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. 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
I made these today and they are ok but I wonder if the quality of the maple syrup is a factor. I think I might test these again only cooking down the maple syrup a bit to concentrate the flavor. The soda seems to be the dominate flavor in my cookies and I added maple flavoring to the frosting as well. It seems like quite a bit of soda in a cookie compared to other cookies I’ve made. They do have a lovely soft texture. I love maple so I’ll try again with a couple of tweaks.
Hello, looking forward to trying this recipe. Would it be possible to substitute the Maple Syrup for Honey?
Hi Tori, maple syrup really is key for best taste and texture. You could try swapping with an equal amount of honey and then increasing the maple extract, but the taste won’t be quite the same.
Sweet baby Jesus, these are amazing! I followed the recipe to a T and they were perfection .
Could these be made without the pecans or would they be flat?
Hi Ali, you can leave them out.
Cut back on the sugar in the cookies by about 1/4 cup and added crushed lavender to the icing. Topped the cookies with flaky sea salt. They’re just delicious!
Really good cookies! As noted in other comments, I had quite a bit of icing left over. Next time I might add a drop or two of maple extract to the icing to balance out the taste of the confectioners’ sugar.
Great recipe! My daughter wants me to add cinnamon or nutmeg next time. I did not chill the dough and the cookies spread a little and still retained the crisp edges and chewy center.
Can I do this with gluten free flour and same results?
Hi Cheryl, Some readers have commented that they tried this recipe with a 1:1 substitute of gluten-free flour and had success, but we have not tested it. Let us know what you try!
Yep. Will make both ways. Thank you
These may be my new favorite cookie, 2nd time making and I foresee many more times! I need your cookbook but my waistline doesn’t!
Yummy recipe but you could make half of the glaze and be fine. I did more than a drizzle as directed and still had so much leftover. I felt like a lot was wasted
Thanks so much for the heads up! This is exactly why I came to the comments b/c I am making these on Monday.
I always think I’m the weird one because there is ALWAYS too much frosting/glaze/icing, etc for everything I make!
Can I use cane syrup instead of maple? I really like the molasses flavor and yet it is not as potent as pure molasses.( For the icing)
Hi Donna, that *should* work just fine in the icing. Let us know if you try it.
Just brought a dozen of these into the office for a treat and they got rave reviews. Everyone kept talking about how soft they were. I followed the recipe exactly, weighing everything out and I think they came out perfect. I only got 23 cookies even after weighing out the balls but those 23 were delicious. Will 100% be making again.
This is one of the most disgusting recipes I’ve ever tried. The cookie itself was bland, the icing was horrible! Sticky, hard to work with. I will never make this recipe again! Not to mention costly!
Hi Laura, I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! I know how disappointing it can be when a recipe doesn’t turn out as expected, especially after investing time and ingredients. This recipe is usually a reader favorite, so I’d love to help troubleshoot what may have gone wrong. The cookies should bake up soft and flavorful with that maple-brown-sugar richness, and the icing should set into a smooth, slightly crisp glaze… not sticky or stiff. Did you use the maple extract? If you’re open to sharing more details (like how you measured your ingredients or how long the icing sat before setting), I’d be happy to help you pinpoint the issue so it turns out better next time. Thank you for giving it a try and for sharing your feedback. Sorry again.
I have made your peanut butter cookies and your oatmeal raisin cookies and they were perfect. I just made the maple cookies and they spread out into paper thin cookie “skins”. I measured everything correctly; used pure maple syrup and checked the oven temp for accuracy. I also chilled the dough 2.5 hours. I am so dissapointed. I dont know why they look completely different from the picture and were failures when all other reviews were so positive. Anyone else have this problem?
I followed the recipe to a T and they came out perfectly. If the dough was too sticky to work with, the dough likely wasn’t cold enough. She even mentions to chill longer if it is sticky….. Usually those with outcomes unlike the majority skipped a step, shortened a step, or substituted something that wasn’t a valid substitute. Would be curious to know your honest steps.
One of the best cookies I’ve ever had!!
