Maple and Cinnamon Halloween Cookies - Recipe by Maple from Canada

Ingredients

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups maple sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp pure maple syrup (preferably amber syrup for its rich taste)
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl, preferably using an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy and pale in colour then beat in the eggs, vanilla extract and maple syrup.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir the flour into the butter mixture and bring together until the mixture is well combined and comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn onto a floured work surface and knead into a ball, divide the dough into two portions, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Roll the dough out to a 0.5 cm thickness on a lightly floured surface, it’s best to roll out one portion of the dough at a time, leaving the remainder in the fridge.

Cut shapes out with your chosen Halloween cutters and place onto the baking tray, leaving a gap between them in case they spread a little then place in the fridge for 20 minutes or freezer for 5 minutes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Leave on the tray to cool slightly and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, it’s time for the icing. For the ghosts, roll out white fondant icing to a 0.25 cm thickness, cut out the shapes using the same cookie cutter used for the cookies.

Damp one side of the icing with a dot of water and stick onto the cookies, you can do the same with orange fondant icing for the pumpkins, and black for the bats and cats.

Decorate with scary eyeballs and red food colouring for fangs.

Credits: Maple from Canada

Photo Credits: Maple from Canada