Cornmeal Currant Crunch Cookies

Position a rack in the middle of the oven.
preheat the oven to 350*.line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
in a medium bowl, stir the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt together.set aside.
in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the lemon zest until smooth and creamy -- and the color has lightened slightly.about 1 minute.
stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.
add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until blended -- about 1 minute.
on low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated.
mix in the currants and chopped pecans.
spread the remaining 3 tbls sugar on a large piece of parchment or wax paper.using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4 cup capcacity, scoop out portions of dough --
roll each between the palms of your hands into a smooth ball.then roll each ball in the sugar and flatten to about 3 1/2" circle.and place the cookies about 2" apart on the baking sheets --
press a pecan half into the center of each cookie, if desired.
bake one sheet at a time until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned.about 15 minutes.
cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then use a wide metal spatula to tansfer them to a wire rack to cool compeltely --
the cookies can be stored to a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days.