- 20 mins
- 20 mins
Ingredients
- Serves Makes 28-30 large cookies
- 1-1/2 cups salted butter (3 sticks)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 4-3/4 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 batch Maple Pecan Frosting (below)
Preparation
Step 1
Start by browning the butter. Melt 3 sticks of butter over medium heat in a saucepan. The wider the bottom of the pot, the faster your butter will brown.
Meanwhile, add sugar and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.
Back to the butter. Keep the heat on medium and stir occasionally once the butter has melted. Continue to cook until a foam has formed on top. Keep stirring every now and then so that you can see the color of the liquid. Pretty soon the butter will turn from amber to brown. Not just kind of dark yellow, BROWN, with little browned "bits" or "flecks of holy goodness," as I like to call them.
Once your butter is brown and smells nutty, remove from heat and immediately add to the bowl with the sugar. Your butter might burn if you don't do it right away.
Beat the butter and sugar together. Let cool for a few minutes before you add the eggs. Or, live on the edge like me, and add the eggs while your mixer is on so that they are beat in right away and don't have time to curdle.
Add 2 tablespoons Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract and mix it in.
Add 2 cups of flour to the top of the mixture, but don't stir. Add the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the top of the flour and gently stir it into the flour using a teaspoon. Then turn the beaters on low and start to mix in the flour. Add the remaining 2 and 3/4 cup flour and gently stir it in until just combined. Scrape the bottom and sides and make sure all the flour is incorporated.
Chill the dough for at least an hour, or up to 4 days.*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use a large cookie scoop to shape the dough into large balls, about the size of a golf ball. Place on cookie sheets lined with a silpat or parchment paper.
Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes, or until lightly brown on the outside, and still barely shiny in the center.
Let cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
Frost with Maple Pecan Frosting (below)
Recipe Notes:
If you are in a hurry (I'm always in a hurry when cookies are concerned) shape the dough balls onto a baking sheet or ziplock and freeze them for 30 minutes, then bake as directed.
Maple Pecan Frosting
Serves Makes enough to frost 1 double layer cake, or 24 cupcakes
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup (I used Grade A)
1 teaspoon maple extract
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Chop up the pecans. You can chop them with a knife or in a food processor. See photos to see what level of choppiness we're talking.
Set a frying pan over medium heat. Add the pecans and stir occasionally until they start to smell delicious, or until they barely start to brown. Set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter to within an inch of its life. Just kidding, beat it for a couple minutes until it's high and fluffy.
Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and maple syrup. Beat well.
Add 1 cup powdered sugar, maple extract, and salt. Beat well.
Add the chopped pecans when they are completely cooled and beat it. Try not to eat it all with a spoon.
Recipe Notes:
I've never tried this with fake maple syrup. I'm sure it would work fine! Let me know if you try it out.