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.
We’re approaching a new season, so a new cookie recipe is in order. 🙂
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!
These Maple Brown Sugar Cookies Are:
- Not cakey
- Brown sugared and buttery
- Unbelievably chewy and soft in the center
- 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 touch and not melted in the slightest.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Ditch basic white sugar. For optimal flavor and texture, reach for brown sugar instead. 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.
- Bake until the edges are set. Cookies are done in about 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. Some ideas: banana scones and pumpkin 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
Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 28-30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With big flavor, crisp edges, mega chewy centers, and maple icing, 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.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 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 (80ml) pure maple syrup*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple extract*
- 1 cup (130g) chopped pecans*
Maple Icing
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar*
- pinch salt, to taste
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high 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.
- Pour the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then mix on low until combined. Add the pecans, then beat on low speed until combined. Dough will be creamy and soft.
- Cover and chill the dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator (and up to 3 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, though, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie. This cookie scoop is helpful. Bake each batch for 12-13 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven. If your warm cookies look puffy, lightly bang the pan on the counter when you remove it from the oven. That will help slightly deflate the cookies, creating lovely cracks as you see in the pictured cookies. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and maple syrup together, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Taste. Add a pinch of salt, if desired. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Icing will set after about 1 hour.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature 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 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar instead if needed.
- Maple Syrup: Avoid “breakfast 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 maple extract. You can find it in the baking aisle.
- Pecans: The pecans are optional, but add wonderful flavor and texture. I recommend unsalted, un-roasted pecans but feel free to use salted roasted pecans. Or feel free to leave them out or replace with 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.
These are next-level good!
I just made these cookies last night and everyone loved them! I have to make more now and I wondered if I could roll them into 3 tablespoon sized balls and increase the bake time to get larger cookies? Thanks 🙂
Hi Natasha, that should work just fine!
I followed the recipe perfectly, its just dry and crumbly? It wont hold together? I think it needs a cup of butter not a stick? I m a seasoned baker I cant believe no one else has mentioned this?
Hi Patti! 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. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Will these cookies hold shape as cut-outs? Even just a vague Christmas tree shape?
Hi Casey, this dough won’t hold its shape as cut-out cookies, but you might like these maple cinnamon cut out cookies instead!
Super delicious. I couldn’t find imitation maple extract anywhere – so instead I used bourbon and added chopped candied pecans. I also didn’t need* the icing maybe because of the extra sweet of the canided pecans, but it tasted good with and without!
I love these cookies so much and have made them several times with excellent results. I do have one question regarding your flour conversion: I find if I use the 291 grams my dough is still quite sticky and challenging to get it to release from the scoop properly so I end up rolling them after I get them out of it, even after it’s chilled for the 2 hours. I use Robin Hood flour (I’m in Canada) and I am in a climate controlled kitchen so humidity isn’t a factor, but I know different all purpose flours can absorb liquids differently. If I use Cook’s Illustrated’s conversion, it is equal to 331 grams, a difference of 40 grams! I have done that and have found the cookies puff up more and are a little too “cakey”, but they also don’t brown on the edges as quickly and the dough isn’t sticky. Is the stickiness normal and expected? When I use your conversion the results are delicious and the cookies don’t puff up nearly as much. They just browned on the edges more and the dough is harder to handle. I am thinking next time, I will add a little more flour, but not all 40 grams. My cookies are done in 10 minutes in my oven. Do you use a specific website for your volume to weight conversions? I am curious as to why there is such a difference. Thank you!
Hi Michelle! Stickiness is normal with this cookie dough. Here’s our guide for properly measuring baking ingredients!
As long as you’re proactive and plan to chill the dough for 2 hours as Sally recommends, these cookies are absolutely delicious and very easy to replicate. I made this recipe for the holiday, and everyone, including the little kiddos, loved the cookie! I’m going to make this an annual go-to cookie-thanks Sally!
Hi! I made the dough and froze it for me to make this weekend. I’m wondering- is there anyway to make these as cut out cookies?
Thank you!
Hi Olivia, this dough won’t hold its shape as cut-out cookies, but you might like these maple cinnamon cut out cookies instead!
These are the most delicious cookies I have ever made !! My husband and family are raving about them.
They are very easy to make and great to freeze for later.
I plan on putting these into my cookie and candy gifts for Christmas.
I made these cookies today and loved the taste of them! My issue is that the dough didn’t flatten as much in the 13 minutes of oven time. They looked done so I didn’t want to risk burning them. I followed the recipe almost exactly (spooned and levelled flour), except I omitted the maple extract for almond extract. Did I just need more baking time?
Hi Simran, When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. You used the spoon & level method. If you’re in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven. You can also take your big bowl of cookie dough and microwave it for 10 seconds to slightly warm it up before scooping/rolling/baking. Warm cookie dough spreads more. (This is what we do when we notice our cookies aren’t spreading!)
