cookies

Maple cookie wreath – this adorable vegan Autumn leaf biscuit wreath is perfect as an impressive centrepiece for any Autumnal celebration. Made with delicious maple flavoured cookies decorated with vegan royal icing. Post sponsored by Maple From Canada.

This autumn leaf maple cookie wreath takes a bit of time to make, but it’s a fun project which results in an impressive showstopper centrepiece for any celebration during the colder months.

It consists of delicious maple flavoured biscuits in various leaf shapes which are decorated with vegan royal icing in autumnal shades. I used a bit of watered-down gel food colouring to paint on the leaf veins once the icing was dry to make them look more realistic.

The leaves are then stuck to a giant ring biscuit with royal icing to make a pretty wreath. Of course, you can just make the maple cookies and not do any of the decorating; they are utterly delicious just on their own.

The recipe makes more cookies than you will need to assemble the wreath, so you’ve got some for snacking on!

I used pure Canadian maple syrup to make the cookies which gives them a wonderful flavour and really elevates them beyond a regular biscuit!

Vegan Royal Icing:

Vegan royal icing is easy to make using aquafaba (the liquid drained from a tin of chickpeas) instead of egg white.

It is made in exactly the same way as regular royal icing – by whisking together the aquafaba and icing sugar until it is stiff and glossy. I added a bit of maple syrup to the icing as well for extra flavour; but this is optional.

Equipment You Will Need To Make This Maple Cookie Wreath:

To make this maple cookie wreath you will need:

• A set of leaf shaped cookie cutters. Make sure that the cutters are around 3 inches in size.
• Gel food colouring in red, yellow, green, chestnut brown and dark brown.
• A couple of fine (clean!) paintbrushes
• An electric mixer.
• General baking supplies such as bowls, baking sheets and a rolling pin.

How To Make Maple Cookie Wreath:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them. *

Ideally you need to start this the day before you want to assemble the wreath, it is possible to do it all in one day, but it would be a lot of work!

Start by making the maple cookie dough, place softened vegan block butter and light brown soft sugar (and maple sugar if using) in a large bowl and whisk together with an electric mixer for several minutes until fluffy and well combined.

Whisk in the maple syrup followed by the salt and baking powder. The mixture may look a bit curdled at this point, this is not a problem.

Add plain flour and stir through until the mixture forms a soft dough. Divide the dough into two portions, shape into discs, wrap and place in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, until the dough is firm.

Once the dough is firm enough to roll out, dust a sheet of baking parchment with flour and place one of the discs of dough on top. Dust with more flour and roll out to a large circle about 3mm/1/8 inch thick.

Use the base of an approx. 28cm/11in round cake tin or dinner plate to cut out a large circle then use an approx. 18cm/7in one to cut a smaller circle out of the centre, leaving you with a large ring.

Slide the sheet of baking parchment onto a baking sheet and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes (or the fridge for 30) while you preheat the oven. Bake the ring for about 20 minutes until it is golden brown.

While the ring is baking, roll out the other disc of dough as above and cut out leaf shapes using your cookie cutters. Place them spaced apart on a couple of baking sheets lined with baking parchment and pop in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Bake the chilled cookies for about 10-12 minutes until they are golden around the edges.

Once the cookies have cooled (I place them in an airtight container overnight) make the royal icing.

Place the aquafaba in a clean, dry bowl (make sure there is no grease on the bowl, or it can prevent the aquafaba from whipping up properly) and whisk with an electric mixer until it is good and frothy. Sift in the icing sugar and whisk for about 5 minutes until very thick and glossy and the mixture forms soft peaks. When you lift the beaters out of the bowl it should form a droopy peak but not drop off the beater.

Whisk in some maple syrup then gradually stir in a little lemon juice, ½ tsp at a time, until the icing becomes a thick but pourable consistency. If you drizzle some of the mixture back into the bowl the pattern should disappear after about 8 seconds. If it becomes too runny you can whisk in a little more icing sugar to thicken it back up again.

Divide the icing into 5 small bowls. Use gel food colouring to colour one red, one yellow, one orange (red plus yellow colouring), one green and one chestnut brown. Add a little chestnut brown colouring to each of the coloured ones to make them more of a realistic leaf colour.

Use a teaspoon to carefully spread some of the icing over the top of each biscuit, making each one a different colour. Use the edge of the spoon to gently nudge the icing towards the edge of the biscuit to get a clean line, making sure that you don’t push it over the edge.

Place the iced biscuits on a couple of baking sheets and place them in a very low oven for about 30 minutes until the icing is dry. (You can leave them to air dry at room temperature instead, but they will take around 3-4 hours).

Once the icing has dried, place about ½ tsp gel food colouring in a small bowl – one bowl of dark brown, one chestnut brown and one red. Stir about a teaspoon of water into each one. Use a fine paintbrush to paint veins onto each leaf using the dark brown; then use the chestnut and red to add detail and shading as you like. Set aside to dry.

Once the paint has dried, use blobs of the leftover royal icing to stick the leaves to the biscuit ring, placing them in a circle then adding some more on top. You will not need all of the leaves. Set aside for a couple of hours to dry.

Top Tips:

• It is best to make this maple cookie wreath over the course of a couple of days. I make the dough and bake the cookies on the first day, then ice and paint the biscuits and assemble the wreath the following day.
• The cookie dough is quite soft so make sure that you chill it for at least a couple of hours before you roll it out to give it a chance to firm up.
• Freezing the cookies before baking helps keep them crisp and stop them spreading. You can also pop them in the fridge for half an hour instead.
• You MUST use a block vegan butter for the cookie dough, such as Naturli vegan block, Stork, Vitalite or Tormor block, or Earth Balance buttery sticks. DO NOT use the spreadable kind in a tub as it has too high a water content for baking.
• To get aquafaba for the royal icing, simply use the liquid drained from a can of chickpeas.
• Use gel rather than liquid food colouring so that it doesn’t affect the texture of the icing. Sugarflair colours are vegan friendly.
• Make sure that the cookie cutters you use are at least 3 inches in size, the smaller ones are only good for sugar work, not cookies.
• The wreath will keep for around a week once assembled, but the cookies will soften a little over time. Store any unused cookies in an airtight container.

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This post is sponsored by Maple From Canada, thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to continue doing what I love – playing with food and making a mess of my kitchen.