12 days of christmas cookies: day 03

today i have a pecan pie cookie recipe for you! and if you love pecans, you'll love these...

i've never been big on pecan pie [part of that could have to do with my nut allergies...my husband really thinks i should take them more seriously. he's probably right..] but my dad loves it, so we always have it around our house at the holidays. to mix it up this year, i decided to give him the pecan pie flavor in a cookie. an easier, more portable dessert...and no corn syrup...

pecan pie cookies

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup butter, browned
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg, 2 egg whites
• 2 cups crushed pecans, toasted
• small bag of caramels

first, brown the butter. go here for a link that leads to browning directions. and remember...browning butter takes patience. if you aren't sure if it's browned, then it hasn't. once the butter has browned and is ready to be removed from heat, you'll know. once the butter is finished, transfer to a mixing bowl to let cool.

while the butter is cooling, toast the pecans. i put all the pecans in a pan on medium low heat. once it begins to warm, i slowly move it to medium heat. continue to stir the pecans around to make sure they don't burn. they are ready when they have a delicious, nutty aroma and are a deep brown color.

in a mixing bowl, combined flour, salt, and baking powder. in a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. add the eggs and vanilla extract. mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. fold in the toasted pecans. place cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 F. use a cookie scoop or spoon to measure out a small ball of dough. place the dough on the cookie pan and top with a caramel candy. take another ball of dough and place it on top of the caramel, pinching the ends of the dough together and flattening the top slightly with your palm. repeat until all of the dough has been used up. bake for 12 minutes.

remove from heat and let cool. now enjoy your pie on the go!