These simple and elegant maple cinnamon star cookies are adorned with white chocolate, gold sprinkles, and edible glitter stars. Start with my sugar cookies and add maple extract and cinnamon for wonderful flavor.
![star shaped maple sugar cookies with half of each cookie dipped into white chocolate and topped with sprinkles](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-2.jpg)
Sugar cookies are fabulous, but adding an extra level of flavor changes everything. Brown butter sugar cookies, or vanilla bean shamrock St. Patrick’s Day cookies, anyone?
Why You’ll Love These Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies
Like my Christmas sugar cookies, today’s sugar cookie recipe is cookie cutter style. We get the same great flavor combination as these maple pecan snickerdoodles, but we’ll roll the dough out and cut into adorable stars. What makes these stars unique are the flavors mingling inside: cinnamon + maple. Combine these two powerhouse flavors with shimmering gold sprinkles, edible glitter stars, and white chocolate and we’ve got a sugar cookie putting many others to shame. You’ll love these cookies and here’s why:
- Elegant and festive
- Lots of warm cinnamon spice with sweet maple flavor
- Perfect for celebrations of any kind like holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays
- Fuss-free decorating—a simple dunk into white chocolate
- No royal icing needed
- Fun to make!
![maple star sugar cookies with gold sprinkles on a blue plate](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-4.jpg)
Video Tutorial
How to Make Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies
- Make cookie dough. With so few ingredients, it’s important that you follow the recipe closely. Creamed butter and sugar provide the base of the cookie dough. Egg is the cookie’s structure, while maple and vanilla extracts add flavor. Flour is an obvious addition, baking powder adds lift, salt balances the sweet, and cinnamon gives us cinnamon cookies. So many *little ingredients* doing *big jobs* to create a perfect cookie. By the way, you should try these chocolate sugar cookies too!
- Divide in two pieces. Smaller sections of dough are easier to roll out.
- Roll out the two pieces of cookie dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick or just under 1/4 inch thick. If you have difficulty evenly rolling out dough, try this adjustable rolling pin. Speaking from experience—it’s incredibly handy!
- Chill rolled out cookie dough. Chill the rolled out cookie dough for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. Without chilling, these cookie cutter sugar cookies won’t hold their shape.
- Cut into stars & add gold sprinkles. Use a spoon to press the sprinkles into the cookies so they stay secure on top.
- Bake & cool. The cookies take about 11-12 minutes in the oven.
- Dip in melted white chocolate. Dip the cooled cookies into the white chocolate and allow chocolate to set completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Helpful Baker’s Tip
Have a little flour nearby when you’re rolling out the cookie dough. Keep your work surface, hands, and rolling pin lightly floured. This is a relatively soft dough.
![star shaped maple sugar cookies with half of each cookie dipped into white chocolate and topped with sprinkles on parchment paper](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-3.jpg)
The Order of Steps is Important
Notice how I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it in the refrigerator? That’s my trick and you can see me doing it in my sugar cookies video tutorial.
Let me explain why I do this. To prevent the cookies from over-spreading, the cookie dough must chill in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough right after you prepare it, then chill the rolled-out dough. (At this point the dough is too soft to cut into shapes.) Don’t chill the cookie dough and then try to roll it out because it will be too cold and difficult to work with. I divide the dough in half before rolling it out and highly recommend you do the same. Smaller sections of dough are simply more manageable.
Another trick! Roll out the cookie dough directly on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. Pick it up, put it on a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for two baking sheets in your refrigerator, stack the pieces of rolled out dough on top of each other.
![maple sugar cookie dough rolled out on a silpat baking mat with a wood rolling pin](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-7.jpg)
![maple sugar cookie dough rolled out on a silpat baking mat with a star cookie cutter](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-6.jpg)
Beautiful maple cinnamon stars! (Similar 3-inch star cookie cutter found here on Amazon.)
