These maple sugar cookies are the perfect sweet, buttery treat. Unlike most sugar cookies, they are sweetened with maple syrup but still have that same flavor and crunch. They're made with only 6 simple ingredients and make the perfect cut-out cookies to decorate with your little ones!

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Chill Time: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 20 cookies

Ingredients 

Maple Sugar Cookies

• ▢ 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup maple syrup
• ▢ 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• ▢ ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt
• ▢ 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

Optional Cookie Icing

• ▢ ½ cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp milk, or water

Instructions 

• Add the softened butter and maple syrup to a bowl and use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to cream them together on high speed until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.

• Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt to the bowl and mix on medium speed until incorporated, about 1 minute.

• Add in the flour and mix on low speed until it forms a dough. It may seem crumbly at first, but it will form into a soft dough. Do not overmix. It will be slightly sticky but will firm up once it chills.

• Scoop the dough into a small bowl and cover it tightly. Place the bowl in the fridge to allow the dough to chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. This step is important and it will allow the flour time to hydrate and make it easier to roll out.

• After at least an hour, place the chilled dough on the counter to allow it to slightly soften as you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

• Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour on a sheet of parchment paper and place the dough on top. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick for crunchy cookies. If you prefer softer cookies, roll it out slightly thicker.

• Use cookie cutter shapes to cut out the dough directly on the sheet of parchment paper. Peel away the scraps and reroll them out to cut out more shapes from the dough until all of the dough is used. Add additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. Transfer the parchment paper directly to the baking sheet. Doing this helps prevent the shapes from becoming distorted from transferring them.

• Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating them.

• To make homemade cookie icing, mix powdered sugar and milk with a fork until smooth, adding a little more liquid as needed until you reach the desired consistency. Frost the cookies and add sprinkles immediately, before the icing hardens and sets.

Notes

• The dough may seem a little sticky at first, but it will firm up once it chills. If the dough still seems sticky when you are rolling it out, add a little more flour to the surface/rolling pin to prevent it from sticking, or roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper.
• I like to cut out cookie shapes directly on a sheet of parchment paper and transfer that sheet directly onto a baking pan to bake. This helps prevent the shape cutouts from getting distorted.
• Make sure to let the cookies cool completely before decorating. They will be soft at first right out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
• If you prefer softer cookies, roll them out a little thicker and bake them for 8 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies, roll them out thinner and bake them for 10 minutes.
• Make sure that your butter and egg yolk are at room temperature beforehand. Cutting butter up into cubes will help it come to room temperature quickly.

Nutrition

Calories: 73kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 30mg, Potassium: 20mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 118IU, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 0.4mg