Make Your Christmas A Little Sweeter with special maple cookie recipes!

From gifts to platters, maple makes everything better.

Mohawk Valley residents are no strangers to fresh, locally made maple syrup. With well over a dozen local producers, as well as the many at-home hobbyists who make their own maple syrup, this fresh local treat is never far away.

The NYS Maple Association recently shared a couple of maple cookie recipes for tasty treats to help with our maple syrup cravings during the holidays. Please enjoy and give these recipes a try and let us know which is your favorite!

Here’s a few cookie recipes you may want to add these to your favorites list this year.

Maple Snickerdoodles

Recipe and photo by Michelle, A Latte Food

Ingredients

Maple Snickerdoodles

3/4 cup butter, (softened)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together, until light and fluffy.

Add in maple syrup, vanilla extract, and egg; beat until well combined.

Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and slowly incorporate into the wet ingredients.

Chill dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl.

Roll dough into about 1 1/2″ balls, and the roll in cinnamon sugar. Place 2″ apart on the baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until tops have cracked and the cookies are set.

Maple Cookies

Recipe and photo by Sherri, To Simply Inspire

Ingredients

For the Cookies

½ cup butter softened (1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Maple Glaze

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1-2 tablespoons milk as needed

Roasted chopped pecans or crumbled cooked bacon for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Making the Maple Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and brown sugar and Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until fluffy. (you can also use a stand mixer)
½ cup butter,1 cup brown sugar

Then add the maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract.
¼ cup maple syrup,1 large egg,1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend again until thoroughly mixed in, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Next, add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and blend just until the dry ingredients are barley mixed (careful not to over-mix)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour,1 teaspoon baking soda,¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls.

Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.

Using the bottom of a glass or cup, press each ball down until ½” thick thick.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Careful not to over-bake or the cookies won’t be a chewy.

Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.

After the cookies have cooled, mix the ingredients for the maple glaze.

Making the Maple Glaze

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon of milk and whisk together.
1 ½ cups powdered sugar,3 tablespoons maple syrup,1-2 tablespoons milk

Dip the cookies into the glaze and place them on a wire cooling rack to set completely. (you can also spoon the icing onto the cookies and spread gently)

Top with chopped pecans or crumbled bacon onto the glaze before it sets.

Soft Gingerbread Cookies With Maple Glaze

Recipe and photo by Lindsay, Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup molasses 

2 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

granulated sugar for rolling

Maple Glaze

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

2 tablespoons milk (and a very tiny bit more if you need more)

pinch of salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses; mix until incorporated.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Mix until a soft dough forms.

Scoop into balls – I like them slightly larger than a golf ball, but you can make them smaller, too. Roll in sugar. Bake for 9-11 minutes; let them rest on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. They will flatten slightly as they cool. 

Whisk maple glaze ingredients together until smooth (it will be very thick – if it’s too thick, just add a teaspoon more milk at a time until it becomes dippable, but we want this to be very thick so it sets nicely). Dip one side of the cooled cookies into the maple glaze, run the edge of the cookie along the side of the bowl to remove excess drips, set on a piece of wax paper, and add a few festive sprinkles before the glaze sets! 

We hope that you enjoy these recipes and can add a little local flavor, local maple syrup, to you holiday bakes. You’ll be glad you did!

Portions of this post was previously shared by the NYS Maple Association, December 2025