Maple-Pecan Cookies
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple extract
- 2 1/4 cups self-rising cake flour
- 35 (approximately 1/2 cup) pecan halves
- 2 baking sheets, lined with parchment or wax paper or greased
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- When you've got a soft, supple mass, add the maple extract and work in the sifted flour.
- Roll into walnut-sized balls, and press with the base of a glass that you've lightly oiled (and if you've got some in the house, you could use walnut oil) or brushed with melted butter.
- Press gently onto the lined baking sheets--leaving a 2-inch space round each as they'll spread--and stud each with a pecan half.
- Cook for 15 minutes.
- They start off golden so it's hard to tell if they're cooked just by sight, but lift one up to check it's no longer doughy on the bottom.
- Remove from the oven, leave for a minute or two on the trays, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Variation: You can always substitute walnut halves for the pecans, but if you leave them completely nut-free, these are wonderful as cheese biscuits.
- Yes, they're sweet, but in the same way as digestive biscuits are strangely good with both creamy and hard cheese, so these can pair with a pungent blue quite wonderfully.
unsalted butter, light brown sugar, maple, flour, pecan halves, baking sheets
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/maple-pecan-cookies-recipe.html (may not work)