When I was 12, my family moved to Europe for two years. Though we spent the majority of our time in Spain, we visited many countries. Our travels across Europe took place in a VW minibus (the predecessors of today’s minivan) towing a British travel trailer camper. Bringing our house with us meant no packing and unpacking at each destination and enabled us to sleep in the same bed each night. Our meals were made from local foods purchased at open air markets and shops. An astounding abundance of bakeries, introduced us to the wonders of European breads and pastries.
My food memories of that period are almost exclusively about bakery purchases. That’s sort of odd because we certainly ate a lot of other foods, but my carb addiction seems to have taken over my memory bank. During our winters in Spain, I was in charge of running out to the bakery in the mornings to purchase bread and breakfast buns. My favorite buns were soft and bread-like with a cut out in the center which was filled with a custardy pastry cream. I absolutely adore pastry cream. Frequently, we made a second bakery run in the afternoons for fresh bread and an after school snack. My snack of choice was always the same. I am boring that way. Even when I stood amongst the French children lined up at pastry counters waiting to buy their pain chocolat still warm from the oven, I waited impatiently for my palmier, known to me as an elephant ear cookie.
I still love the crunch and the flakiness of the puff pastry dough used to make an elephant ear cookie. The warm caramelized sugar flavor infused with buttery richness is pure cookie comfort. This recipe for Maple Crisps gives you all that and more. The more being easy to make with a shelf life of at least 2-3 weeks when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
I adapted the Maple Crisps from a King Arthur Flour recipe. A number of things about this recipe surprised me. First, I was surprised by the addition of instant yeast. I had never baked a cookie that included yeast. Generally, yeast scares me. Don’t be scared by yeast in this recipe. It just gets added in like any other ingredient. Then forget about it. The next ingredient surprise was that there is no sugar in the dough itself. This is a cookie. Cookies include sugar. Again, don’t worry. Though it is unusual, the sugar is added to the outside of the dough while rolling out and provides plenty of sweetness. The order of mixing the ingredients is also unexpected. If you have made your own pastry dough (which I hadn’t) the order will make sense to you. You add the butter last. I am glad I didn’t second guess the directions because it works exactly the way the directions say it will.
Finally, my biggest surprise was the taste. Everything about these Maple Crisps looks plain and they are certainly not plain. They are wondrous. Maple Crisps bake for a long time (about 70 minutes) at a low temperature and while the dough is turning into flaky crunch perfection, the sugar is slowly caramelizing covering the cookies with delectable flavor. The original recipe called for a tiny drop (literally) of lemon oil. I tried it that way and it is very good but I like this version with maple flavor more. The maple intensifies and melds with the caramelized sugar flavor.
The other change I made to the original recipe was in procedure for rolling out. I made it a lot easier. The King Arthur recipes are from their test kitchen or from readers who are major bakers so I find that the recipes are usually quite reliable. This time the method suggested just didn’t make sense to me. The original recipe requires rolling out the soft dough to 1/16”, cutting, then transferring the cut cookies to a baking sheet. Moving a very soft, very thin cookie is not practical. Instead, I suggest rolling out the dough on the parchment paper it will be baked on, slicing the cookies, and sliding the entire piece of parchment paper onto a cookie sheet for baking. Maple Crisps shrink while baking so separating them isn’t necessary.
These are the kind of cookies you will want to have on hand. Not only do Maple Crisps make great care package cookies, but they are a delicious decoration in a bowl of ice cream and delightful with a cup of tea.
Shimmering Maple Crisps
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups coarse white and/or Demerara sugar I used both
Directions
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, milk, maple flavoring, yeast, and salt.
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Cut butter into 8 pieces. Add one piece at a time to the dough, mixing each piece in for 1 full minute before adding the next. The dough will start out crumbly, then start to look wet and sticky before finally becoming smooth and stretchy.
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Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
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WHEN READY TO BAKE: Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Cut two sheets of parchment paper the size of your baking sheets.
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Place one sheet of parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle with about ½ cup of sugar.
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Divide the dough in half. Refrigerate one half until ready to use. Place the other half on the sugar sprinkled parchment paper. Sprinkle additional sugar on top of the dough.
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Roll out into a rough rectangle about 1/16” thick. As you roll add additional sugar to the top of the dough so that the entire rolled out surface is coated and the rolling pin gently embeds the crystals. Also gently lift the edges of the dough, periodically as you roll, to add additional sugar under the dough to cover the bottom surface.
