Ingredients
- 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup pure maple sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Chef notes
A double dose of maple sets these leaf-shaped sandwich cookies apart. Maple sugar goes into the buttery shortbread dough and maple syrup sweetens the rich cream filling.
You can also find the recipe on MarthaStewart.com.
Preparation
For the cookies:
1.In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and granulated and maple sugars until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides as necessary. Divide dough into 4 pieces, shape into disks, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
2.Preheat oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to 1/8‑inch thickness, lightly dusting with flour. Cut out about 10 cookies using a 4-inch maple-leaf- shaped cutter, dipping cutter in flour as needed. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Repeat process with remaining disks of dough.
3.Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges begin to brown, 10-12 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.
For the filling:
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and maple syrup; beat until smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (such as Ateco #1 or #2).
Pipe 2 tablespoons filling onto bottoms of half the cookies, then sandwich with remaining cookies. (Filled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)
