Maple Walnut Cream Cookies

These Maple Walnut Cream Cookies are a delicate balance of nutty walnut and maple flavour, and sandwiched with a deliciously smooth maple buttercream, for a true Canadian classic treat.

Truly, it doesn’t get more quintessential Canadian than maple syrup. With that, it’s time to meet my: Maple Walnut Cream Cookies.

Book & Cookie Club

This isn’t a regular book club, you know! This recipe is part of my Bookie Club, where every month to celebrate finishing another new read, I whip up a cookie recipe to match the theme of the book. The book that inspired this recipe was “It Happened One Christmas” and it was a lighthearted holiday romance – like a Hallmark Christmas Movie! Not in the Bookie club? Join here my book-and-cookie-loving friends!

Maple syrup being featured became a clear choice. The book was set in Quebec, with many sweet references of maple syrup drizzled throughout: Benoît our love interest makes the best maple syrup around.

What is a Maple Cream Cookie

By its standard definition, maple cream cookies (or maple crèmes, or maple leaf crèmes, etc.) are a Canadian-born sandwich cookie shaped like a maple leaf and filled with a cream that is often made with maple syrup. If you buy them from the store, they’re often shaped like actual maple leaves, but any shape here works.

If you happen to make this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #fraicheliving and leave a comment or star rating below letting me know how you enjoyed it!

XO Tori

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Maple Walnut Cream Cookies

These Maple Walnut Cream Cookies are a delicate balance of nutty walnut and maple flavour, and sandwiched with a deliciously smooth maple buttercream, for a true Canadian classic treat.

Course Baking

Keyword Baking, cookies, Dessert, Maple

Servings 28 cookies

Author Fraîche

Ingredients

Maple Walnut Cookies:

• 1 cup raw walnut halves lightly toasted
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ teaspoons maple extract
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Maple Buttercream:

• ½ cup butter softened
• 2 cups icing sugar sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon maple extract
• 1-2 tablespoons cream or milk

Instructions

Maple Walnut Cookies

1. In a small food processor, pulse the walnuts until finely ground.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, maple extract, baking powder, and salt and mix on medium speed until well combined. Add the flour and ground walnuts, and mix on medium speed until well combined and the mixture sticks together, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 2 discs and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F and position the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Working with one portion of the dough at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until about 1/8” thick. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes, until light brown around the edges, rotating the pan half-way through baking. Repeat with the remaining dough, re-rolling the scraps. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before icing.

For the Maple Buttercream:

1. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high, cream the butter until light. Gradually add the icing sugar, vanilla, and maple extract and mix until smooth, light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the cream or milk, starting with 1 tablespoon and adding more if needed until the icing is smooth and a spreadable or pipeable consistency. Transfer the icing to a piping bag, if desired, and ice the bottom of ½ of the cooled cookies. Place the other half of the cookies on top of the cookies with icing to form cookie “sandwiches”. Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1 month.