Cookies….such wonderful little things…small packages with immense flavour. There are so many recipes for cookies how would it be possible to make them all in one lifetime. Sometimes you get lucky and try one of those combinations that seem like it might be a great idea and it turns out that is was an absolutely fantastic idea. That is what happened with this recipe. I was reading a recipe that used ground pecans as a coating on a cookie and thought hmmm what about in the cookie? So then the experimenting began. I started with my standard shortbread recipe and substituted part of the flour for ground pecans.
On the second version there was just the pecans, then one of my friends thought it needed something to complement the nutty flavour, so that is when the toffee idea came in. The pecans and the toffee together really make this a stand-out recipe. So the third iteration was the final product. A cookie with a little chew, a little crisp and lots of flavour. Considering I am not a fan of nuts, these must be good if I am eating 2, maybe 3 in a row
Then even though the flavour was fabulous, they looked a little plain. So they needed a little something, maybe a little drizzle of milk chocolate. Now they were really pretty as well as tasty and ready for a photo session. So these Pecan Toffee cookies will definitely be making an appearance at Christmas this year and probably a few times before that!
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 cup salted butter, room temp
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ cup toffee bits
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- In food processor combine the pecans and 1 cup of flour. Process until finely ground. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl beat together the butter and icing sugar until fluffy.
- Add the pecan mixture, the remaining ½ cup of flour and the toffee bits.
- Mix until it comes together.
- Roll into 1" balls and place 2" apart on parchment lined baking sheet. Press down lightly with the heel of your hand to slightly flatten.
- Bake 12-15 minutes just until edges start to turn golden.
- Let cool on baking sheet 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.