Maple Sugar Cookie Recipe
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This maple sugar cookie recipe is a great healthy alternative to the refined sugar version. Add these to your Christmas cookie swap.
I don’t like to let holidays pass by without a dose of sugar cookies. A simple set of cookie cutters is all you need to make fun shapes for each special season.
This maple sugar cookie recipe is a real food version of the classic. The dough is easy to work with, so kids can help make these yummy treats. The maple flavor shines through in this delicious holiday cookie.
Maple Sugar Cookie Recipe Tips
You can eat these maple cookies plain or decorate them with whatever icing you like. I’m including a simple maple frosting recipe here, but you could also use a simple maple glaze. If you want to color the frosting, I recommend avoiding artificial food coloring.
Instead of using those little dye bottles full of chemicals for this maple sugar cookie recipe, you can color your frosting with natural dyes. My homemade Easter egg dye post will help give you some natural food coloring ideas. You can also find natural dyes at many grocery stores.
Step by Step Instructions for this Maple Sugar Cookie Recipe
Step One: Prepare the cookie dough
To make the dough for this maple sugar cookie recipe, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, milk, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix until a uniform dough forms. (You can mix by hand, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.) The dough will be a bit sticky at this point. Shape the dough mixture into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
Step Two: Roll dough
After the dough solidifies a bit in the fridge, place it on a floured work surface or silicone mat. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. (Note: You’ll probably need to add a few tablespoons of flour to the dough if the dough is too sticky to roll. Don’t add too much, though, or the cookies will come out dry.) Shape dough into different shapes using cookie cutters.
Step Three: Bake the cookies
Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies begin to get brown. If the tops start to brown, they’ll be a bit dry. This maple sugar cookie recipe should yield soft cookies.
Step Four: Decorate the cookies
When the cookies have cooled completely, decorate each one with a layer of frosting. Store the maple cookies in an airtight container.
Try my dairy free sugar cookies and gluten free snickerdoodles for other allergy-friendly holiday desserts.
Maple Sugar Cookies
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbs. milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the icing
- 1/4 cup softened butter or butter substitute
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, milk, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix until a uniform dough forms. The dough will be a bit sticky at this point.
- Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- After the dough solidifies a bit in the fridge, place it on a floured work surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. (Note: You’ll probably need to add a few tablespoons of flour to the dough if the dough is too sticky to roll. Don’t add too much, though, or the cookies will come out dry.)
- Cut the cookies into shapes using 3-inch cookie cutters (or similar).
- Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies begin to get brown. If the tops start to brown, they’ll be a bit dry.
- To make the frosting, whip the frosting ingredients in a mixer for about one minute. It should become smooth and the color should be uniform (light tan).
- When the cookies have cooled completely, decorate each one with a layer of frosting. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Approximate Nutrition Info
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Maple Sugar Cookie Recipe Price Breakdown
This recipe yields about 24 cookies using 3-inch cookie cutter shapes, and it costs $3.50 to make ($.15 per cookie). This recipe is a healthier alternative to typical, overly-sweetened sugar cookies, but these taste just as good.
The whole family loved these cookies! We whipped the frosting for several minutes before we could work with it. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Prepared the batter as written. Soup. Thinner than pancake batter. I added probably a whole entire cup more flour before it looked like the dough in the photo. I get that adjustments are necessary when people are using different types of flours, but I can’t see this recipe working for anyone as is.
I’m not sure how that would have happened. I’ve made this recipe many times with success. I hope it worked well once you adjusted the flour.
What can I use as a sub for the coconut oil to make these also nut free? Thank you!!
You could try softened butter, or a butter substitute like Earth Balance.
The first time I made these cookies I only added 2 tsp. milk. The second time, I added 2 Tbsp. (per recipe) and regretted it, as they were even MORE sticky than the first time. So next time I’ll do tsp. milk again.
