Pecan Praline Cookies

When I think of fall baking, pecans are one of the quintessential items. I know that we are nowhere near fall, but I gravitate to that sort of baking all the time, and I have to challenge myself to pick items that better represent the spring and summer. Of course, it will likely get to the point sometime this summer that it will be too hot to turn on the oven. I hate that, mainly because I don’t like the heat too much. Thankfully it has been sunny, but we aren’t there yet.

We like to get pecans from Pearson Farms in Georgia. They specialize in peaches and pecans. We’ve never ordered peaches from them, but annually buy their pecans. We buy Elliot pecans, which are very petite. They are great for baking as you can leave them whole, or they are very easy to chop. Recently my husband purchased some of their other items: pecan pralines and maple pecan crumbles. Those two ingredients would lend themselves perfectly to recipes.

Most pecan praline cookies try to mimic the flavor of pralines, but I found this recipe that I felt would work with the pralines I had. If you don’t have pralines, they would be just as good with natural pecans! They are a little fussy to place the pecans on top of each cookie, but just know it will be a little messy. The icing is great, and not quite as tricky as making caramel. It does cool very quickly, so you can’t take any extra time once your icing is ready. These are a lovely, sweet cookie, and my house smelled deliciously like fall while I was making them!

Pecan Praline Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped pralines (or pecans)

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium until incorporated. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until the dough comes together.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, using about 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Place a small amount of chopped pralines on top of each cookie, pressing the nuts into the dough.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until set. The cookies will be fairly large and will flatten as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Make the icing: in a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar and heavy whipping cream. Heat on medium-high, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Continue stirring a boil the icing for two minutes. Remove from the heat.

Off of the heat, add the powdered sugar to the icing and whisk to combine. Once the icing comes together, immediately drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Recipe from The Melrose Family