This heavenly Maple Glaze is packed with real maple flavor, and - best of all - easy to make! This recipe is made with real maple syrup (no artificial flavors needed) and butter to make the best maple icing for donuts, cake, cookies, cinnamon rolls, scones, and more. Plus it’s the ideal consistency to drizzle and will hold up perfectly on all your baked goods (no more soaking in!)

Skip to:
This Maple Glaze is thick and smooth, the perfect maple icing for doughnuts, cake, scones, or other sweet treats. It uses lightly browned butter and real maple syrup (no extracts here!) to give it a creamy consistency and cut through the sharp powdered sugar taste, leaving you with a perfectly sweet and flavorful maple drizzle.
This recipe is the same maple glaze we use on our Apple Scones, one of many delicious breakfast recipes we make on repeat.
If you love maple flavors as much as we do, here are some of our favorite ways to use this amazing ingredient:
- The Best Pork Tenderloin (Lean meat that’s glazed with maple sauce)
- Maple Blondie Sundaes (A copycat of Applebee's)
- Maple Pecans (The best way to dress up salads!)
- Maple Pecan Pie in your favorite pie crust (No corn syrup!)
- Maple Mustard Chicken Breast (one of our easy dinners)
- Chicken Apple Sausages with maple dijon mustard glaze
🏅Why this recipe is great
✅ Easy and fast
✅ Creamy (not too thin)
✅ Doesn’t soak in and disappear
✅ Perfect maple drizzle (or if drizzling isn’t enough just drown it 😉)
✅ Versatile - amazing on your favorite donuts recipe, scones, cake, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and much more.
🍁 Glaze ingredients
Butter: The fat content in butter gives this maple glaze it’s creamy consistency and cuts the sharp powdered sugar taste. Plus we lightly browned butter for complimentary nutty flavor. If using unsalted butter instead of salted, just add a small pinch of salt.
Maple syrup: It is very important to use real maple syrup for this recipe. Pancake syrup does not taste the same and will not have the correct flavor for the final product. See the FAQ section below for choosing the best grade of maple syrup for your taste buds. Also, do not use maple extract. With only 4 ingredients we want the real deal.
Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioners sugar.
Vanilla Extract: Real vanilla extract rounds out the flavor of this glaze perfectly.
🥣 How to make maple glaze
We are all about easy recipes and this maple glaze recipe is a simple recipe that’s as easy as they come.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until lightly brown. Alternatively you can do this step in the microwave. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
Add the melted butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract to a small bowl. Add the powdered sugar to the wet ingredients.
Mix until thoroughly combined.
Note:
This is a small batch (¾ cups) so if doubling the recipe be sure to use a medium bowl.
If you need a much thinner glaze - closer to icing consistency - use heavy cream or half n half to thin it out.
🍩 How to use glaze
Donuts
To glaze your favorite donut recipe make sure the donuts have been removed from the donut pan (if making the cakey donuts) and allowed to cool on a wire rack. If glazing fried donuts be sure to let them cool until just warm.
Dip the doughnuts upside down in the glaze, allowing the excess to drip off before returning them to the wire rack. To take your maple donuts to the next level, sprinkle on some crispy bacon pieces. Heaven!
Cakes
For Bundt cakes or loaf cakes, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze across the top in a back and forth motion across the cake until the desired amount of glaze is reached.
If you want a really precise look, this is the perfect maple glaze for putting in a piping bag and scalloping around or zigzagging across the cake.
Scones
Using the same motion as the cakes, drizzle the maple icing back and forth across the scone until they are covered as desired.
Cookies
This would be delicious on a pumpkin, apple, or maple cookie.
🥃 Variations
- Add in a little cinnamon to make this a maple cinnamon glaze.
- Try a teaspoon of bourbon for a boozy kick.
🙋 Questions and Answers
Pure maple syrup comes in four different flavors, all are variations of Grade A. Golden is the most subtle in flavor. Amber is the next in line and is the best all around syrup for general use. This is the kind we use for this maple icing. Next is dark and very dark, both of which have a very strong maple flavor. If you want an even more robust maple essence in your glaze, one of those will be a good option.
Store any remaining glaze in the refrigerator in an airtight container or bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap for up to a week. Before using gently warm it as it thickens when it cools.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Use real maple syrup: See the FAQ section above for tips.
- Brown the butter: It helps with the nutty, deep flavor of this glaze.
- Help it on the edges: When pouring or drizzling the maple glaze, add a little extra to the edges wherever you want it to drip down the sides.
📖 Other great recipes
👋🏻 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
Heavenly Maple Glaze
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon butter
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until lightly golden brown. Alternatively, this step can be done in the microwave. Set aside to cool.4 tablespoon butter
- Add butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to a bowl. Stir.⅓ cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk in powdered sugar until thoroughly mixed.1 cup powdered sugar
- Store any unused refrigerator for up to a week. Warm slightly before using.
- We love comments! Please come back and leave us one after you’ve tried this recipe.
Notes
- Use real maple syrup: See the FAQ section above for tips.
- Brown the butter: It helps with the nutty, deep flavor of this glaze.
- Help it on the edges: When pouring or drizzling the maple glaze, add a little extra to the edges wherever you want it to drip down the sides.
- Add in a little cinnamon to make this a maple cinnamon glaze.
- Try a teaspoon of bourbon for a boozy kick.
Add Your Own Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Leave a comment!