Maple Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

Why We Love These Maple Cookies

If you’re looking for a maple cookie recipe, here’s your sign to make these maple thumbprint cookies. The nutty flavors from the hazlenuts is so tasty with the maple sugar and maple cream. You can easily make a batch of these and store them in the freezer so that you have a sweet treat on hand whenever the craving hits.

You could also make them to give away to friends, for Chiristmas cookie platters, to share with family or even sell at a bake sale. And who knows–they might just become your new favorite cookie!

Key Ingredients for This Recipe

• Hazelnuts: For this recipe, you’ll grind up whole hazelnuts with a bit of sugar in the food processor. You’re making a nut meal of sorts. If you happen to have hazelnut flour, you can sub in 3.5 ounces of it and add the sugar separately.
• White Whole-Wheat Flour: White whole wheat flour is a whole grain flour made from a type of wheat that is lighter in color and has less-pronounced wheat flavor than regular whole-wheat. If you cannot find it, regular whole-wheat flour works well. You can also substitute all-purpose flour which is slightly less absorbent, so I would use 1 ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour in place of both.
• Unsalted Butter: You could use salted butter instead, just be mindful then of how much additional salt you’re adding.
• Granulated Maple Sugar: I call for this ingredient occasionally around here. If you have made my Gluten-Free White Chocolate Blondies then you’ll know just how it brings intense maple flavor to baked goods. You can make your own maple sugar, or purchase it online or specialty food stores. If you can’t find it, you can experiment by using dark brown sugar instead.
• Egg: I use large eggs for all my baking recipes.
• Maple Cream: Maple cream is spreadable and spoonable maple syrup with a very rich flavor. Like maple sugar, it’s also cooked to a high temperature (slightly cooler though), then whipped as it is cooled. The results are a thick creamy light beige “butter” that can be used in place of jam. You can make your own maple cream, or you can purchase it in jars.
• Other Pantry Staples: White granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract.

Step-by-Step Instructions For Maple Cookies

Step 1: Make the dry mix

Start by grinding up the hazelnuts with a bit of sugar in the food processor. Process until the hazelnuts are finely ground, about 40 seconds. You’re making a nut meal of sorts. Take off the lid and scrape the edges with a spatula. Add in the whole-wheat flour (if you can find it look for white whole-wheat), all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse the dry ingredients together.

Step 2: Make butter mixture & add dry mix

For this step, use a large bowl with an electric mixer (or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment). Beat the softened butter until it’s creamy and light and fluffy. This takes about a minute. Add in the maple sugar and beat again until combined. I like to scrape down the sides of the bowl at this point to make sure there aren’t any pockets of butter that haven’t been incorporated. Next, on medium speed, mix in the egg and vanilla until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the dry mixture on low speed with the stand mixer or by hand. It is a rather stiff dough so if your stand mixer is not very powerful, it may bog down the motor.

Step 3: Shape & chill cookies

Arrange the oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can also portion the dough and roll it into cookie dough balls if you don’t have a scoop. Press your fingertip or thumb into the center of each cookie (they puff a little bit while they bake, so don’t be afraid of making them too big. Just make sure you don’t press all the way through). To help the cookies hold their shape, refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Bake maple hazelnut cookies & add maple cream

You’ll want to bake the cookies one pan at a time in the center of the oven until golden brown. Make sure to spin the cookie sheet halfway through the baking time, 10 to 12 minutes total. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Use a half-teaspoon or quarter-teaspoon measuring spoon to carefully dollop the maple cream into the center of the cooled cookies. Let the maple cream set up for one hour at room temperature. The outer layer will harden slightly. (You can wait and do this after freezing too if you prefer to not wait.) 

FAQs and Expert Tips

Additional Sweets To Try

• The technique for this recipe is sort of similar to the my Apple Walnut Oatmeal Cookies.
• These Clementine Rum Balls and Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies make great additions to a cookie collection.
• My Cranberry Crumb Bars are super popular and so pretty! I love using clementines in them!
• Hermit Cookies: These are an easy flavored bar cookie that my kids like to bake on their own.
• Almond Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies are another option for delicious cookies that are more traditional thumbprint cookies. Compare the two!
• Peppermint Pattie Cheesecake for a celebration worthy sweet, this cake is a show stopper.
• The maple syrup in this Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting makes this cake unique. And if you like maple, you’ll love this Maple Almond Apple Cake.