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
I’m going to try making these this week. Can vegan butter be substituted for the normal unsalted butter to make the recipe vegan friendly?
We haven’t tested any vegan substitutes, but please let us know how it goes if you do!
I used I can’t believe it’s not butter, and it came out perfect! (I left it out to soften at room temperature and everything). I also use Silk Soy milk when any recipe called for milk and never had any issues. (We are dairy sensitive). Hope this helps!
I’m a HUGE fan of SBA and l-o-v-e anything maple-y, so I was excited to try my hand at this recipe! Must say they FAR exceeded my expectations! My fiancé and I love to bake and consider ourselves cookie connoisseurs…we were both blown away by the flavor and texture of these delicious little maple gems! So much so that I promptly shared a dozen with my co-workers (who loved!) and my fiance declared them tied for his favorite cookie ever, right alongside chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for another killer recipe Sally! (I used Bee’s Knees Real Maple Habanero syrup which gave the cookies a mild kick of heat!)
I make these without the glaze. I am wanting to add bacon and am wondering if you could advise if you have ever tried this and if so, how much bacon you would recommend I add and when to add it. (Along with the pecans is what I am guessing.) Thanks!
Hi Michelle! We haven’t tested adding bacon to the dough. You can definitely add chopped cooked bacon to the top of the cookies – YUM!! Let us know if you try either 🙂
How many grams would your Maple and Brown Sugar cookie be after rolling in a ball.
Hi Cindy, we haven’t measured the dough balls before, but let us know if you do!
I love this cookie! And so do most people that happen to get one from me. I noticed when I refrigerated the dough after rolling it into balls, my cookies baked up much thicker. The batch that was baked immediately after rolling baked much flatter. I like them slightly puffier so I will incorporate a second chill after rolling.
Beware of these cookies!
We cannot stop eating them.
I made several types of cookies for a book club, this was my absolute favorite. I am a nut for maple. I will definitely add this to my regular rotation! I made the batter three weeks in advance and froze it. Came out great. My husband loved the lemon crinkle cookies.
I made these for teacher appreciation, they are so perfect and look like they came out of a magazine. Definitely making these again.
I tried some variations: chunks of maple candies, dried banana, and ginger. The maple candy was really good. Banana chips were amazing. Ginger was good but not complementary and would not recommend. Great recipe!
I can’t wait to make these! Just wondering do you use pure maple extract or imitation maple extract? I can’t get McCormicks in Canada.
Hi Cara, we use a pure maple extract, but imitation will work in a pinch, too. Enjoy!
This recipe has the BEST texture! The recipe is such a treat as it is written but the next time I made them I was craving chocolate so I omitted the maple extract and glaze and added chocolate chips. Best chocolate chip cookies ever!!! I am also picturing butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips and keeping the glaze. Possibilities are endless! This is a keeper!
LOVE these cookies and plan to add them to the regular rotation!!!
My friend ate 3 and took home 4 for her husband. She asked me several times “what makes these cookies so good?” I added a little maple extract to the icing to give it a little more maple flavor. Other than that small change, this recipe is pretty perfect.
I was so excited to make these but they did not spread out at all. They were still just round balls at end of baking. I bake all the time so not sure what happened?
I only chilled 2 hrs as instructed. Any idea what I could have done incorrectly
Hi Linda! When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. How are you measuring the flour? Make sure to use the spoon & level method (or weigh your ingredients). Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag because doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough.
This is a huge hit in our house! Crunchy edges, chewy centers, nutty and maple-y! Amazing
Absolutely scrummy. Made them 3 times. Made them for Macmillan coffee morning and they were very popular. I am in the UK and maple flavouring is very elusive, managed to get on a well known web site!
Honestly I love this recipe and have made it a few times, but it’s quite the place of privilege to assume everyone has a stand mixer, let alone with attachments.
