Brown Sugar and Pecan Cookies
These brown sugar and pecan cookies are loaded with pecan and topped with a brown sugar icing. These soft, chewy cookies are sure to become one of your favorite new recipes.
There is nothing better than baking cookies and it really helps me relax and unwind plus the house smells amazing after a batch of cookies comes fresh out of the oven.
Brown Sugar and Pecan Cookies
For the cookies
1 cup flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
½ cup pecans, chopped into bits + extra for topping
For the icing
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup milk
2 tsp butter
1 cup powdered sugar
Yields: 15-18 cookies
To prepare the cookies:
Begin by sifting the dry ingredients into a bowl: flour, baking soda and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar.
Add egg to butter and sugar mixture. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well.
Fold in pecans into the cookie batter. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll the cookie dough to one inch balls. Place carefully on lined cookie sheet (12 should fit on a standard cookie sheet).
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before adding icing.
To make the icing:
Add brown sugar and milk to a small sauce pan and heat over medium.
Bring to a boil and boil for about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add butter and mix. Add ½ cup of powdered sugar and mix, then slowly add remaining powdered sugar.
You must work quickly because the frosting hardens quickly. To prevent this, place the pot back on the lowest heat and frost each cooled cookie. Top with remaining pecan bits as you go. Serve and enjoy!
How to Bake in Batches to Make the Most of Your Baking Time
One way to handle your holiday baking is to bake in batches, then freeze and store for the big day. You can do this successfully over a couple of weeks with batch baking and batch preparing.
The biggest thing to remember is to only try a few different types of things in one day, or focus on just one type of baked good in one day. For example, you might want to bake all your quick breads in one day. Another day you can prepare all your cookie dough. Yet another time, you can bake all your fruit pies and so forth. This process makes the most of the time you have, the space you have, and your skill level.
Be Prepared
Don’t try batch baking without a plan of action. Be sure to write down your plans in advance so that you are sure you have enough time to do everything that you’ve planned. To figure out a basic time line, add up the prep time, the baking time for each oven full, and then multiply that by 1.5 to account for a little extra issues happening. Then you should be sure that you have enough time.
Get Everything Ready to Go
Your kitchen should be spotless when you start, and ensure that you have all the ingredients and appliances necessary to make each item ready to go. If you know, for example, that today you’ll be using about 10 pounds of flour, consider using a large bowl to hold the flour so you can easily spoon the flour into the measuring cup, flatten off over the bowl, without having to get into the bag over and over which usually means spillage.
Clean as You Go
Fill your sink immediately with hot soapy water so you can clean as you go. You will want to wash your mixing dishes and other utensils during the baking process so that you can use them again. There’s no point in totally destroying your kitchen as you batch bake, and you don’t have to. Set out a draining board, fill the sink with hot soapy water, and wash as you go. There are many opportunities during baking to wash a couple of dishes, and this will make the clean-up faster, and the process more organized.
All Day Batch Baking
You can set aside a day for batch baking such as a Saturday. Plan for all day baking, which usually entails 8 to 10 hours of work. Ensure that any other chores are done, including the shopping, and the kitchen is clean and ready prior to baking day. It’s important to organize your recipes with some logic behind them. For example, if you need dough to rise, start that first, so that it can be rising as you are preparing other things such as cookie dough or pie crusts. Both can be put in the refrigerator or freezer after preparation while you bake the bread, then baked after you bake the bread while the oven is still hot and ready.