Fall Maple Spiced Sandwich Cookies (Vegan)

Watching the leaves change from the dark greens of summer to the rich colors of autumn is one of life’s simple pleasures. It’s just cool enough to bring out those comfy sweaters and hot cups of tea. The air is crisp and the sun begins to set in the late afternoon. The kitchen gets enveloped in orange, purple and blue as a hot soup bubbles away on the stove.

I love to walk trails in this weather, the paths smelling of wet earth littered with fallen leaves and acorns. I breathe a little deeper on these walks, the air smells a bit sweeter. Change is in the air. New beginnings and letting go of old stories and ideas makes my steps a bit lighter, my breaths deeper. Being in a new space this fall makes it all the sweeter.

With the cold weather means more of a reason to turn on the oven. I love put on a pot of cider on to mull and bake a batch of these maple spiced cookies. I love to permeate the house with warm smells of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. These spice cookies area riff on my not-so-gingerbread cookies from last winter. I used maple syrup to replace the molasses in the original recipe, enhancing the aromas of the spices.

The only thing better than these cookies are these cookies sandwiched with almond butter and apple cider jam. If you choose to sandwich the spice cookies, you can substitute apple butter for the jam. Or spread these crispy maple spice cookies with pumpkin butter, if you prefer.

Perfect for after a long day of raking leaves or pillaging pumpkin patches. Make the dough the night before if you like to bake off the next day when you’re ready to eat. If you do choose to make sandwich cookies I recommend letting them sit for a day or overnight assembled. The cookie absorbs some of the moisture from the jam and becomes a more cohesive sandwich cookie. Because there's nothing worse than a sandwich cookie where the filling squidges out the sides.

To make the indentations on the cookies, I had two cookie cutters for each shape. One was a stamp style cookie cutter that has a design on the bottom. The other was more of a standard cookie cutter in the shape of leaves and acorns. I cut out the cookies using the larger, plain cutter and then used the stamp cookie cutter to create the design. However, these designs are optional and will not affect the maple and spicy flavor of the cookies. You can also decorate the cookies if you like and make it a project to do with some little ones.

Either way I hope you enjoy making these cookies as much as I did and got a bit more fun out of a fall day. Enjoy the season and breathe deep, change is here.

Maple Spiced Sandwich Cookies

Ali Lawrence | 10/11/19

• prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• cook time: 5-6 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings: 12 to 15 sandwich cookies, 24 to 30 plain cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 C All-Purpose flour
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/3 C coconut oil
• 1/3 C Maple syrup
• ¼ C dark brown sugar

Instructions:

1. combine all the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl

2. beat coconut oil (make sure it's solid) with molasses and brown sugar until light and fluffy. You can do this by hand or with a mixer.

3. Beat in flour mixture until just combined. If you are using a mixer stop mixing when most of the flour has been incorporated, but not all of it. Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough finishes coming together. This is to prevent overworking the dough and creating a tough cookie.

4. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough about 1 hour or up to overnight in the fridge. Diving the dough in half ensures the dough chills faster.

5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll half of the dough at a time until 1/16 of an inch thick. (The thicker you cut these, the softer they will be, but make them too thick and they won’t hold their shape). Cut out desired shapes and place cutouts on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

6. Bake for five to six minutes until edges are just slightly brown. Let the cookies cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool

7. (To make sandwich cookies) Once the cookies are cool you can take one cookie and spread a thin layer of almond butter on one half.

8. Then, place about 1/3 to ½ tsp of jam or apple butter on top of the almond butter. Place another cookie of similar size and shape on top to sandwich them. You can eat them right away but I recommend leaving them for a few hours to let the cookies soften slightly.