Butter Pecan Cookies

Butter Pecan Cookies - made dough January 20, 2020 from Bonjour Cuisine

This is similar to a Russian Tea Cake or the Buttery Tea Balls recipe I like to use in that it's essentially a shortbread cookie with toasted pecans. The main difference is that you roll these in granulated sugar before baking rather than powdered sugar after baking.

For some reason, this cookie seemed sweeter to me than the other ones even though, objectively, this contained less sugar. Weird.

It was good but I think I prefer the more traditional variety of a Mexican Wedding Cake, rolled in powdered sugar right after baking, to give it more of that melting texture rather than the sweet grit of granulated sugar. Regardless of which recipe you use, toast the pecans and let cool before using for optimum flavor.

3/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup granulated sugar, until light, about 1 minute.
3. Beat in salt, vanilla and flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans.
4. Portion into dough balls. Roll in granulated sugar and flatten slightly with bottom of glass. Evenly space on baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool cookies on wire rack.