With big flavor, crisp edges, and mega chewy centers, these maple brown sugar cookies are a definite favorite. Top with maple icing for the ultimate fall cookie! Chilling the cookie dough is imperative, so set aside 2 hours or prepare the cookie dough the day before.
I may say this a lot, but nothing has been truer than in this very moment… (dramatic? who, me?) … these maple brown sugar cookies are the best cookies I’ve ever made. And that statement holds big weight considering I authored an entire cookbook of JUST cookies.
Maple brown sugar cookies > every other cookie. I know a good one when I bite it!
Plus, this recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
These Maple Brown Sugar Cookies Are:
- Brown sugared and buttery
- Unbelievably chewy and soft in the center—not cakey
- Crisp on the edges
- Filled with pure maple syrup
- Topped with luscious maple icing
The maple icing sets, so these are perfect for stacking and transporting. Because, trust me, you’ll want to bring these everywhere you go. Football game? Bring them. Party? Bring them. Bake sale? Sell them. No occasion at all? Make them.
Video Tutorial
10 Ingredients in Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
We use most of these in maple pecan snickerdoodles, too!
- All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is the structure of the cookie. I played around with different amounts. 2 and 1/4 cups wasn’t enough and 2 and 1/2 cups was too much. 2 and 1/3 cups was the perfect amount to hold up to the liquid maple syrup.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda provides lift.
- Salt: Salt balances the flavor.
- Butter: 1 stick (1/2 cup) is plenty for the maple cookies and be sure you use room-temperature butter. It should be cool to the touch and not overly soft and greasy.
- Dark Brown Sugar: For optimal flavor and texture, reach for brown sugar. I recommend dark brown sugar for extra flavor, but light brown sugar works too.
- Egg: 1 egg provides structure, stability, and richness.
- Pure Maple Syrup: We can’t make maple cookies without pure maple syrup. Avoid “breakfast syrup,” which doesn’t have the same robust maple flavor that pure syrup contains. I played around with different amounts and 1/3 cup is plenty. And, as a bonus, the pure syrup helps create slightly crisp edges.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor. Have you tried homemade vanilla extract yet?
- Maple Extract: Pure maple syrup isn’t enough to guarantee mega maple flavor. Without the crutch of maple extract, the cookies were lacking. Pure maple extract is difficult to find, so reach for imitation. I prefer McCormick brand because the flavor doesn’t taste fake. You can use it in maple pecan snickerdoodles, maple walnut tassies, and maple bacon doughnuts, too!
- Pecans: Nuts are an optional ingredient, but they add awesome (and complementary!) flavor and texture. If you love these maple pecan snickerdoodles, you’ll also love pecans here.
Which Pure Maple Syrup Is Best?
Grade A is good, but Grade B is darker and more flavorful because it’s produced later in the season. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with either here!
How to Make Brown Sugar Maple Cookies
Minimal effort, mega results. ♥
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar together.
- Beat in the egg, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and maple extract.
- Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
- Add the pecans.
- Chill the cookie dough. This cookie dough contains an additional liquid (maple syrup), so chilling the dough is crucial. Set aside 2 hours to chill this cookie dough. Without chilling, the cookies will spread into a greasy puddle.
- Roll cookie dough into balls. Each dough ball is about 1.5 Tablespoons, or 35g.
- Bake until the edges are set. Cookies are done in about 12–13 minutes.
Then we’ll obviously drizzle maple icing all over the tops!
That Irresistible Maple Icing!!
You only need 3 ingredients for this super easy maple icing: butter, maple syrup, and confectioners’ sugar. To avoid any lumps, sift the confectioners’ sugar. If desired, a pinch of salt adds exceptional depth of flavor. The wonderful thing about this maple icing is that it eventually sets, so these cookies aren’t sticky or difficult to store.
You have my full support to use this maple icing for anything and everything. We found it to be the perfect finishing touch on these pumpkin crumb cake cookies and these maple pecan slice & bake cookies. Some ideas: on banana scones, pumpkin scones, and apple cinnamon scones, obviously.
By the way! Today’s cookies differ from the Soft Glaze Maple Cookies in Sally’s Cookie Addiction. Those are ultra cakey (think pancakes!) with moderate maple flavor. These are more similar to chewy chocolate chip cookies in terms of texture.
Loving These Fall Cookies Too
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
- Butter Pecan Cookies
- Snickerdoodles (no cookie dough chilling!)
- Oatmeal Scotchies
- Caramel Apple Spice Thumbprints
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pecan Sugar Cookies
- Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 50 minutes
- Yield: 28-30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With big maple flavor, crisp edges, mega chewy centers, and crunchy pecans, these maple brown sugar cookies are a definite favorite. Chilling the cookie dough is imperative, so set aside 2 hours or prepare the cookie dough the day before. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/3 cups (292g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed dark brown sugar*
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (113g/80ml) pure maple syrup*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple extract*
- 1 cup (120g) chopped pecans*
Maple Icing
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (113g/80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar*
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
- Make the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract, and maple extract, then beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Add the pecans and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Dough will be creamy and soft.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours (and up to 3 days).
