Pecan Meltaways

Welcome to December, aka COOKIE SEASON!!!!! Guys, an entire no-excuses-needed month devoted to the wonder of shortbread and jumbles and wafers and biscuits!!! Can you tell that I’m just the teensiest bit excited about it?!! If you’re here reading this, I’ll bet that you are too. And this year, it seems that the making (and eating) of these little individual bundles of joy is more important than ever—I’d even argue that it’s the universal therapy we need to make it through these extremely challenging times. Ok, enough talk…let the holiday baking begin!!

First up, these dreamy Pecan Meltaways! As far as I’m concerned, they are a must-have for any holiday platter!! They’re so homey and irresistible!

Undeniably memorable too, which is surprising since there are only 5 ingredients at play here—butter, confectioners’ sugar, cake flour, vanilla extract and a generous amount of toasted pecans but oh, how they come together. So much depth of flavor!

Buttery and rich with that amazing melt-in-your-mouth consistency that gets perfectly balanced out by the crunch of all those pecans!

And they come together quickly and easily!

If you love pecans, I predict that these will be your new best friend!

They’re easy, they’re delicious, they keep well—honestly, there’s no down side to them at all, except for the fact that they are so addictive that you will absolutely not be able to stop at just one!

So hop on the elliptical or take that extra run, because not making (and eating) these is simply not an option. And cookie season is only just beginning…

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Pecan Meltaways

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus at least 1 hour chilling time; Bake Time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

• 2 cups sifted cake flour

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped

The Recipe

1. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy. Gradually add in the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until the mixture is entirely smooth and very light and fluffy.

2. On low speed, gradually add the flour and mix well. Add in the vanilla and pecans and mix well. The mixture will be very thick and stiff. Cover it and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

3. Adjust oven rack to the center and preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 12-15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies get golden brown. Cool on the sheet on a wire rack for a few minutes and then transfer cookies to rack to finish cooling completely.

5. Cookies will last about a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Cooking for Comfort by Marian Burros. I didn’t change much about these except that I baked them on parchment lined sheets—easier cleanup!!