Maple Sugar Cookies
Published 11/20/2021 • Updated 3/17/2024
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Ditch the white sugar and make these gorgeous maple sugar cookies for a yummy, refined sugar-free sugar cookie!
Maple Sugar Cookies – No White Sugar!
Holiday baking is upon us and we’re here to share the Christmas cookie you never knew you needed – maple sugar cookies!
I love our grain-free sugar cookies and Cheese Knee’s cream cheese sugar cookies, but I REALLY love these maple sugar cookies.
Not only do I love the flavor of maple syrup and maple sugar, but I love that these cookies are refined sugar-free and contain no white sugar. SCORE.
why you’ll love them
No white sugar: this recipe uses 2 forms of maple – syrup and sugar. Never heard of maple sugar, no fear! It’s pretty easy to find.
Freezer friendly: you can easily freeze a batch or two of these cookies to decorate for later.
Versatile: don’t feel like holiday baking, use any kind of cookie-cutter for these cookies and make them your own.
What You Need
- Flour: flour is used as the base of these cookies. We don’t recommend using any other kind of flour as we haven’t properly tested anything else.
- Maple Sugar: maple sugar is used in place of white sugar. It’s a granulated sugar that’s made from maple syrup and so yummy.
- Butter: butter is used as the fat in these cookies. While we haven’t tried, you could probably use coconut oil if you want.
- Ricotta Cheese: ricotta cheese adds great moisture and and a smooth and creamy texture.
- Vanilla: vanilla enhances the flavor of the maple.
- Egg: egg is used to bind everything together.
2 secret ingredients
Maple Sugar: We’ve been able to find maple sugar at a variety of different grocery stores, but our favorite brand is Coombs Family Farms. You can get it on Amazon or find it at Fresh Thyme or Whole Foods.
Ricotta Cheese: this may seem a little out of the ordinary, but believe us, it adds such a great creamy and buttery consistency to these cookies.
How to Make Maple Sugar Cookies
Now that you’ve assembled all of your ingredients for these epic sugar cookies, it’s time to get baking!
Make Dough
Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Then, cream the butter and the maple sugar on high in a separate bowl until smooth. Add ricotta cheese and mix on low until combined.
Add egg and vanilla and mix on low. Finally, add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix on low until combined into a cookie dough.
Refrigerate Dough
Separate the dough into 2. Then, create flat discs with the dough (it should be pretty soft) and wrap them in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Do I have to refrigerate my dough? YES. It is very important that you refrigerate your dough so that your sugar cookies don’t spread out too much.
Roll Out Dough
Lightly flour your countertop and then roll the sugar cookie dough out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/2-inch thick.
Cut into Shapes
Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out your cookies. Then, transfer them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet
Freeze
Freeze the sugar cookie cutouts for 15 minutes.
Do I have to freeze my cookies? YES. Do not skip this part. We know it adds a little time into this process but it’s similar to the refrigeration process as it will help prevent your cookies from spreading too much.
Bake Cookies
Remove cookies from the freezer and transfer them immediately into a preheated oven. Bake at 350ºF for 11-13 minutes or just until the corners begin to brown.
Cool
Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Simple Maple Frosting
Every sugar cookie deserves a yummy frosting. This maple frosting is so easy to make and it’s made with an easy maple simple syrup for that warm, yummy maple flavor.
- Add water and maple sugar to a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it begins to bubble.
- Remove from heat and add butter. Whisk until the butter melts.
- Transfer into a bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.
- After the maple mixture has cooled, transfer it into a stand mixer. Then, slowly incorporate powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix on low.
- Once you’ve used all of the powdered sugar, add the maple syrup and mix again.
- Transfer the maple frosting into a piping bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- When you’re ready to frost, remove from teh fridge and pipe away!
Storage
Once you’ve frosted your cookies, we suggest letting them sit for at least 2 hours to harden the frosting.
Store maple sugar cookies in a large glass container or gallon-size plastic bag and separate each layer of cookies with a piece of parchment paper.
Easy to Freeze Instructions
These sugar cookies are really easy to freeze (speaking from experience). So if you want to make a double or triple batch to freeze for later, go for it!
- Let your cookies cool completely. Then, frost them and let your frosting harden, or save the frosting for later. Either will work.
- Transer cookings back onto a baking sheet and place into the freezer for 30 minutes. This will partially freeze them and ensure they wont stick together.
- After 30 minutes transfer the cookies into a gallon-size plastic bag and remove as much air as possible
- Seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
Maple Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup maple sugar
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup full-fat ricotta cheese, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Maple Frosting
- ⅓ cup maple sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup butter, chopped into pats
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Place the flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and mix until combined. Set aside.
- Place butter and maple sugar into a bowl and cream on high until there are no lumps from the maple sugar.
- Slowly add the ricotta cheese to the bowl. Mix on low until there are no lumps and until the ingredients are creamed.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low until completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low, slowly until the flour is completely incorporated. Then stop mixing.
- Remove half of the dough and press it into a flat disk, it will be pretty soft. Wrap the disk in cling wrap, and use a rolling pin to evenly flatten the dough. Do the same thing with the other half of the dough. Then place them in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the dough is firm.
- To roll out the dough, remove one disk from the fridge and remove the cling wrap. Lightly flour your countertop as well as one side of the dough. Place the dough flour side down and lightly flour the top of the disk.
- Roll the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with leaf shaped cookie cutters and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. When the cookies are frozen, place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 11-13 minutes, or just until the corners and edges start to brown.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting the cookies.
Frosting
- Add the maple sugar and ⅓ cup of water to a saucepan and whisk the two ingredients together.
- Heat the saucepan over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble.
- Remove from heat and add the butter to the saucepan. Whisk the butter into the mixture until the butter has melted completely.
- Pour the mixture into a cool bowl and set aside the sugar mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Next, add the sugar mixture to a standing mixer bowl and add ½ cup of powdered sugar to the bowl, mix on low speed combined. Repeat until all of the powdered sugar has been added to the bowl.
- Add the 3 tablespoons of maple syrup to the bowl, mix until incorporated and scrape the sides.
- Scoop the maple frosting into a plastic bag or piping bag and seal. Place the frosting into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Remove the frosting from the fridge and snip the corner of the bag and carefully frost your cookies.
Tips & Notes
- Nutrition information does NOT include the frosting.
- The most important ingredient in this recipe is the maple sugar, do not substitute. You also need to make sure that in step 2, you make sure that the butter and sugar are creamed together completely and that the maple sugar is dissolved and is not chunky.
- Be sure you use full-fat ricotta that is room temperature.
- I found that everything creamed/combined best for the cookie dough if everything was room temperature.
- While your cookies are cooling, prepare the maple buttercream frosting immediately as it needs to sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These cookies melt in your mouth. They have the perfect amount of sweetness and are perfect for dipping in coffee!