difference between baking soda and baking powder if you are unsure
• salt—I developed this recipe with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. Add half the amount if you bake with regular table salt.
• cinnamon—the ground cinnamon is optional but creates a lovely flavour with the maple syrup
• yogurt—I tested this recipe with 2 % plain yogurt and also 3.25 % plain yogurt. Please avoid using fat-free yogurt.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Maple syrup—there aren't great substitutes for maple syrup because it's unique flavour. Do not use maple-flavoured pancake syrup, which is an imitation product that doesn't compare to the real thing.
• Maple sugar is hard to find in some areas. You can use brown sugar (light or dark) instead.
• Yogurt—you can replace the yogurt with sour cream, even low-fat would work fine here.
• Maple extract—you can add imitation maple extract to the cake batter to reinforce the maple flavour
• Spices—I love the combination of maple and cinnamon, but feel free to skip the cinnamon if you prefer. Or try another spice, like ginger!

How It's Made

Step 1—Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (image 1) then mix them until creamy before adding the eggs, one at a time (image 2). Add the maple syrup (image 3). The mixture will look curdled.

Step 2—Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (image 4), then add the dry ingredients, one-third at a time (image 5), alternating with the yogurt (half at a time) (image 6). The butter will be thick and light after you've mixed in the last of the flour (image 7).

Step 3—Transfer the maple cake batter to your prepared 9x9 cake pan (image 8) and bake until the edges are golden brown (image 9) and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Serving Suggestions

I have served this maple cake plain with vanilla bean ice cream or you can also make this maple whipped cream frosting. This homemade maple butter would also make a great topping for this cake, or this white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

If you tried this recipe for the best maple cake (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!

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Maple Cake

Learn how to make the best maple cake with this easy recipe. This maple cinnamon cake gets its intense maple flavour both from maple sugar and maple syrup, creating a moist, spongy cake that you can serve with vanilla ice cream or maple whipped cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 160kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 9x9-inch pan
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 185 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL ground cinnamon
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 75 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 100 grams maple sugar or brown sugar
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 190 mL pure maple syrup medium or dark
• 250 mL yogurt (2 % fat) I don't recommend fat free

Serving suggestions

• maple whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
• maple flakes

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Prepare a 9-inch square metal pan (23x23-cm) by buttering the bottom and sides. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the brown sugar.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition, and scraping the sides as necessary. The batter may look a little curdled. That’s okay.
• Add the maple syrup and mix again. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
• Stir in one third of the dry ingredients, then mix until just incorporated before adding half the yogurt. Mix again and scrape the bowl as needed. Continue with another third of the dry and the other half of the dairy, and end with the last third of the dry ingredients, mixing and scraping down the bowl as necessary.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake will also pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.
• Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving.

Notes

• I baked this cake in a non-stick pan so I didn't have to flour it. If you are baking in a regular aluminum cake pan, you may want to butter and flour the pan to ensure the cake doesn't stick. Parchment paper on the bottom also helps.
• Maple sugar can be hard to find in some areas. You can replace it with light or dark brown sugar
• Please use real maple syrup for this recipe. Do not use maple-flavoured pancake syrup which is corn syrup. It will not taste as good!
• Opt for medium or dark maple syrup. Don't use light because the flavour is too mild for baking with.
• If using regular table salt in place of the fine kosher salt, add half the amount to avoid the cake being overly salty.

Nutrition

Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 77mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 163IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Maple Cake With Cinnamon appeared first on The Bake School.

While butter tarts and Nanaimo bars are classic desserts baked across Canada, maple leaf cookies are more popular in the East. They are THE cookie that Quebec children eat growing up.

The company Dare is known for their maple sandwich cookies, sold at grocery stores in Quebec and parts of Canada. The cookies are shaped like maple leaves and sandwiched together with a sweet maple cream filling. You could say that maple leaf cookies are kind of like the Canadian maple-flavoured cousin of the famous chocolate sandwich cookie known as the Oreo®.

