My favourite childhood cookie made low carb and grain-free! These delicious maple cream sandwich cookies are a fun snack for kids and adults alike.
You know that feeling you get when you find a twenty dollar bill on the ground in front of you? That’s a pretty great feeling. You know that feeling you get when you take the time to ask around and discover that it actually belongs to the elderly woman in front of you who didn’t notice it fall out of her pocket? Let’s face it; that’s an even better feeling. When you see her face light up and hear her words of thanks, you know you made the right move. In our hectic day-to-day world, little kindnesses matter. They matter a great deal. Grand gestures of charity and kindness are wonderful too, of course, but it doesn’t take buckets of money or hours of community service to be generous and brighten someone’s day. Just taking a moment to offer a little help, a kind word or a sweet but unexpected gesture can make all the difference to a stranger or a friend. Little kindnesses make the world go round.
Barbara and her sister had fabulous success with their first invention. Now they run a website where they offer free advice and resources to new inventors. Every time they respond to a letter or inquiry from a reader, they ask that the reader pay it forward by performing a random act of kindness. They have had promises from people all over the world to continue their kindness chain.
After many years of buying food and gifts for single mothers in need at Christmas, Esther received her own small kindness from a stranger. When she was going through chemo, a woman bought her and her husband some groceries, saying that she wanted to do it because she had just lost her own mother to breast cancer. Esther says it was the best day ever, being on the receiving end of a random act of kindness.
Perhaps it’s a little cliche, but one of my favourite ways to brighten someone’s day is to bake for them. Cookies are always a good option because they are often quick to make, they’re portable and they always make someone smile. These Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies are my low carb, gluten-free version of a childhood favourite.
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 tbsp butter melted
- 1 tsp maple extract
- 1/8 tsp stevia extract
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp cream room temperature
- 3/4 tsp maple extract
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Preheat oven to 275F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Whisk almond flour, sweetener, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in egg, butter, maple extract and stevia extract until dough comes together.
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Turn dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper and pat into a rough rectangle. Top with another piece of parchment.
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Roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness. Using a 2-inch maple leaf cookie cutter (or whatever shape you prefer) to cut out as many shapes as possible. Dough can be re-rolled multiple times to get more cookies.
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Place half the cookies face up and half face down on the prepared baking sheet (if your cookie cutter is slightly irregular, this allows you to match them up properly after they are baked).
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Bake about 20 minutes, until light golden brown and firm to the touch. Watch them carefully, they can easily get too dark.
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Remove from oven and let cool completely.
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Beat butter and powdered sweetener together in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in cream and maple extract to achieve a spreadable consistency.
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To assemble, take one cookie and spread the backside with about a teaspoon of filling. Top with another cookie, backside towards the filling.
Serves 12 (2 cookies per serving). Each serving has 4 g of carbs and 2 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2g.
176 Calories; 17g Fat (80.5% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 155mg Sodium.
Eric says
These look great. Just wondering whether a serving of 2 cookies is 2 sandwiches, or just the two sides with the cream in the middle?
Carolyn says
2 sandwich cookies!
Eric says
SOLD!
Jeanette says
Your cookies are so cute Carolyn! I do believe little acts of kindness can go a long way, whether it’s just saying “thank you” to the checkout clerk at the supermarket, or helping an elderly person get out of their car. With the digital age, that little extra human touch is so important.
monica says
These look yummy!! And they take me back to my childhood. Where do you buy your gluten free maple extract?
Carolyn says
Cook’s is gluten-free and I get mine on amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QQA4KK/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004QQA4KK&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20
Teri says
Sounds good, and no honey! But is the 275 degrees correct? I want to make these 🙂
Carolyn says
Yup. 275F…they need to bake at a low temp to firm up and not get too browned.
nichole says
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!! I am on Atkins 72 right now, but the rest of my low carb family is not! MY husband loves maple cookies, and I am making these for a treat for his lunch for work this weekend!
Kelli says
These are terrific, I just made them and anxiously waited for them to be cool enough to put the cream on. Delicious! Even my picky, no low carb daughter loved them 🙂 I was thrilled to discover your blog and am really enjoying your recipes as well as your explanations of how the ingredients behave, I’ve begun to be bold enough to experiment some myself! 🙂
Carolyn says
Wonderful! Yep, it’s tough to wait for the cookies to cool down. I am pretty certain I burned the roof of my mouth on a hot one!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
Nice stories. 🙂
And these cookies look incredible! I’ve never had maple cream sandwiches but I really, really want to try! Love that these are grain-free. 🙂
Charlie says
They look way better than store-bought maple cookies! Yummy!