Am baking these now. Have followed the recipe scrupulously. However, my little balls (just like the ones pictured) did not flatten. Tapped them several times on the counter as you suggested but it did not help. Have flattened the balls with my fingers before baking but lose the nice crackled look. Any thoughts??
Hi Diane, how are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or weight measure) for most accurate results — too much flour can cause cookies to not spread as they should. This post on how to improve your next batch of cookies (see #2 — “What if my cookies AREN’T spreading?”) may also be helpful for next time. Thanks so much for giving these a try!
Mine stayed balls as well andcthe bottoms were too dark.
I’ve made these twice now. The first time, I had no vanilla extract after all, and omitted. They were still absolutely delicious.
This time I had everything, and measured the weighted ingredients to the gram. These ended up perfectly. My friends are in awe that I (novice baker) made these from scratch!!
These Maple Brown Sugar Cookies are a must to bake, not only for Fall, but anytime. The recipe, as Sally developed it and presented it, is perfect. Everyone in my family LOVED them!
We LOVE these cookies! I took them to a family reunion and my 87 year old aunt said they were the best cookies she had ever eaten, and that was without the glaze (I ran out of powdered sugar). I think they are even better with it, but either way they are amazing.
My first effort came out a little too cake-y. I followed Sally’s advice and reduced the amount of flour by one and a half tablespoons. And although I had spooned and leveled the flour the first time around, this time I made sure not to tap the cup against the counter as well. This time they came out just right and are tied with Sally’s Brown Sugar Cookies as the best cookies I’ve ever eaten. Totally delicious.
YUM YUM YUM! New favourite fall cookies for sure! They have been a huge hit with family and friends. Thank you!
Amazing!!! I made three pans of them and the first one tAsted floury but after I kept going I think it was just a tad under baked. They were soo good!
I loved this recipe and the cookies are amazing!!
OMG. These are the BEST cookies ever!! I usually share my cookies with my elderly neighbors and my husband’s boss but I don’t think that is going to happen. My husband may not even get any. All for me.
I just made the cookies and they are delicious. However, they are slightly more cake-like and slightly less chewy than I was expecting and than they were described. I scrupulously measured 1.5 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, because that’s how I am—-a scrupulous recipe follower, and baked them for 13 minutes. But do you think 1 tablespoon of dough next time and a shorter baking time would solve this problem? (But don’t worry, the cookies I’ve made ARE going to be eaten!)
Hi Janice, If the cookies were a bit cakey it’s possible there was slightly too much flour. Be sure to spoon and level your flour (or weigh!) and not scoop it. If you have been doing that you can try reducing the flour by a tablespoon or two if you try this recipe again.
I don’t usually leave reviews on recipe’s but with how many issues I’ve had with cookies I thought I should leave one.
These were absolutely amazing! I kid you not, the whole batch was gone in an evening. The cookie was soft, not too sweet and paired very well with the icing. They were also very simple and easy to make, which is a win from this busy mom. The only issue I had was with the icing being too thin. Luckily I could tell before I drizzled them on the cookies and added some extra powdered sugar until it was a good consistency.
10/10 recommend and I’m going to have to make these again very soon!
Truly the best cookie I’ve ever tasted. My chocolate loving husband also said the same thing about this cookie. This really puts all other cookies to shame! Will be making these again and again especially with the holidays coming up!
I love these cookies and made them several times last year. I am now gluten free and wondering how they would be if I use gluten free flour? Any thoughts?
Hi Diane, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this cookie so we’re unsure of the results. However, many readers have used 1:1 all-purpose gluten free flours like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup with success in our cookie recipes. If you do decide to give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes!
Any tips for the icing for those of us that live in warm humid Florida? It is finally starting to get a little cooler in the 80s now that it is late Oct. But that isn’t cool enough to set the icing. Help.
Placing the glazed cookies in the refrigerator to help set the icing should help. Or you can try reducing the maple syrup down to 3 Tablespoons, which will help the icing set since you’re removing some liquid. Drizzle it on the cookies lightly.
Fabulous cookies!! Perfect in every way!
Would I be able to double this recipe?
Sure can, Gracie!
Just literally double the ingredients?
Why not? Triple it, why would it make a difference?
Can you scoop the dough into cookie balls and fridge them before you bake them?
Hi Amy! We find it can be difficult to scoop the sticky dough before chilling. If you have a cookie scoop, it may work just fine!
The cookies came out great but the icing never set! Why would that be Sally?
Hi Donna, so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 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!
These cookies were absolutely delicious. I’m in Canada and was unable to find McCormick maple extract but did find the Club House brand and it worked perfectly, no weird fake flavour or aftertaste. These are quite possibly the best cookies I’ve ever made and honestly that surprises me given there isn’t even a shard of chocolate in them.
The cookies themselves had a great flavor and texture. The maple icing made the cookie way too sweet, if I make again I would omit the maple icing.
Can you skip the chilling and make this into bars.?
Hi Teara, Sure can! 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!