What you will need to make this recipe

To make these, there are two components: shortbread cookies and a maple filling. Like most shortbread cookie recipes, you don't need many ingredients to make these maple shortbread cookies, nor the maple butter filling:

• butter is needed to make the cookie dough and the maple cream filling; use unsalted butter, though salted butter could work, but then skip the salt
• maple sugar adds sweetness and maple flavour to the cookies and the filling
• egg yolk helps bind the ingredients of the dough together, making it easier to roll, but you can replace it with 30 mL (2 tablespoons of whole milk)
• all-purpose flour gives these cookies structure so that they hold their shape and don't spread as they bake
• salt, preferably Diamond Crystal kosher salt is necessary to balance out the sweet maple filling—if using table salt, you may want to halve the salt to avoid these cookies being too salty
• maple butter, also called maple cream, either homemade or store-bought adds a ton of maple flavour to the filling. Remember maple butter is 100 % pure maple syrup, and you should not to confuse it with maple-flavoured butter that is a compound butter flavoured with maple sugar, maple syrup or even maple extract.

Chilling the maple shortbread cookie dough

If you make these cookies in the winter months, when it's not so warm, you should be able to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies, without trouble. Once cut out, you should chill the cutout cookies on a parchment-lined sheet pan in order to prevent the cookies from spreading when they bake. The key to sandwich cookies is that the dough has to hold the shape as they bake so that the cookies line up nicely when you sandwich two together with a filling.

Alternatively, if your kitchen is warm, you may want to chill the dough for 30 minutes to an hour so that the butter in it is firm. Then you may have to chill the cut out cookies again before baking to ensure they hold their shape.

Chilling the cut cookies before baking also makes it easier to cleanly score the cookies. Adding the leaf vein patterns that make the cookies look like real maple leaves is optional.

Making a maple cream cookie filling

The maple filling is just like a simple maple-flavoured American buttercream or frosting. Many recipes for maple leaf cookies rely on powdered sugar (also called icing sugar) to achieve a thick consistency. But this can lead to a cloyingly sweet filling where the maple flavour is muted. For this recipe, we rely on maple butter and maple sugar (a fine granulated sugar that is 100 % maple) to achieve the consistency. The texture of the filling will seem a little gritty, but that's okay. Upon storage, the maple filling will dry out further (in a good way), leading to a texture similar to an Oreo sandwich cookie filling.

Assembling the sandwich cookies is a little tedious and there doesn't seem to be a faster route. To save time, place all the shortbread cookies on a sheet pan, flipping half to expose the underside. Then place teaspoons of filling on the exposed underside of all of the flipped cookies, then sandwich them all. By doing a task at a time for all the cookies, you will save some time.

Baking with maple syrup

You will likely notice the absence of maple syrup in this maple cookie recipe. That's because maple syrup contains some water, and isn't ideal for incorporating in cookies and frostings. Instead, we are relying on pure maple sugar (made by boiling down maple syrup to crystallize it) and maple butter (a pure maple spread made from whipped crystallized maple syrup). Both of these ingredients are better suited for incorporating in cookies and frostings/fillings.

Baking with maple syrup can be tricky, which is why it's great to have other pure maple products to use, when the syrup isn't the most suited for the job.

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Maple Cream Cookies

Learn how to make maple leaf cookies, also called maple cream cookies with maple shortbread cookies and a maple butter filling.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes minutes

Chill time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 58 minutes minutes

Servings 28 cookies

Calories 152kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• GIR spatula
• Mini offset
• Maple leaf cutters

Ingredients

Maple shortbread cookies

• 178 grams unsalted butter softened
• 100 grams maple sugar
• 1 large egg yolk(s)
• 310 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Maple cream filling

• 78 grams unsalted butter softened
• 170 mL maple butter
• 75 grams maple sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

Maple shortbread cookies

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the maple sugar for several minutes.
• Add the egg yolk, and mix to combine, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Stir in the flour and salt with the mixer on low, scraping the bowl as needed so that the butter mixture is incorporated with all the flour. Continue mixing until the dough holds together when pressed.
• Divide the dough into two equal disks. If your kitchen is warm, you may have to chill the dough for 30 minutes at this stage to help the butter firm up. If so, wrap both disks in plastic wrap to chill. Otherwise, only wrap half in plastic wrap to prevent drying while you work with the rest.
• Roll out the first disk of dough on a lightly floured surface until it's ⅛" thick. Cut into the maple leaf shapes with a 2¼ inch cookie cutter. Re-roll the scraps. Transfer all the cookies to a parchment-lined sheet pan. You should be able to fit about 15 per sheet, and between the two disks of dough, you will likely cut out about 56 maple shortbread cookies (to make 28 sandwich cookies).
• Refrigerate for 15 minutes before baking while you preheat the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C).
• Once the cutout cookies are cold, using a pairing knife, score the cookies to create the vein patterns of the leaves on the surface of the cookies. This is optional but makes the leaf cookies more realistic, just like the commercial cookies. Don't cut through the dough, just score the surface of it.
• Bake until the edges begin to brown lightly, 13–15 minutes, rotating if necessary partly through the baking time so that the edges brown evenly.
• Let cool completely on a wire rack before sandwiching the cookies with filling.

