Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies

By CandyH

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• Brown sugar frosting (see below)
• Pecan halves (or chopped pecans) for topping
• Brown Sugar Frosting
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Details

Servings 5
Adapted from tatertotsandjello.com

Preparation

Step 1

•Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

•In a large mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed until creamy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

•In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

•Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. (If making larger cookies, add an extra 1 to 2 minutes to baking time.) Cool 2 minutes on pan and remove to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

•To frost, spread about 1 tsp of the brown sugar frosting on each cookie (more for larger cookies) and top with a pecan half or more chopped pecans. Yields approximately 5 dozen


Brown Sugar Frosting
1.Combine brown sugar and half and half in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes.

2.Remove from heat and stir in butter. Add 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Consistency will seem thin but will thicken as it cools. If frosting seems too thin, add enough of the remaining powdered sugar to desired consistency.

A word of advice: Because this brown sugar frosting thickens rather quickly, don’t start it until you’re ready to frost the cookies. If it starts to set, just give it a nice stir with your spatula