In just a few short weeks the longer, warmer days will become to rouse the sap in sugar maple trees as we head towards the end of winter. Making maple syrup is quite the tradition in some Amish settlements but maple syrup cookies is something not much common, it can be done especially where sugar maples are plentiful (although you can make syrup out of almost any kind of sap).  I’ve amassed quite a collection of Amish recipes containing pure maple syrup, so I will share some of them over the weeks ahead.  This is a photo of a “sugar shack” on an Amish farm in the Conewango Valley of New York. While some do make maple syrup and maple syrup cookies in their own kitchens, the steamy, sometimes messy job is often done in outbuildings like this.  Not uncommon to see teams of horses hauling vats of sap to the sugar shack during the late winter and spring.  Some commercial Amish bakers shy away from using pure maple syrup in their goodies because of the expense, but for Amish cooks making the syrup just for themselves, it’s a confection made in winter and spring but that is enjoyed year-round often in place of sugar in recipes..Try this tasty Amish recipe for maple syrup cookies. Thanks, Jennie, for the recipe-testing.  Yum, I think I’d add some frosting to these if it were I, but it is a great, soft, moist cookie infused with the taste of maple syrup so you wouldn’t need to add any!

MAPLE SYRUP COOKIES

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Amish Maple Syrup Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 egg
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 cup 100% maple syrup (not "pancake syrup")
• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients in the order given until they are fully combined.  The batter will be very thick and sticky.  Add the soda mixture last and mix until it is fully incorporated into the batter.
3. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake the cookies at 350 degrees until the cookies look set and are honey brown, about 10-12 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet after cooling for a couple of minutes.  The cookies will remain soft while being stored.
4. Yield:  about 4 dozen soft maple syrup cookies.

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