Buttery, thick, and soft, Candied Walnut Sugar Cookies are chock full of caramelized walnuts and topped with a light maple glaze for pure delightful goodness!
This isn’t your average sugar cookie recipe, it’s so soft and tender and almost melts in your mouth. Traditional sugar cookies have a crispy edge, but this version is soft and pillowy all the way through, making them the perfect texture combination of the crunchy walnuts.
I love to make these cookies around the holidays in addition to the traditional cookies that everyone makes each year, it’s always nice to have something a little new and different, and these walnut cookies are always a hit. Even my non-walnut-loving friends and family love these cookies due to the gooey, sweet, and salty flavor of the nuts and maple glaze.
What Is Caramelization?
Caramelization is when sugar gets all warm and gooey, turns into a beautiful golden-brown color, and gets that deliciously sweet, rich flavor when it’s cooked on high heat. It also creates almost a candy-like shell around and has a sweet and salty flavor.
What makes a cookie chewy?
- Corn Starch – creates the ultra-soft consistency
- Fat content: Using more butter creates more moisture
- Egg content: Eggs help bind ingredients together and add moisture
- Type of flour: Bread flour
- Baking time and temperature: Baking for a shorter time at a slightly lower temperature can result in a chewier texture. Overbaking can lead to a crispier cookie.
- Resting the dough: Allowing the cookie dough to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight before baking can enhance the flavor and texture, making it chewier.
Ingredients in Candied Walnut Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup COLD unsalted butter cut into small cubes – make sure it’s cold and if it starts to get warm, put it back in the refrigerator. Cold butter helps the cookies from spreading and keeps them thick
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Candied Walnuts
- 2.5 cups of chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 2-3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbs milk
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cold butter cubes and granulated sugar with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy (2-3 mins).
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add in the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, cake flour, and all-purpose flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the candied walnuts.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes uncovered. While dough chills, preheat oven to 400° degrees
- Bake one sheet of cookies at a time in the center rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove the cookies when they still feel slightly uncooked, they will firm up as they cool. Leave on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes
- Candied Walnuts
- In a large bowl, stir walnuts, brown sugar, honey, salt, and butter and stir together until walnuts are completely coated. Make sure they are evenly spread out or they will all stick to each other
- Pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread out evenly
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, stirring about halfway through, remove from oven and pull apart any that are stuck together, and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
- Maple Glaze
- Combine powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup and stir, adding milk to thin it out a bit. I like to keep my glaze thick, but thin enough to drizzle. If you add too much milk, it will be too thin and melt into the cookie.
- Once the glaze is drizzled, place the cookies in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set the glaze and then remove.
Storing Candied Walnut Sugar Cookies
- Airtight container – Make sure the container is sealed properly to prevent air from getting in, which can dry out the cookies.
- Parchment paper or wax paper – Layer the cookies between sheets of parchment paper or wax paper to prevent them from sticking together.
- Re-sealable plastic bags – If using a re-sealable plastic bag, squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing it shut. This helps maintain the freshness of the cookies.
- Eat or freeze within a few days – Even with proper storage, soft cookies tend to lose their freshness over time. Aim to consume them within a few days for the best texture and flavor. If you want to store them for longer, consider freezing them.
Candied Walnut Sugar Cookies
Thick, chewy sugar cookies loaded with carmelized walnuts and a light maple glaz
Ingredients
- 1 cup COLD unsalted butter cut into small cubes
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ cups cake flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- CANDIED WALNUTS
- 2.5 cups of chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- MAPLE GLAZE
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cold butter cubes and granulated sugar with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy (2-3 mins)
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add in the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, cake flour, and all-purpose flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the candied walnuts.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes uncovered. While dough chills, preheat oven to 400° degrees
- Bake one sheet of cookies at a time in the center rack of the oven for 10-13 minutes. Remove the cookies when they still feel slightly uncooked, they will firm up as they cool. Leave on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes
- Candied Walnuts
- In a large bowl, stir walnuts, brown sugar, honey, salt, and butter and stir together until walnuts are completely coated. Make sure they are evenly spread out or they will all stick to each other
- Pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread out evenly
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, stirring about halfway through, remove from oven and pull apart any that are stuck together and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
- Maple Glaze
- Combine powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup and stir, adding milk to thin it out a bit. I like to keep my glaze thick, but thin enough to drizzle. If you add too much milk, it will be to thin and melt into the cookie.
- Once the glaze is drizzled, place the cookies in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set the glaze and then remove.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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