I’ve been in a bit of a Christmas cookie rut, but thanks to Chicago Magazine, I have an interesting Christmas cookie to share. In fact, it just might be the best snowball type cookie ever! The recipe is Sandra Holl’s Maple-Pecan Cookies, and it’s featured in the December issue in an article about Nielsen-Massey vanilla.
There were a couple of things that drew me to this recipe. First, it’s from the pastry chef at Floriole, one of my favorite bakeries in town. Second, because I’m on a pasture butter kick and it seemed perfect for showcasing it. And finally, because my husband recently brought back a bunch of Berdoll pecans from Austin. They’re so good! I miss Texas pecans.
Here’s the recipe as I made it. The original recipe didn’t call for toasting the pecans, so you can skip that if you prefer. I always like them toasted. The flavors of the toasted pecans, orange, vanilla and maple were just perfect.
Chicago Magazine Maple-Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks 232 grams good quality butter, unsalted (I used lightly salted), room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus more as needed for rolling
- Zest of half an orange I used 2 teaspoons and would not use more
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour I used 250 grams
- 1 1/2 cups ground pecans toast before grinding (140 grams)
Instructions
- With a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until creamy. Beat in the orange zest, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.
- By hand, stir in the flour until fully blended, then stir in the pecans.
- Cover bowl and chill dough for about 30 minutes.
- Using a rounded tablespoon OR a medium size cookie scoop, scoop out 24 rounds.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake cookies for 20 minutes or until they are golden.
- I baked the cookies in a convection toaster oven and they were done in 18 minutes.
- Remove cookies from the tray and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Roll cookies in reserved powdered sugar.
Anna
Hi Kristen,
i like the Pawnee ones best! Thanks for asking. Sorry it took me so long to see your comment.
Kristen
Anna,
Which of the Berdoll pecan varieties are your favorite to bake with? I’m getting ready to place an order for my year’s worth of pecans. I see that the photo here, with the recipe shows Pawnee variety.
Thanks!
Anna
Hooray! Glad you liked them :).
Sue
I made these and they got great reviews. They taste great but I think my favorite part of making them is how good they smelled when baking them.
Jennifer
Made these. They are amazing!
Sonya
Mmm, that sounds like a wonderful combination of flavors 🙂
TxPepper
Oh my! I think this needs to be on my to-make list when I return from my trip!
Yes….Texas pecans are the best and toasting just ups the taste and texture factor.
Happy Holidays!!!
Sue
They sound amazing.