I am a huge fan of maple syrup! Pure Vermont maple syrup, to be exact. As many of you already know, I grew up in Vermont. Since moving to North Carolina (eighteen years ago after finishing college), I still have Vermont maple syrup shipped to me. For me, there's no substitute.So when I had the opportunity to try Tonewood Maple's syrup, ...
I jumped at the chance! Tonewood Maple is a producer of premium pure Vermont maple products. And can I just tell you that I adore them already? Like totally major crush.
And here's why I think they're totally crush-worthy.
1. They're from Vermont and they make maple stuff. To me, that alone makes them crush-worthy.
2. They sent me a package with their awesome syrup. I looooooove to get packages!! It's like getting a Christmas present in the mail. Even when you know what's in the box! (My husband doesn't understand how I can get so excited about this.)
3. The package arrived on my birthday. Aren't they so sweet to make sure it arrived on my special day?? (I know, I know ... they had no idea it was my birthday ... but, I can pretend right?)
4. They're either clairvoyant, or read my blog. 'Cause they sent me my favorite grade of maple syrup ... grade B, baby! I did a post about grade B maple syrup a while back. Grade B is where it's at. See that beautiful bottle of grade B?
5. They included a hand-written note in the package. I truly think hand-written notes are a lost art now a'-days. But they so bring a smile. I love getting hand-written notes in the mail. Thank you for my note, Dori!
I have lots of maple recipes, but I kinda wanted to make something new with my Tonewood maple. So I popped on over to Dori's blog to take a look at the maple recipes she's posted.
I was intrigued with maple syrup no-bake cookies, so I gave them a try. The ones on Dori's blog use maple syrup as the sweetener, and include cocoa and peanut butter just like 'traditional' no-bake cookies. They were good. But I wanted to taste maple, not cocoa and peanut butter.
So what do you think I did?
Well, of course! ... I created my own Vermont Maple No-Bake Cookies. That taste maple. I will admit that this took me many more tries than I thought it would, but hubby and I are really happy with the result. Hubby is so happy with the result, he ate almost the entire last batch ... minus the one I ate to do a taste test.
The first challenge in creating these Vermont Maple No-Bake Cookies was to find a replacement for the peanut butter that would let the maple flavor come through. The solution? Almond butter. It lends the same nut butter-type base to the cookies without the peanut butter taste.
The second ... and major ... challenge was to get the consistency of the cookie mixture right. This was actually a bit tough to work out. Since almond butter isn't as creamy as peanut butter, it takes some milk to give a creamy cookie texture. But too much milk tones down the maple flavor too much. Not enough milk, and the cookies don't hold together. After several tries with differing amounts of butter, maple syrup, and milk, I finally found a combination that gave the texture and flavor I was looking for ... soft, creamy texture with a definite maple flavor.
I had so much fun playing with my Tonewood Maple sample to create these scrumptious cookies. I've got a couple of more maple recipes coming up, so maple fans stay tuned!
Thank you so much, Tonewood Maple!
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Vermont Maple No-Bake Cookies
Source: A Tracey Original
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. pure maple syrup (preferably grade B)
2 T. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/4 c. almond butter
3/4 c. old-fashioned oats
Combine butter, maple syrup, and milk in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for a full 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract, salt, almond butter and oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and allow cookies to cool.
Makes 12 cookies.
Notes:
- Boiling the maple syrup mixture for a full 3 minutes over medium-high heat is very important. The mixture will be kind of 'frothy' for a while during boiling ... don't worry. Just keep stirring!
- If your cookie mixture is too thick after stirring in the oats, add a teeny tiny bit of milk ... just 1 teaspoon at a time. The mixture goes from 'too dry' to 'too wet' pretty quickly when adding milk, so go slow. Also, while the milk adds a wonderful creaminess to the texture of the cookies, it seems to tone down the maple flavor ... so add sparingly.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Tonewood Maple provided a product sample of their Pure Vermont Grade B Maple Syrup. Monetary compensation was not provided for the writing of this post. All expressed opinions are solely those of Tracey at The Kitchen is My Playground.
This post is linked with Cast Party Wednesday, Thursday's Treasures, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff, Share Your Creations, Full Plate Thursday, Pin It Thursday, Inspiration Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday with Diane Balch, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Think Pink Sunday, Sundae Scoop, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Sunday Showcase Party, On the Menu Monday, Mangia Mondays, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Tuesday Talent Show, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday.
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