Whip up a batch or 2 of these dream-worthy Soft Maple Brown Sugar Cookies! These soft cookies literally melt-in-your mouth! If you love maple syrup based goodies and the old-fashioned Amish drop cookie vibe with a modern twist, then you'll love this recipe whole-heartedly, especially fall season.
More fall favorites we love are these Easy Applesauce Bars, these Chocolate Maple Cream Truffles, this Maple Apple Pecan Bread and these Ultimate Soft Caramel Apple Drop Cookies!
What are Soft Maple Brown Sugar Drop Cookies?
These heavenly Soft Maple Brown Sugar Drop Cookies are so soft, thick and amazing, perfected with warm ingredients like maple syrup, brown sugar, applesauce and cinnamon (yum!) inside.
Then the tops of the cookies are dipped and dripping in a super easy, buttery maple syrup icing! These are definitely buttery and maple-icious good! A good old-fashioned cookie like you would get at grandma's or the fall season when maple syrup is super popular!
Why I LOVE These Soft Maple Brown Sugar Cookies!
- The best part, besides eating them of course, is how easy they are to make.
- No rolling the cookie dough.
- These are drop cookies, so no cookie cutters not needed.
- No need to chill the dough.
- No weird ingredients -- The ingredients used are pretty much always on hand in your pantry, which is always a good thing, right?
- For a vegan cookie option, use non-dairy butter!
- No eggs are needed! The applesauce is the egg substitute!
Is This Maple Cookie Recipe Vegan?
It can be! However, you must use a vegan butter to make these vegan official! There are plenty of choices out there you can use, that taste just like butter! I've not noticed the difference at all.
I get asked a lot to make vegan or eggless desserts, and so I came up with this delicious maple cookie recipe that is amazing!
I prefer to use applesauce, but if you're looking for more choices, The Spruce has a great article with a chart to use, whether you have a dairy allergy or the need or desire to cut saturated fat.
My son is vegan and his girlfriend eats a lot of vegan food and it seems the vegan diet is becoming more and more mainstream, with people cutting out animal products for environmental, ethical and health reasons.
But whether you eat eggs or don't, you won't even miss the eggs in this Maple Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe. The applesauce does the job, so the cookies are super moist and soft!
Ingredients You Need
Softest Maple Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe
- butter, room temperature or dairy-free butter option
- brown sugar
- pure maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- unsweetened applesauce
- baking powder
- all purpose flour
- ground cinnamon
- salt
Buttery Maple Glaze
- unsalted butter or dairy-free butter option
- pure maple syrup
- confectioners’ sugar
- salt
How to Make Soft Maple Brown Cookies
Softest Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet
with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and set aside.
- Using mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together for 2 minutes, then add maple syrup until mixed well.
- Add in applesauce, vanilla extract and beat for an additional minute. Add in flour mixture and mix to incorporate. You should have a very soft dough.
- Using a 1 ½ tablespoon or medium cookie scoop to scoop cookies onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to sit on the baking sheet, untouched, for 10 minutes.
Buttery Maple Icing
- Using microwave, melt the butter and maple syrup together for 1 ½ - 2 minutes.
- Once the butter has melted, remove from microwave and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar and salt.
- Set glaze aside and allow to cool and thicken while cookies cool. If icing is too thick, heat up in microwave 15-30 second increments to get icing consistency needed.
- Dip each cookie into the maple icing by dipping the tops in, then place dipped cookies on wire rack or parchment paper to set.
Tips for the Best Soft Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- It's nice to use a medium-sized scoop
to get nice looking cookies. One batch makes 14 cookies and these cookies spread, but not much and they are about a ½ inch thick to ¾ inch thick in the middle.
- Let cookies rest and set on cookie pan after pulling from oven. My perfect oven time is 12 minutes.
- Use parchment paper
if you can, parchment is my best friend in the kitchen, when baking. If not, lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray or use a silpat.
- These cookies without the icing are not heavily sweetened, so, if you were wanting to omit the icing for whatever reason, feel free to add in a little maple extract or use sweetened applesauce for a little more sugar.
- I use the unsweetened applesauce
that is packaged as a six-pack and each one measures ½ cups, which means easy measuring. Yassireeee!
- But, if you're all in for a really good cookie, add the buttery maple glaze. These cookies are best when they are completely cooled with icing set. Milk on the side, please.
This soft maple brown sugar drop cookie recipe is perfect for Fall and when you're craving maple syrup flavor! They smell amazing!!
Check out this Chunky Apple Walnut Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting too! We are loving the maple!
If You Love Soft Cookies
- Soft Lemon & Blueberry Explosion Cookies
- Valentine Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Icing
- Ultimate Soft Chocolate Drop Cookies
- Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
- Best Soft Sour Cream Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
- 7 Pumpkin Cookie Recipes for Pumpkin Cookie Lovers!
- Super Soft Lemon Glazed Sugar Cookies
Soft Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Soft Batch Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- ½ cup butter room temperature or dairy-free butter option
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 & ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Buttery Maple Glaze - Will cover 2 batches of cookies if you do a double batch.