Maple cream filling

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is creamy and smooth.
• Add the maple butter and maple sugar, and continue beating the mixture until it is light, fluffy, and smooth. This takes several minutes so be patient. Make sure to scrape down the bowl sides periodically to make sure all the ingredients are properly mixed. Use immediately.

Assembly

• When the cookies have cooled and the maple cream cream filling is ready, spread a teaspoon of the filling on the underside of a maple leaf cookie, and top with another, pressing lightly to glue the two cookies together. You can use an offset spatula to scrape any excess filling.
• The filling will be soft on the day you assemble the cookies and then will dry out slightly and set in place after about a day. Store the cookies in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 233IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Maple Cream Cookies appeared first on The Bake School.

If you aren't into the traditional pumpkin spices and fall flavours of most pumpkin loaf cake recipes, this maple-flavoured pumpkin bread is for you! It's a variation of my classic pumpkin bread, which I also tweaked to make this whole wheat pumpkin cake and cranberry pumpkin bread.

This is the perfect recipe to make if you have a leftover cup of pumpkin purée and you don't know what to do with it. Recipes you can make with canned pumpkin include pumpkin tarts, pumpkin spice shake, baked pumpkin donuts, and even cute pumpkin whoopie pies. Some of these recipes take less than a can's-worth of pumpkin, so you might have some left over.

Ingredients

Pumpkin loaf cakes, including this maple pumpkin bread, are made with a simple list of ingredients. Here's what you need to make this:

• flour, specifically bleached all-purpose flour—do not substitute alternative flours unless you are prepared to do a few tests to tweak the quantities
• leavening agents, specifically both chemical leaveners baking powder and baking soda
• salt, specifically Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, though regular table salt will work (use less as it's saltier)
• pumpkin purée or strained homemade pumpkin purée—if using
• eggs, specifically large eggs
• maple in the form of both pure maple syrup and maple sugar to provide as much flavour
• oil, specifically canola oil or a neutral-tasting oil
• pure vanilla extract
• optional garnishes include maple butter which works beautifully as icing on top and maple flakes to add more maple flavour and a lovely texture to the top.

See the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

With its simple list of ingredients, there are a limited number of substitutions and variations that you can make without messing with the balance of ingredients. Here are a few options:

• Oil—instead of canola oil, you can use 115 grams (½ cup) of melted butter
• Maple sugar—use regular granulated sugar or light brown sugar if you can't find maple sugar
• Pumpkin spice—if you like to add warm spices to your pumpkin bread, you can add pumpkin spice or a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg (at least 5 mL or 1 teaspoon should work here)
• For an eggless version of this recipe, try this healthier pumpkin bread, which is also low in sugar, dairy-free, and vegan.
• Pancake syrup—please do not replace the maple syrup with pancake syrup. It is a much sweeter product and won't provide the same flavour or texture.

Remember when you want to make a baking substitution where you are replacing a granular sugar product (either white sugar or brown sugar) with a liquid sugar, like honey or maple syrup, it's best only to replace a portion of the sugar and not all, to maintain the texture of the cake and also to avoid having to make other adjustments to the recipe. This is why we used a combination of maple sugar and maple syrup here.

Canned Pumpkin Versus Homemade Purée

For the pumpkin purée, you can use canned pumpkin or you can use homemade pumpkin purée, made by roasting a sugar pumpkin until the flesh is soft, then puréeing the flesh until smooth. If you do so, I highly recommend you strain the pumpkin purée through a few layers of cheesecloth to remove extra moisture. That moisture may lead to a gummy layer on the bottom, just like with banana bread, because the cake doesn't bake through.

