Christmas cookie blog hop- maple sugar cookies

It's Christmas time, pretty babies.  
And you know what that means?
Cookies.
Well, it means more than that, 
but for today it means cookies.
Today I'm so excited to be participating in a blog hop with some stellar ladies and sharing recipes for some of our favourite (and Santa's favourite) treats.
At the end of the post, you'll be able to click over and see the other bits of deliciousness.


Don't those look good!

I'm adding a little Canadian twist (maple-ization) to one of the favourites in our house- sugar cookies.

Sugar cookies are a holiday staple for me- growing up my mom cranked them out in whatever shape suited the holiday (hearts, pumpkins, bells) and we gobbled them right up.  

My kids are following in my crumbs.


This is a really simple recipe with way less refined sugar (especially if you don't ice them) than usual.

I substituted a cup of white sugar in the recipe with a half cup of maple syrup (real maple syrup, not table syrup)- syrup is sweeter than sugar, so you don't need as much.  By no means am I saying these are healthy (cause I just don't do healthy cookies) but it has less sugar.
Until you douse it with sugary icing.



This is the syrup I used.

After you make your cookie dough, you will need to chill it for a least 4 hours or overnight before you roll it out and cut out your favourite shapes.



With this cookie, I like to roll out the dough fairly thin, as I like these a little crispier- try to roll it out (on a well floured surface) to 1/4 inch or so.  You could go thinner, but you have to adjust your baking time to make sure you don't burn them.




I'm no cookie decorator- as you can see.  
I can do simple and I try to make it cute.  
I make a thicker glaze and put it into squeeze bottles to ice - it's easier to handle and to wash up afterwards.
I trace the outline of the cookie and then flood the shape so my glaze is pretty smooth and hopefully doesn't run off the edges too badly.




I hope you enjoy these, they're super yummy and they look cute on a cookie plate or as a gift for someone you love.




Maple Sugar Cookies
(adapted from flour by Joanne Chang)

1 cup butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup maple syrup (real maple syrup, not table syrup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon maple extract
3 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt


Glaze

3 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons milk
food colouring (optional)

Cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
Add in maple syrup, eggs and maple extract- the mixture may get a little clumpy, but that's ok.

In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix together.

Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.

One dough is mixed well and all the flour is incorporated, turn out onto a floured surface and separate into two pieces.

Flatten each piece into a disc, wrap well and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On a well floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
Cut into desired shapes and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack fully before icing.

Mix glaze ingredients in a medium sized bowl and pour into squeeze bottles.  Glaze or ice as desired.

Check what my friends are serving up for you today....

More Delicious Christmas Cookie Recipes:

For more Christmas cookie recipes, make sure you check out the delicious recipes below!

Swiss Mountain Shortbread by Kim of Kim Power Style 

German Iced Spice Christmas Cookies by Christina of The DIY Mommy 

Slice and Bake Shortbread Cookies by Jo-Anna of A Pretty Life in the Suburbs 

Cathedral Window Cookies by Rita of Harbour Breeze Home 

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti by Kendra of Joy In Our Home 

Cranberry Orange Shortbread by Jen of Kitchen Counter Chronicles 

Holiday Crinkle Cookies by Lisa of Fabulous Habits 

Maple Shortbread Snowflakes by Laura of one house 2 barns 

Ritz Cracker Bark (aka Crookies) by Courtenay of Creek Line House 

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cookies by Jennifer of Happily Organized Chaos 

Earl Grey Snowball Cookies by Tan of Squirrelly Minds 

Gingerbread Cookies by Dannyelle of Life is a Party

Comments

Tan said…
WOAH how have I never had/made MAPLE sugar cookies before!??? Mmmm
These look so good Laura! I LOVE how you decorated them...so cute!
kimpowerstyle said…
You can't go wrong with a sugar cookie and they'r so cute too!
Unknown said…
Maple sugar cookies....game changer :) Can't wait to try these!!