Maple Cookies

(Photo courtesy of Simply Recipes)

I am not a big sweets eater. Give me chips and dip and I'll be a happy girl. I prefer salt to sweet 9 times out of ten. However, these cookies from Simply Recipes showed up on my Google Reader this morning and I am drooling over them.

I'll be participating in a cookie exchange this season and I think these will be on the docket. The description of them was what really hooked me:

"I find the taste of maple syrup comforting. Its caramel sweetness and amber tone are like being wrapped up in a blanket with your loved one or sitting in front of a warm fire. Maple syrup is just so much of what's right with the world. Placing it in a cookie can only make it more so. It brings out maple syrup's sweet natural flavor and pairs it with the velvety taste of brown sugar and the bittersweet bite of fresh walnuts."

I love words almost as much as I love food. Delicious description. I am going to bake these soon and will let you know how they turn out. For now, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Maple Cookies Recipe

Be sure to use Grade B maple syrup (Grade B syrup is made late in the season and therefore has a darker, richer, more mapley flavor than Grade A) if you can for this recipe as it will stand up to the brown sugar and to baking. If all you have is Grade A then that's fine too.

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of maple syrup (Grade B preferably)
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugars together at medium speed for three minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix until well incorporated. Add the maple syrup and mix until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for thirty minutes.

Drop spoonfuls of the cookie, about 1 inch balls, onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen.

Delectable.

Rach