Sunday, October 31, 2010

Maple Sugar Sandwich Cookies with Maple Cream Filling


About five years ago I lived for a year in New York City, the home of everything you could ever want. This goes for clothing and other goodies, and certainly food and food related purchases are no exception. I lived on the Upper West Side, not so far away from the Garden of Eden, an awesome specialty grocery store that had so many high quality and special items. It was here I purchased my fun bottle of maple extract, that five years later has survived three moves and remained unopened until just last week. Hmm. Perhaps that wasn’t the most useful purchase. But I’ll tell you what, carting that bottle around with me for 5 years was totally worth it after making these delicious maple cookies! What was so special that made me suddenly see the maple light? A friend of mine was in Canada and returned home with the most delicious sugar cookies filled with a maple buttercream frosting… I could never eat just one! So, I made my own never-ending supply. ☺

Maple Sugar Cookies
1 and a half cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract
5 and 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp (or less) salt

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and extracts until smooth, scraping bowl along the way. Stir or mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. At this point you want a sturdy dough that isn't too sticky and can be balled up and rolled out nicely. Knead in a little extra flour if necessary to get this consistency. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (and up to overnight). Break dough off in sections, and on a floured (or sugared!) surface, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes, place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, and bake for 6-8 minutes - shorter for softer cookies, longer for crisper. Keep an eye on the edges to avoid burning. I used a flour cutter, but a maple leaf would have been perfect! After they're out of the oven, take them off of the cookie sheet to cool.

Maple Sugar Buttercream Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1-2 tblsp maple extract
1-2 tblsp maple syrup.

This frosting is to die for... if you have a serious sweet tooth. Prepare this frosting by first combining the shortening and butter and beating with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating after each addition. After two cups of powdered sugar, add the extracts to your taste, keeping in mind that the flavor is enhanced a few hours after preparation. I had thought that most of the flavor would come from the maple syrup, but surprisingly no - a lot of it came from the extract. Both are a welcome addition in these cookies and complement each other well!. After adding the extract and syrup, beat thoroughly and add the last two cups of powdered sugar, one at a time. If the frosting is too thick, beat in warm water, one tablespoon at a time. To frost the cookies, fill a quart sized ziploc bag (or a pastry bag) with the frosting and then cut 1/2 inch off one of the corners and squeeze onto a cookie. Place another cookie on top, press lightly to secure it on top, and maple sandwiches are ready to eat!

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