The Bread and Breakfast It’s a special time of year friends! No, not because it’s my birthday this week. No, not because Spring Oreos are out in stores…finally. No, not because Dunkin’ Donuts has Girl Scout flavored coffee…BUT, because it’s maple sugaring season! As we all wait patiently for our favorite trees to be tapped, it’s time to prepare. As my favorite sugar shack owner, Spencer, suggested, the rest of this month on The Bread and Breakfast shall be known as not March Madness, but Maple Madness. That’s right, three weeks in a row of my favorite ways to use this sugary substance of the gods. This week, we’re starting strong with Maple Spice Cookies.
These guys are, hands down, my newest favorite cookie for SO many reasons. Primarily, they’re simple. Because there are no crunchy bits, or add-ins used in these cookies, the maple really shines. To make them, you’ll follow our normal cookie making procedure, and start by mixing your dry ingredients together. You’ll be using quite a few spices here. If you don’t have all of these on hand, cinnamon and ginger would be the most important ones to make sure you use.
Then, we’ll cream together the sugar and butter. We’re using only brown sugar here for two reasons. First, brown sugar has already been combined with molasses, which adds a different kind of sweetness to the cookies. The molasses will compliment the maple well, later on. Second, brown sugar leads to a puffier and fluffier texture in our baked cookies. (You’ll thank me later.) Once your sugar and butter are creamed, add in the egg, syrup, and vanilla.
After you’ve combined the contents of your wet and dry bowls, it’s time for the fun part! Using your hands, scoop out about two tablespoons worth of dough, and shape a uniform ball. Roll this guy in granulated sugar, and repeat! The coating on the outside will lead to a slight crunch later on, after baking.
Now, you KNOW how much I believe in chilling your dough. And, you KNOW all of the bad things that could happen if you don’t. But you also know that this girl loves a shortcut. That’s why, this week, I shaped the cookies before chilling. Due to the fact that the cookies were rather small, I only had to chill the balls for 15 minutes before baking, as opposed to chilling the entire batch of dough for the normal 2 hours! After that, it’s only another 9-10 minutes in the oven until it’s time to chow down!
There you have it friends; the perfect way to put that newly bottled syrup to use. These Maple Spice Cookies are amazingly soft, and have a variety of spicy and sweet flavors that compliment each other so well. Plus, they’re small, so you can definitely eat more than one.
Next week, we’re continuing our month of Maple Madness, with a breakfast food you might not expect. Until then, stay tuned and stay hungry!
Erin
P.S: Check out Maplewood Farm’s Facebook here! You won’t be sorry!
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp five spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar for rolling
- Combine dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, spices. Set aside.
- Cream together softened butter and brown sugar.
- Beat in egg, maple syrup, and vanilla.
- Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet. Be careful not to overmix.
- Portion dough into 2 TBS balls. Roll in granulated sugar.
- Chill dough for 15 minutes.
- Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes.