Holiday Cookie Recipes - Pecan Dreams

Pecan Dreams

My mother Inez, took delight in making cookies during the holiday season.  She made the usual decorated sugar cookies, the best tollhouse chocolate chip cookies (recipe right on the toll house chip bag) that she had to hid from my brother, and many other types of cookies. But one cookie stands out and was sought after by my friends, my parents friends and all our neighbors, Pecan Dreams.  If you search the web you will find many recipes for cookies with this name. But this is the only one that I have tried that has the flavor and texture that I remember from my youth. And no milk solids which is important in my family. Butter is okay (okay ,so not really given, the saturated fat but we can tolerate butter) but milk solids are a no-no!

My whole family enjoys making these cookies and giving them as gifts to friends and family!

I hope you enjoy these wonderful cookies.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sifted (2+ times) all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar 4x or finer
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup lightly chopped pecans
Extra powdered sugar

Preparation

Soften butter at room temperature. Do not try to hasten softening.  The butter should be soft but not melted.

Using a mixer, cream the butter well with the flour. Add the flour gradually to avoid lumps.

Continue mixing and add the powdered sugar gradually. Continue mixing till you cannot feel the sugar between your fingers.

Combine the vanilla and water and add this to the butter, flour, sugar mixture while continuing mixing.  Continue mixing until all the ingredients are uniformly combined.

Remove from the mixer, spoon in, and hand mix the pecans into the batter.

Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.  Having a cool mixture is very important so don’t skip this step.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using a convection oven, preheat to 375 degrees F.

Using a teaspoon or bread dough knife, grab some batter and shape in your hands till it is about the size and shape of a date.  We prefer the bread dough knife, shaping the dough in our hands and then a final roll on a cutting board.

Cook these cookies on a non-stick cookie sheet or on a cookie sheet lined with foil.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until very light brown on the bottom.  Remove and cool on a cooling rack, if available, or a clean dish towel.

When the cookies are just a little warmer than room temperature, roll them in powdered sugar.  They are ready to eat.  They store nicely for up to about 5 days and freeze nicely.  But they won’t last that long in your house will they?

Pecan Dreams freeze well if you want to make then ahead of time. Before freezing them, let them cool to room temperature. Place them in an airtight container and separate layers with waxed paper.

Enjoy these very wonderful cookies.