| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | Makes 18 to 20 cookies (9 to 10 sandwiches) |
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (70 grams) pecan halves (about 1/4 of a 10-ounce bag)
- 3/4 cup (98 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (20 grams) good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 6 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup (45 grams) rainbow sprinkles
- Caramel filling, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (75 grams) store bought caramel sauce
- 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- A good pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Spread pecan halves on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until roasty and fragrant. Remove from the oven and cool. Transfer the pecans to a cutting board and give them a rough chop. Allow chopped pecans to cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, half of the sugar (1/4 cup), and vanilla until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the flour, cocoa powder and salt mixture. Mix on low until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the pecans and the sprinkles and mix until just combined.
- Line a work surface with a large piece of parchment paper. Scrape the dough out onto the parchment paper and gather it together with your hands. Roll into a 6 1/2-inch-long log that is about 2 inches wide. Tightly wrap the dough in parchment paper, twisting the ends so it’s airtight. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, for 2 hours or overnight.
- Set an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Spread the remaining granulated sugar on a plate and roll the log in the sugar to coat completely.
- Slice the log into eighteen 1/4-inch discs and place them on the baking sheet evenly spaced apart. Bake in the center of the oven until the cookies are no longer shiny and slightly puffed; begin checking for doneness at 16 minutes. Let cool on the pans.
- Using a 1/2-ounce scoop or a spoon, dollop about 1 tablespoon of the filling on the bottom of 12 of the cooled cookies. Sandwich with another half and smush lightly. Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container on the counter until you eat them all.
- Cream together butter and caramel until smooth. Add powdered sugar and salt and whip until combined and light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 19 servings |
| Calories | 204 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 26 mg |
| Sodium | 96 mg |
Reviews
For those who tried and had issues – I added a little more sugar to the dough, and used a different filling – I also rolled instead of forming a log – and cut with a round cookie cutter – it is much easier this way, the cookies look more uniform both in thickness and roundness. I used a cream cheese based filling, so that it was a little less sweet and went well with the cocoa and pecan flavor. Rolling the cookie and slicing, is in my opinion a bit too messy the edges often get messed up. After rolling and slicing, I froze the cookies for 15 minutes before baking. These are delicious. Make sure not to bake the pecans too much before adding them to the dough because the bitterness comes easily from over-baking them
This recipe’s cookie-cutting math doesn’t work out.
— The Yield is 18 to 20 cookies, for 9 to 10 sandwiches.
— Instructions state to cut the 6.5 inch cookie log into “18 1/4-inch slices”. Quarter-inch slices would yield 24 cookies, not 18.
— When it comes to sandwiching, instructions state to frost 12 cookies and put the other halves on top, which implies 24 cookies are baked.
— The Yield is 18 to 20 cookies, for 9 to 10 sandwiches.
— Instructions state to cut the 6.5 inch cookie log into “18 1/4-inch slices”. Quarter-inch slices would yield 24 cookies, not 18.
— When it comes to sandwiching, instructions state to frost 12 cookies and put the other halves on top, which implies 24 cookies are baked.
Cookies are dry and crumbly; I weighed my ingredients instead of scooping the flour, so that doesn’t seem to be the issue as other have suggested.
I saw this reran episode and my husband walked in and said “those look good, you should make those”. I made them this week. I don’t understand the bad reviews. I followed the recipe exactly and they were so good! I did refrigerate the dough for 2 days until I had a chance to get to the store to buy the caramel and powdered sugar for tge filling as I didn’t have them on hand. No crumbling and they were sweet enough for me. I don’t like super sweet treats. As other reviewers stated, make sure to measure the flour by spooning in and leveling, do not scoop as that packs more flour and make the dough too dry. Also, suggest making the roll and refrigerating it overnight or at least a few hour so it hardens up for cutting into slices. Great recipe, I will make again as a double batch as they disappeared quick!
This one was a disappointment Molly and it will be the first of your recipes where that was the case. The filling was tasty but the cookie itself, as pointed out in many other reviews, was too crumbly, dry and lacking of flavor. I must admit though, it was fun to make with my 3 friends that I invited over for a baking party. I’m hoping that the remaining cookies will be better tomorrow after the filling has had time to soak into the cookie (like macaroons). So this was a miss for us but we still love you!
Agree with other posts… dough too dry and fell apart when I went to cut them. Felt like a waste of ingredients.
Loved it
Great tasting chocolate pecan cookie. I would add a bit more sugar next time as they were not as sweet as I would have liked. I did not make the frosting this time. I just wanted to try the cookie part.
The cookie is meh, at best. The filling has no flavor and is too sweet.
This cookie dough was so dry it was falling apart & when I sliced them it was a nightmare. I really think there should have been an egg in this recipe.
The cookies mixed, sliced, and baked just fine, but the bitter is way too bitter, and the sweet filling way too sweet for my taste, and my husband wouldn’t even finish his for the same reason.