Pecan Cookies
Showcasing pecans: crisp cookies with a rich taste
by Molly O'Neill
From our feature A Well-Rounded Table: This recipe, from Inez Schwartz, is adapted from Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes From the Rabinowitz Family by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman, 2007). Kancigor writes, “Hard to believe that with no added fat, these crisp cookies from cousin Marilyn’s sister-in-law taste so buttery, like butterscotch crisp.”
Parchment paper or vegetable cooking spray, for the baking sheet
2 cups pecans, plus about 3 dozen pecan halves for topping the cookies
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
White of 1 large egg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or generously grease it.
2. Combine the 2 cups pecans and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar in a food processor, and process until the nuts are finely chopped.
3. Combine the chopped pecans, remaining brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the egg white (unbeaten) and lemon juice, and stir until thoroughly combined. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture, about 1 1/2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheet. Press a pecan half into each cookie.
4. Bake on the center oven rack until the cookies are golden brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Watch the bottoms, as they burn easily. Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet set on a wire rack until they can be safely moved, 1 to 2 minutes. Then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
5. Repeat, baking and cooling the remaining cookies, and serve.
Yield: Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
See: Jewish Chicken Soup, Shiitake Mushroom Matzo Balls, Easy Brisket, Sephardic Chicken, Matzo Stuffing, Beef Eingemacht (Preserves), Passover Nut Cake
