These Maple Walnut Cookies are perfect for Christmas tray bakes. Hints of maple in a buttery shortbread topped with royal icing and sprinkles. Who can say no to these delicious walnut shortbread butter cookies. Perfect for giving away on a Christmas cookie tray.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Ingredients You'll Need to Make Maple Walnut Cookies
- Maple Shortbread Cutout Cookies or Icebox Cookies
- How to Make Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies
- Top tips
- Possible Ingredient Substitutions or Variations
- Equipment
- Storing Your Maple Walnut Cookies
- Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
- Other Amazing Cookies
- Recipe Details
- PIN for later here
- Food Safety
- Comments
One thing about living in the great north is that there is no shortage of maple syrup. Maple syrup and crushed walnuts are what makes these Delicious Maple Walnut Cookies the star of any holiday cookie platter.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Unique taste - combination of maple and walnut creates a unique and delicious flavor that is sure to impress anyone's tastebuds.
- Easy to make - shortbread cookies are easy to make and only require a few simple ingredients, making them a great choice for beginner bakers.
- Perfect snack - These cookies have a crumbly texture and a buttery taste that melts in your mouth, making them the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.
- Maple syrup - natural sweetener that has some health benefits, such as being rich in antioxidants and vitamins, making these cookies a slightly healthier alternative to other types of sweets.
- Christmas tray bakes - perfect to add to your Christmas trays.
Try walnut maple cookies and cookies like coconut macaroons, orange cranberry cookies and soft and chewy amaretto cookies.
These cookies are perfect to serve with coffee or tea after baked chicken skewers, spaghetti with mussels or italian style thin pork chops.
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Ingredients You'll Need to Make Maple Walnut Cookies
Just like your typical shortbread cookie, these maple walnut cookies are made with: butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, flour, cornstarch walnuts, powdered sugar.
Maple syrup and maple extract help to enhance the shortbread cookie and give flavor to the maple walnut shortbread cookie dough.
Brown sugar - enhances the flavor of the dough.
Walnuts - adds a unique nutty flavor to the dough.
Powdered Sugar - also referred to as icing sugar is used for the frosting which is optional.
See recipe card for full list of ingredients and recipe details.
Maple Shortbread Cutout Cookies or Icebox Cookies
Here you have a decision to make. Historically icebox cookies were cookies that you kept in the fridge and could take out at the last minute to bake. That's how they get their name. Icebox meaning "refrigerator" in the old days. You can either make Icebox Cookies from this dough or you can roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies in your preferred shape.
How to Make Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
In another bowl combine the flour and cornstarch and whisk together so that it is well combined.
Start by creaming the butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Alternate adding the flour mixture, ground walnuts and the maple syrup until a dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and need in remaining flour.
Roll out the dough straight out of the stand mixer and make cookies using a cookie cutter.
Once you have cut out the cookies, bake them at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Let cookies cool down completely
Mix together the icing sugar and maple syrup together to make a spreadable frosting. Add more sugar if the frosting is too thin or add more maple syrup if the frosting is to thick. Spread the icing onto the cookies and top off the cookies with crushed sprinkles.
You can either make these cookies with the frosting included in this recipe or for an icing that will hold up use a royal icing that will stiffen up in about 3 hours.
Top tips
- These cookies will take about 12 minutes to bake. As you see the edges start to brown, you can remove them from the oven and set aside to cool down.
- Your butter doesn't need to be at room temperature to make this Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookie, but it helps. If you are using butter straight out of the fridge, ensure that you cream the butter and the sugar long enough until it reaches a light color and soft consistency.
- If you plan on eating these the same day, frosting them will be fine. However, if you plan on storing these either use royal icing or don't ice them at all. These Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies taste amazing without any icing or frosting too, not to mention less calories.
Possible Ingredient Substitutions or Variations
- Chocolate chips - add white, chocolate or butterscotch chips for an added flavor booster
- Icebox cookies - Roll the dough into a log and let the dough rest by refrigerating it for at least two hours. Once the dough has rested, remove it from the fridge and using a sharp knife slice the dough beginning at the end of the log.
