These sugary, nutty little nuggets have been a Christmas staple in my house since the late 70s. These tempting cookies were nearly impossible to sneak a pre-holiday nibble of, because even one bite would yield a trail of powdered sugar all over the kitchen, your shirt and your mouth!
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | about 5 dozen cookies |
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, scooped
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
- Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a separate large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in 4 teaspoons of water and the vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and finally, the pecans.
- Break off tablespoonful pieces of dough, roll each to form a crescent shape and arrange evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheets. (You’ll have leftover dough for a second batch.)
- Bake until slightly golden on the bottoms and edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Watch very carefully–better to undercook than overcook. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Put the powdered sugar in a shallow plate. Once cooled, roll each cookie in an ample amount of the sugar.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 60 servings |
| Calories | 115 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 11 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 16 mg |
| Sodium | 11 mg |
Reviews
This guy is a sandwich maker, and comedian not a “Baker”!
This guy is the sandwich king not “Baker” Too bad for Food network which has as they say “jumped the shark”!
This guy is the sandwich king not “Baker” Too bad for Food network which has as they say “jumped the shark”!
I too had followed the recipe to the letter . The cookies were dust ..threw them in the garbage. Soooo disappointed !
I always made great pecan cookies but this year followed this recipe. Terrible! What a waste of money .
Need difference of liquid in different highs!
Followed recipe to the letter and ended up with sand for dough. 4 tsp of water and 4 tsp of vanilla but what is the “glue” to hold it together? I’m down a lot of ingredients that I have to toss because this recipe was a fail!
My Nana made these every year at Christmas & my mother made them every year at Christmas. I made them every year when my mom got older. When she passed, I couldn’t find her recipe but this one is right on. It’s delicious & brings back a lot of memories.
These are great!! I always roll them in the powdered sugar while they’re warm and then again after cooled.
These cookies are very similar to the ones my mom would make us at Christmas time when I was young. Brings back some good memories. Now I use this recipe to make cookies with my daughter during the Christmas season. Simple but delicious. And the hubby loves them, too 🙂
I can’t think of anything good to say about this recipe. Very disappointed.
Looks almost identical to a recipe I’ve been making for many years – except my recipe calls for finely diced almonds. Always a favorite.
Saw Jeff make on THE KITCHEN and tried making them, he was right, very good, and a trail of white lead right back to me.