While I was searching for shortbread recipes I came across this one for maple pecan shortbread that sounded so good that it immediately made it to this years holiday cookie platter. Maple and pecan are among my favourite flavours and the combination of the two is simply amazing! It is a flavour combination that I really enjoy and frequently use. These cookies are essentially a shortbread with chopped pecans and maple flavouring in the form of maple syrup. To get even more mapley goodness I also replaced some of the sugar in the cookies with maple sugar. The cookies are then finished with a topping of a pecan half and some coarse grained sugar. Although these cookies are pretty easy to make, the dough requires some chilling time in the fridge so plan appropriately. You really cannot go wrong with buttery shortbread cookies and these maple pecan short bread cookies did not disappoint! The maple and pecan flavours came through really well and the cookies seemed to literally melt in your mouth. I can see that these cookies will definitely have a place on my holiday cookie platter for years to come!
Maple Pecan Shortbread
ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pecans (toasted and finely chopped)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 large egg white (lightly beaten)
- 1/2 cup pecan halves
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
directions
- Mix the flours, salt and pecans in a large bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the maple syrup followed by the egg yolk.
- Mix in the flour until it forms a dough.
- Form the dough into a 1 1/2 inch thick log, wrap it in plastic and let it chill out in the fridge for 2 hours to over night.
- Slice the log into 1/4 inch thick slices.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet 1 inch apart from each other, brush with the egg white and top with the pecan laves and the turbinado sugar.
- Bake the cookies in a 350F/180C preheated oven until lightly golden brown on the edges, about 10-12 minutes, turning the baking sheet around half way through.
These are stunning little shortbreads; no wonder they caught your eye.
I could easily eat two dozen of these.
i wanna make everything you make. i am your biggest groupie!
Delicious flavor combo! Shortbread always feels so special during the holidays!
What a fabulous take and a traditional recipe.
🙂 Mandy
Yes please, I would accept with pleasure a batch of these delicious shortbread cookies ♥
Wow they're so beautiful!I need one of them now!
Maple and pecan are some of my favorite fall flavors, Kevin! THese cookies sound like the perfect addition to my cookie tray.
That sounds great. How many gramm are one stick of butter? Unfortunately we have no cup-messure here in germany…
these are gorgeous shortbreads! i love the pecan and maple flavor combo!
What a great cookie for Christmas!!
These are such pretty little cookies! Maple Shortbread is one of my most favorite indulgences, but I've never paired it with pecans. Now I'm dying to bite into a piece and have that lovely toasted pecan flavor too. 🙂
Gurgi: 1 cup of butter is 225 grams.
Gorgeous. I feel like I gained 5 lbs just looking for this.
These look beautiful and sound delicious!
These look amazing!! I want to make them simply for the look =)
Hmmm – now it's between this maple grand sortbread and the rosemary-walnut one. I know I could live outloud and do both…
i'm saving this recipe for sure. Hubby has been asking for shortbread recently, so your recipe came in timely!
Such pretty cookies! As usual your photos are just stunning.
These sound amazing. I love any kind of shortbread cookie! Definitely starring these, although I won't have time to make them for Christmas. 🙁
Ooooh waw, Kevin!! Your maple shortbread looks just stunning & muste taste wonderfully too!
Great to give as a food gift too!
Amazing, I think I am going to try these this weekend. Would you recommend toasting the pecans beforehand? or would that be overkill?
Sam: Toasting the pecans first would definitely bring out their flavour!
Nice flavor combo!
Oh wow! There goes my diet 🙁
I printed this recipe quite a while ago, but hadn't tried it until today. When these were still slightly warm from the oven, I was underwhelmed. But let them cool completely and let the flavors mature and they're sensational!
I baked them as a refreshment for a meeting tonight and they were completely gone before the meeting started. I made my log about 1/1/2 " as a square and my yield was about 36. This is a keeper!
Oops! I forgot to mention that I toasted the pecans and used Grade B maple syrup which I love for a more intense flavor.
can't wait to make these, but living in Florida right now; where can I find maple sugar???
Nancy Long: I am not sure about where to find it in Florida but you should be able to order it online. Really though the maple syrup provides enough maple flavour and you can replace the maple sugar with more regular sugar.
Where can you buy maple sugar?
Kathy: I usually find it in the health food section along with the other sugar substitutes. you can also order it online form amazon, etc. You can easily replace the maple sugar with sugar and rely on the maple syrup for the maple flavour. EnjoY!
I’m in the states, what is Maple sugar? Is it called by a different name perhaps!? Thank you in advance!
Maple sugar is maple sap that has been boiled longer than required to make maple syrup; it is allowed to harden into a solid and then ground into granules similar in form to sugar. If you cannot find it locally you can order it from places like amazon or you can substitute regular sugar. Enjoy!