Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

Jenny is in perpetual search for easy, weeknight recipes to attempt to feed her family. When they balk, she just eats more.

Today: Your holiday cookie-baking just got a lot more exciting. 

After a year of relentless baking, I didn’t really think there was an ingredient that hadn’t made its way into my pantry, sometimes in quantities that I shall never see the bottom of. Sprinkles, marshmallow fluff, buttermilk powder, mace -- people, I have it all.

But I allowed myself one slightly expensive purchase -- granulated maple sugar -- to make the unusual and super delicious Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies.

This cookie is so much fun to make, in part because of unusual ingredients like the special sugar and apple cider vinegar. Further, I gotta be honest, I am a fan of vegetable shortening, even though I use the organic non-hydrogenated version. 

These cookies have a delightful maple flavor that manages to not be overwhelming -- cut, I suppose, by the other spices and sugar. I like to make them sort-of big, and serve them to children before dinner. The drizzle is a special extra. They keep for an entire week in a covered container.

Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies by lara@goodcookdoris

Makes 2 dozen

The Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup grated hard maple syrup (or granulated maple sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

The Maple Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup (grade B preferred)
2 to 4 tablespoons water (or milk)
1 teaspoon maple extract (if using a lighter grade syrup)

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom