Frosted Maple Spice Cookies

I f you are a spice cake fan, you will really like these cookies--they are so flavorful!!  And soft, too.  Original recipe has them topped with walnuts, but I didn't feel like messing with that, still turned out great! Recipe only makes 20, not 30 like it says in original. Another 10/10 :)

Link to original recipe: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maple-walnut-spice-cookies

Ingredients:

cookie batter-- 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 c. dark brown sugar (packed)
1/4 c. unsalted butter
2 T. maple syrup
1 large egg

glaze/frosting--
1 c. powdered sugar
2 T. maple syrup
1 T. milk
2 tsp. butter, softened

optional topping: finely chopped toasted walnuts (I omitted these)

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together first 7 ingredients (flour through cloves). Set aside.

2. Heat oven to 350°F.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer/stand mixer, beat together brown sugar and butter until well combined (original recipe said until fluffy, but mine would not get 'fluffy' for some reason, even after a few minutes of beating).

4. Beat in the maple syrup and egg until well combined.

5. Gradually add the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed, until just combined.

6. Use 1 T. sized cookie scoop (or spoons) to drop 'mounds' of dough onto cookie sheet, 2" apart.  (I used parchment, but it may not be necessary; original recipe did not have it.)  Bake cookies for 14 min or until lightly browned and set (it was 14 exactly for me).  (forgot to take pic of first batch before they went in--this is why there are 5, then 15--they don't multiply in the oven haha!)

7. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

8. After cookies have cooled completely, prepare frosting/glaze: whisk together all frosting/glaze ingredients in a small bowl.  Mine came out more as a glaze consistency, so I just dipped each cookie on one side to coat and placed back on cooling rack.  If you want to add the walnuts, do so immediately after glazing/frosting.  Enjoy!