Canadian Maple Leaf Cream Cookies

Last night's theme for cooking club was international foods, so I decided to make Maple Leaf Cream Cookies which are from Canada. I used this recipe with the following changes: doubled the filling amount and also added a little bit of milk to the filling so it was easier to mix up/spread. These were totally incredible! I think they are my new favorite cookie. Definitely added to the Master List. Also, a friend gave me the idea that I could have iced them in red frosting (like a red glaze) - I think that would be cute!

EDITED TO ADD: The author seems to have converted her site to low carb and gluten free. I managed to get the original recipe from the Wayback Machine internet archive. Pasting it here so I have it for future reference

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

Cookies (from Bon Appetit, December 2005):
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp maple extract

Filling:
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup

For the cookies, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and maple extract until combined.

Beat in flour in several additions, until just blended. Divide dough into two balls and flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out one disk of dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/3 inch thick. Cut out cookies with leaf-shaped cookie cutter(s) dipped lightly in flour. Place cookies on prepared sheets about 1 inch apart.

Note: If your cookie-cutter is not perfectly symmetrical, you may need to turn it upside-down to cut out shapes for the backside of the cookie sandwiches. If your cookie cutter is not sharp enough on the non-cutting side, you can also flip the cookie shape upside down after you have cut it out from the dough.

Bake cookies until edges just start to brown, 8-10 minutes. Watch them closely as they can start to burn quickly. Use an insulated baking sheet if you have one, that worked best for me.

Cool cookies on sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For the filling, cream butter with an electric mixer. Add in icing sugar and maple syrup and beat until combined and smooth.

Spread the backside of one cookie with a dollop of buttercream. Top with another cookie, and repeat until all cookies are matched up. You can afford to be fairly generous with the buttercream. I stinged a bit of the first few cookies, and found I had a lot left for the last few. You can put about a teaspoon of buttercream in each sandwich cookie.

Makes approximately 36 two-inch sandwich cookies.