I spotted the lovely Homestead font on Jenny’s Font Friday column on Hank & Hunt a few months ago, and immediately wanted to grab a mug of luscious hot chocolate and curl up in a warm, toasty blanket! It looks sturdy and old-fashioned and plaid-ish, and brings to mind manly lumber jacks and snowy evergreen forests. I wanted to make shortbread cookies flavored with maple syrup to go with this gorgeous font, but liquids are the enemy of shortbread; adding a liquid like honey or maple syrup to otherwise crispy, crunchy shortbread will make them soft and chewy. Luckily, you can add maple flavor to sweet treats without adding any syrup thanks to maple sugar! Everyone who’s eaten these shortbread cookies so far has raved. And then gone back for seconds!
Maple & Brown Sugar Shortbread Inspired by Homestead Font
3 sticks butter (1 1/2 cups), at room temperature
1/2 cup maple sugar (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugars until just combined. Add vanilla and maple flavoring, and mix. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt, then add to butter mixture. Mix on low just until dough comes together. Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes. Roll dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch and cut into individual cookies. I used a 2-3″ maple leaf-shaped cookie cutter, but any 2-3″ cookie cutter would work. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 18 minutes, until the edges just begin to turn golden. Remove from oven and cool before serving.
About the author: Melissa writes about her adventures in food, family, and farming at Lulu the Baker. She develops recipes, cooks, and photographs for The Font Feast column.
[…] Now that it’s officially fall, I’m excited for maple everything, especially cookies! These maple shortbread cookies are simple to make, and of course look even cuter when in maple leaf shapes. The recipe calls for maple sugar instead of maple syrup, but I think if you add a bit more flour and add enough maple syrup to the same quantity of white sugar, it would be pretty amazing. Pinterest link is here, and the recipe can be found here. […]
I looked today in my Trader Joe’s for maple sugar and the girl in there claimed they never carried it. Can this recipe be altered?
they sell it on line at King Arthur Flour
Thank you for the recipe!
Does anyone know how to make maple sugar, as I haven’t seen any in my local stores. Also, do you think we can substitute maple syrup for the maple flavouring? I’m thinking it may not be as strong a flavour…Thanks!
I can’t wait to make these. They would be perfect at Thanksgiving
[…] Read all the details about the recipe on: cieradesign.com […]
Yes, I can see myself going back for seconds already! =0)
~Kim – visiting from EBT
Still love this feature. I also love shortbread (it’s a Scottish thing, I’m required to love it).
Mmmm. These look delicious! I need to get a cute maple leaf cookie cutter now!
Yum! These look adorable AND delicious!!