This is another of my mom’s recipes. I love these cookies but mom and I have a very serious philosophical difference over how they should be made. I think they should be cut thick so that when they’re cooked they’re nice and soft. She thinks (incorrectly) that they should be cut super-thin so that when they’re cooked they’re crispy. I love her, but the woman does not know what she’s talking about. But if you must, cut a few thin and try it her way.
But you’ll be back to my way.
They always come back…
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar*
- 2 eggs
- 2 t vanilla
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 1 t baking soda
- ½ t salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
* And don’t skimp here! Push the sugar into the measuring cup HARD so that there’s as much in there as possible. Then, let it overflow a bit – like this.
No one ever complained of too much brown sugar.
Beat butter with a hand mixer until smooth, gradually adding sugar until it’s fully blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. This is what it looks like before you put in the flour mixture.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt into a separate bowl. Then add it into the other bowl, mixing well. Put away the hand mixer – that bad boy’s done. Stir in the pecans with a wooden spoon. I confess the wooden spoon was taking a while so I just used my hands.
Shape the dough into rolls. These cookies don’t spread much when you cook them so however wide you make the tube is about how big around the cookies will be (by the way, mine are never round – they always come out oval shaped). You should get two or three rolls, depending on how big you make the rolls.
Wrap the rolls in wax paper and freeze for at least 4 hours.
To cook them, unwrap a roll and cut into slices. I prefer them thicker, my mom prefers them thinner….you decide for yourself (but go thicker).
Bake on a cookie sheet at 375° for 6-8 minutes, or until the bottoms have started to brown. Cool on wire racks and enjoy.
NOTE: One thing that’s cool about these – other than that they’re delicious – is that you can make the dough and freeze it for up to three months. This is great if you want a snack of fresh-baked cookies – just grab the dough from the freezer, cook, and in less than 10 minutes you have awesome home-baked cookies (which, by the way, smell amazing).
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Ugly Desserts 