chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies;
Fall is coming! And what better way to usher in the autumn season than with chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies?! (Answer: there isn’t one! And don’t come at with that pumpkin spice nonsense). These buttery shortbread cookies crumble and melt in your mouth with a beautiful sweet maple flavor. Dip or drizzle with chocolate, or go for an extra punch of maple with a maple glaze.
I was trying to find recipes to use up some leftover egg yolks and my search led me to this maple shortbread recipe. The maple shortbread cookies are flavored with maple syrup of course, but some maple extract amps up the earthy sweet maple notes. The original recipe used much much more maple extract than I did, and if you loooove maple flavor then feel free to add a few drops more.
But maple is a flavor that I find can be easily overpowering if you’re heavy-handed. Especially the maple extract. If you add too much I feel like it takes on an artificial maple flavor instead of highlighting the sweet earthy beauty of maple syrup. So start with my recipe and do a little nibble taste test to assess your maple intensity.
This recipe makes a lot of dough. I ended up making about 30 small cookies with half the dough. But the good thing about these chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies is that the dough freezes well! (Honestly, most shortbread cookies will freeze well because of the butter.) So you can decide if you need to feed a crowd, or want to tuck away some dough for a later batch.
This recipe makes a lot of dough, so be prepared! I used a ~1.5″ leaf cutter, but you can opt for bigger cookies or freeze half the dough for a later batch.
secret to success
This recipe for chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies makes a lot of cookies, so be prepared! Part of the quantity comes from the fact that I made small cookies with my leaf cookie cutter. They were probably roughly an inch and a half diameter, so if you make or prefer bigger cookies it should make less. But the dough is easy to freeze and save for later if you want.
If you’re saving dough for later, wrap tightly in cling wrap and tuck into your freezer. When ready to use, remove from the freezer and allow it to thaw. If you have the foresight, you can defrost it in the fridge overnight. Then roll out the dough and proceed with cutting, freezing, and baking.
Once the cookies cool, you can dip them. You definitely want to make sure they’ve had ample time to cool because the residual heat can mess with your chocolate. I had a lot of fun being creative with my patterns—dip them in chocolate, drizzle it on, or glaze the cookie using the flood method. They all taste good I promise!
Go chocolate for chocolate-dipped or go maple glaze for extra maple flavor. Or even mix the two, it’s still delicious. I had fun making different patterns. Dip, drizzle, or sprinkle and liven up these delicious cookies!
secret to success
You can choose any chocolate you like—white, milk, or dark. Or even an assortment of all three would look lovely together on the plate. I, of course, always reach for dark or at least semi-sweet because I prefer to balance out the sweetness and buttery richness of the shortbread cookies. Plus I really liked the contrast of the maple glaze on the dark chocolate.
The maple glaze adds extra sweetness and of course an extra splash of maple flavor. Adding some extra maple extract to the glaze is another way to pump up the maple flavor if you’re a die-hard fan of maple. For those that like sweet maple flavor, maple glaze is the way to go. Feel free to mix and match chocolate and maple glaze, or add festive sprinkles or make fun patterns! Drizzle, dip, or dance the icings across your cookies. Or even let the kiddos get involved and top their own cookies.
I had fun making an assortment of patterns, and even as I’m writing this I’m thinking of others that could be fun. I like dipping half in chocolate, and topping with sprinkles, a drizzle of maple icing, or just leaving the chocolate to stand for itself. Do a fun drizzle back and forth on the cookie, or draw large circles that partially overlap the cookie for a whimsical take. I think if I were to do a “black and white” version, I’d dip the cookie at an angle in dark, and then the opposite angle in white to make two triangles that overlap. Get creative and add to my list!
I use a leaf cookie cutter to cut my maple shortbread cookies out, but you can use any cookie cutter shape you’d like. Or if you don’t have a cookie cutter, just cut your chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies into rectangles.
