Butter Pecan Sandies

Total Time: 34 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 9 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/3 cup corn oil or 1/3 cup other flavorless vegetable oil
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, plus
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 in a medium saucepan, combine the chopped pecans and butter.
• 2 bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. cook, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes or until the pecans are nicely browned; be very careful not to burn.
• 3 turn out the mixture into a sieve set over a medium metal bowl.
• 4 let stand until the butter drains into the bowl.
• 5 freeze the butter mixture, stirring once or twice, until firmed up but not hard, about 10 minutes.
• 6 set the pecans aside.
• 7 in a food processor, combine the chilled browned butter, oil, flour and powdered sugar. process in off/on pulses until well blended, stopping and stirring to redistribute the bowl contents several times.
• 8 turn out the butter flour mixture into a large bowl.
• 9 stir 3/4 cup of pecans into the flour mixture.
• 10 in the food processor, combine the remaining 3/4 cup pecans and brown sugar. process until the pecand are finely ground and the mixture is crumbly, stopping and scraping down the bowl sides once or twice.
• 11 add the egg and the egg yolk, 1 1/2 tablespoons water,the vanilla and the salt and process until very well blended, about 1 minute.
• 12 stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until just blended. knead with your hands until well blended and smooth.(if necessary, add a few drops of water to moisten). divide the dough in half.
• 13 place each portion between large sheets of wax paper.
• 14 roll out each portion a generous 3/4" thick; check under the underside of the dough for any wrinkles and smooth out any that form.
• 15 stack the rolled portions (paper still attached) on a baking sheet. freeze for 15 minutes or until chilled and slightly firmed up but not hard.
• 16 preheat oven to 350*.grease several baking sheets or use nonstick spray.
• 17 working with one portion at a time, gently peel away, then pat one sheet of wax paper back into place.
• 18 flip the dough over, then peel off and discard the second sheet. using a fluted or round 2 1/4" cutter, cut out the cookies.(if at any point the dough softens too much to handle easily, transfer the paper and cookies to a baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until firm again.)
• 19 using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheet, spacing about 1" apart. let the cookies stand for a few minutes to soften slightly.
• 20 firmly press a pecan half into the center of each cookie. reroll any dough scraps. continue cutting out the cookies until all the dough is used.
• 21 bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 10-14 minutes, or until barely colored on top and just slightly darker at the edges. reverse sheets halfway through baking
• 22 from front to back to ensure even browning. transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies set up slightly, 1-2 minutes.
• 23 using a spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks.
• 24 let stand until completely cooled.
• 25 store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, (if they last that long) or freeze for up to 1 month.