Loved those pecan shortbread cookies in the green bag with the elves on it, and wanted to re-create something more sophisticated. I have a wonderful book by Alice Medrich called "Cookies and Brownies." When she called for melting the butter for shortbreads, I knew I was on the right path. I use my tried and true shortbread recipe from "The Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook."
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
5/8 cup sugar
2-1/2 cups sifted flour
Pinch Salt
1 cup whole Pecan halves
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, and allow it to simmer until it becomes a light brown color. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, vanilla and salt.
- In the meantime, toast the pecans in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until you can start to smell the nuts. Let cool, then chop into 1/4 inch pieces.
- Add the nuts to the flour and mix. Then add the butter and sugar to the flour and nuts and mix until just combined.
- There are two basic methods to make the cookies: press them into a 9” square brownie pan, or roll the dough into a 2” diameter log in waxed paper. Either way, chill the dough at least 2 hours, until it is very firm.
- If you rolled the dough, cut into ½ inch slices and bake on a cookie sheet.
- Bake 20-25 minutes. The tops of the cookies do not brown much, nor change shape during baking, so you can space them tightly.
- If you used the pan, the cookies will need to bake abaout 60 minutes
- Cool 10 minutes in the pan or on the cookie sheet until firm, then release from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into squares.