I don’t have patience rolling out this gluten-free dough and using cookie cutters, even though I added a tsp. of baking binder, so I’ve been taking about a tablespoon of dough and spreading it out in the bottom of muffin tins, then baking them for 8 minutes in the muffin tins. This is far easier for me and the cookies probably taste just as good. I’ve made some that are thicker than a cookie–more like a small tart. Either way, they pop right out of the tins when baked!
BTW, I’m on a very strict elimination diet–no gluten, very low histamines, no salicylates–and this is the only cookie recipe I could find that works with my diet restrictions. Thank you, Annemarie!
What gluten free flour do you suggest for this recipe? Thanks
Evie, here’s my homemade gluten-free flour mix: https://realfoodrealdeals.com/homemade-gluten-free-flour-mix/ I also like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gf flour blend.
Thanks SO much for sharing this! I have an Earl Grey tea addiction at the moment so I added tea leaf – turned out perfect and the aroma has gone through the whole house 🙂
Perfect little snack for my daughters lunch box and with my tea!
Thanks for letting me know. So glad you liked it!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! These are Amazing! I have tried other healthier versions of sugar cookies and they were awful. These are Better than regular sugar cookies! This is now my go to recipe!
You’re welcome, Jean! I’m so glad you like these maple sugar cookies. They’re a bit addictive, arent’ they?
Hi, these cookies turn out well, but the frosting was a dismal failure. At first it was a buttery syrup but soon turned into curds and syrup, just fine for waffles. The cookies were yummy on their own though.
Sorry to hear that, Bethany. Did you use butter or palm oil shortening?
I used Kerrigold butter.
I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I wonder if the temperature of the ingredients was at play.
Here’s a tip… do not let the dough get too warm before cutting-out or going in the oven! The first sheet I baked are perfect. The second sheet (baked in same oven at same time) are completely gnarly. They are the ugliest cookies I have ever laid eyes on.
Thanks for the tip, Danielle. I hope the second batch still tastes good. 🙂
Hey Annemarie! Thank you so much for fixing the link to this and other recipes. I made these with tapioca flour. They are great! I tried using cookie cutters, but it didn’t work. So I rolled balls and pressed them down instead. Also, I added about a half cup more of flour because it was soupy, there was no way to roll it into a ball. Next time I will try it with white all-purpose and cookie cutters. I have not tried the icing yet. Thanks again.
I’m glad it worked for you, Tammany. Different flours will always need varying amounts of liquid, so I’m glad your adjustment worked. When I use my flour for this recipe, the dough solidifies nicely in the refrigerator for rolling.
We just made these (they look amazing and are in the oven!) But the frosting did NOT work… I made it exactly as written but it got clumpy and the buyer and syrup didn’t mix…
I’m sorry to hear about the icing, Nicole. It sounds like the butter wasn’t softened enough. If it’s still solid, it won’t mix properly with the maple syrup. You may be able to salvage it by heating the icing mixture slightly in a small pot on the stove top so the butter chunks melt a bit. Then try whipping it for another minute in the mixer. Good luck!
I’ve been thinking about making hanukkah cookies with cookie cutters I recently bought, and now I have the perfect batter! Thank you and happy holidays!
So, I tried to make these today but the dough was way too sticky! Do you think they need more than 1 and 1/4 cup of flour? I made exactly exactly as written, but it didn’t work for me. Any ideas?
Sorry to hear that, Sarah. This dough starts out sticky for me, but it solidifies nicely in the refrigerator. I do add in a bit more flour (1-2 tbs.) on my work surface when I roll it out. If the dough is coming out too sticky for you, add extra flour on your work surface. Add enough into the dough until it’s the right consistency for rolling. You don’t want it too dry or else the cookies will come out crumbly.
I made the maple cinnamon apple sauce the other day. (It was amazing!) With all this maple syrup use, I’ll have to go back to my local sugar shack before their “Maple Sugar Sunday” event next March! Happy holidays and a peaceful new year to you and yours.
Thanks, Anna! I can’t even tell you how many gallons of maple syrup I go through in a year. It’s so good. I’m glad to hear you liked the applesauce. I just ate the last little bit in our jar. The kids will be disappointed that it’s gone.