Maple Pecan Ice Box Cookies

When I was a kid I loved eating those maple candies that you can get at souvenir shops around here. They’re soft maple candies in the shape of maple leaves and they melt in your mouth like a dream. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m sorry - you’re missing out. Anyway, I always wondered how did they make these things??? Maple syrup is a liquid - did they evaporate it and make the candies from the crystals? That was my best working theory. When I was 8.

Once I made these cookies for the first time I finally got it - they’re a combo of maple syrup and powdered sugar! Mind. Blown! These little guys are always on my cookie list because a) the recipe makes a whole lot of them, b) they’re solid little cookies that hold together in the baskets, and c) they’re delicious!

If pecans aren’t your thing or if you have someone in your family with a nut allergy, they could totally be left out and you’d still be left with some pretty awesome cookies. I had planned to make these Stella-safe by using the only brand of single-process pecans I know of (for those of you without food allergies in your life, single-process nuts are nuts processed in a facility that only processes that kind of nut, because cross-contamination is a thing) but I dropped the ball and forgot to order them. But I love these too much to go without the pecans, so I used some from Trader Joe’s and am just keeping them from her. I can’t decide if this makes me a bad mom or just dedicated to my cookie craft… the jury is still out. If you do like pecans, keep them in - these are pretty perfect just as designed. Also, Rocco loves them. So at least I’m sharing with one kid.

step 1: gather your ingredients

The one thing you’ll need here that I can pretty much guarantee you don’t have at home already is maple flavoring. You can find this in the grocery store with the vanilla extract. I’m sure you can also order it online. Amazon has everything. Also, while it’s a tool and not an ingredient, be aware that you’ll need a food processor for this recipe. It can come in extra handy if you only have whole pecans, as throwing them in the food processor and pulsing them a few times can turn them into chopped pecans.

step 2: combine the wet ingredients

In the aforementioned food processor, pulse the sugars together to combine. Add the maple flavoring and pulse for another 15 seconds or so. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula and pulse a few more times to ensure the maple flavoring is totally incorporated into the sugars.

in a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until really smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar mixture in three parts and then mix for another 3 minutes. I know, it’s a long time. Add the egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Blend until just mixed, scraping the bowl as needed.

Thinking about it…

Excited about it…

Just a little taste…

Getting away with it :)

step 3: add the dry ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the we ingredients, slowly, mixing on low speed. Add the pecans and blend until just mixed.

Maple cookie dough is delicious.

I used the food processor to turn these guys into chopped pecans. Use what you have when you can.

step 4: prepare to refrigerate

Take 1/3 of the dough out of the bowl. Place dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a log about 10 inches long. Try to avoid making age-inappropriate jokes if you have little ones around. It’s bad form and they just won’t get it, anyway.

The easiest way to do this is to just mold the dough like clay. Don’t try to roll it before wrapping it in the plastic or you’ll just end up with dough all over your hands. Just get it to the right length, wrap it up, and then roll it on the counter a few times. It won’t be perfectly round, but that’s okay. We’re making homemade cookies here - they don’t need to be perfect.

Repeat the process two more times with the rest of the dough. Place all three logs in the fridge for a few hours until they’re firm enough to slice.

My logs never turn out the same size. It’s not a big deal.

step 5: prepare to bake your cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper that’s cut to size. Remove one log from the refrigerator and unwrap. Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 1/2” slices. The original recipe says to go for 1/4” slices, but I find that to be too thin and result in a crispier cookie than I’d prefer. 1/2” is just about right.

Place your cookie slices no more than 1” apart on the baking sheet. These won’t spread very much in the oven so you can safely place them relatively close to one another without fear that they’ll run together into a cookie blob. Bake for about 15 minutes, or just until you can cleanly get them off of the cookie sheet after they rest for a minute or so. Do not wait for them to brown around the edges - they’ll be too crisp at that point.

Make sure your knife is serrated - those little teeth make this part so much faster and cleaner than otherwise.

Feel free to put these little guys closer together than you’d normally place cookies. They don’t spread much.

step 6: glaze your cookies

While your cookies are in the oven, prepare the glaze. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup until smooth and pourable. If necessary, add a bit of warm water to thin it out.

When the cookies come out of the oven, leave them on the parchment paper. Let them rest for a minute, then brush the glaze on the warm cookies using a silicone brush (if you don’t have a silicone brush, drop a small amount of glaze in the center of each cookie with a spoon and use the back of the spoon to spread it around). You’ll want to work quickly here - if the cookies cool too much your glaze will turn white and look more like a frosting. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Frosting is delicious. But they’re prettier when it’s a glaze.

After glazing the cookies, remove them from the baking sheet to a cooking rack. Your finished cookies can be eaten at any time, no need to wait for the glaze to dry. Just saying. Don’t let anything hold you back :).

Glazed and ready to be moved to the cooling rack - do this as soon as possible to keep the cookies from cooking even more on the hot baking sheet.