Maple Glaze (Perfect for Doughnuts) - I Heart Naptime (2024)

This smooth maple glaze is infused with sweet maple syrup and is the perfect way to make your desserts next-level delicious. Use on donuts, cookies, cake, cinnamon rolls, and more!

Quick and Easy Maple Icing

This maple glaze recipe is the perfect finishing touch for all your desserts! It’s a great way to showcase the sweet and caramelly flavor of maple syrup and is ready in just 30 minutes from start to finish.

Use this maple glaze for these maple bacon donuts, easy one hour cinnamon rolls, cookies, cake and so much more. It has a thinner consistency than my maple cream cheese frosting and is especially great for dipping your desserts – no bag piping needed! Just another reason to love this easy maple icing.

I especially love making this recipe in the fall, when I start busting out all of my favorite pumpkin recipes and delicious apple desserts. It tastes amazing drizzled over pumpkin bread, pumpkin bundt cake, or my apple pull-apart bread…just to name a few!

Glaze Ingredients

This maple glaze recipe is so simple with basic ingredients that are pantry favorites! Mix together the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients giving it a smooth and creamy glaze. Maple glaze is a sweet and savory flavor that is quick and easy to make!

Find the fullprintable recipewith specific measurements below.

• Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter so that the glaze isn’t overly salty. This way you can control the amount of salt used and add a pinch or so if needed.
• Maple syrup: Look for 100% pure maple syrup. This is different than pancake syrup and has a more rich and robust flavor. Using pure maple syrup will give you a fresher flavor than maple extract.
• Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract is added in for a boost of flavor vanilla.
• Powdered sugar: Adds a sweet flavor and gives the icing that creamy icing consistency.
• Kosher Salt: Just a pinch of salt or sea salt will help balance out the sweetness of the glaze.

How to Make Maple Glaze

Add the butter to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until melted. Pour in the maple syrup and stir until melted, then remove the pan from the heat. Next whisk in the vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt until the consistency is smooth and creamy. Then it’s ready to dip or drizzle on all your favorite desserts!

Tips for Making Maple Icing

Making a maple glaze is a delicious way to add a sweet and maple-flavored touch to a variety of dishes! We love to add it to pancakes, baked ham, or donuts. Here are some helpful tips and tricks to help you make a tasty maple glaze!

• No lumps. Whisk the glaze mixture VERY well, so that you don’t have any lumps from the powdered sugar. You could even sift the powdered sugar to prevent them.
• Spices. You could always add a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or nutmeg during the fall months to give it a more warm spice flavor.
• Let your dessert cool. Make sure your dessert has cooled completely before adding the glaze, or else it could melt and thin out.
• Work fast. This glaze dries fairly quickly so make sure to work fast when dipping or drizzling on your desserts, especially if sprinkling on extra toppings.
• Pure maple syrup. This is the star of the show, so make sure to use 100% pure maple syrup. The maple flavor may change a bit depending on which type you go for. For a more subtle flavor, look for golden or amber varieties. For a stronger and richer flavor, look for dark or very dark maple syrup.

Ways to Use Maple Glaze

The options are endless when it comes to using this maple glaze recipe. Use it as a maple donut glaze, or drizzle it on top of your favorite cookies and cakes. You really can’t go wrong!

• Donuts. For dipping the tops of these maple bacon donuts or soft pumpkin cookies.
• Muffins. Drizzle over pumpkin crumb muffins, snickerdoodle muffins, or pumpkin scones.
• Cinnamon rolls. Spread on top of cinnamon rolls or these cinnamon roll pancakes.
• Cake. For a fun twist on carrot cake, vanilla cake, or a pound cake.

Storage Instructions

This maple glaze has the best consistency and flavor when used on the day of preparation. If you need to make it ahead or store it overnight, place it in the refrigerator overnight and slowly reheat it on the stovetop stirring while it is warming up.

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