If you are baking with store-bought canned pumpkin, ensure that you grab cans of plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which has additional ingredients like sugar and spices.

This recipe works well with Libby's canned pumpkin and E.D. Smith's canned pumpkin, but it may not work well with other brands, which are more watery. If you use an alternative brand to the two listed above, please strain the water or cook it off in a saucepan to dry it out before baking with it. Otherwise, your pumpkin bread may not bake properly inside and will collapse from too much moisture.

How to Make Pumpkin Bread with Maple Syrup

Pumpkin loaf cakes are quick breads made using a two-bowl mixing method, also known as the muffin method, where the wet ingredients are mixed separately from the dry ingredients before combining the two.

Step 1: combine the pumpkin, eggs, and maple sugar in a bowl (image 1) and whisk them to combine (image 2), then whisk in the oil, vanilla, and maple syrup (image 3). The wet ingredients should be quite smooth (image 4).

Step 2: whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda) until evenly combined (image 5), then pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients (image 6). Whisk the two components together until combined and thick but fairly smooth (image 7).

Step 3: Transfer the pumpkin batter to a prepared loaf pan and smooth it from edge to edge so that it's even (image 8). You can score down the middle of the batter in the pan using a greased bench scraper to ensure that the bread cracks down the middle when it bakes (image 9).

Step 4: bake the loaf cake until the edges begin to brown and pull away from the sides (image 11). Use a cake tester to check if the cake is done baking.

Step 5: Garnish the cooled pumpkin bread with maple butter and maple flakes to give it even more maple flavour (image 12).

Frosting Alternatives

The goal of this recipe was to provide the most pumpkin flavour, so using maple butter as a frosting here does exactly that. But if you want to try a different topping, try this thick cream cheese frosting or this white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Top Tip

Always take the time to check if your cake is done baking using visual cues, touching the surface of the loaf gently to make sure it bounces back and feels set, and poking a skewer or cake tester through the middle to make sure the loaf is baked in the centre. Take the time to use several methods to check if the cake is done before pulling it out of the oven, or you might find that your cake sinks as it cools.

Unmould the loaf cake onto a cooling rack to allow it to cool faster. This will also promote better air circulation on the edges, drying them out slightly so that the edges are firmer and not tacky or wet.

Pumpkin Bread FAQs

Cake collapse is the most common issue with pumpkin bread because there are a lot of wet ingredients in this type of loaf cake. Usually, it's a sign that the ratio of ingredients, specifically wet-to-dry ingredients, is off or that the cake is underbaked (read about how to check if your cake is done baking). Here are some other questions you might have when baking pumpkin bread recipes:

Other Maple-Flavoured Baking Recipes

I kept the flavourings in this cake very simple: it's all about the maple and the pumpkin. The cake is not overly sweet, but the topping of maple butter and maple flakes not only makes this loaf cake super pretty to look at but also adds an extra hit of real maple flavour that can sometimes get lost in the baking.

Looking for other maple recipes like this? Try these:

If you tried this maple pumpkin bread recipe (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!

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Maple Pumpkin Bread

Learn how to make the best maple pumpkin bread with this easy recipe. This moist pumpkin cake is sweetened with maple sugar and maple syrup, and then iced with maple butter and sprinkled with maple flakes to get the most maple flavour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 458kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 1-lb loaf pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 7.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• 250 mL pumpkin purée or strained homemade pumpkin purée
• 2 large egg(s)
• 150 grams maple sugar
• 125 mL canola oil
• 83 mL pure maple syrup
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

Optional garnishes

• 125 mL maple butter
• 50 grams maple flakes

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Butter and flour a 1-pound loaf pan, either a 9x5-inch (23x12.5x7.5 cm) loaf pan (like this Nordic Ware pan on Amazon) or for a taller loaf, use an 8.5x4.5-inch (21.5x11.5x7 cm) loaf pan (like this Oxo pan on Amazon). Line the bottom with a rectangle of parchment. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, eggs, maple sugar, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla.
• Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
• Bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
• Let cool for about 15 minutes or so before unmolding.
• Cool completely before serving.