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) If the dough has chilled for longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping the cookies.
- Scoop and roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of dough per cookie. Arrange the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 12–13 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and set but the centers still look very soft. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the maple syrup, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar and salt. Taste. Drizzle over the cooled cookies. Icing will set after about 1 hour. Store cookies covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies, with or without icing, freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Small Saucepan
- Brown Sugar: I recommend dark brown sugar for a deeper flavor, but you can use light brown sugar instead if needed.
- Maple Syrup: Avoid syrup labeled “breakfast syrup” or “pancake syrup,” which doesn’t have the same robust maple flavor that pure syrup contains. Grade A is good, but Grade B is darker and more flavorful because it’s produced later in the season. You can’t go wrong with either in these cookies.
- Maple Extract: Pure maple syrup isn’t enough to guarantee mega maple flavor. Without the crutch of maple extract, the cookies were lacking. I use McCormick brand maple extract. You can find it in the baking aisle or online.
- Pecans: The pecans are optional, but add wonderful flavor and texture. I use unsalted, unroasted pecans, but feel free to use salted roasted pecans or toast the pecans before using, if desired. You can also substitute chopped walnuts.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: To avoid any lumps, sift the confectioners’ sugar.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Absolutely the best cookies I’ve ever made. These are everyone’s favourite cookies, I make them at least once a month for friends and family.
While cookies are baking, should the rest of the dough be in the fridge or on the counter coming to room temperature?
Hi Taylor, we recommend leaving the remaining dough in the refrigerator (if you have space) so that the cookies are nice and cold going into the oven!
Just wanted to comment because I made these cookies for my family for Thanksgiving this year and everyone RAVED about them. Several family members asked for the recipe too. I’m now making more bathes to take to Christmas and to some of my neighbors.
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
So happy to read this, Lindsay!
I’m looking for the recipe I made for Christmas last year that everyone loved, and I swear this is it, but I remember tapping the pan so the cookies would crack. Am I crazy or has the recipe changed? And if this is the right recipe, is there anything else that’s changed besides the directions? These cookies were perfection!
Hi Mandee! That hasn’t been a step in these cookies and the recipe has not changed. Could you be thinking of these soft molasses cookies by chance?
The flavor of these cookies are delicious but unfortunately my cookies came out completely flat and look nothing like the recipe shows. I followed the recipe exactly and weighed out all the ingredients for accurate measurements. I had the dough in the fridge overnight and let it sit out for 25 minutes until rolling Into balls. Any thoughts on why they are flat?
Hi Micaela, if you decide to try these again, we recommend adding an extra tablespoon or two of flour to your dough. And here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading. Make sure to start with proper room temperature butter!
Can the maple sugar cookies be frozen?
Love your recipes!!!
Hi Gloria, absolutely. See the recipe notes for make ahead instructions. Enjoy!
New favorite cookie! I’m adding this one to holiday baking list and I’ll have to double it – these cookies were devoured within 24 hours.
Hi there!
I am getting a head start on my Christmas baking and I was just wondering if anyone has had success freezing the baked cookies with the icing drizzle on it? Or if it would go weird?
Hi Michelle, baked cookies, with or without icing, freeze well for up to 3 months. Hope they’re a hit!
Thanks so much! With the recipe only mentioning about freezing unfrosted icing I wasn’t sure 🙂
How many cookies does one recipe make?
Hi Susan, about 28-30 cookies.
Sally et al, I wanted to ask if I refrigerate a dough that doesn’t REQUIRE it, is that ok? Will it effect the way the cookies bake?
Hi Bonnie! Great question. It depends on the recipe, but in general it is okay to chill dough that doesn’t require it (this is okay for most drop cookies that don’t require chilling). If the recipe specifically states to bake the dough right away, then it’s likely so that the cookies will spread efficiently. Hope this helps!
I’m thinking of making these for my partners mom, but she prefers to not eat gluten. Have you had any experience using 1:1 gluten free flours & do you know if it would work in this recipe?
Hi Maddie, we haven’t tested theses cookies with gluten-free flour, but let us know if you do!
I used King Arthur GF flour and added an extra egg. They came out great.
I baked these for the first time yesterday and they’re delicious! I did notice something weird happened with my glaze overnight though. It looks like there was some kind of separation with the powdered sugar and the rest of my maple glaze mixture because some of the glaze has white splotches instead of being a solid maple color. Any idea why this may have happened? I sifted the powdered sugar and it appeared to be mixed well when I was adding the glaze to the cookies. It also looked ok as it was drying
Hi Vanessa, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! The white splotches you’re seeing on the glaze are usually caused by a little separation as the icing sits. This can happen when the butter or maple syrup settles slightly or if a tiny bit of moisture gets trapped on the surface as it dries. Even well-mixed icings can do this, especially when they’re made with butter, which can firm up unevenly overnight. It’s totally harmless and won’t affect the flavor, but if you want an even finish next time, you can whisk in a tiny splash of milk or maple syrup to loosen the glaze a bit more before spreading, or make sure the cookies are completely cool and dry before glazing. So glad they were a hit!
