Pecan Praline Cookies

I've been in a fall frame of mind and I needed to make some cookies for a friend's birthday so I combined everything and pulled this recipe out of my "need to try" box.  I'm glad I did because they were delicious!

I think that I might go ahead and add these to my Christmas Cookie Exchange list.  I love the icing on top of these; it makes a lovely difference of texture on the cookie.

Pecan Praline Cookies:
(My Own Sweet Thyme)


1 cup butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup finely chopped pecans
Brown Sugar Frosting (see below)
Pecan halves for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add sugars, mixing well. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring after each addition. Stir in the chopped pecans and chill dough for 30 minutes.

When chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets or sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

After the cookies cool spread the brown sugar frosting over the tops of the cookies and top each cookie with half of a pecan.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.


Brown Sugar Frosting:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup half & half
1 Tablespoon butter
1½ cups sifted powdered sugar (plus a little more if needed)

Combine brown sugar and half & half in a saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 4 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add a little more powdered sugar, if needed, to achieve a desired spreading consistency.

Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Rolls

Since it's October and I'm obsessed with Fall and pumpkin stuff I decided to finally get around to making some pumpkin pecan cinnamon rolls.  I've only been talking about this for a couple of years.

















I will admit that I am no expert in yeast breads or cinnamon roll dough but I ended up using WAY more flour than this recipe called for.  My dough was really sticky and I had a horrible time getting it to a workable point.  I didn't use bread flour like the original recipe did so that could be it... or it could be user error.

Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Rolls:
(adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour *you can use all white flour, but I had both so I used both

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons brown sugar

In small saucepan, heat the milk and 2 tablespoons butter just until warm and the butter is almost melted. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, ground ginger, and salt. Add the milk mixture and beat with a mixer until everything is well mixed. Beat in the egg and yeast.

Add half of the flours to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of bowl. Add the remaining flour and mix thoroughly.  This is a very soft dough.

Turn the dough out into lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise in warm place until doubled, for about 1 hour. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto floured surface. Knead it for  about a minute or until it forms a smooth dough.

Roll the dough into 12x10 inch rectangle and brush the surface of the dough with melted butter.

In small bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the dough with the brown sugar mixture followed by the chopped pecans.

















Beginning with long side of the dough, roll the dough up like a jellyroll. Pinch the seam to seal it up. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into twelve 1- inch slices.

In a small saucepan melt the butter and then add the pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, and pecans and stir well.  Pour the sugar mixture into the bottom of a well greased 11x17-inch baking pan. 

















Place the rolls, cut side up, in the pan, on top of the sugar mixture. Cover and let the dough rise until it has nearly doubled, for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until golden. Let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes and turn the rolls out to allow the gooey sugar mixture to run down the sides of the cinnamon rolls.

Turtle Cheesecake

We had an office birthday recently and I decided to make a cheesecake instead of getting a "normal cake".  I knew the recipient would like the cheesecake so I decided to go with it.

This is the same basic cheesecake recipe I use for everything but I cut it in half and added all of the things that make a turtle cheesecake wonderful.

Turtle Cheesecake:

3 packages of cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2-1 cup caramel syrup or ice cream topping
1/2 package Oreos
2 tablespoons butter

large spring form pan

 Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Take a spring form pan and grease it well with either non-stick cooking spray or butter.

Either process the oreos in a food processor or put them in a large ziploc bag and beat them with a rolling pin.  Add the melted butter and press the crust into the spring form pan.  Add more oreos or butter as needed.

Cream the cheese and sugar well. Add corn starch, flour, vanilla salt, cream again.

Add eggs, one at a time, add half of the pecans and mini chocolate chips.

 

Make sure cake is thoroughly mixed and smooth. Pour into pan.  Pour half of the caramel sauce over the cheesecake and swirl with a knife.

 

Bake the cheesecake for about 45 minutes and then sprinkle the top of the cheesecake with the remaining pecans and mini chocolate chips.  Continue baking the cheesecake until it's lightly brown on top and the center is solid to the touch for about another hour.  Remove from oven, spread the rest of the caramel on top and let the cheesecake cool. 

Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is one of the dishes that reminds me of my grandma.  It was always her job to make the pecan pie and she always added more pecans than the recipe called for.  After all, it's pecan pie, not goo pie.

This is pretty close to the traditional Karo syrup recipe for pie.  There are ways to change it up to fit your needs but if you want to make a classic pecan pie, start here.

Pecan Pie:(adapted from Karo Syrup)

1 cup dark corn syrup
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (6 ounces) pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust **I'm using a store bought pie crust.  It's easy and taste better than mine.**

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. 

Stir in pecans. Pour filling into pie crust.










 












Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

Derby Pie

This is another family favorite.  I think my sister's boyfriend would go on strike if I didn't make this every year.  My grandmother always told me that when you make a pecan (pe-CAN) pie the nuts should make up the majority of the pie, not goo.  I think she's right.

Tony’s Chocolate Pecan Pie (AKA- Derby Pie):

The Neelys- Food Network

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons bourbon liquor
2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup mini milk chocolate morsels
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a small saucepan. While butter is melting, add beaten eggs to a medium sized bowl. Stir in brown sugar, flour, vanilla extract, corn syrup and bourbon until combined. Add butter when just melted.

Mix in the pecans and chocolate morsels. Mix all together. Pour mixture into pie shell.  Take some of the better looking pecans and make a nice design on top.

Place on a sheet tray and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.