Optional garnishes

• Once the cake has cooled and before serving, you can ice the top of the loaf cake with a thick layer of maple butter and sprinkle with maple flakes

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• The maple sugar that I used was similar to this brand on Amazon. If you can't find maple sugar, use light brown sugar. Granulated sugar will also work, but it's less flavourful.
• The maple butter topping adds a lot of flavour to this cake and it's really key to reinforcing the maple flavour of the loaf. You can make maple butter at home from maple syrup.
• If you'd prefer to use butter in the cake recipe, replace the oil with 115 grams (½ cup) of melted unsalted butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 359mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 5096IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Maple Pumpkin Bread appeared first on The Bake School.

How to make maple syrup

If you want to make maple syrup, you will need a forest of maple trees and a specific climate found in parts of the New England area, like Vermont, and also parts of Eastern Canada, like Quebec and Ontario. Maple syrup is made from the maple water/sap of the maple tree. In spring, the water/sap rushes up from the roots to feed the budding branches that were dormant all winter. The liquid is collected during a brief period of spring, when the nights are cold and the days are warm, so usually during the month of March, though the season may start as early as the end of February and may extend into early April. During this period, the water from the earth rises up the trees at night when it's cold, then flows down during the day when it's warm. Sugar maple trees are tapped and a spout is attached to each to collect the sap as it rises and falls.

Maple syrup is concentrated maple water

The collected sap is boiled down to remove water and concentrate the sugars and flavours. To make pure maple syrup, you need 150 litres of maple sap (40 gallons) to make 3.8 litres (1 gallon) of maple syrup. I have visited a few maple farms and sugar shacks over the years and seen the process, but I've never attempted it myself at home. I honestly don't have access to a small forest of maple trees and I'm pretty sure tapping municipal trees in the park is a no-no. That being said, if you happen to be blessed with a backyard of maple trees and live in the New England area, Quebec, or Ontario, you can read all about making maple syrup in your backyard on Simple Bites!

Maple products available

Grades and classes of maple syrup

The flavour of maple syrup (the concentrated sap) reflects its origins, with woodsy, earthy notes. Only Grade A maple syrup is sold in stores in Quebec and it is made from pure maple sap with no other colours or flavours added. It's the real deal! You can buy four different classes of Grade A maple syrup in stores, each representing a different concentration of syrup, from the lighter syrups which have a milder flavour and a more transparent, light colour, to very dark syrups which are very concentrated with strong maple flavour:  

• Golden maple syrup or sirop d'érable doré is very light, almost colourless and has a very mild, delicate flavour. The lighter maple syrup is collected earlier in the season. Most will use golden maple syrup for serving on pancakes, crêpes, waffles, or ice cream
• Amber maple syrup or sirop d'érable ambré is my preferred maple syrup because it has a more pronounced flavour and a darker colour. I bake with it and I also pour it on pancakes
• Dark maple syrup or sirop d'érable foncé is much darker than amber maple syrup. Dark maple syrup is great in meat glazes like on ribs. I also bake with dark maple syrup when I want to add more flavour.
• Very dark maple syrup or sirop d'érable très foncé is the darkest maple syrup you can buy and has the strongest flavour of all with deep caramel notes. Darker maple syrups are collected later in the season.

Don't confuse maple syrup with maple-flavoured pancake syrup! These two products are not the same! Maple syrup is a syrup of sucrose in water, whereas pancake syrup is a glucose-based syrup, flavoured with natural and artificial maple flavours. These two products are different and not to be confused. Read all about sugar in baking to find out more about the difference!

Other maple products

Though maple syrup is the most common, well-known form of maple on the market, there are other maple products available that you can buy:

• maple water, which is maple sap collected during maple season and often boxed in a Tetra Pak. Maple water is sold in some grocery stores and health food stores. If you are curious about the taste, try it on Amazon.
• maple sugar, a concentrated, granular, dry form of pure maple syrup. Buy maple sugar on Amazon.
• maple flakes are newer to the market and they are literally a flaky form of pure maple syrup, like the flaky sea salt version of maple syrup, if you see what I mean. Maple flakes are light and make an awesome crunchy, sweet maple topping sprinkled as a finishing touch on frosted cupcakes and cakes, cookies, etc. I recommend using maple flakes after baking as a garnish, like in these maple shortbread cookies or in cookie dough, like in these maple sugar cookies. Get maple flakes on Amazon.
• maple taffy is a gooey, sticky concentrate of maple syrup that is called "tire d'érable" in French because it can be pulled into long sticky strands of syrup. Maple taffy is what is poured on snow and rolled onto popsicle sticks during maple season, to be eaten like a maple lollipop
• maple butter is a creamy spread made from pure maple syrup. You can buy maple butter, but at home, you can follow this maple butter recipe, which you can use to make these maple cream cookies. Spread it thick on toast. Buy maple butter on Amazon if you don't have time to make it at home.

