Perfect for holidays, Christmas or when you just need a maple fix, these buttery Maple Cookies are filled to the brim with crunchy pecans and white chocolate.
Maple Cookies, is there anything sweeter? 💕
Thick and chewy, with crispy edges, these gorgeous cookies are bursting with toasty pecans and chunks of creamy white chocolate.
While they scream Christmas, I promise these Maple Cookies are good ALL year round.
If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen me testing these cookies just last week. I know, tough gig right?
But I really wanted to get that perfect blend of thick and chewy, and soft and sweet. And we got there in the end.
Taking inspiration from my ultra thick Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and my chunky M&M Cookies, these cookies are big, bold and oh-so-buttery.
They’re bursting with flavour, thanks to a large helping of maple syrup (make sure you use the good stuff) and plenty of brown sugar for added caramel flavour, plus double the vanilla extract. A pinch of cinnamon also enhances the sweetness of the maple syrup.
Then comes the mix-in’s. I went for toasty, roasty pecans and huge chunks of hand cut white chocolate. In my opinion, it gives these cookies both crunch and sweetness.
tips for making perfect Maple Cookies
We use cold butter in this recipe to make sure these cookies turn out nice and thick. It also means you don’t have to wait for your butter to come to room temperature (win win).
Brown sugar instead of white sugar is used for added flavour. The molasses that appears in brown sugar enhances the flavour of the maple syrup. White sugar also causes cookies to spread so it can be a good idea to use brown sugar when making chunky cookies.
Be sure to use a good quality pure maple syrup for this recipe.
We use double the vanilla for more flavour.
This cookie recipe calls for a larger quantity of plain flour (or all purpose flour) but it’s necessary because the dough is quite wet due to the quantity of maple syrup. To ensure the cookies aren’t too cakey and spread correctly in the oven, I highly recommend measuring out your flour using a kitchen scale for accurate results. Do this for all your cookies (I always do).
You can add any mix-in’s you like to this recipe. Maple, pecans and white chocolate are a wonderful match, but you can swap out for your favourite nut or chocolate. I do recommend using a block of chocolate and chopping it by hand instead of using chocolate chips. This will ensure there are big chunks of gooey chocolate – and having plenty of chunky mix in’s also helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
Once you have made your cookie dough, you MUST chill it in the fridge for AT LEAST 1 HOUR. You cannot skip this step or your cookies will spread out far too much in the oven. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.
Why did my cookies go flat?
There are so many reasons why your cookies spread too much in the oven. This recipe calls for chilling the dough as adding 1/2 cup of maple syrup creates quite a wet cookie dough. Don’t skip this step.
If you’ve had trouble in the past with your cookies spreading too much in the oven, I recommend doing a tester cookie. Once your cookie dough has chilled, scoop out just one cookie and bake it in the oven. If it spreads too much, chill your dough for another 30 minutes or an hour. If it doesn’t spread enough, bring your cookie dough to room temperature or flatten them slightly with your hand before baking.
For more tips, read my post on why your cookies went flat.
why didn’t my cookies spread?
If you’ve struggled with your cookie dough staying in a ball when baked, it is most likely that you added too much flour. Always measure your flour using a kitchen scale for the most accurate results.
For more reasons why your cookies didn’t flatten in the oven, read my post on why your cookies didn’t spread when baked.
More recipes like this
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #sweetestmenu on Instagram.
Let’s Bake
Maple Cookies
Thick and chewy Maple Cookies filled with pecans and white chocolate.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cold (straight from the fridge)
- 190 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) good quality maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 85 grams (3/4 cup) pecans, roughly chopped
- 150 grams (1 cup) good quality white chocolate, roughly chopped
- Sea salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add cold butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Add maple syrup and egg. Beat again on a low speed until combined – but try not to over mix.
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and beat on a low speed until soft cookie dough forms. Add pecans and white chocolate and beat briefly. Chill cookie dough in the fridge for AT LEAST 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- Scoop out cookie dough, roughly 2 tablespoons per cookie, and place on prepared oven trays, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle warm cookies with sea salt. Leave cookies to cool for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Trish says
Hi Jess, these are so great for Winter – especially since the butter is cold and the mixer does all the “hard” work. And they smell SO good. I actually went out and bought real maple syrup just to try these and it was definitely worth it. And when you heat them up, it’s kinda like eating a bite of warm pudding, but in a cookie. YUM!!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Aw LOVE hearing that Trish! Thank you so much for your kind feedback.
Suzan Fine says
OMG, my newest favorite cookie. I couldn’t not eat them, Well worth the extra insulin th at I had to pump into me!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you love them as much as I do Suzan!
Tham says
Hi Jess! Could I use honey instead of maple syrup? We don’t have any here in Brazil
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Tham, I haven’t tried myself but could be worth a try! Let me know how you go!
Shane says
Wow Jess these look mouthwatering! I recently made your pecan blondies which were absolutely raved about so can’t wait to try these for Christmas!
I’m greedy so I may have to top them with a galaxy caramel bar
Jessica Holmes says
Ooh awesome! I hope you love these too!
brenda poplin says
These look so good for Christmas, but will make them soon. Can you tell me if you can freeze these cookies? Thanks.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Brenda, yes these are perfect Christmas cookies! And yes you can freeze them.
Josh says
Easily one of the best cookies I’ve had.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Josh!