Pecan Butter Recipes

TOASTED PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F/165 degrees C.
• Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet; toast in the preheated oven until they start to turn golden brown and become fragrant, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully as they bake, they burn quickly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Pulse the brown sugar, butter, and vanilla together in a food processor several times to thoroughly combine. Butter will be slightly fluffy. Sprinkle in the cooled nuts and pulse several times to combine. For more finely ground pecans, pulse several more times. Serve immediately, or pack into a jar with a lid and refrigerate.

HOMEMADE PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• Pour the pecans into a large skillet and toast, stirring often, over medium heat until fragrant (don't let them burn!). This will take about 4 to 8 minutes.
• Pour the toasted pecans into a food processor or high-speed blender and let them cool for several minutes. Then blend the pecans, pausing to scrape down the sides with a spatula often. The mixture will be crumbly at first, but will eventually blend into super-creamy goodness. Be careful not to let the mixture get too hot, which seems to cause oil separation. You might have to stop and let the mixture/machine cool down for a bit just to be safe. The amount of blending time required really depends on your machine-my old food processor took ten to fifteen minutes to turn the pecans into pecan butter, but my fancy Blendtec and Vitamix blenders can turn it into butter in a minute or two.
• Add a pinch of sea salt and a dash of cinnamon (if using). Blend again, taste, and add more salt or cinnamon if needed.
• Pour into a small jar, seal it with a lid, and store it in the refrigerator for good measure. This pecan butter will keep well, refrigerated, for up to 1 month or so-obviously, don't eat it if you see or smell any signs that it has gone bad.

PECAN BUTTER TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Line 12 muffin cups with foil liners. (Do not use paper-lined foil liners.), On a work surface, unroll crust. Cut 12 circles with a floured 4-in. round cookie cutter (save remaining crust for another use). Gently press crust circles onto bottoms and up sides of foil liners. Refrigerate while preparing filling., In a microwave-safe bowl, combine raisins and water; microwave on high 2 minutes. Drain; cool slightly., In a small bowl, mix egg, brown sugars, melted butter, vanilla and salt until blended; stir in pecans and raisins. Spoon into crust cups, dividing evenly., Bake on a lower oven rack until filling just begins to bubble up and crusts are light golden brown, 7-9 minutes (do not overbake). Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. If desired, serve with ice cream.

HOMEMADE PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• If roasting pecans, place on a greased cookie sheet in preheated 350 degree oven. Spread them out in a thin layer to roast evenly.
• Roast for 5 minutes, stir, then roast for another 5 minutes until you can smell them. Take care not to scorch them!
• As soon as they come out of the oven, place them on a flat plate or piece of parchment paper to cool.
• Add cooled pecans to food processor and blend on HIGH until finely ground, 2-3 minutes.
• Add vegetable oil 1/2 tbs at a time and continue to blend until butter reaches desired consistency.
• Add salt to taste.
• Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge. Usually, this will keep 1 to 2 months if you used fresh nuts. Storing at room temperature will accelerate rancidification.

BUTTER PECAN FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk, eggs, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk together until everything's combined and smooth.
• One by one, dunk the slices of bread into the egg mixture and place them on the buttery skillet.
• Fit as many slices in the skillet as you can, cooking them until golden on the first side, about 2 1/2 minutes. Flip to cook them on the other side for about 2 minutes. Remove them to a plate. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet and repeat with the rest of the bread slices until they're all cooked.
• To the same skillet, add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, the remaining 1 cup of brown sugar, and the salt. Stir and cook over medium heat until the butter and sugar are melted and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat completely, pour in the bourbon and stir, allowing the fumes to dissipate for about 1 minute. Turn the stove on medium heat and continue to stir and cook for another minute, or until the mixture is starting to thicken. Add the pecans, stir to combine. Keep cooking the sauce, stirring constantly, until the mixture is deep golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to cook it too long as it will become chewy, you want a nice caramelly sauce. Turn off the heat.
• Serve two pieces of French toast with a little butter. Sift over some powdered sugar.
• Spoon on a generous amount of the sauce then top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

PECAN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter 2 cookie sheets and set aside. Roast 3/4 cup of pecans in oven for 10 minutes or until they emit a good aroma. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. When cooled, chop pecans with sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add flour, butter, egg yolk and salt. If dough is too soft, add up to 1/4 cup more flour; otherwise work dough with your hands.
• Gather dough into a 1 1/2 inch round sausage, wrap in waxed paper and rest in fridge for 2 hours or overnight. Cut into 1/4inch rounds and set on baking sheet. Press a pecan half in center. Don't place cookies too closely together or they will run into each other as they spread during baking. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the cookies' edges are golden brown. When they are baked they will give off a wonderful aroma. Remove baking sheets from oven and let cookies cool on sheets for 3 minutes. Then, remove them to a cookie rack to cool them further. Be careful when you handle these as they are very fragile.

PECAN BUTTER TARTS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• For Tart Shells:.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Slowly pour 1/8 cup water in through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water to a maximum of 1/4 cup. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
• Turn dough onto work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.
• After the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch rounds. It may be easier to roll the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap, instead of on a floured surface. Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. You may need to coax the rounds into the tin, leaving a fluted edge. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up.
• While dough is chilling, toast and chop the pecans. Reserve 12 pecan halves, which will be used to top the tarts.
• For Filling:.
• In a medium sized saucepan lightly whisk the eggs. Add the butter, sugar, and cream. Place on medium heat, bring this mixture just to a boil - stir constantly to prevent scorching. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (For a runnier filling, remove when filling starts to thicken but has not reached a boil.).
• Place a teaspoon of chopped pecans into the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked shells with the filling. Top each tart with a whole pecan. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned and filling is set.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

BUTTER PECAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Place chopped pecans and 1 tablespoon butter in a baking pan. Bake at 325° for 5-7 minutes or until toasted and browned, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool. , In a large bowl, cream brown sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. , Roll into 1-in. balls, then roll in toasted pecans, pressing nuts into dough. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Beat egg white until foamy. Dip pecan halves in egg white, then gently press one into each ball. , Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.