Baking with maple syrup

Maple syrup works very well in baking recipes and personally, I like to bake with Amber Grade A maple syrup because it has a pronounced but not overpowering flavour. I find the golden maple syrup is too delicate to stand out in baked goods, while the darker syrups are too robust. There are a few things to consider when using maple syrup as a sugar substitute in baking:

Substituting maple syrup for granulated sugar

Given that maple syrup is a liquid sweetener and contains some water in it, you cannot substitute granulated sugar for maple syrup without making certain adjustments to the recipe. Baking with maple syrup may lead to a slight difference in texture and will have a noticeable impact on flavour. You may have to adjust the temperature of your oven when baking with maple syrup, reducing it by 25ºF. As a rule:

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with ⅔ cup to ¾ cup of maple syrup. This works for both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
• Reduce liquids in the recipe when baking with maple syrup: You may also have to reduce the amount of liquid in your recipe if you replace sugar with maple syrup, around ¼ cup less liquid for every cup of sugar replaced. 
• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of maple sugar, but this will be expensive. Maple sugar is a concentrated, dry, granular form of pure maple syrup and makes a great sugar substitute but it comes at a high price! Use it in combination with maple syrup to achieve the best balance of price, texture, and taste.

Substituting maple syrup for honey or agave

Both honey and maple syrup are liquid sweeteners and so as a rule, they can be interchanged, though this will have a big impact on flavour as the taste of honey is quite different than the taste of maple syrup. Also note that honey is sweeter than maple syrup, so if you replace honey for maple syrup, cup-for-cup, you will notice that your recipe is less sweet with maple syrup than when honey is used. You can also easily replace agave with maple syrup.

• Replace 1 cup of honey with 1 cup of maple syrup
• Replace 1 cup of agave with 1 cup of maple syrup

Substituting maple syrup for molasses

Just like with honey, both maple syrup and molasses are liquid sweeteners and therefore you should be able to substitute 1 cup of molasses with 1 cup of maple syrup. For example, I have successfully done this in my simple gingerbread cookies cutout recipe and replacing molasses with maple syrup worked very well. Again, the flavours of molasses and maple syrup are very different and also molasses is much darker in colour and so this substitution will also have an impact on the colour of your baked goods.

• Replace 1 cup of molasses with 1 cup of maple syrup

Maple syrup recipes

I adore maple syrup and so I try to sneak it into many of my baking recipes, as you may have noticed. Here's a rundown of desserts to bake with maple syrup and recipes featuring maple syrup:

Maple butter

Maple butter, also known as maple cream, is a creamy spread that is 100% maple syrup and nothing else. Don't be fooled by those quick maple butter recipes that are basically sweet, maple-flavoured compound butters made by whipping maple syrup with butter. That is not the same thing! Maple butter is great spread on toast for breakfast, but feel free to make maple cream sandwich cookies by sandwiching a dollop of maple butter between maple shortbread cookies!

Maple pie

The classic sugaring-off dessert in Quebec is tarte au sucre, also known as sugar pie, maple pie, or maple syrup pie. Maple pie is one of my favourite pies and it's actually quite easy to make at home, with an all-butter pie crust that is whipped together in the food processor, no blind-baking required, and a filling that is simply whisked before pouring into unbaked pie shell and baking. Maple syrup pie is such a treat! We make it in spring, during maple season, but also in the fall, many will serve maple pie for Thanksgiving. 

Maple apple pie

You can sweeten a classic apple pie with maple syrup, which adds so much flavour to the apple filling. With very juicy apples, I like to toss apple slices in maple syrup before roasting them to soften and concentrate their flavour. Then I use the maple roasted apple slices to make maple apple pie by mixing the roasted apple slices with a little more maple sugar.

