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Stack of Chewy Maple Brown Butter Sugar Cookies on a ceramic plate, with a small glass pitcher of maple syrup and more cookies scattered around.

Chewy Brown Butter Maple Sugar Cookies

Impeccably chewy and packed with a triple dose of maple flavor (in the form of pure maple syrup, maple extract, and a maple sugar coating) these flavor-packed cookies are also made with browned butter for a toasty, nutty, almost butterscotch-like flavor.
Yield: 18 cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons / 142 g unsalted butter
  • ⅓ cup / 100 g pure maple syrup, reduced from 6 tablespoons/120g (*see notes)
  • ¾ cup / 150 g brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon maple extract
  • 1 tablespoon / 10 g maple sugar, optional
  • 2 cups / 250 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter
  • ¼ cup maple sugar, optional, for coating (you can use raw/turbinado sugar too)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • To brown butter, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, until it starts to simmer and sputter. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sputtering ceases and the butter solids start to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof mixing bowl, scraping all the browned bits from the pan, and set aside to cool slightly.
  • Optionally, to reduce the maple syrup, get out a small saucepan, and tare the weight on your digital scale (or make note of the empty weight before you begin). Measure 6 tablespoons or 120g of maple syrup, then bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until syrup has reduced to 100g (see why the scale comes in handy)? If you don't have a scale, once the syrup starts to vigorously boil and foam, start a timer and boil for exactly 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into the bowl with the brown butter. (If you want to skip this step just add 100g of maple syrup directly to the butter.)
  • Let the butter and maple syrup mixture cool for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is warm but no longer hot to the touch (it should measure under 120ºF on a digital thermometer, we don't want to scramble the egg!) Add brown sugar and stir until evenly moistened.
  • Add egg and mix well with a whisk or spatula until smooth and emulsified and there is no longer a visible slick of butter floating on top. Mix in vanilla and maple extracts.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt until evenly incorporated. Add to the wet ingredients along with the maple sugar, and gently mix just until incorporated and no streaks of dry flour remain. Dough will be very soft but not sticky. You can bake it straight away, or let it firm up slightly after 10-15 minutes at cool room temperature (making it easier to handle).
  • Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough (I use a heaping medium cookie scoop, about 40-43g of dough per ball by weight), roll into a smooth ball, and then roll to coat in maple or turbinado sugar.
  • Arrange on prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of of space between cookies as they will spread quite a bit in the oven.
  • Bake for 11 to 13 minutes (slightly more or less depending on the size of your dough balls) or until tops are puffed and no longer raw-looking, and the edges are slightly darkened just a shade or two. Immediately after they come out of the oven, give them a good rap on the counter to deflate, then swirl a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the diameter of the cookie around the still-hot cookies to tuck in the edges and give them a perfectly circular shape.
  • Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, refrigerated for up to 5, or in a zip-top bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Notes

  • While reducing the maple syrup won't make or break this recipe, I do recommend taking the extra few minutes to do so, as the final cookies are chewier and slightly more maple-intense. To reduce the maple syrup, heat 120g (about 3 fluid ounces) in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Continue to let it simmer, swirling the pan occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes until the volume reduces to 1/3 cup or 100g by weight (remember to tare your scale first with the weight of the saucepan, and this part is really easy to measure!)
  • Maple sugar is optional for this recipe. If omitting, add 10g or a scant 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the dough, and you can opt to roll in granulated or raw/turbinado sugar instead.