These soft and buttery Maple Pecan Cookies are topped with a maple icing and chopped pecans. You’ll love the combination of cozy spices like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg to elevate these cookies. No chilling of the dough, making these a simple cookie that can be ready in right around 30 minutes!
These buttery maple cookies might be my favorite cookie of all time. Considering I am mostly a chocolate recipe for dessert kind of gal, this statement should hold a lot of weight.
What makes them absolutely perfect? They are loaded with the best spices: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. They are soft and chewy, and topped with a maple glaze and chopped pecans. I also love that I can make a batch quickly and they are seriously devoured by just about everyone. A holiday cookie exchange? I recommend bringing these cookies. A potluck? Yes, everyone will love. A bake sale? You will want to sell these. A lazy fall Sunday where you want to bake? Oh yes, make these cookies!
As a nutritionist, I typically bake my cookies using almond flour. I love the addition of protein and healthy fats with almond flour, but these cookies just didn’t quite hit right when I went that route. I decided on all purpose flour for these with an option to use Gluten-Free flour. The result? Absolute perfection!
Ingredients for Maple Pecan Cookies
Here is what you need to make these delicious and soft cookies:
- All purpose flour: you can also substitute gluten-free flour.
- Baking soda
- Ground spices: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are here to give just the right amount of cozy and spice to these cookies! It really adds a punch of flavor.
- Salt: I prefer sea salt for these cookies and also love to dust the top with a pinch of sea salt
- Brown sugar: dark brown sugar adds depth of flavor to these cookies while still providing the best texture.
- Unsalted butter: use softened butter or butter at room temperature.
- Maple syrup: I prefer the robust and rich flavor of grade b maple syrup.
- Egg
- Powdered sugar: for the glaze on top, powdered sugar provides the base
- Milk: less than a tablespoon for the glaze is all you need! Dairy-free can also be used in its place.
- Pecans: chopped pecans are really the “icing on the cake” or in this case, cookie.
How to make buttery maple cookies
These cookies are really quite simple and come together easily. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
- Start by mixing together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy and fluffy. Now add in the maple syrup, and egg.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet until well combined.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 tbsp of dough per cookie.
- Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Remove from oven and let sit on a baking sheet for 5 minutes, then place on a cooling rack.
- Make the glaze by melting the butter and whisking with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Add in a splash of milk then keep whisking until completely smooth.
- Once cookies are cooled spoon glaze over each one and top with chopped pecans.
Storing these Cookies
My favorite way to store cookies is to place them in a freezer friendly container after baking. Each cookie takes about 20 minutes to come to room temperature. I love this method for a few reasons! First, it ensures that each cookie is perfectly fresh whenever I eat one. Second, it allows me to keep them for longer! If I keep a batch of cookies out at room temperature, we devour in just a few days. Freezing them keeps them out of sight and allows my family to savor each one when we enjoy.
Other Cookies you will love
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Molasses Cookies with Maple Glaze
- Oatmeal Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hungry for More? Subscribe to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Maple Pecan Cookies
These Maple Pecan Cookies are soft and perfectly spiced! Such a cozy cookie recipe that comes together easily without refrigerating the dough. The maple glaze on top with chopped pecans really adds depth to this cookie!
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1.5 cups All purpose flour*
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp Ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup Packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Butter, softened
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 large egg
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 tbsp butter, softened (almost melted)
- 1 tsp Milk
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
-
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
-
In a separate large bow, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at a high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add in the syrup and egg, beat until well incorporated.
-
Slowly add in the dry ingredients while beating on low. Continue to beat until the dough forms and no dry pockets remain (it will appear pretty crumbly).
-
Form the dough into 1.5 inch balls. It should make right around 2 dozen cookies. Place on the baking sheet and transfer to the heated oven. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Remove from the oven.
-
Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling wire rack.
-
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk together the softened/melted butter with the powdered sugar. Now whisk in syrup and add in a splash of milk as needed. The glaze should be smooth. Spoon the glaze on top of each of the individual cooled cookies. Top with crumbled pecans. Let sit for a few minutes before enjoying.
Recipe Notes
*You can use all purpose gluten-free flour in place of all purpose flour.
Leave a comment and rate this recipe