Inspired by shortbread, these gluten free maple cookies are crisp, crumbly, and topped with a delicious whipped maple cream that is the perfect blend of sweet and creamy. Enjoy fulfilling your maple cravings with these delicious cookies, easy enough to get kids involved in the prep, and can be made ahead too.
Maple cookies are one of the main cookies I miss, from pre gluten free days. So these maple cookies are designed to be both quick, and simple, to make, while being filled with delicious maple flavor and maple-y goodness. Whip up a batch of cookie dough, and chill some for baking later in the month, or bake as soon as the dough is mixed, and enjoy fresh cookies as you like throughout December.
While Christmas Cookies often focus on peppermint, shortbread, and chocolate, these maple cookies can be a highlight for anyone who is gluten-free.
Gluten Free Maple Cookies:
Print
Gluten Free Maple Cookies for Holiday Celebrations
Description
Delicious, slightly crumbly, gluten-free maple cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour blend
Maple Cream:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
Instructions
- Soften butter in your mixing bowl
- Add sugar, egg, maple flavoring, and vanilla.
- Blend together with a fork until fluffy.
- Add gluten-free flour, and continue mixing with the fork until dough is evenly damp, and crumbly.
- Dough will be extremely crumbly, but will hold it’s shape when pressure is applied.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F
- Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Shape into rounds in the palm of your hand. Use about a tablespoon of dough per cookie. Press thumb down in the middle of the cookie to make an indent for the maple cream addition.
- Place on the tray, then bake for 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookie is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool.
- Top with maple buttercream.
Maple Buttercream:
- Soften butter in a medium bowl
- Add maple sugar and maple flavoring.
- Beat till fluffy with a whisk, (mechanical or by hand).
- Add the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached, start with 1/3rd cup and add additional sugar by tablespoons.
- Top cooled cookies with maple cream.
Notes
To chill cookie dough, place on cling wrap and press into a roll. Wrap securely and press until it’s fairly well combined. Chill for 1-3 hours. Chilled dough can be sliced and baked as normal (13 minutes instead of 12). Sliced cookies can be sandwiched together with the maple buttercream to make a more traditional maple cookie dupe.
Ingredients:
If you prefer using unsalted butter, make sure to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe. There is no baking soda in the recipe, as it is a shortbread.
Cookies:
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple extract or maple flavoring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour blend, or gluten-free all purpose flour.
Maple Cream:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
Directions:
- Add the softened butter to your mixing bowl.
- Add sugar, egg, maple flavoring, and vanilla to the bowl.
- Blend your wet ingredients together with a fork until fluffy. Or cream together in an electric mixer.
- Add gluten-free flour mixture, your dry ingredients, to the butter mixture, and continue mixing with the fork until dough is evenly damp, and crumbly.
- Dough will be extremely crumbly, but will hold it’s shape when pressed together. This helps give the finished cookie a crumbly texture.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F
- Prepare your cookie sheets with parchment paper, cookies can be placed close together as these won’t spread.
- Shape into rounds in the palm of your hand. Use about a tablespoon of dough per cookie. Press thumb down in the middle of the cookie to make an indent for the maple cream addition.
- Place on the tray, then bake for 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookie is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool.
- Make maple buttercream while waiting for cookies to cool, then top cookies with maple buttercream.
Maple Buttercream:
- Soften butter in a medium bowl
- Add maple sugar and maple flavoring.
- Beat till fluffy with a whisk, (mechanical or by hand).
- Add the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached, start with 1/3rd cup and add additional sugar by tablespoons. If the maple cream gets too heavy, add a touch of pure maple syrup to thin it out.
- Top cooled cookies with maple cream, sprinkle generously with sprinkles, candied nuts, or other toppings if desired.
Refrigerator Cookie Variation:
To chill cookie dough, place on cling wrap and press into a roll. Wrap securely and press until it’s fairly well combined. Chill for 1-3 hours in the fridge. Chilled dough can be sliced, laid out on your baking sheet, and baked as normal, add one minute baking time if the dough is still cold. These are a crisp, crumbly cookie rather than a cakey cookie, though it has some similarities with chewy cookies with the center being more chewy than crumbly.
Sliced cookies can be sandwiched together with softened maple buttercream to make a more traditional maple cookie dupe, rather than the more thumb-print cookie style initially described. The sandwich style is also easier to include in a cookie tin or gift box.
Variations on the cookie ingredients can include adding nuts or pecans, or substituting brown sugar for granulated sugar to make maple brown sugar cookies.
Storing:
Refrigerate cookies in an airtight tin, or container, for up to 2 weeks. To avoid the icing smearing, refrigerate in a single layer for 1 hour, then stack for longer term storage.
Let cookies stand for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving for the icing to soften.
Gifting Maple Cookies:
The thumbprint style maple cookie is perfect for presenting on a cookie tray, or gifting in a cookie display where nothing is stacked or pressing down on the top of the cookie. The maple buttercream is quite soft at room temperature. The sandwich version works great if you need to stack the cookies, as two cookies keep the maple buttercream well contained.
The stacked cookies work well in small bags, tied up with ribbon. They can be paired with a delicious hot cocoa mix, or a fun tea blend. Add a nice mug, candle, or book to round out the gift. Or check out Thrift-mas for more frugal and fun ways to gift this holiday season.
These are so delicious that there’s no need to worry about the storing of cookies, they’ll be gobbled up before you know it. But they make a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any-time-of the year treat.
This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.
This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.
Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.
Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
Leave a Reply