Toasted Pecan Dough Recipes

TOASTED-PECAN DOUGH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast pecans on a rimmed baking sheet in oven, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely. Coarsely grind pecans in a food processor. Add flour, sugar, and salt; process until combined.
• Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With processor running, add the ice water in a slow, steady stream just until the dough comes together.
• Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day before using.

BUTTER PECAN MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Toast the pecan (see Recipe Notes below for how to toast nuts), let cool completely, then finely chop. Set aside.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes at medium speed. Add the water and vanilla and mix in. Add the flour all at once and mix on low speed until the mixture comes together as a moist dough. Stir in the (cooled) finely chopped nuts.
• Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop a portion and dough and roll into about 1-inch balls. Continue shaping balls with the remain dough, placing onto a baking sheet. (*I like to roll all the dough and pack then onto a smaller baking sheet that will fit nicely into my fridge. When ready to bake, I transfer them to another baking sheet, spacing them apart and baking in a couple of batches).
• Before refrigerating, you can flatten the balls slightly to make more of a "button-shaped" cookie or leave them as balls, if you prefer.
• Place baking sheet into the fridge uncovered and chill 15-30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325F.
• Bake in preheated oven, with balls spaced about 2 inches part, for about 20 minutes. Bake in batches, if necessary, leaving remaining dough in the refrigerator while you bake the first batch.
• Remove from oven and let stand about 1 minutes. Roll warm cookies in icing/confectioners' sugar while still very warm and place onto a wire rack to cool further. Once cooled to just slightly warm, roll again in powdered sugar to thoroughly coat.
• Allow to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.