Traditional maple walnut fudge

In my family, we tend to make traditional maple fudge around the holidays because that's when you have a lot of guests over so you can share the fudge and avoid eating it all by yourself. Maple fudge is delicious, but best served in small pieces for sharing because it is quite sweet. Some people prefer creamy fudge, but I like it smooth with just a hint of grit to it from the crystallizing sugar. By the way, the walnuts in the recipe are entirely optional. 

Maple brioche buns

Swirl maple syrup into your favourite brioche recipe as you shape the brioche dough and you will have a lovely brunch-time maple brioche treat that is buttery and maple-forward.

Maple nut granola

Use maple syrup in your favourite granola recipe and I guarantee you will love it even more! Pro tip: if you press the unbaked granola into your baking sheet before baking, you will end up with perfect granola clusters.

Apple maple syrup recipe for pancakes

If you think maple syrup makes a great topping for pancakes and waffles, try this apple maple syrup with chunks of apple in it. I bet it would taste great poured over this Dutch baby pancake recipe too!

If you would like to read more about maple syrup, consult the Maple From Quebec website and the Pure Maple From Canada site!

Please note this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post What to bake with maple syrup appeared first on The Bake School.

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.

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.

Check out my list of Milk Bar baking essentials on Amazon!

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:

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

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!

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Maple Sugar Cookies

This easy recipe for maple cookies is a play on classic sugar cookies, but incorporating maple sugar, maple extract, maple flakes, maple fudge, and even maple cream cookies to make these the best maple sugar cookies!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 38 minutes minutes

Servings 15

Calories 373kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

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

Metric - US

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).
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 376mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 487IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Maple Sugar Cookies appeared first on The Bake School.

These maple shortbread cookies are so easy to make. These cookies get their flavour from maple sugar, used in the dough instead of granulated sugar. This is a trick I also used for these bakery-style chewy maple cookies. These shortbread are cutout cookies brushed with a little maple syrup and sprinkled with maple flakes after baking, adding even more maple flavour to these simple maple cookies.

Just like traditional shortbread cookies with a 1:2:3 ratio of sugar/butter/flour, these cookies are not too sweet, but have a lovely texture.

Ingredients to Make Maple Shortbread Cookies

Like most shortbread cookie recipes, you don't need many ingredients to make them!

• butter, preferably unsalted butter is used to make these, but salted butter could work, but then skip the salt if you are baking with salted butter
• maple sugar adds sweetness and maple flavour to the cookies
• egg yolk adds a little moisture to the dough, helping bind the ingredients together and making the dough easier to roll, but can be replaced with 30 mL (2 tablespoons of whole milk). The egg yolk also contributes to the texture of the cookie
• all-purpose flour gives these cookies structure so that they don't spread
• salt, preferably Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If using table salt, you may want to halve the salt to avoid these cookies being too salty
• maple syrup and maple flakes to finish these cookies, adding extra maple flavour and crunch to the exterior.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities and ingredients.

Baking with Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar

Don't forget that real maple syrup is not the same as maple-flavoured syrup or maple pancake syrup. Flavoured syrups and pancake syrups are made from corn syrup or glucose that is flavoured with artificial maple extract (or sometimes real maple flavouring).

For this recipe, use real maple products that are produced from the sap of maple trees and sold in the New England, Quebec, and Ontario areas at sugar shacks, in grocery stores in the specialty aisle. You will need maple syrup, maple sugar, as well as maple flakes, which are also called maple sprinkles (though you can replace these with maple sugar as a garnish if you can't find the sprinkles).

In general, maple flavour is very delicate and subtle, especially when combined in cookie doughs, so you should always buy a dark maple syrup with a more robust flavour to bake with.

Enhancing Maple Flavour in Cookies

Since the flavour of maple tends to get lost when mixed with other ingredients, you can brush these maple cookies with maple syrup as soon as they come out of the oven, and then sprinkle them with maple flakes. The maple syrup will add lots of flavour and act as a glue for the maple flakes, which add both texture and flavour to these cookies.

You could also incorporate a little maple extract in the cookie dough to help reinforce the flavour of these.

How to Make Maple Shortbread Cookies

Step 1: Cream together the butter and the maple sugar using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer (image 1). When the mixture is evenly mixed, add the egg yolk and mix it in (image 2).

