These pecans have been a bit of an obsession for me for a few years. I don't really think they're actually like the Savannah's Candy Kitchen glazed pecans that I've missed since the pandemic closed their Atlanta Airport location, but they ARE much like the butter toffee pecans I bought at H.E.B. on our trip to Houston. This is good enough for me.
The sweet candy coating is thick in some spots and barely there in others--just the way I like it. These butter toffee pecans are so flavorful and rich, that just a few satisfy my sweet tooth. When I made this batch, I used toasted pecans, but next time I will use raw ones because the candying process made these pecans almost a little too well done. Still tasty, but not quite perfection.
I suppose this method of making candied nuts would work on other nuts. The recipe below is sort of a conglomeration of different recipes I found on Pinterest. Since I tweaked and borrowed from so many recipes, though, I'm writing down here what I did so I will be able to recreate these the next time I want to make them, which could be a while. (My memory isn't as sharp as I'd like it to be sometimes.)
So there you go, my rambling preface to these delicious nuts. (Insert sound of a middle school boy giggling.)
Butter Toffee Pecans
Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cups raw pecan halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used Morton's brand)
Instructions:
Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large non-stick skillet set over medium heat (err on the low side here, so as to not burn the sugar), melt butter and then add the sugar and water. Stir gently with a silicone spatula and bring to a simmer.
Once it's simmering and it seems the sugar is melted, add the pecans and stir to coat.
Continue to stir and coat for a while. The water will evaporate and the sugar will get grainy and look terrible.
Sprinkle the salt evenly over the sugary pecans, and continue to stir.
Eventually, the sugar will start to melt and get shiny. Keep stirring until most of the sugar has that shiny appearance and there is only a little bit of grainy-looking sugar left in the crevases of the pecans.
Pour pecans onto the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet and use the silicone spatula to spread the nuts out and separate the ones that are stuck together. At this point you can either use two silicone spatulas, or get two forks out for this job. See what works for you.
When pecans are mostly separated, allow to cool completely before tasting. Serve/eat or store in an airtight container until ready to serve/eat.
Makes a little over 2 cups of butter toffee pecans (honestly, I haven't measured)
These delightful shortbread cookies are a variation on another shortbread cookie recipe. To the previous recipe I added more sugar in the form of granulated white sugar and a little salt. I really like the results. These cookies are buttery, crisp, tender, and just sweet enough.
If you don't have macadamia nuts, pecans or almonds would work great too.
If you decide to make these, be sure to use fresh, quality ingredients because the simplicity of the ingredients ensure you will taste each one. Today I used Kerrygold butter, and I think it really made these more delicious.
The beauty of this recipe is not so much in the ingredients and baking--it's in the way the cookies are formed. I love baking, clearly, and when I transitioned from full-time mom/part-time teacher to full-time teacher/full-time mom several years ago, I realized I needed a more efficient way to make my cookie dough.
I mean, I always try to prepare my cookie dough so I can freeze part of it for later use, but the scooping, freezing, and bagging still took longer than I wanted it to. I think I realized that I could do what Pillsbury had started doing with their dough: lay it out in a slab and cut it into squares. You may not end up with a perfectly round cookie, but I care more about easy access to freshly baked cookies than I do about perfect symmetry.
All that being said, these cookies do taste fantastic. I mean, Dove Dark Chocolate makes any cookie better. The browning of the butter is a tip I learned from my new favorite celebrity chef, Claire Saffitz, who seems to advocate for browning butter for most recipes calling for butter. Check her out. Her recipes are awesome, and she is absolutely delightful.
So there. Go make some cookies and be happy.
Bite Size Dove Chocolate & Pecan Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups toasted pecans, chopped
1 bag Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, unwrapped & chopped (or 9-12 oz other dark chocolate or chocolate chips
Instructions:
Optional: Place half of the butter in a heat-proof bowl, and set aside. Brown the other half of the butter and pour over the butter waiting in the bowl. (For instructions on browning butter, watch this video, starting around 6:58. And watch the whole video for the best oatmeal cookie recipe.)
While butter cools, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and both sugars in a medium sized bowl. Stir with a whisk and use your clean fingers to break up any chunks of brown sugar. Set aside.
Once butter is close to room temperature, place in the bowl of standing mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) along with the eggs and vanilla. Mix until emulsified and smooth. This takes a few minutes.
Pour in the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Lift up the paddle and stir in any dry bits that remain in the bottom of the bowl.
Pour in the chopped chocolate and pecans. Mix on low until combined. If this is taking too long, just stir by hand. You do not want to over-mix your cookie dough.
Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment. Pour the cookie dough into the lined pan, and use a spoon or silicone spatula to start pressing the dough evenly into the pan. Finish pressing the dough into the pan by covering with a sheet of wax paper and pressing with your flat hands.
Freeze the dough for at least 2 hours. If you think you need to leave it in the freezer over night, cover wrap before freezing.
Once frozen, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into little cubes.
Bake as many cubes as you'd like at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-9 minutes for softer cookies, 10-12 minutes for crisp cookies.
Place remaining dough cubes into a large zip top bag and keep frozen until you want more cookies.
Makes somewhere between 160 and 190 little cookies
