Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies

In the bowl of a stand mixer using paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and maple syrup. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour and salt and fold it into the batter. Stir in the walnuts. Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic and refrigerate for a half hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Unwrap the dough and roll it out on a parchment paper lined sheet pan until it’s nice and thin. Cut it with a maple leaf (or other) cutter but leave the cookie in place and just peel the dough scraps away from the sides. You can keep the cookies pretty close together because this dough will not spread in the oven. Sprinkle the top of the cookies with the tablespoon of sugar and bake for approximately 16 minutes. The cookie edges will be light brown but the cookie itself will still be soft. Remove from the oven and let cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes until the cookies harden a bit. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Re-roll the dough scraps to make additional cookies.

To make the glaze, whisk the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and salt in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cookies, if desired.