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Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel (recommended) cut the dough into 1 ½”- 2 ½” diamonds or squares. Smaller sized cookies end up more evenly crunchy.
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Slide a cookie sheet under the parchment paper and bake for 60-75 minutes or until deep golden brown. They must be deep brown (but not burnt) to remain crispy and obtain the best caramelized sugar flavor.
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Remove immediately from cookie sheet onto wire rack to cool.
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Store in an airtight container for at least 2-3 weeks. These cookies will get softer and loose their crispness if exposed to humidity but remain delicious.
Packing Tips
Double wrap pairs of cookies (with bottoms together) or stacks of cookies in plastic wrap, then place in an airtight container or zip lock bag.
These look so delicious! Those two years in Europe must have been amazing, sounds like such an adventure 🙂
Thanks, Sinead! I am in love with these cookies!
As an adult, I look back and know those years in Europe were both amazing and an adventure which definitely impacted the travel lust I have today. At the time, however, I was a hormonal preteen who spent a great deal of time “on strike” (as my family referred to it). 🙂
I have never heard of Maple Crisps before, but I do LOVE maple!
I made up the maple, Julianne. The original called for lemon but I thought the maple went well with the caramelized sugar. King Arthur calls theirs Crystal Diamonds but that doesn’t describe the wonderful crispness of these little gems. 🙂
Maple crisps is new to me but I do love maple in any baked goods. Delicious Wendy!
Thanks, Anne! This method for making cookie dough was new to me also but I know I will be using it again soon! 🙂
My goodness that sounds like so much fun! I wish my job was to run out to the bakery every morning heehee (though I’d probably never come home again lol). These maple crisps look delectable, Wendy, and delicious now that the weather is cooling down!
Thanks, Jess! Daily (sometimes twice daily) fresh baked goods are part of the cultures in many European countries. At this point in my life, I would be very happy and very round with that much delicious fresh bread. 🙂
These look so good, Wendy! Love the way they look with the coarse sugar on top and I’m a fan of anything that holds well. That is convenient even if you aren’t shipping these.
And what a wonderful experience to live in Europe for two years like that. I can almost imagine you standing on line at the bakeries, buying your morning buns or palmier. The open markets, the bakeries, the cafe culture in general are things I really adore about Europe.
Thanks, Monica! I didn’t share these cookie like I usually do because they disappeared too quickly! They are just plain enough to go well as a side decoration with a lot of things yet tasty enough on their own to become an addictive snack.
The Europe experience impacted my love of travel and my philosophy of travel with children. ( I adore the markets and cafes in Europe also!) Many people wait to travel until their children are “older” but I know from experience that each age comes away from travel with something different, some impact on their world view or life view.
I agree. I think my son absorbs, remembers, and learns a whole lot more than I thought he would from our travels. It’s amazing to share and see it through his eyes also. Btw, I read The Fortune Cookie Chronicles – what an amazing mass of information and history!! I really appreciate you pointing it out to me! Thank you! xo
Oh, I am so glad you enjoyed the book, Monica! I just kept reading it and couldn’t help constantly saying to my husband, “You have to hear this….” or “Did you know…..” What a fun and informative read!
I so agree with the wonders of seeing travel through the eyes of a child. When my son was 7 he took a lot of photos from the bridges across canals in Amsterdam. They all have railings across the photos because at his eye level, that is what he saw. Priceless.
What amazing memories you must have made! It’s kind of my dream to do something like that when I (my hubby) retire(s)! Especially the VW van part:)
I was an amazing adventure with many many memories! Until I had two school age kids, I never fully appreciated what a leap it was for my parents to save until they could quit jobs, sell the house and cars, and fly off to Europe with three kids in tow with not too many plans besides staying until the money ran out. They definitely seized the day! 🙂
These look beautiful and delicious!
Thanks, Jennifer! They are my newest addiction. 🙂
Wendy these sound awesome! I love baking with maple – one of my favorite flavors and it’s just perfect this time of year. I used to love elephant ears when I was a kid – so I definitely need to give these a try! I’m thinking they would be a great addition to the cookie platter I make for Thanksgiving! Especially since I can make them ahead of time!
