This week we have another cookie that I made for my friend Carolyn’s holiday open house. Since she made a 7-Up Cheese Gelatin I felt like it was only fair to make her lots of cookies for her sacrifice.

These are Maple Syrup Drop Cookies!

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This recipe is from a really cute quartet of cookbooks that I picked up during an Instagram sale. I love Instagram, and not just because I get to see inside other people’s houses. I especially love it when people tag me on cool/interesting/scary cookbooks for sale. I’ve picked up some really different and unique books this way. This particular set is called Four Favorite Cook Books and is made up of four small booklets, each about as big as a 3×5 photo. They each have their own theme, and this particular book was themed for Favorite Christmas Recipes. They were published in 1952 by the Graphics Publishing Company in Lake Mills, Iowa.

See? The most unique books.

In any case, this may have been published in 1952, but it reads like an older recipe. The two dead giveaways are that no sugar is used, just maple syrup (Hello, World War II rationing, possibly even Great Depression) and the amount of flour called for is vague. It’s basically, “You put in as much flour as you need.”

So how much do you need? It’s time for some educated guessing!

I assume the amount of flour was vague because maple syrup can be various thicknesses depending on the grade and the syrup maker. I’ve seen grade A that’s like water, and grade C that pours like corn syrup.

I used a grocery store maple syrup, since that’s what I’m assuming will be easiest for everyone to get. It was light amber and was only slightly thick. My target dough stiffness was about the same as chocolate chip cookies. I my mind I was thinking of the Tollhouse cookies, so basically chocolate chip cookies like the kind you make at home.

In the end, I used three cups of flour. It was the best guestimate I could make. They seemed about the right consistency, and they baked up well.

But the true test is the taste test.

“These have a pretty good flavor, but they are a little doughy.”

“Crap. Does it taste like I used too much flour?”

“A little. Mostly they need frosting. Like the last ones.”

“What is it with you and the frosting?”

So, in retrospect, you should probably do about two and a half cups of flour if you aren’t planning on frosting these. The good news was that after about 12 hours the extra flour taste went away. But Tom still declared they needed frosting.

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So, some orange frosting to the rescue. I thought it would pair nicely with the maple syrup flavor. And I added a bit of extra salt to it, because the base cookie lacked the salty note I normally enjoy in cookies.

And where there is frosting and cookies, ye shall find an Alex.

“How are they now?”

“Perfect. Now, just go out of the room for a minute. You can totally trust me with the other cookies.”

“Liar. You can’t eat all these. I need them for Carolyn, since she made you that cheese and pop gelatin to try.”

“Oh that’s just great.”

The Verdict: Yummy

From The Tasting Notes –

These were a soft, sweet cookie with some really good caramel/maple notes. But not overly sweet. I really liked them. If you can manage not to add too much flour, I am sure they will be just fine on their own. But since I added too much, I frosted them with a salty orange frosting just to balance them out a bit, and because holidays. But you could probably sprinkle some maple sugar or brown sugar over them to add some extra sweetness if you don’t feel like being fancy enough for frosting.