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other great recipes to ring in the fall season? Check out these lovely options:
- Slow cooker apple butter is always a fall staple, and then add some chocolate to make these easy three ingredient no-bake apple butter truffles
- For a soft maple cookie, these maple sugar cookies are a chewy, delicious option!
- Still got some warm weather? Take this apple cider slush for a cool treat that still feels like fall!
chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies;
Ingredients
maple shortbread cookies;
- 14 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp maple extract
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean extract (or sub vanilla extract)
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 cups flour
chocolate drizzle;
- ⅓ cup chocolate
- 2 tsp vegetable shortening (or sub coconut oil)
maple icing;
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla bean extract (or sub vanilla extract)
- ⅛-¼ cup confectioner's sugar
- few drops maple extract (I used about 3-4)
Instructions
maple shortbread cookies;
- Add 14 Tbsp room temperature unsalted butter, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ tsp maple extract, and 1 Tbsp vanilla bean extract. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until creamy and evenly combined.
- Add in the egg and beat until smooth.
- Add in 3 cups flour and ½ tsp salt and beat until a crumbly dough forms. It should be crumbly, but hold together when pressed and not stick excessively to your hands.
- There's a lot of dough, so you can optionally separate the dough into two halves to make it easier to work with. If separating, store the second half wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. (Note: you can also freeze the dough for future use.)
- Sprinkle your counter and rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough to approximately ⅛" – ¼" thick. Use a maple cookie cutter, or any kind of cookie cutter you'd like, cut the cookies. You can also freehand them with a knife, if desired!
- Lay each cookie on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. They should not spread, so you can keep them closer than other types of cookies. I try to leave roughly 1" of space between each cookie. Re-roll dough and continue cutting until baking sheet is full.
- Pop baking sheet into the freezer for 1-3 minutes. (I like to make a baking sheet, then pop it in the freezer while I cut out the cookies for the next sheet.)
- Remove baking sheet from the freezer and bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges just barely begin to turn brown. Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature before proceeding with the chocolate drizzle and glaze.
chocolate drizzle;
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, add ⅓ cup chocolate and 2 tsp vegetable shortening. (Note that if you're using chocolate chips and not a chocolate bar or melting wafers, you may need a bit extra vegetable shortening since chocolate chips are designed to keep their shape in heat.)
- Heat in 15 second increments, pausing to stir between each. Remove when mostly smooth and only a few lumps are left, then stir until the residual heat melts the mixture smooth. You can add more chocolate to make it thicker or more vegetable shortening to thin it out.
- Add to a piping bag, or a small ziplock bag (it's such a small amount I use a snack size bag). If using a ziplock bag, hold the bag so the chocolate pools in a corner. Cut a tiny hole in the opposite corner of the bag (so it doesn't start gushing on you). Then drizzle desired designs on your cookies.
maple glaze;
- To make the maple glaze, add 1 Tbsp butter to a small microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave.
- Add 1 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla bean extract, and a few drops of maple extract. For the extract, I recommend pouring a small amount into the cap of the extract bottle, then using the cap to add 3-4 drops of maple extract to your mixture. It's much easier to control. You can taste test as you go, and always add more, but those bottles are easy to heavy hand, and the extract is strong!
- Add ⅛ cup confectioner's sugar and mix until smooth. To make it thicker add up to an additional ⅛ cup confectioner's sugar until reaches desired thickness.
- Add to a piping bag, or a small ziplock bag (it's such a small amount I use a snack size bag). If using a ziplock bag, hold the bag so the chocolate pools in a corner. Cut a tiny hole in the opposite corner of the bag (so it doesn't start gushing on you). Then drizzle desired designs on your cookies.
- Add any sprinkles or embellishments while the drizzle and glaze are still warm.
1 Comments
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October 21, 2022 at 11:25 am
[…] fall favorite flavor? Maple is great. Chocolate-dipped maple shortbread cookies are the perfect combination of sweet maple, crumbly buttery shortbread, and chocolate maple […]