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Fill your home with the scent of maple, a lesser heralded but truly wonderful fall flavor when you bake these cookies. This recipe calls for high quality grade B syrup for the richest flavor and a surprise ingredient: black pepper. This spice is such an underrated tool for baking, adding a subtle kick at the end. Since maple can be rather sweet, pepper tempers it nicely.
These crisp buttery cookies are perfect for dipping in afternoon tea in the afternoon, a light dessert or even a great addition to your holiday cookie party. Enjoy and happy baking!
Maple-Black Pepper Cookies Adapted from a Gourmet recipe Makes about 30
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup grade B maple syrup
1 large egg yolk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Add the yolk and the maple syrup and beat again until combined.
• Use a spatula to fold in the flour, salt and pepper, until a slightly clumpy dough forms, using your hands if necessary. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness and use cookie cutters to create various shapes. Place cookies on the baking sheets and reroll the dough as needed until it is all used.
• Bake 8 to 11 minutes, until the edges are golden. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Cookies will keep in an airtight container about 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 1 month in the freezer.
This article appears in November 2014.