Lesley says
As a fellow Canadian I know what cookies you are referring to. These are my mother’s favourite cookies, and she recently converted to a wheat-free, low carb lifestyle. So I will need to bake her some. Thanks Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Mr. Christie! 🙂
Susan says
Oh, I can’t tell you how many recipes I have made of yours, Carolyn, but these were a fail for me. And I am seeking suggestions….I even cut the amount of powdered Swerve by one third. Way too much of a metallic aftertaste. I always use Swerve products. I even went out to my kitchen shop for a leaf cookie cutter and Maple extract. Seems no else noticed the aftertaste. I whipped up your marvelous molten peanut butter cakes for our evening espressos. Husband couldn’t believe the difference. Now I am really puzzled.
Definitely going for the coconut fried donuts tomorrow! Thanks for all you bring to us low carb lovers.
Carolyn says
Hmmmm…were the cookies themselves okay? It was just the frosting? You may be sensitive to something in the powdered version, I am not sure – for me it was sweet, but not at all metallic. And there is another possibility…that it’s the maple extract. Maple extract can be a little off at times and some brands have a slight metallic taste…maybe in combo with that intense amount of Swerve, it played it up a bit?
If you find that kind of frosting too strong or too sweet, I’d suggest cutting it with cream cheese. The tang of cream cheese can offset the overly sweet frostings. Also, because it has a bit more structure than butter, you don’t need as much powdered sweetener. Replacing about half the butter with softened cream cheese could make a real difference.
Kim says
Also double check your baking powder. If baking soda was used by mistake it will taste metallic.
Kim says
Oops…just saw that the problem was solved!
Susan says
Thank you so much for the suggestions, Carolyn! And yes, it was the maple creme that was ‘off’. I have some left over so I will definitely cut it with cream cheese. Was thinking of using it with one of your gingerbread recipes.
Let’s see…just this morning I have made the sour cream, cherry, dark chocolate bundt cake and yet another batch go the Rosemary Raisin Crips! So happy for your wonderful recipes now that I’ve got my husband in board with this low carb life.
I’ll report in on the recipes changes. Thanks again.
Shaina says
That maple cream is just perfection in these cookies!
Melissa @ Bless this Mess says
These look like a cleaned up version of my favorite Trader Joe’s cookies! Can’t wait to give them a go. Thanks lady!
Carol says
I am making these for my Canadian Thanksgiving here in the US. I was wondering if these freeze okay? Thank you so much!
Carolyn says
Yes, I think they’d freeze just fine. When ready to thaw, lay them out on paper towels in case any moisture has attached itself to them from the freezer.
Lita says
my question is where did you get your adorable maple leaf cooky cutter? My oldest loves maple leaves, and I want to get one for her. Thx in advance.
Carolyn says
That’s a good question, I don’t remember! I think a specialty kitchen store quite some time ago.
Amy G says
Thank you so much for this recipe, I wish I’d found you ages ago! I’ve decided that I really want to make these for the little grandson (he’s diabetic and only 7 years old) of my mom’s neighbor. I just had a question- is Swerve anything like Splenda? I’ve never seen anything by that name in my area so I wanted to check before I try out the recipe. Thanks in advance!
Carolyn says
No, it’s not like Splenda at all. Sucralose, the main ingredient in Splenda, is a man-made chemical, whereas erythritol, the main ingredient in Swerve, is a naturally occurring substance. They have very different properties in baking and I cannot guarantee the results of this recipe if you use Splenda. Many stores carry Swerve or other erythritol-based sweeteners now.
Katie says
These are seriously delicious!!!! I’m in LOVE with that frosting!!!!! <3
Mira says
Haven’t tried your recipe yet. Are these maple cookies crunchy or chewy/soft?
Also, I have a brown sugar nut (wheat flour) cookie I want to convert to Keto, but don’t know where to start, Carolyn. Is there a section on your site that will help or another resource? … lots of butter, brown & granulated sugar and nuts. Afraid they’ll taste bitter with Swerve.
Carmen says
Hi just curious which of either heavy whipping cream or half and half will produce best results.
Carolyn says
Heavy cream is best.
Patti says
Just came across this recipe and this was one of my Mom’s favorite cookies before going Keto!! She will be 80 and has lost abut 35 lbs since Jan!! Sh’e doing fabulous!! I will try to make these for her tonight as a surprise. Thank you!!!
Pauline D says
They look amazing and so cute!! Question about an ingredient…what is stevia extract and where can I get it? Thanks!
Carolyn says
This is stevia extract but you can always use more powdered Swerve if you prefer. https://amzn.to/2LSvyXX
Josh says
If you don’t want to use maple flavor, would what would the traditional maple syrup or keto maple syrup ratio be?
Carolyn says
No, that would throw off the wet/dry ratios and your cookies would never firm up.
Laura says
Nut allergy. What is the conversion for using coconut flour?
Carolyn says
I’m sorry, this isn’t one you can convert. You could try using sunflower seed flour, but your cookies will have a greyish appearance.