Chocolate Pecan Cookie with Kentucky Bourbon Glaze

I’ve been there and back again from the beautiful country of New Zealand now, and normally, a trip and food recap would follow, but today is not the day. Yes, unfortunately the holidays are upon us, and I wanted to sneak in a holiday cookie recipe before the dreaded deadline. I am not one to really get in the spirit of constant Christmas jingles and songs and overcrowded malls with santa taking his cig break in the back (bah humbug), but I do enjoy the eating, family and cookie baking.

Like the very normal person that I am, I like to start many mornings brainstorming different recipes (look forward to some New Zealand-inspired great ideas). I thought about my favorite, comforting holiday flavors: buttery, nutty, vanilla and most importantly, booze. That’s how we get through the multitude of awkward holiday social gatherings right? I started off with a basic pecan cookie recipe, threw in some chocolate chips, browned the butter to bring out the nutty flavor, a bit of fleur del sel sprinkled on top to balance sweet, then drenched it in a bourbon filled glazed. Kentucky being my favorite. I highly recommend using your favorite bourbon, preferably richer in vanilla and chocolate notes, because the best part is drinking while you bake. I mean, you’re only using 2 tablespoons so you can’t let it go to waste. End result: my kind of Christmas baked into a cookie. Now excuse me as I get onto my many unreasonably expensive economy flights and fight not to sit next to the guy with a foot fungus problem. Bourbon cookies on hand.

 

 

Chocolate Pecan Cookies with Kentucky Bourbon Glaze

Servings: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 3 1/2 hours, Total Time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup browned butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 2tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Fleur de sel for sprinkling

For the Glaze:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp Bourbon
• 1/2 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Toast pecans at 300F for 15-20 min, stirring twice. Let cool.

2. Roughly chop pecans. In a separate bowl, mix together pecans and chocolate chips. Coat very lightly with flour. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and both sugars on med-high speed with paddle attachment for 5-7 minutes.

4. Lower speed, and slowly add eggs one at a time and the vanilla.

5. In a separate bowl, roughly mix together flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt.

6. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into batter on low speed.

7. On the lowest speed (mix), mix or hand mix the pecan mixture for a few seconds until evenly mixed.

8. Cover cookie dough with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

9. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

10. Use an ice cream scoop to make cookie dough balls, and flatten the tops. Optional: Press a few larger pieces of pecan into the top of the cookie dough.

11. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until edges crisp and center baked.

12. Glaze while hot: in a separate bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, bourbon, water and vanilla. Use a spoon to drizzle a generous amount on top of freshly baked cookies.

13. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Merry Christmas everyone!!