Pecan Bourbon Cookies

Every once in awhile you come across a cookie that everyone loves. These are those cookies.  If I bring them somewhere, people always rave about them and beg for the recipe.  They are nutty, crumbly, buttery, and delicious!  I typically go for chewy cookies but these are just too good to resist. You can also make a large batch of dough and freeze it in logs so you can bake them off as needed. So get to the kitchen and whip up a batch!  I promise you won't regret it.

Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raw pecan halves plus 1/2 cup more for topping the cookie

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 Tablespoons bourbon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and toast just the 1 1/2 cups of pecan halves for about 8 minutes or until fragrant and starting to brown.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool completely and then roughly chop. I also turned my oven off at this point since the dough has to chill for at least an hour before baking. 

2) In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth (about 5 minutes).

3) Add the vanilla extract, bourbon and only the yolk of the egg and stir to combine.  Reserve the egg white for later use.  

4) Stir in the chopped, roasted pecans.

5) Next add the flour and salt and stir until just incorporated.  

6) Lay out a piece of baking parchment or cling wrap and shape the dough into a log about 2 inches wide.  Wrap the log in the parchment or cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  At this point you can also freeze the log and use at a later date.

7) Preheat your oven to 350 F.

8) Cut the dough into 1 cm thick slices (just under 1/2 inch) and place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.  

9) Create an egg wash using the reserved egg white and whip it briefly with a splash of water.  Brush each slice of cookie dough with the egg wash and lightly press one of the raw pecan halves on top.

10) Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Keep in mind if the dough is coming out of the freezer or right out of the refrigerator they will spread less and also might take longer to bake.   Allow to cool completely before removing from the baking tray.  Enjoy!!!