Autumn Maple Cutout Cookies

Submitted by Vino Girl

"A Cooking Light Recipe Contest Category Finalist in Desserts. By Tracy Schuhmacher (March 2007). Allow time for the dough to chill."

 

• Ready In: 59mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 48 cookies
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 2 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 2 large egg whites, divided
• 1⁄3 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• cooking spray

directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
2. Cook until milk solids stop crackling and turn amber (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
3. Transfer butter mixture to a small bowl, scraping pan to include milk solids.
4. Cover and cool butter mixture in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until soft and congealed but not firm.
5. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.
6. Combine chilled butter mixture and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes).
7. Add syrup, flavoring, and 1 egg white to butter mixture; beat at low speed 2 minutes or until well blended.
8. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat on low speed until blended.
9. Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
10. Preheat oven to 350°.
11. Place walnuts and turbinado sugar in a food processor; pulse 15 times or until mixture is coarsely ground.
12. Place remaining 1 egg white in another small bowl; stir with a whisk.
13. Working with one portion of the dough at a time (keep remaining dough chilled until use), roll dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface, and cut with a 2 1/2-inch cutter.
14. Place cookies, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
15. Gently brush tops of cookies with egg white; sprinkle evenly with half of walnut mixture.
16. Bake for 12 minutes or until pale brown.
17. Remove cookies from pan; cool completely on wire racks.
18. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, egg white, and walnut mixture.

Reviews

[So Cal Gal]

These are truly fabulous!! The maple flavor and walnut topping are incredible together--and with only 1/4 teaspoon of butter in each cookie! Like the previous reviewer, I made this recipe using the usual cut-out cookie dough making procedure: 1.) I mixed the dry ingredients together in a bowl; 2.) creamed the butter and sugar together in another bowl--then beat in the remaining wet ingredients; 3.) stirred the dry mixture--a little at a time--into the wet mixture; and 4.) chilled the dough until it was firm. I used whole wheat pastry flour, sodium-free baking powder, and a whole egg. And I nearly doubled the amount of walnuts--and ground them fairly fine (they do stick better that way). This recipe is such a great find...I've been collecting cookie cutters for years, but rarely use them because of the amount of butter in most cut-out cookie dough. I can hardly wait to make these at Christmas! Thanks, Vino Girl, for another wonderful recipe!!

 

[Neohippie]

I simplified the procedure on this recipe and it still made EXCELLENT cookies. Instead of melting the butter, I just used my usual cookie procedure and let the butter come to room temp, creamed it with the sugar, beat one whole egg and the maple syrup, and then added all the other ingredients. I didn't have maple flavoring, so I used vanilla extract instead. I chilled the dough overnight and cut it with a maple leaf shaped cutter. I also used about twice as much topping as the recipe calls for, and it sticks to the cookie better if you grind the nuts finely. The cookies turned out absolutely delicious.