- Different shape - use a leaf cutter
- Skip the frosting -
The perfect recipe isn't that far away. I'd love to know how you substituted ingredients to fit your dietary needs. Drop a comment below and let me know!
Equipment
Equipment plays a large role when baking. Non stick baking sheets, parchment paper or silicone baking sheets come in hand when baking any cookies. Not only does this equipment make for easy cleanup, but it makes an impact on the appearance of the final product by avoiding cookies getting stuck to baking pans.
A good food processor and measuring spoons and a cup also come in handy if you don't have these already.
Storing Your Maple Walnut Cookies
These Maple Walnut Cookies store very well. You can place them in a plastic container sealed tightly or in a zipper bag for 2 to 3 weeks. Leftover cookies can be frozen for about one to two months.
Thaw cookies in the refrigerator overnight, then store them at room temperature in an airtight container.
If you use royal icing to finish these Maple Walnut Cookies, lay them flat in the zipper bag and not one on top of the other. The iced cookies also freeze well.
Cookies that are frosted will not store or freeze well. They will need to be consumed immediately.
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
The baking time for shortbread cookies can vary depending on the recipe, the thickness of the cookies, and the oven temperature. However, on average, shortbread cookies are usually baked for about 12-15 minutes at 325°F (165°C) until they are lightly golden around the edges. It is important to keep an eye on them while they are baking to prevent over-browning or burning.
It depends on the recipe and the desired texture of the finished product. In general, creaming butter with sugar creates air pockets that help the dough rise and gives the final product a tender texture. Melting butter, on the other hand, will make the final product denser and chewier. For shortbread cookies, it is usually better to cream the butter with the sugar to create a crumbly, tender texture.
Butter for shortbread cookies should be cold as it allows for a better crumbly texture and prevents the dough from becoming too sticky.
The difference between frosting and royal icing is that the frosting will remain soft and messy while the royal icing will harden and stay put. Before frosting or icing them, make sure that the cookies have cooled down completely.
Other Amazing Cookies
- Lemon Drop Cookies made from Cake Mix
- How to Make a Tempting Christmas Cookie Tray Plus Recipes
- Crunchy Nut Chocolate Clusters
- Italian Butter Cookies Dipped in Chocolate
Recipe Details
Maple Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cups butter two sticks
- ¼ cups maple syrup
- ½ cups brown sugar
- ½ tsp maple extract
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cups cornstarch
- 1 cups walnuts ground
Frosting
- 1 cups icing sugar
- 5 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- In another bowl combine the flour and cornstarch and whisk together so that it is well combined.
- Start by creaming the butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Alternate adding the flour mixture, ground walnuts and the maple syrup until a dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and need in remaining flour.
- At this point you can either roll the dough into a log and make ice-box cookies (refrigerate dough for 2 hours, then remove from fridge and slice log making cookies that are about ¼" thick). The other option is to roll out the dough straight out of the stand mixer and make cookies using a cookie cutter.
- Once you have cut out the cookies, bake them at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Let cookies cool down completely
Frosting
- Mix together the icing sugar and maple syrup together to make a spreadable frosting. Add more sugar if the frosting is too thin or add more maple syrup if the frosting is to thick.
- Spread the icing onto the cookies or you can pipe it out. Sprinkle the top of the cookies with crushed walnuts or sprinkles.
Notes
- These cookies will take about 12 minutes to bake. As you see the edges start to brown, you can remove them from the oven and set aside to cool down.
- Your butter doesn't need to be at room temperature to make this Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookie, but it helps. If you are using butter straight out of the fridge, ensure that you cream the butter and the sugar long enough until it reaches a light color and soft consistency.
- If you plan on eating these the same day, frosting them will be fine. However, if you plan on storing these either use royal icing or don't ice them at all. These Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies taste amazing without any icing or frosting too, not to mention less calories.
Nutrition
PIN for later here
Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check Government of Canada's Food and Safety Guidelines, see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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