Pecan Pie Cookies

Well I can't stop baking. I KNOW! I know.

I know I'm eating things for dinner that aren't sugar based, but I can't quite remember what they are... Oh wait. I made those roasted tomatoes people keep talking about:
And then I made pesto using the end of our basil plant (yeah, it died, I don't know what happened) and the oil from the tomatoes and the garlic that roasted with them. It was tasty!

And then I forgot to take a picture of the pasta we ate it with. And it was maybe too salty... and I didn't write any of the ratios down. Bad blogger, bad! Well anyway.

Saturday morning I woke up early to make cookies. Ok, that's a lie, but I woke up early and knew we would be going to Alissa's that night (hi, Alissa!) AND I had a cookie recipe lurking in my brain. You know those recipes that lurk? I've got a couple more up there skulking in the corners for the week. You'll be glad to know they're mostly savory... but I digress. I first clicked over to this Land O'Lakes recipe via YumSugar, and it caught my attention because I know how Adam feels about pecans. In fact as he was chopping pecans he made up a song about them.

It sounded like a madrigal to me, and the lyrics were something along the lines of I effing love pecans, I effing love pecans. That is a well founded love. Pecans are delicious. And so are these cookies.
I found that I had to bake them for 11 minutes of the 8-12, but I'm starting to think my new oven runs a bit cold; everything takes slightly longer than it's supposed to. I'll have to get a thermometer and check, but until then I'll just bake to the long end of the suggested time. I also got 2 1/2 dozen cookies out of this, not 3 dozen, but that's pretty close I guess. Maybe next time I'll have to make them smaller.


Pecan Pie Cookies
From Land O'Lakes

Cookies:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened (I use the defrost option on the microwave)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Filling:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (I used Half & Half since that's what was in the fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make the filling: combine the chopped pecans, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of cream or half&half, and teaspoon of vanilla and stir. Set aside.

For the cookies, beat the brown sugar, butter, egg and teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl until creamy. Add the flour and baking powder and beat again until well mixed.

Roll the cookies into balls 1 1/4 inch in diameter and lay out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a depression with your thumb. I found it easier to rinse my fingers under cold water so they didn't stick to the melting butter in my warm kitchen. Spoon a scant teaspoon of filling into each cookie and bake for 8-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.