Autumn Maple Leaf Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
• Cook until milk solids stop crackling and turn amber (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
• Transfer butter mixture to a small bowl, scraping pan to include milk solids.
• Cover and cool butter mixture in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until soft and congealed but not firm.
• Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.
• Combine chilled butter mixture and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes).
• Add syrup, flavoring, and 1 egg white to butter mixture; beat at low speed 2 minutes or until well blended.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat on low speed until blended.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Place walnuts and turbinado sugar in a food processor; pulse 15 times or until mixture is coarsely ground.
• Place remaining 1 egg white in another small bowl; stir with a whisk.
• Working with one portion of the dough at a time (keep remaining dough chilled until use), roll dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface, and cut with a 2 1/2-inch cutter.
• Place cookies, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
• Gently brush tops of cookies with egg white; sprinkle evenly with half of walnut mixture.
• Bake for 12 minutes or until pale brown.
• Remove cookies from pan; cool completely on wire racks.
• Repeat procedure with remaining dough, egg white, and walnut mixture.

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar together.
• Add 1/2 cup of maple syrup and egg yolk, mix well.
• Sift in flour and salt, combine well.
• Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap and chill about 2 hours (this makes rolling and cutting the cookies possible. If you skip the chilling step you will have a huge mess when you try to roll them out!).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll dough 1/8 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters (leaf shapes are the most fun!).
• Place on baking sheet (ungreased is fine).
• Bake apx 12 minutes.
• Cool on pan about 5 minutes and move to wire rack (leave them too long and they will stick!).
• To make glaze- combine 1/2 cup maple syrup and 2 cups powdered sugar (be sure to sift the powdered sugar if you don't want lumpy glaze!). You can dip, drizzle or pipe on the glaze. You can easily cut the glaze in half- it makes a lot!

Steps:

• Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl. Beat butter and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add yolk, then 1/2 cup maple syrup, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Shape into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a sheet of lightly floured parchment. Place parchment with dough on baking sheet. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment, and coat parchment. Cut out cookies from frozen dough using a 3 1/2-inch maple-leaf-shaped cutter, and space 1 inch apart on sheets. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake cookies until edges begin to turn golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks, and let cool for 5 minutes. Brush cookies with 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and sprinkle with 1/2 the sanding sugar. Let cool. Repeat with remaining dough, maple syrup, and sugar. (Cookies will keep for up to 2 days.)

Steps:

• Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg yolk. Add 1/2 cup syrup; mix well. Gradually add flour, mixing well after each addition.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each half into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap individually in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours.
• Roll out each dough disc on lightly floured parchment sheet to 1/8-inch thickness. Transfer parchment to baking sheet; freeze 15 min. or until dough is firm.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Use 2-1/2-inch maple leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut dough into 68 cutouts, rerolling scraps as necessary. Place cutouts, 1 inch apart, on parchment-covered baking sheets.
• Bake 10 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Mix cream cheese, maple extract and 1 Tbsp. of the remaining maple syrup in medium bowl until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing well after each addition.
• Brush remaining maple syrup evenly onto tops of 34 cookies; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Spread cream cheese mixture onto bottom sides of remaining cookies, adding about 1 tsp. cream cheese mixture to each cookie. Cover with sugar-topped cookies, top sides up, to make sandwiches; press together gently to secure.