#38 - Bake 100 Different Cookies Update

I made some of my very favorite cookies today! In fact, after One Girl Cookies Orange Butter Drops, these are my second favorites :p I have so many memories attached to these cookies. They're basically mexican wedding cookies but instead of using crushed almonds, I use crushed pecans. There was a chain of bakeries in New Orleans when I was growing up called McKenzies and my aunt Shirley would take us there every Friday and we'd get to pick something to eat. I'd get these :p McKenzies is long gone but any New Orleans native can tell you tons of memories associated with this bakery and what their favorite pastry was from there.

They're SUCH an easy cookie to make too! Here's how you make them. You need:

1 Cup (2 sticks) of butter at room temperature
1/2 Cup of white sugar
2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 Teaspoons of water
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Cup of chopped pecans (you can use different nuts if you want)
1/2 Cup of confectioner's sugar

Start by creaming the butter with the sugar.....I use an electric mixer and beat the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes on medium until it's light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and water. Slowly add in your flour while the mixer's on and then add in your chopped pecans or other nuts. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours. It looks like this afterwards!

 

I used a cookie scoop but you don't have to, just scoop out round balls onto an unprepared (non-greased) cookie pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I baked mine right in the middle there for 17 minutes and 30 seconds and they came out perfect! They look like this:

 

Now comes the best part! Put your powdered sugar into a paper bag or ziploc bag and very gently shake the cookies in the sugar coating them. Don't be too rough or they'll crack. Also, don't try to do too many at once. I shook up three cookies at a time and it worked just fine. They look like this:

 

Last step...enjoy!