Soft Pecan Sugar Cookies with Maple Icing
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Pecan sugar cookies are buttery, soft (not crumbly!), and have a toasty, nutty flavor thanks to the chopped pecans. We’re coating them in maple icing because maple + pecans is a total dream combo. They’re the perfect, unique cut-out sugar cookie for autumn or your holiday cookie boxes!
Not me posting another cookie recipe 2 days before Christmas. Like, I know you’re probably done with your holiday baking and you would rather run a marathon with lead boots on than eat another cookie. (No, just me?) But hear me out!
As much as I love staring at sugar cookie decorating accounts on IG, I just don’t have that level of patience. Maybe it’s because I decorated a million cookies when I was in pastry school? Who knows. But my hot take of 2022 is that sugar cookies are bad about 90% of the time. Gorgeous? Absolutely. But tasty? Debatable. So, I set out on a mission to make sugar cookies that are buttery, a bit cake-y, and have you know, actual flavor.
Also, when it comes to decorating, these are different because as it turns out, making tiny wreaths on sugar cookies is 1. ridiculously easy. No really, it requires zero special skills. And 2. when you pair this task with a bottle of wine and a true crime podcast, it’s so damn fun. So let’s make them and get in the Christmas spirit, yeah?
Don’t forget to try my other holiday cookie recipes! These stamped cardamom gingerbread cookies are my most popular recipe every December. But these chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies and sugared molasses crinkle cookies are some of my faves!
Ingredients + tools
We’re making both the cookies and a maple royal icing so you’ll need a few ingredients for both. In terms of baking tools, make sure you have a hand mixer or stand mixer, piping bags or icing squeeze bottles, and toothpicks. You’ll also need other basic baking tools like sheet pans, parchment paper, and bowls.
For the cookies, all you need is pecans, unsalted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, baking powder, Kosher salt, and eggs. The royal icing is made up of powdered sugar, meringue powder, maple extract, and gel food coloring. Look for meringue powder in the baking aisle of the grocery store or online!
Toast the pecans
Make the dough
Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or it will be sticky and impossible to roll out. To get a soft texture, we’re not using as much flour as other recipes which makes the dough a bit stickier. If the dough gets too warm when you’re rolling it out, pop it back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
Roll the dough & bake
Mix up the icing
To tell if the icing is ready, give it a drizzle. The outline of the drizzle should melt back into the icing in 10-15 seconds and it’ll be the consistency of a thinner honey. If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar or whip it for another 1-2 minutes. If it’s too thick, add water to thin.
Decorate the cookies like wreaths
- To decorate these cookies like wreaths, start by dividing three bowls with about 1/2-1 cup of icing. Color one red and the other 2 with different tones of green. You can also just use 1 green if you like! Pour the colored icings into squeeze bottles or piping bags with tips. Place the rest of the white icing in a shallow bowl.
- Next, dip the top of a cookie in the white icing. Let the excess drip off and then flip it onto a counter. Gently tap the bottom of the cookie to evenly distribute the icing. You can also use a toothpick!
- Pipe a circle of green dots around the cookie, alternating between the two different green icings.
- Then, use a toothpick to gently drag a circular line through the centers of the dots. (See a tutorial in the video in the recipe card).
- Lastly, use the red icing to pipe ‘berries’ all around the wreath.
The icing needs at least 5-6 hours to set completely. You can also place them in an airtight container in a single layer if you want to let them set overnight. Do not cover the cookies with plastic wrap or it’ll warp the icing, trust me!
Regular icing
If you don’t want to pipe frosting and just want a quick and easy dipping icing, you can use a regular powdered sugar glaze on these cookies. Use my basic vanilla icing and replace the vanilla extract with maple extract instead. Or, switch things up and use brown butter icing instead – so delicious! Then, decorate with sprinkles or chopped nuts if you feel like it.
Cookie cutters
For these wreath cookies, I used 3” ruffle cookie cutter for the outside and a 1” cutter for the inside. But you can use a wreath cookie cutter or any shape you like!
Store & freeze the cookies
Once the icing is completely set, place them in an airtight container. They will stay soft for 4-5 days. If you want to freeze the cookies, you can store the baked cookies or the dough:
- Baked cookies – after the icing is set, place the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag. Use parchment paper between each layer of cookies. Then, freeze for up to 2 months.
- Cookie dough – wrap the dough in plastic wrap and pop the discs in a freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Then, thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
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Pecan Sugar Cookies with Maple Icing
Ingredients
Pecan Sugar Cookies
- 3/4 cup pecan halves
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
Maple Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder
- 1/2 cup room temperature water, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon maple extract
- Gel food coloring and sprinkles, for decoration
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- 2 rimmed sheet pans
- Cookie cutters
Instructions
Toasted Pecans
- Place the pecans in a sauté pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the pecans are toasty and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the toasted pecans in a bowl and cool to room temperature. Chop or pulse in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Set aside.
Sugar Cookies
- In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and Kosher salt. Set aside.
- Then, in a large bowl, cream the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until it's light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Then, mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture and beat just until the dough forms. Fold in the pecans.
- Form the cookie dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap (it'll be a bit sticky). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Once the dough is chilled and you're ready to roll it out, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Then, remove one disc from the fridge. Roll the dough on a floured surface until it's 1/4-1/2'' thick (1/4'' for crisp cookies, 1/2'' for soft cookies). Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, as desired. For wreath cookies, use a 3'' cookie cutter and then a 1'' cookie cutter in the center. Repeat until the dough is used up. You can form and re-roll the dough up to 3 times.
- Place the cookies 1'' apart on the parchment-lined sheet pans. If the cookies have warmed up at all, pop them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. (This will keep them from puffing up too much). Bake for 9-10 minutes, flipping the pan halfway through, until the centers are set and the edges are light golden-brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the pans for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat this process with the second disc of dough.
Royal Icing
- To make the royal icing, sift the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the meringue powder, water, and maple extract.
- Whip the icing on high for 2-3 minutes, adding more water as necessary, until the icing is the consistency of thin honey. On dry days, you may need up to a cup of water (or more!). When you drizzle the icing, it should melt back into the rest of the icing in 10-15 seconds. That's how you know it's done. If it's too thick, add more water. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar or whip it for 1-2 more minutes.
- Color the icing, as desired and place in bowls, squeeze bottles, or piping bags with tips depending on how you'd like to decorate the cookies.
Wreath Decorations
- To decorate these cookies like wreaths, pour about 1/2-1 cup of icing into 3 separate bowls. Color one bowl of icing with red food coloring and the other 2 bowls with 2 different tones of green. You can also just use 1 green tone if you like. Pour the colored icings into squeeze bottles or piping bags with tips. Then, pour the remaining white icing into a shallow bowl.
- Next, dip the top of one cookie into the white icing. Let the excess drip off and then flip it onto a counter. Gently tap the bottom of the cookie to evenly distribute the icing. You can also use a toothpick!
- While the white icing is still wet, pipe a circle of green dots around the cookie. Then, use a toothpick to gently drag a circular line through the centers of the dots. (See a tutorial in the video above).
- Lastly, use the red icing to pipe 'berries' all around the wreath. Let them set on a wire rack for at least 5-6 hours. Store the set cookies in an airtight container with a piece of parchment between each layer of cookies.
- If you do not want to decorate the cookies like wreaths, decorate as desired with different colors of icing, sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc. Let the cookies set on a wire rack for 5-6 hours. Store in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer.