To make this a Christmas cookie, would adding a drop or two or three of red food dye to icing negatively impact the icing?
Hi Greg, It should be fine to add gel food coloring. Enjoy!
Wonderful recipe! I followed the directions exactly (however, I chilled the dough overnight rather than 2 hours) and they turned out PERFECTLY! Will definitely make again.
I have made these once before and they were phenomenal. I’m making them again today and adding some butterscotch chips to the mix!
Is it ok to portion into balls prior to the first refrigeration? I found the dough really tough to scoop and portion after chilling for two hours. They turned out amazing but would love to portion prior to chill? Would this be ok?
Hi Russell! The dough can be a little too soft to roll before chilling, but you certainly can if you prefer.
I’ve made these twice so far and they were really good! But both times, a lot of my icing ran right off the cookies. Is there anything I can try to help it set up better and stay on top of the cookies? Thank you!
Hi Emily, strange that the icing wouldn’t set, is it particularly hot and humid by you? Perhaps your glaze could have used more powdered sugar – how was the consistency? The butter in the glaze should come to room temperature and set the icing, did you make any changes to the glaze? Hope these tips can help for your next batch!
Thanks for the reply! What stays on the cookie does set eventually, the problem is that when I drizzle the icing, a lot runs off the cookies immediately. The consistency seems okay as far as I can tell, until I start drizzling. Maybe it’s that my maple syrup is too thin, I’ll try extra powdered sugar next time. I’m using this icing for the Pumpkin Crumb Cake Cookies next!
The next time I made the icing I added more sugar 1-2 tsp at a time and kept testing it, I ended up using about 5 tbsp extra and it worked much better!
Thank you for SO many delicious recipes.
Have you ever tried adding bacon to these?
Sorry if this has been asked before.
Hi Donna, We haven’t tested adding bacon to the dough. You can definitely add chopped cooked bacon to the top of the cookies. Let us know if you try either!
I’ve made them twice now and they are amazing! So many compliments..
I loved the cookies, came out perfect!
I just made these cookies and they are great, but I needed to change the amount of time in the oven and my cookies took and extra few minutes to cook. Quick question should the inside and bottom of the cookie stay uncooked?
Hi Bea, the inside of the cookies will be soft and may initially look underbaked, but they will finish baking/setting as they cool. Every oven can be a bit different, so no worries if yours take just a few minutes longer than listed.
I usually love your recipes but these were not good 🙁 tastes is almost exactly like gingerbread, and texture is like a chewy nilla wafer—not cookie-like or appealing at all. If you still want to make these, I would recommend halving the first time so if you don’t like them you don’t waste so much syrup :/
Hi Jo, sorry these didn’t turn out how you hoped! They should be soft, chewy, and have a nice warm maple flavor. Did you make any changes to the recipe?
My cookies where completely flat. Didn’t raise at all. I had them in the fridge for just two hours.
Hi Jade, here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
These cookies are outstanding! They are delicious without the maple icing but are ‘over the top’ with the drizzle. Using a small bottle for the icing is much less tedious than a spoon. I, too, underbaked them slightly and then allowed them to fully cool on the baking sheet. Superb!
These cookies where perfect! I removed the nuts and baked them a little less than the time recommended.
My question is, can you add oats to the cookie dough? If so, how much and would you have to change any of the other ratios?
The flavor profile reminds me of the maple brown sugar oatmeal packets. So I think adding oats would be good.
Hi Sydney, we haven’t tried them with oats. Let us know if you do!
I baked these cookies and they are delicious. My issue was they came out like a dome and did not spread at all. They also came out a little “cakey”. I did over bake them on the first round and the second round i baked them less time and had the same issue. Feedback and tips?
Hi Emily, happy to help! Usually when cookies don’t spread it is because there’s too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Hope you still enjoyed them!
These cookies are the best. I use black walnuts in them for even better flavor.
Will the cookies hold up well if I chill the dough, scoop in dough balls, freeze and then bake in a few weeks?
Hi Jessica! Yes, you can freeze the dough balls.
Hi Sally,
Would omitting the baking soda allow me to use this recipe with a cookie cutter to keep the shape? Also would a touch of cinnamon alter how they bake?
Hi Marcus, No we don’t recommend making that change. We do have these maple cinnamon cut out cookies, pecan sugar cookies, and brown sugar cut out cookies if you are looking for different flavors.
I don’t have any maple extract, can I add more maple syrup to add more maple flavor or will it change the consistency
Hi Luke, we wouldn’t recommend adding more maple syrup. You can omit the maple extract if absolutely needed.
These are the best cookies! I always receive requests for the recipe, even from long time cookie bakers. I follow the recipe exactly as written. Highly recommend!
I don’t normally comment but these cookies were seriously so good! Will definitely make again. I followed the recipe exactly except I made half the glaze after reading the comments. It was the perfect amount. Made 26 cookies, even better the next day!
I made these for a crew of hunters this week. The consensus: “Hands down, the BEST cookies we’ve ever had!” Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe. I’ll be making them again for Thanksgiving.