Instructions recommend using a hand mixer OR a stand mixer (which typically comes with several attachment options, so recipes must specify which to use), but a mixer of some sort is usually required for baking; no presumptions there! Can’t wait to try this one out!
These cookies were very good! I decided to put bacon bits on some and finely chopped maple glazed walnuts on the others for a garnish. Yum!
Sounds amazing, Jo!
It was awesome! Just the amount of sweet and maple. Loved it!
The first time I made these cookies the dough was very easy to handle. The last few times the dough was so sticky I couldn’r roll them into a ball. I chilled it for 2 hrs as directed. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Carolina! The dough is sticky even after chilling for 2 hours? Make sure to start with proper room temperature butter and carefully measure all ingredients.
Wow. Fantastic cookie recipe. My husband and I really enjoyed these and can’t wait to share them. Thank you so much!
I’m wondering if I can make these cookies with Lyle’s Golden Syrup. This syrup goes beautiful for making pecan caramel tarts. So I hope for the cookies to.
Hi Chantelle, we haven’t tried this recipe with golden syrup, but please let us know how it goes if you do!
very very good! taking to a party for cookie tasting so they were the perfect size. first time and I made them as recipe said, no issues. i was impressed with how they turned out. the glaze/icing elevates without making it too sweet-it only took an extra 5 minutes; cookie is so tasty, def doesn’t need it though.
These are delicious. I made exactly as directed in recipe and everyone loves them.
Hello from Toronto!
I initially wanted to use up some leftover holiday baking ingredients. Used a combination of maple extract, rum extract, and vanilla extract. Added sea salt caramel chips (1 cup) and crushed waffle cones (1 cup). Used maple syrup from Costco. Sprinkled with fleur de sel when they came out of the oven. I didn’t make the glaze. These cookies are just… *chefs kiss*. House smells absolutely incredible and hot out of the oven these cookies taste like pancakes/waffles! I’m considering making these cookies as the favour for my wedding!!
Just tried this recipe today and the cookies are delicious, but it the stated yield is quite misleading. The recipe doesn’t yield anywhere near 28-30 cookies (which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5). I doubled it and only got 40 cookies total and my cookies were NOT even big. I’m super frustrated because I was supposed to bake for a huge number of people and I’ve run out of time and I’m at least a dozen cookies short of what I need. Will you please change the numbers on this recipe to say 18-20 cookies instead of 28-30?? That would be so helpful. Thank you!
I got exactly 28 mid size cookies.
Just made these! Oh my , so good! I added 1/2 tsp more of the maple extract to the glaze for more maple flavor ( hubby loves that!)! Would make again. Very easy and quick!
So excited to try and make these, but i’ve gone to 6 stores and for the life of my i can’t find maple extract. Is there anything i can substitute it for at all? I don’t like deviating from recipes, but am dying to try these haha.
Hi Jenn, are you able to order some online? The maple extract really brings out the flavor in these cookies!
I ordered maple extract from Amazon b/c I couldn’t find it in the stores!
They sell maple extract at Walmart. If not in the store, can get online. Hope that helps!
I was able to find at at my local INFRA store! It is more expensive of course being organic but organic stores tend to have good assortment of otherwise hard to find items, including a lot of chem-free / non-gmo labels, the store is also able to place an order in case they don’t have it in the store, and they’ll often get the store/case discount if they do so it ends up working out price-wise in case they’re out!
Delicious. best cookies I’ve ever made. So I made them big 3 tlbs of dough per cookie. They were too good to make small. Next time I think I’ll make them bigger. I also added 1/2 tsp. Of maple flavoring to the glaze for a little more flavor. I mistakingly let the syrup boil before adding the confectioners sugar to it. So the glaze hardened before I got to all the cookies. The Glaze turned to fudge but what’s bad about fudge. I think they were even more delicious.
Absolutely amazing cookies! If you have a recipe for a cookie I want to make, I will ALWAYS use yours! Thanks for all the amazing recipes!!