French maple syrup cookies.

Did you know that tomorrow is National Homemade Cookie Day? I found this out while I was reading Woman's Day magazine at my Mommom's house this September and I was so excited I marked it on my calender! I was kicking around a couple ideas for what type of cookie to make. At first I was going to make Earl Grey or chai cookies. I loved the Earl Grey cake that I made for my birthday so I figured a cookie would be good too.
Then I remembered I had a great recipe for French Maple Syrup cookies. I had gotten the recipe in 10th grade, each French student had to make a dish each year they were enrolled in a language course for showcase night. Showcase night was nothing special, it was just a night that parents could come and see what their children were working on all year. I was in French all four years and my Senior year I was in a theater class. I found a partner and we did the Monty Python Cheese shop sketch, I was slightly drunk since I had made chocolate mousse for my French dish and went overboard on the rum. I know how to make proper chocolate mousse now but when I was 17 I figured you could never have too much booze in a dish. By the way, if you put too much rum in the moose it will not become, well moose. I ended up serving a chocolate soup, it looked like sewer back up and it was the least popular dish of the night!
The dough needs to be chilled in the refrigerator overnight but I only have time to bake today so I put them in the freezer.

I always cook like this if you were wondering. 

I want to share this fantastic recipe with all of you. I have made these cookies a lot over the years and everyone who has tasted them loves them. Plus they are a good reason to break out your fun cookie cutters. This batch of cookies is going to be bats for Halloween. 

Maple Syrup Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar (plus extra for dusting)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt


Preparation
The day before you plan to bake the cookies, make the dough

1: Beat together the sugar and butter with an electric beater on high speed for about 3 minutes.
2: Add the maple syrup,vanilla and egg yolk and mix for 1 minute.
3: Sift the flour and salt directly into the butter/sugar mixture. Beat at medium speed until combined- about 2 minutes.
4:Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic (or put in a tupperware) and refrigerate overnight.

To make the cookies

1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2: Butter two baking sheets
3: Divide the dough into two equal portions. Working with a 1 inch portion at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8-inch thick
4: Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and place on prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart.
5: Gather scraps, reroll and cut out as many additional cookies as possible. Repeat until there is nothing left.
6:Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar
7: Bake for 9-12 minutes, until they are lightly golden. Remove and cool on racks.

The dough before I put it in the freezer

Jeremy is a big help to me in the kitchen and with my blog. Not only does he take most of the photos  he also cleans the dishes while I dry. I really like how we always do things as a team. He really likes to lick the beaters whenever I bake something.

I waited for the dough to be ready for a couple of hours, it took up my entire afternoon. I got some homework done and Jeremy and I watched some interesting documentaries on Netfilx. 

Around 4 in the afternoon the dough was ready to be rolled out. If you let it chill for awhile it's very easy to work with. It may leave a sticky residue on your hands but the dough itself doesn't stick to your hands. I do recommend that you sprinkle the counter before rolling the dough out since maple syrup is sticky. 

My little bat cookie cutter. Since tomorrow is going to be October 1st. I figured a bat would be fitting. 

The first batch, complete!

Well, there you have it, maple syrup cookies. I can't believe that tomorrow is going to be October first already! I have absolutely no idea what I want to be for Halloween yet, and if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. 

Will you be making cookies for 'National Homemade Cookie Day' tomorrow? Have you already started preparing or are you going to mooch off someone else (always a good idea)? I hope you try out my recipe and if you do let me know what you think.