Thanks, Ashley! I love maple too. Every recipe that appeals to me lately is a maple recipe and the non-maple recipes I add maple to . 🙂 The warmth of the maple flavor and the butter flavor are so right for this time of year. I think these would make a great addition to a cookie tray. You could even use large crystal sugars in seasonal colors (gold, orange, red). I plan to use them for Chanukah/Christmas cookies that way. (Actually, with the first night of Chanukah on Thanksgiving this year, my cookie decorating colors will overlap! Crazy!)
These sounds terrific! Q: what did you do with the scrappy edges? Is there a good way to handle them? Q2: what about almond instead of maple? I realize maple is awesome, but I was just wondering.
These ARE terrific, Matti! 🙂 What did I do with the scraps? I just left them on the edges and baked the whole thing. Then we ate the edges too. They can be a little more well-done than the rest if they are rather small, but they tasted good! I wish there was a way to roll them again but with the embedded sugar there really isn’t. These cookies are very adaptable and I think they would be very good with almond extract. The original recipe called for lemon and I have made them with maple, vanilla, and Fiori di Sicila (kind of a creamy lemon). Let me know how the almond turns out! 🙂
oh they are SO shimmery, i love them! how pretty to have at a party or to give to someone just because. I’ve never used maple flavor, but i need to get some. I’ve been working with different extracts recently, and it’s interesting what they can do to baked goods. fun to play with, for sure.
Thanks, Shannon! These really turned out to be favorites of mine. I love the light crunchy texture of the dough and the crisp caramelized sugar on the outside. I played with the idea of using maple sugar and/or syrup in the recipe but in the end, maple extract was easiest. I have been experimenting with flavor emulsions. Many professional bakers use emulsions over extracts (depth of flavor that doesn’t bake out?) but they aren’t readily available (as in, go to the supermarket and pick some up). I found fruit flavored emulsions at Home Goods and have been doing taste tests. . 🙂
These look and sound wonderful, can’t wait to try them. I live in NE Ohio and found some Maple Sugar (lovely big maple scented crystals), was thinking about mixing it with Demerara for the coating.
Thanks, Dawn! The maple sugar coating sounds delicious with these cookies! The only maple sugar I have found here in St. Louis has small crystals (like regular granulated sugar) and a dull brown color. It would have un-shimmered my crisps. 🙂 I am also curious to hear how the maple sugar works to crisp and caramelize the cookie! Let me know how yours turn out! I love maple flavor!
I sure will, I plan on adding these to my Christmas baking list.
Just made these and they are deeeelicious!!! They were definitely high maintenance to make lol but totally worth it!
I am so glad you are enjoying them, Brittney! Thank you for taking the time to let me know! Feed back is so important. Plus, yours made me smile. 🙂
they look delish!
Thanks, Dina! They are more like a sweet, crunchy bite of puff pastry than a standard cookie. I think they ARE delish! 🙂
These look delectable. I’m a bit overload on maple syrup so may try them with golden syrup instead. Thanks for sharing.
I have lived in Spain for 11 years and find the bread in bakeries damn awful, give me good old english bread anytime.
Thanks, Bibs! I think these cookies would be delicious with golden syrup! Many Americans have never heard of golden syrup though it is usually available in grocery stores here in the syrup aisle. Consequently, I don’t mention it much on the blog but I use it all the time. The buttery almost butterscotch flavor would be perfect in these flaky cookies! I don’t love the flavor of honey, so I will often sub golden syrup for that too!
I haven’t been back to Spain in too many years. My childhood bakery favorites were crunchy sandwich rolls and sweet rolls (one with a button of custard on the top especially) rather than loaf bread.
Let me know how the cookies turn out. 🙂
We will love the maple flavor of these crisps! I really appreciate you sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and hope you are having a safe and enjoyable weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
What a fantastic experience you had travelling in Europe! That must have been amazing. I’ve never made a cookie with yeast before but I’m excited to give it a try. Your Shimmering Maple Crisps look so light and tasty, Wendy. Sharing around. Thank you so much for being a part of Hearth and Soul. Hope to ‘see’ you again this week!
Thank you, April! The yeast (and the maple!) is what attracted me to this unique recipe. I had never made a cookie with yeast before either! I was delighted with the crisp, flaky results! Thanks for sharing and thank you for hosting Hearth and Soul!