![star sugar cookies with sprinkles on a baking sheet before baking](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-5.jpg)
Maple Cinnamon Star Cookie Decorations
Let’s keep the garnishes simple—this way the cookie’s flavor can truly shine. Here are a few ideas for maple cinnamon star cookie decorations:
- White Chocolate: Instead of decorating with traditional royal icing, give the maple cinnamon sugar cookies a dip in melted white chocolate chocolate. For best taste and texture, I strongly recommend using pure white chocolate, not white chocolate chips. It’s usually sold in 4 ounce bars in the baking aisle. I love Ghirardelli, Bakers, or Nestle brands.
- Dark Chocolate: Try a drizzle of dark chocolate! All these flavors pair wonderfully together.
- Gold Sprinkles: I love this simple gold sparkly sugar and this gold sprinkle mix. Press the sprinkles down into the cookies before baking—this helps the sprinkles stick. Just use the back of a spoon.
- Gold Stars: How CUTE are these edible gold glitter stars?! Add the edible glitter stars after pressing the other sprinkles down. I don’t suggest doing this *before* pressing the others down because the stars will stick to your spoon instead of the cookie.
![2 images of pressing gold sprinkles into star cookie dough cut outs with a spoon and baked star sugar cookies with sprinkles](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-8.jpg)
![star sugar cookies with half of each cookie dipped in white chocolate and topped with gold sprinkles on a white plate](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies.jpg)
One Last Success Tip
Use maple extract—not pure maple syrup. While I typically reach for the latter in my baking, sugar cookie dough is notoriously picky when it comes to add-ins. Maple extract is potent and a little goes a long way. We’d need a few Tablespoons of pure maple syrup to achieve the same flavor that only 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of maple extract has. This larger amount of pure syrup would radically change the sugar cookie dough because there would be too much liquid. We could add more flour to make up for it, but the cookies would be dry. It’s frustrating! To avoid all this, use the maple flavoring. (I use it in my maple brown sugar cookies, too!)
Print![star shaped maple sugar cookies with half of each cookie dipped into white chocolate and topped with sprinkles on parchment paper](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/maple-cinnamon-star-cookies-3-265x265.jpg)
Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: about 28 3-inch stars
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Flavorful maple cinnamon star cookies are made from a basic and easy sugar cookie dough. Dunk in white chocolate for an extra special treat!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons maple extract*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- gold sprinkles and/or edible glitter stars
- optional:Â 8 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, maple extract, and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut into star shapes. Transfer the cut cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Before baking, top with sprinkles. Use a spoon to press the sprinkles into the cookies so they stay secure on top.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before dipping into chocolate.
- If using, melt the chopped white chocolate in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted. Dip the cookies into the white chocolate and allow chocolate to set completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies (without white chocolate) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.  You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill as directed for 1 hour.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Rolling Pin or this Adjustable Rolling Pin | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Star Cookie Cutter | Gold Sugar | Gold Sprinkle Mix | Edible Gold Stars | Cooling Rack
- Room Temperature: Room temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
- Maple Flavor: I used McCormick brand maple flavor found in the baking aisle with the flavor extracts and seasonings. Do not use real maple syrup—see post for details.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking success tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
This is an all time fav for my family and friends. Question… any issues with doubling the recipe in one batch?
Hi Amanda, it should work just fine to double these. So glad to hear they’re a favorite!
Hello! I want to know when setting the oven, do you use convection bake or just regular bake for cookies? Thank you!
Hi Cherry! We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I was excited to try this recipe, and careful to use the ‘spoon and level’ method so they wouldn’t be too dry, the outsides almost cracker like. They came out with a good flavor and wonderful smell, but for some reason were still really dry! I ended up cooking each batch at 8 minutes instead of 11. Perhaps I rolled them too thin? (I did measure 1/4 inch.) Or maybe I’m just not used to the texture cut out cookies…
Hopefully next time will be better!
Do you think it would work if I used Maple Sugar instead of, or in addition to, regular sugar?
Hi Nicky, we haven’t tested it ourselves so we’re unsure of the results. Different sugars can cause more or less spread, so it would likely take some tweaking to properly use it in this recipe. If you decide to do any experimenting, please do let us know how it goes!