Pecan Sandies

I always thought Pecan Sandies were the exclusive creation of the Keebler elves. That turns out not to be true, and Pecan Sandies can be made at home. This was my first try at making cookie dough with the food processor, and I found it to be a very quick and easy process. These cookies would be excellent with tea or coffee.

PECAN SANDIES
from The New Best Recipe

1 1/2 c chopped pecans, plus more pecan halves for topping cookies
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk

1. In a food processor, pulse together the pecans and sugars until pecans are ground. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until dough starts to look like wet sand and rides up the side of the bowl. Run the food processor and add in the yolk while it's running. Dough should come together into a ball.

2. Remove ball from food processor and knead a few turns on a clean surface. Roll dough into a 12 inch log, and cut in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove dough logs from freezer. Unwrap and roll on a clean surface to fix the flattened side (your logs will be flat on the bottom). When log is fully round once more, rewrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove logs from refrigerator. Slice into 1/4" slices and place on parchment paper. Press a pecan half into the top of each slice.

5. Bake for 22-24 minutes, rotating baking sheets half way through baking. Cookies are done when edges start browning. Allow cookies to cool on wire rack.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Have you ever had days that you're just not "feeling it." Well, that's where I am with blogging right at this very moment. I think I'm just tired. Sundae is going through a phase where she doesn't want to be more than a few feet away from me at any time. This has resulted in her jumping up and down on me at 4 AM. Although, I'm pretty sure that from her perspective, I'm the one with the problem. After all, by that time of the morning I've been sleeping, not paying attention to her, for hours. What's my problem, right? There's a reason I'm not mom material, because I love to sleep. That's why I got a cat. I thought we shared the same interests. Sundae's really throwing me for a loop with this perpetual toddler routine of hers. She's just lucky I love her insanely ridiculous amounts and that's she so freaking adorable, even at 4 in the morning.

So, basically what I'm saying, as long winded as possible, is that I don't have much to say today about this coffee cake. It's delicious. It stays moist. It's a recipe I've tried many times with no fail. It cooks in a bundt pan, which I love. It has a delicious cinnamon and pecan filling. But that's all I can think to write about it.

I need a nap. I'll kick it into gear for next week, promise!


SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

for the filling:
1 c chopped pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp sugar

for the cake:
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 c sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

2. In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in sour cream and vanilla. Gently fold in the flour mixture.

5. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle 3/4 of the filling mixture into the pan. Top with remaining batter and then sprinkle with remaining filling.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack before removing from pan. When removing, keep in mind that the top of the coffee cake is facing up in the bundt pan, so you'll need to flip the cake twice when unmolding.

Source: The Essential New York Times Cookbook

This recipe is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Monday, On the Menu Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Made by You Monday, Tuesday Talent Show, This Chick Cooks, Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday

Southern Pralines

I'm a northern girl who loves her pecans. So when I learned about these cookie-candy hybrids called pralines, I knew I needed to try them. These are not difficult to make, but you do need a candy thermometer and the ability to move quickly. Once the sugar is ready, it's ready. And, unlike me, you should probably not touch the hot sugar. It's not a good idea. Anyone who has ever suffered a sugar burn will back me up on this.

Even though I burnt my finger accidentally, it didn't stop me from enjoying these little drops of pecany goodness. Do any two things go together quite like pecans and brown sugar? The molasses in the brown sugar melts in your mouth and combines with the buttery pecans... to say that these are good is an understatement.


SOUTHERN PRALINES

1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. whole milk
6 tbsp salted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans

1. On a clean, easily accessible area of your kitchen counter top, set up a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Dump all ingredients into a large stock pot. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture come to a boil and reach 238-240 degrees. Once it's reached this temperature, remove from the heat immediately. Stir the syrup for about 2-3 minutes, until the boiling subsides and it seems to thicken a bit.

3. Working quickly and carefully, drop spoonfuls onto the parchment paper. Allow pralines to cool to the touch before eating.

Source: The Kitchn

This recipe is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Craft-O-Maniac, On the Menu Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Made by You Monday, Delectable Tuesday, Tuesday Talent Show, This Chick Cooks, Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Fresh Food Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday

White Chocolate Pecan Bars

I'm discovering more and more that pecans are quite the little crowd pleasers. Walnuts certainly never get that type of reaction. These white chocolate pecan bars are easy to make and very tasty. Plus, you can tell people the recipe for these bars comes from the world-famous Magnolia Bakery in New York City. Fans of the show Sex and the City will know what you're talking about and be instantly impressed.

WHITE CHOCOLATE PECAN BARS

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c pecans, coarsely chopped
• 8 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I recommend Ghirardelli)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In small bowl, combine flour and salt. Set aside. In larger bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.

3. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 c of the chopped pecans. Transfer batter to a greased 9 x 13 pan.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until edges lightly brown. Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack.

5. Immediately after pan is out of oven, sprinkle chopped white chocolate on top. Wait 5 minutes, and then spread chocolate around with a spatula. Sprinkle chocolate with remaining chopped pecans. Allow to cool and then cut into bars.

Source: The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Pecan Pie Muffins

I love the idea of pecan pie. Rich, buttery pecans resting in a sweet, syrupy cloud-- what's there not to love? Well, except the pie part, that is. I hate pie, specifically pie crust, for no other reason than I've always hated it, and no attempts to re-train my taste buds have worked. So while I love the idea of pecan pie, because I so love pecans, I have never actually eaten it. And I knew that madness had to stop. Enter pecan pie muffins.

When I needed a quick and easy recipe to whip up for my mom's volunteer group, I turned to this recipe. Almost unbelievably, these delicious muffins require only five, basic ingredients and less than ten minutes of prep work. These are not the most beautiful muffins in the world, and didn't photograph well at all, but I improved their presentation by placing each muffin in an individual sandwich baggie (in case volunteers wanted to take them home instead of eating them on the spot) and showcasing them in a nice basket. No complaints at all about how they looked. People were too busy raving about how they tasted!

PECAN PIE MUFFINS

• 1 c packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 c chopped pecans
• 2/3 c butter, very soft (preferably left out over night)
• 2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In large mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and pecans. Set aside.

3. In medium mixing bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in butter, about one tablespoon at a time, mixing well between each addition. The butter needs to be as soft as butter can be without being melted. Otherwise, combining it with the eggs will be quite a chore. If done correctly, the egg/butter mixture will look a bit like scrambled eggs.

4. Pour the egg/butter mixture into the pecan mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until combined. Make sure to smooth out any remaining butter lumps. Pour batter into greased muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Each batch should yield about 10 muffins using a standard muffin pan.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow muffins to remain in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Source: Tasty Kitchen