- ¼ cup unsalted butter or dairy-free butter option
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ¼ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Softest Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and set aside.
- Using mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together for 2 minutes, then add maple syrup until mixed well.
- Add in applesauce, vanilla extract and beat for an additional minute. Add in flour mixture and mix to incorporate. You should have a very soft dough.
- Using a 1 ½ tablespoon or medium cookie scoop to scoop cookies onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to sit on the baking sheet, untouched, for 10 minutes.
Buttery Maple Icing
- Using microwave, melt the butter and maple syrup together for 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Once the butter has melted, remove from microwave and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar and salt. Set glaze aside and allow to cool and thicken while cookies cool. If icing is too thick, heat up in microwave 15-30 second increments to get icing consistency needed.
- Dip each cookie into the maple icing by dipping the tops in, then place dipped cookies on wire rack or parchment paper to set.
Nutrition
Mini Pumpkin Pies are always a hit too!
Casanova says
Ok.. I made these just as the recipe calls for with the exception of adding a little maple extract to just give it a little more umph.. let me tell you these are not cookies..: these are little cloud cakes sent from the gods.. they are so soft and good.. they are on the really sweet side but they are a perfect “treat yo self” cookie.. I would suggest sharing with friends and family or else you might get diabetus haha... the only issue I had was with the dip I guess they were still a little warm or are just that soft I had a couple want to break but they didn’t.. really good recipe!
Kim Lange says
Great to hear Kim! Thanks for your feedback and your substitutions use. xo
Kim says
i had to substitute applesauce for yogurt and brown sugar for white and they turned out delicious.
Kim Lange says
I'm so happy you love this recipe Stephanie! Thank you so much for your kind review, I appreciate it so much. Happy Holidays!
Stephanie E says
Love this recipe! Just made it for the first time and I am not by any means an experienced baker. This was easy to follow and turned out so fluffy and just the right amount of sweet.
Kim Lange says
I haven't Soren. Baked unfrosted cookies will keep for up to 3 months stored in the freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bring to room temperature before serving. Happy Holidays! xo
Soren says
Have you tried making the dough ahead of time then freezing it? I made these and they were a big hit but would like to have the ability to have it ready made ( mostly). Thanks
Kim Lange says
Thank you so much Navya for your sweet comment. xo
navya says
The information you've shared in this blog is remarkable. Thanks for sharing such quality information.
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Kim Lange says
Me too! I'm so happy to hear that Don! Thank you so much for commenting! xo
Don Schuldes says
I love these recipes.I make these cookies all the time.
Kim Lange says
I love that your dog is named Maple! How cute! Thank you Valentina!! xo
Valentina says
These sound so dreamy! I love all things maple! (Including my dog, who is named Maple. 😀 ) I think a frosted cookie is like two desserts in one. Perfect! 🙂 ~Valentina
Kim Lange says
I hope you do try them Ann! Sounds like you love baking too and you can use the same icing on the this Maple Apple Pecan Bread. I had leftover and decided to put it to use here: https://www.thebakingchocolatess.com/maple-apple-pecan-bread-with-maple-glaze/. Thank you so much for your kind comments. xo
Ann says
I’m drooling over this recipe. So enticing. These’re gonna be a definite favorite of my kids and something they will be constantly craving. Great fall or winter cookies. And this maple icing is utterly amazing. Maybe I’ll use it with anything else. I like that no white sugar need apply. Brown sugar in any cookie recipe helps cookies stay much softer. I’d also like to use dark brown sugar, which is richer. Do you think it would work? Dying to try it and look forward to your new recipes!
Kim Lange says
Thank you so much Laura! I'm a maple fan too! xo
Kim Lange says
Thank you Katherine! Super easy to make for sure!
Kim Lange says
Aww..thank you Ben! I hope you do, they are delectable and addicting...they are relatively healthy minus the glaze, but a drizzle wouldn't hurt. hehe
Ben|Havocinthekitchen says
Although spring is the time for collecting sap and turning it into maple syrup, we always consume it more in fall; somehow its flavour gives me those autumn vibes. So these are perfect cookies right now. I've made (relatively healthy) soft maple cookies with real apples, and now I should try applesauce. Look delicious!
Katherine | Love In My Oven says
These look like the perfect cookie for when you want to whip up something sweet! Maple is SUCH a good flavour for a cookie! Especially during fall 🙂
Laura says
I’m loving anything maple right now! And these look perfect! Love that drippy frosting, too!
Kim Lange says
I know you love maple so these would definitely has your name written all over them! Thank you Kelly!! xo
Kelly @ Kelly Lynns Sweets and Treats says
Who would have thought these cookies would be vegan?! They look so sinful!! Love the flavors of maple and brown sugar. Pinning!!
Kim Lange says
You'll love them! I'm so hooked on them right now! Thank you Kelsie! xo
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
I'm so trying these! I can't get enough maple OR soft, melty cookies!