Step 2: Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (image 3), then add them to the mixer bowl and stir them in on low speed (image 4).

Step 3: When the flour has completely disappeared into the dough, the dough will be thick (image 5) so you can immediately divide it into two equal pieces and shape them into disks to roll them out (image 6). I like to cut out these maple shortbread cookies with maple leaf cookie cutters (image 7).

Step 4: Place the cutout cookies on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan, spacing them out to allow airflow (Image 8), then bake them until the edges begin to brown (image 9).

Step 5: As soon as the cookies are done baking, when they are still hot, brush them with maple syrup and sprinkle them with maple flakes or maple sugar (image 10). This last step gives them much more flavour and the maple syrup will create a glaze on the surface of the cookies that is set, not sticky!

Maple Shortbread FAQs

How do I store maple shortbread cookies?

Once they have cooled down completely, the maple syrup glaze on these cookies will have set and will appear slightly shiny though it is dry. Store these in an airtight container once cooled. They aren't fragile so you can pile them up in a container without worrying too much.

Can I use maple-flavoured pancake syrup?

Do not use maple-flavoured pancake syrup. It is not the same as maple syrup and if you brush it on the cookies, it may stay sticky. Plus the flavour isn't nearly as good! For the maple sugar in the cookies, you could try replacing it with the same weight of brown sugar but the results will vary.

Other Maple Recipes to Try

These maple shortbread cookies are perfect for making the quintessential maple cream cookies (also called maple leaf cookies) that are maple-flavoured sandwich cookies filled with a maple butter filling.

You can bake the leaf shapes of dough by pressing them over an inverted mini muffin pan to make cookie cups that you can fill with maple mousse.

If you tried this recipe for maple shortbread 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!

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Maple Shortbread Cookies

Learn how to make these easy maple shortbread cookies that are glazed with maple syrup and sprinkled with maple flakes after baking for extra maple flavour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Chill time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 21 minutes minutes

Servings 56 cookies

Calories 51kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• GIR spatula
• Rolling pin
• Maple leaf cutters

Ingredients

• 178 grams unsalted butter softened
• 100 grams maple sugar
• 1 large egg yolk(s)
• 310 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 30 mL pure maple syrup I used dark maple syrup
• 30 mL maple flakes

Metric - US

Instructions

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the maple sugar for several minutes until smooth, creamy, and light.
• Add the egg yolk, and mix to combine, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Stir in the flour and salt with the mixer on low, scraping the bowl as needed so that the butter mixture is incorporated with all the flour. Continue mixing until the dough holds together when pressed.
• Divide the dough into two equal disks, pressing the bits of dough together to form two smooth disks. Wrap half in plastic wrap to prevent drying while you work with the rest. If your kitchen is warm, you may have to chill the dough for 30 minutes at this stage to help the butter firm up.
• Roll out the first disk of dough on a lightly floured surface until it's ⅛ inch (3–4 mm) thick. Cut into the maple leaf shapes with a 2¼ inch (5.7 cm) cookie cutter. Transfer all the cookies to a parchment-lined sheet pan. You should be able to fit 15 per sheet.
• Refrigerate for 15 minutes before baking while you preheat the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Bake until the edges begin to brown lightly, 13–15 minutes, rotating if necessary partly through the baking time so that the edges brown evenly.
• As soon as the sheet pan of cookies is out of the oven, immediately lightly brush the top of each cookie with maple syrup and sprinkle with a few maple flakes. Let cool before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Real maple syrup is different from maple-flavoured syrup or maple pancake syrup. Flavoured syrups and pancake syrups are made from corn syrup or glucose that is flavoured with artificial maple extract (or sometimes real maple flavouring). Do not use maple pancake syrup for this recipe!
• For this recipe, use real maple products that are produced from the sap of maple trees and sold in the New England, Quebec, and Ontario areas at sugar shacks, in grocery stores in the specialty aisle. You will need maple syrup, maple sugar, as well as maple flakes, which are also called maple sprinkles (though you can replace these with maple sugar as a garnish if you can't find the sprinkles).
• In general, maple flavour is very delicate and subtle, especially when combined in cookie doughs, so you should always buy a dark maple syrup with a more robust flavour to bake with
• 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 51kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 13mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 82IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Maple Shortbread Cookies appeared first on The Bake School.