I don’t know what I did wrong. They kept their shape when I cooked them. They were still a round mount, they did not spread out like the picture. What did I do wrong?
Hi Lynne, 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!
Same thing happened to me and I didn’t even put the full amount of flour:/ still love the flavor! Just disappointed with how tall my cookies are lol
Just baked my first batch today. They are really good. Softened the butter for 1 hr, but they still spread and flattened.
Hi Paul, here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading! Hope it helps for next time.
Hi Sally
Love your new cookbook, lot’s of wonderful goodies! Question for you, I’d like to make these and freeze them for my dad, do they freeze well?
Please advise….thank you!
Hi Ronda, yes, they do! See recipe Notes for freezing instructions.
one of my all-time fav cookies!!! question regarding the glaze: would it be suitable/safe to ship these cookies to friends so that they can enjoy them too? I estimate it would take 2-5 days for shipping, but because there is butter in the glaze I’m not sure if that’s safe. Thank you!
Hi Kate, we usually recommend refrigerating these after 2 days.
Instead of individual cookies could I make this into a slice recipe and how long would I cook for.
Hi Laura, we recommend a 9×9 inch baking pan for cookie bars. 350F, but we’re unsure of the bake time. You can use a toothpick to test the center for doneness. If it comes out clean, they’re done. Enjoy!
This is one of my all-time favourite cookie recipes and I look forward to making it every fall. The online recipe has more salt than the cookbook and I found the cookbook version was missing that salt and so I would always use a quarter teaspoon and not 1/8. Otherwise this recipe is 10/10!!
hi sally can I save the maple icing ? like freeze it or refrigerate ?
Hi Kat, you should be able to freeze or refrigerate the icing. You may need rewarm and whisk again to bring to the desired consistency.
Delicious! They turned out perfect and everyone loved them!
Great recipe Sally. Everyone loved these cookies. I ate way too many. I followed your recipe with no changes and they turned out perfectly. I especially like the size- I always weigh my ingredients so I also appreciate the grams you have listed.
Great recipe Sally. Everyone loved these cookies. I ate way too many. I followed your recipe with no changes and they turned out perfectly. I especially like the size- I always weigh my ingredients so I also appreciate the grams you have listed.
Loved these cookies! Usually don’t care for frosting, but really is delicious with this recipe. I didn’t have the maple extract, and next time I will definitely add!
BEST FALL RECIPE I make these every year and they’re always a hit wherever they go. They’re so so chewy and mapley and delicious. I brought them to my youth group last week and i had multiple people ask me for the recipe 🙂 Thank you Sally!
Could I roll these cookies and cut in a square?
Hi Michelle! This dough isn’t suitable for rolling out, but you could make them into bars! We recommend a 9×9 inch baking pan for cookie bars. If you would like to make cut out cookies, you could make these brown sugar cut-out cookies or these maple cinnamon star cookies.
Outstanding Cookie! The maple flavor is just enough, the texture was perfect. Not crumbly, not crispy, perfect. Recipe is incredibly easy too. Can’t wait to share them…..that is if any are left to share.
Loved this recipe! Didn’t have maple extract but was tasty regardless, just ofc remember it’ll be less maple-y. Definitely add the glaze and the pecans, they make it really tasty! I’m not a big frosting person, but I drizzled the glaze over, and this is a must-do especially if you didn’t use maple extract! Delicious and dangerous, I eat like four a day! Worth it though!
Do you measure powdered sugar before you sift or afterwards.
Not only for this but as a general rule.
Hi Donna, If a recipe calls for “1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, sifted”—measure the confectioners’ sugar, then sift it. If a recipe calls for “1 cup of sifted confectioners’ sugar”—sift the confectioners’ sugar then measure. It all depends where the word “sifted” is in the ingredient wording. If “sifted” is before the ingredient name, sift before measuring. If “sifted” is after the ingredient name, sift after measuring. Hope this helps!
If I want to make these 4 oz each cookie would they still bake up well?
Hi Perryn, we haven’t used this dough to make cookies that large. You can certainly give it a go, keeping in mind that the bake time will be longer.