Maple Shortbread Cookies

5 from 1 vote

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.

Prep Time15

Cook Time6

Chill time15

Total Time21

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Canadian

Servings: cookies

Calories: 51kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

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