It wasn’t that long ago that I used a bag of pecans in a bake. I still had half a bag left so made this butter pecan skillet cookies recipe that I found on the excellent Bon Appétit website.
Pecans caramelised in maple syrup is a revelation. They’re lovely on their own, folded into or sprinkled on top of vanilla ice cream, added to sweet popcorn or, as they are here, pulsed in a food processor and added to cookie or cake mixture.
I didn’t have quite enough pecans, so I bulked them up with some chopped hazelnuts and almonds. I think the nut mixture worked really well.
I also didn’t have any nibbed sugar. However, my bag of icing sugar had hardened into a bit of a solid block, so I sliced a bit off and crushed it into the right size ‘pebbles’ using the back of a teaspoon in a sieve.
The resulting ‘cookie cakes’ were sweet, nutty and wonderfully moist.
A triangle or two was lovely as a little snack alongside an espresso or milky coffee.
All in all, a very successful bake – and one which will definitely be repeated whenever we notice some nuts that need using up.
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- 160g chopped pecans
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp coarse salt, divided
- 140g cold butter, cubed
- 160g plain flour
- 75g light brown soft sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 120g icing sugar
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Preheat your oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Place a shelf in middle of oven
- Toss pecans, maple syrup, and ½ tsp of the salt in a medium mixing bowl
- Scrape onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread the nuts into a single layer
- Bake until the pecans are slightly darkened and the syrup is dark and bubbling - about 15-20 minutes
- Remove from the oven and carefully toss pecans in the hot syrup to coat again. Allow to cool on the baking sheet until the caramel hardens - about 30 minutes. Break up candied pecans into pieces, discarding any burned bits
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC/325°F/ Gas mark 3
- Generously grease a 10" cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet; line the bottom with a round of greased parchment paper. Set aside
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, brown sugar, half the candied pecans and 1¼ tsp salt until the nuts are finely chopped
- Add the egg, vanilla extract/paste and butter and process until a shaggy dough forms
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl and knead a couple of times just to bring it together. Using damp hands, pat the dough evenly into the skillet, extending all the way to the sides of the pan Bake the cookie until the edges are golden brown and the centre is slightly puffed - 30-35 minutes
- Allow it to cool in the skillet for about an hour
- Invert the cookie onto a chopping board and cut into 16 equal triangular wedges
- Turn right side up and transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet
- In a small, wide mixing bowl, whisk icing sugar, milk, salt and vanilla extract/paste until smooth The glaze should be the consistency of double cream; thin with more milk or thicken with more icing sugar if needed
- Transfer half of the glaze to another small wide bowl (you'll need to use 2 bowls as the glaze will start to collect crumbs and you'll want a fresh start)
- Working one at a time, lightly dip half of the wedges, top side down, into first bowl of glaze so that only the surface is covered and no glaze drips down the sides. Use a toothpick to pop any bubbles and smooth glaze; coating should be thin enough to see the cookie peeking through
- Repeat with the remaining wedges and second bowl of glaze
- Top the wedges with remaining candied pecans and let sit for 10 minutes
- Sprinkle with the nibbed sugar and allow to sit until the glaze is set - about an hour
Cakes & Bakes: Farmer’s wife’s pecan cookies
This Farmer’s wife’s pecan cookies recipe is taken from Maida Heatter’s Cookies book. Heatter is an award-winning American chef and author who specialises in cakes, cookies and desserts. She’s 102-years-old – so she must be cooking and eating something right!
I chose it as this week’s Cakes & Bakes dish because they could be made in a jiffy. We’ve been away from home for a spell – spending a few days in rural Wales – returning yesterday afternoon.
The recipe makes 36 cookies – way too many for the two of us. Rather than scaling the recipe down, I’ve reserved & refrigerated about half the cookie dough. When the 15 that I’ve baked off have been eaten (the way things are going, it may be as soon as tomorrow) I can rustle up another batch in about a quarter of an hour. They’re absolutely delicious – and perfect with tea, coffee or glass of milk.
Click here to save Maida Heatter’s farmer’s wife’s pecan cookies recipe to Pinterest
- 200g/7oz plain flour, sifted
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 115g/4oz butter
- 250g/9oz light brown sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 64g/2¼oz pecans, touch chopped
- 36 pecan halves
- Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside
- Cut the butter into 2½cm/1" pieces and place in a heavy 2- to 3-litre (70-105 fl oz) saucepan. Melt slowly over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and, with a heavy wooden spoon, stir in the sugar, then the vanilla and the egg
- Add the sifted dry ingredients, stirring until smooth
- Mix in the chopped pecans
- Transfer to a small bowl for ease in handling
- Use a rounded teaspoon of dough for each cookie. Place them 5cm/2” apart on the sheets
- Place a pecan half on each cookie, pressing it gently and lightly into the dough
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, reversing the position of the sheets top to bottom and front to back to ensure even browning. When baking only one sheet at a time, use the higher rack
- With a wide, metal spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool
- These will rise during baking and then will settle down. They should be medium brown - don't underbake