Maple Pecan Sugar Cookies

For all the fall flavors you crave, these chewy rich sugar cookies bring together the sweetness of maple syrup with the crunch of candied pecans and a whole lot of soft buttery goodness. Snack on one of these with your favorite fall latte and you’re in the perfect kind of autumn flavored heaven!

Let me just put this out there now. I loved spring in quarantine. Sure, I was working like a crazy person, going straight from fixing breakfast for my family into meetings and staying in meetings all day until it was time to fix dinner and then heading to actually do the work part of work after my son went to bed, but during the time I had with my family, I was actually able to see spring. I went running through the first blooms of the neighborhood cherry trees and dogwoods. I hiked with my son on my back while the bluebells and wisteria were blooming. It was magic.

I’m hoping for that kind of fall. I’m hoping for a nice slow fall where we’re able to see the leaves change while we’re on our walks or when I’m out running, where we’re able to notice the sun rising later and the fog lingering longer, where we’re part of the changing of the seasons and not just noticing it peripherally when we step outside on a weekend to wonder when the last time was we mowed the lawn.

This pandemic has been terrible and terrifying, but I’m grateful for the quarantine. I’m grateful for the slowing down of life. I’m grateful for being able to work from home and being forced to live at home and notice what goes on around us and appreciate it. And I hope we’re able to keep working from home long enough that I can really enjoy it in my favorite season.

It’s my favorite season for a lot of reasons. The cool air. The colors. The quiet. The cozy clothes. The first fireplace fires. The s’mores. The gathering together around campfires and bonfires.

But mostly…yeah, mostly, it’s the maple.

If you’ve hung around here more than a few posts’ worth, you’ll know that I jump at the opportunity to put maple in just about anything. My husband has joked that I need to just make a maple month here on the blog. And that’s sorta what’s going to happen here between now and the end of October, just so you’re aware.

The current list of maple recipes around here:

And there are more to come!

Maple and pecan make a lot of appearances around here, and they’re going to make another appearance in these cookies, which have become a snack staple at our house. These are chewy, sweet, maple-filled deliciousness personified, go great with your morning coffee, and make you feel like you should be bundled up in all the blankets and chunky sweaters. And let’s go ahead and add changing leaves, sunset, and a firepit to that image. Because cozy rules here.

While this thick glaze worked perfectly with these cookies, it tasted somewhat familiar. And Scott reminded me that it’s the same thing I use with our maple glazed donuts – which I’ll hopefully get photographed and up on the blog here soon. They’re fantastic.

In the meantime, let’s talk about how to make these cookies.

Maple. There are similar recipes out there that add maple extract to the cookies, the icing, or both. I don’t. You want your tasters to smell the subtle scent of maple and taste that little bit of maple sweetness while they’re enjoying a darn good cookie. You don’t want to smother them with maple. This is coming from an absolute maple fiend, so trust me on this.

Chill. Because you’re using a lot of maple syrup in the cookies, you’ll want to chill them before you try to bake them. It helps them hold together and not melt and run all over the cookie sheet.

Pecans. You can use straight pecans and chop them for this recipe, but I love the little bit of extra sugary and salty sweetness you get if you use one of the bags of candied chopped pecans you can get at the grocery that are meant for salad toppings. I use them in my maple pecan blondie as well. Yum!

My test kitchen did a number on these, so I had to make a couple batches. Definitely not complaining. Well, my waistline is complaining a little given all the maple frosting snacking I did. But hey, if you can’t bake and snack during COVID, did you even quarantine?

[lt_recipe name=”Maple Pecan Sugar Cookies” summary=”For all the fall flavors you crave, these chewy rich sugar cookies bring together the sweetness of maple syrup with the crunch of candied pecans and a whole lot of soft buttery goodness. Snack on one of these with your favorite fall latte and you’re in the perfect kind of autumn flavored heaven!” servings=”24″ total_time=”3H” print=”yes” image=”https://homefrontcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Maple-Pecan-Sugar-Cookies-1261-1024×683.jpg” ingredients=”For the cookies:;2 1/2 cups all purpose flour;1 tsp baking soda;1/2 tsp salt;1/2 cup butter, softened;1 cup brown sugar;1 large egg;1/2 cup pure maple syrup;1 tsp vanilla extract;1 cup chopped pecans;For the frosting:;3 tbsp butter;1/3 cup pure maple syrup;2 cups powdered sugar;pinch of salt” ]Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.;Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and beat on high until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.;Add the maple syrup and vanilla and then beat on high speed until combined.;Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients gradually and mix on low until combined. Add the pecans, and beat until combined. The dough will be creamy and soft. Cover and chill for 1 hour to set (that maple).;Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.;Roll cookie dough into balls, about 2 tbsp of dough per cookie. I use a cookie scoop to measure and form.;Bake each batch for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. ;Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.;In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 3 tbsp of butter and whisk together with the maple syrup. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar. Add a pinch of salt if needed.;Drizzle over the cookies.[/lt_recipe]