Sweet and Salty Glazed Maple Cookies

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Listen, I know I’ve already posted so many other cookie recipes. So if you’re thinking, “Another one? This girl is out of control!” I can’t argue. But hear me out:

No matter how many other types of recipes I try – from cakes to soup to meat to vegetables – it’s still cookies that I love the most.

Vertical image of homemade maple glazed cookies on a red cloth and a white serving dish, printed with orange and white text.

So did my grandma. I wish I could remember the first time I had a cookie – do you? One of my earliest memories is of stirring batter in Grandma’s kitchen, anticipating the trays we would pull out of the oven.

Overhead shot of a decorative white ceramic serving dish of cookies with more on a red cloth, on a brown wood surface.

It’s as if I’ve always liked cookies and they’ve always been there, unlike kale or cheese or spinach or fish, or something else I had to grow to enjoy.

A stack of six maple glazed cookies in the foreground, with more on a red cloth and a white serving dish in soft focus in the background.

While there is certainly value in changing perceptions, there is also value in keeping some intact, in having at least a few things that are unvarying, lifelong loves. Cookies are like that for me.

Overhead shot of maple glazed homemade cookies on a decorative white ceramic serving dish and a red cloth.

Cookies are pure comfort and nostalgia and they make me happy, so that’s my number one excuse for posting this recipe. And these are some really, really good cookies.

A hand with burgundy manicured nails holds a cookie up to the camera, with more in the background on a white serving dish and a red cloth, on a striped brown wood surface.

When I saw a similar version on another website, they caught my attention immediately. I had most of the ingredients that I needed already on hand, and the recipe seemed very simple to mix, form, bake, and glaze. I changed things up a bit to make them my own, and here they are!

A stack of maple glazed cookies with a bite taken out of the top one in the foreground, with more on a white ceramic pedestal serving dish and a red cloth in the background.

These delicious treats combine sweet and salty flavors, kind of like caramel corn or a salted caramel chocolate chip cookie. If you’re feeling a bit down, I’m sure baking a batch of these cookies will make you feel better. It’s always worked for me! And they’re perfect for sharing.

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Oblique shot of maple glazed cookies sprinkled with salt on a red cloth surface.

Glazed Maple Cookies


  • Author: Shanna Mallon
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 40 cookies 1x

Description

Say goodbye to boring baked goods and try something a little different, like this tasty glazed maple cookie that’s both sweet and salty.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp + 2 Tbsp coarse sea salt, divided
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup, divided
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  4. Beat in 1/2 cup maple syrup and the egg yolks. With the mixer on low, beat in flour mixture.
  5. Using a tablespoon scoop, drop batter 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Using a flat-bottomed glass dipped in flour, flatten cookies to 1/4-inch thickness.
  6. Bake 12-15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until they are golden brown around the edges. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
  7. In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, 1 cup maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
  8. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies. Sprinkle each with a little salt. Let sit at room temperature until the glaze is set.
  9. Adapted from Kelly Carámbula’s recipe at The Best Remedy.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Cookies
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Keywords: holiday baking, maple, cookie

Cooking By the Numbers…

Step 1 – Soften Butter and Measure Remaining Ingredients

Leave two sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature until they have warmed to room temp.

If you need to do this quickly, you can microwave the unwrapped butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds at 30% power. This will take a little longer if the butter was frozen. Set aside.

Overhead shot of all of the ingredients required to make the recipe, including bowls of flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, butter, salt, and maple syrup, on a striped wood background.

Measure out all remaining ingredients as listed in the ingredients list.

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Step 2 – Combine Dry Ingredients

Add flour and salt to a medium bowl.

Overhead shot of a stainless steel mixing bowl of flour, on a brown wood surface.

Whisk to combine and set aside.

Step 3 – Combine Wet Ingredients

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes.

Sticks of butter and sugar in the bottom of a stainless steel stand mixer bowl, on a wood surface.

Scrape down the sides as you go, to make sure all of the sugar is incorporated well.

Creamed butter and sugar in a stainless steel mixing bowl, on a wood countertop.

Beat in 1/2 cup maple syrup and the egg yolks until well combined.

A butter, sugar, and egg mixture in a stainless steel bowl, on a wood surface.

For something a little different, try a flavored maple syrup like this cinnamon-infused syrup from Stonewall Kitchen.

Square image of a glass bottle of cinnamon-infused maple syrup, isolated on a white background.

Cinnamon-Infused Maple Syrup, available from Stonewall Kitchen

Beat in dry ingredients on low speed until combined.

Step 4 – Portion and Bake

Overhead closely cropped shot of a stainless steel stand mixer bowl of cookie dough with a metal scoop, on a brown striped wood surface.

Drop tablespoonfuls of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart.

Three portioned balls of dough on a blue and beige silicone pan liner set into a rimmed baking sheet, on a wood surface.

Flour the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass, then gently press down on the tops of the dough balls to flatten.

A pint glass rests in a small glass bowl of flour, on top of a silicone pan liner with portioned dough arranged around it, set into a rimmed baking sheet.

The portioned dough should be about 1/4-inch thick.

A pint glass being used to flatten round balls of dough, on a blue and tan silicone pan liner set into a rimmed baking sheet, on a striped wood surface.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. The cookies should be golden brown on the edges.

Overhead shot of maple glazed homemade cookies on a wire cooling rack set into a rimmed metal baking sheet pan.

Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Step 5 – Glaze

These need to be completely cooled before you glaze them.

A wire whisk stirs a beige maple and sugar glaze in a stainless steel mixing bowl, on a striped wood surface.

Add powdered sugar, 1 cup maple syrup, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine completely.

Overhead shot of maple cookies on a metal cooling rack set into a rimmed baking sheet.

Spoon the glaze over the top and sprinkle each with a little salt. Let sit for about 30 minutes, or until the glaze is set.

Cookies may be stored in airtight containers between layers of waxed paper for 3-4 days.

‘Tis The Season to Bake!

This time of year is the best time to do all the baking you can. Bring out the old recipes, but don’t forget to try something new this holiday season.

Oblique shot of maple glazed cookies sprinkled with salt on a red cloth surface.

Check out some of our favorite holiday cookie recipes below:

The only question is, which recipe will you make first this week? Tell us in the comments below, and be sure to come back to rate this recipe once you’ve tried it.

Photos by Meghan Yager, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on November 11, 2009. Last updated: December 30, 2019 at 9:38 am. With additional writing and editing by Meghan Yager and Allison Sidhu.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.

About Shanna Mallon

Shanna Mallon is a freelance writer who holds an MA in writing from DePaul University. Her work has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The Kitchn, Better Homes & Gardens, Taste of Home, Houzz.com, Foodista, Entrepreneur, and Ragan PR. In 2014, she co-authored The Einkorn Cookbook with her husband, Tim. Today, you can find her digging into food topics and celebrating the everyday grace of eating on her blog, Go Eat Your Bread with Joy. Shanna lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with Tim and their two small kids.

18 thoughts on “Sweet and Salty Glazed Maple Cookies”

  1. I have to say, cookies do make everything better. My mom prefers the traditional CCC, but I like to branch out. Especially when I really need some comfort food. PB&J cookies, chocolate cherry cookies, snickerdoodles, shortbread…
    I was going to make some pumpkin chocolate cookies Monday night but after this weekend’s disaster (you definitely need to read that story on my blog- crazy, absolutely crazy) I skipped everything pumpkin and went for apple cider pound cake. The caramel made up for the lack of cookies, but hey, a cookie would be really good right about now…
    Are you anywhere near Lombard? Care to drop some off to my work this morning? 🙂

    Reply
  2. I was drawn to these cookies on EMR too! I don’t remember my first cookie but my mom has told me the first time I ever had a chip (or salt for that matter). She would feed me lots of unsalted veggies and what not and I was at a friends party when i was 3 and there was a bowl of chips on the coffee table that I was able to reach. She just said that my eyes lit up with the first particle of salt hit my tongue. It was all downhill from there.

    Reply
  3. Too funny – I was just baking cookies and thinking about my grandma & great grandma last night. These look pretty awesome, but since I’m currently working my way through 2 other types of cookie right now… 🙂

    Reply
  4. I have a question for you, oh wise one. I seem to have a hard time beating together room-temperature butter and sugar. How room-temp should the butter be? Soft but not melted? Still a little cold? I know it should be obvious, and maybe it’s just my old mixer, but I always end up with chunks of butter flying around the bowl, refusing to stick together and be beaten. It sounds to me like the butter is too cold, but I didn’t want to melt it in the microwave. Is it bad to liquefy the butter? Will that mess up the creaming-together process?

    Reply
  5. Anything to make us feel better, yes, and cookies always make you feel better. These little guys with their shiny tops look splendid! I can’t remember my first cookie, but I have seen someone’s first cookie and it was all about getting as much into his little mouth as he could!

    Reply
  6. Niki, I still can’t believe your horrible pumpkin experience! No wonder you went with the apple cider pound cake (which sounds delicious). And hey, I work very close to Lombard – we should meet up sometime!

    Whitney, I LOVED that story of your first chocolate chips. Priceless. Totally made my morning.

    Caitlin, Story of my life, friend. Cookies, cookies, cookies. Love that they make you think of your grandmas, too.

    Lainey, There’s room in our hearts for lots of cookie love, right? Try these!

    Kickpleat, Ha at the term cookie bender – that is SO me. Always.

    Kim, Well, I usually just take butter out of the fridge, go do something else and come back to it, and it will be soft enough that I can mush it around in the bowl with other stuff. Yours is still too hard then, huh? That’s weird! I will say – When I’ve been impatient, I have tried microwaving and, I swear, it changed the texture of things. Hmmn. I guess just play around with options and see what works best for you. It could have to do with your mixer, but I don’t know!

    Julia, The image of a little guy getting as much cookie into his mouth as possible is just too perfect. Love it. Thanks for sharing!

    Sue, Yes!

    Reply
  7. you can never have too many cookie recipes! I love them. Can’t remember my first cookie, but I know I have adored so many kinds. So keep them coming!

    Reply
  8. Hannah, I have had your pecan sandies bookmarked for a while now. You are NOT a terrible cookie maker, and I don’t want to hear another word about it! I can’t imagine anything you making turning out badly, in fact.

    Jennifer, Right? Love salty/sweet so much!

    JessieV, Me, too!

    Sara, Ha! Spoken like a true cookie lover. No wonder I like you!

    Reply
  9. OMG. Delicious. I think I have to make all of these recipes that you’ve been posting this weekend. I’m not much of a baker but I love to try:)

    Reply

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