Pecan Praline Cookies

Nothing says Mardi Gras party quite like the sweet chewy bite of pecan praline cookies! These bake up quick and easy, lighter than air, but with the rich taste of brown sugar and toasted pecans.

When I talk about home, I have a few places that fit that description. Several countries where I've lived overseas; Houston, which I call my hometown because it’s the place I’ve lived the longest at one stretch – the years from fourth to 12th grade, and now two years of pandemic; and New Iberia, Louisiana, where I was born and where my mom made sure we went every time she could find three days off in a row when I was growing up. 

New Iberia was not just where I was born. It is also where both of my parents grew up, where almost all of my extended family still lives. Cajun country. Home of good and spicy home cooked food, heavily laden pecan and fig trees, fields of sugar cane and elderly relatives who spoke French before they learned English in school and loved to pinch my cheeks.

We stayed with my maternal grandparents but my father’s mother lived just a block or so away so every morning, before anyone else was up, I’d pull on shorts and a t-shirt, slip out of the front door and walk to my grandmother’s house. She didn’t seem to sleep much, was always up before the birds, so I knew I’d find hot coffee milk and something good for breakfast in her warm kitchen.

Occasionally we’d make the longer drive all the way to New Orleans to visit my Aunt Karen, my mom’s closest sister. New Orleans meant fun with my cousins, beignets in the French Quarter and, if the timing was right, Mardi Gras parades. 

What a thrill it was to stake out a spot on the parade route and see that first festive float glide graciously into view! “Throw me something, mister!” we’d shout, jumping wildly, wrapping the beads around our wrists like bracelets and draping them around our necks. I was richer than Midas, more brilliantly festooned than the most famous queens of history, never mind the short shorts and skinned knees of a tomboy childhood.

Some of my fondest memories over these last 50 plus years are steeped in Louisiana history where native pecans feature prominently in many baked goods. When my grandparents were still around, I could count on them for a steady supply of freshly shelled Louisiana pecans, which they’d crack and pick, putting aside bags for the whole family. Now when I’m home, I buy them from a farmer’s market and store them – carefully sealed – in the freezer for great recipes such as this one.

Pecan Praline Cookies

Recipe credit goes to Eva Schexnayder who shared these pecan praline cookies in a charity cookbook sold to benefit Shadows-on-the-Teche, an antebellum mansion and National Trust for Historic Preservation property on the banks of the Bayou Teche in New Iberia. If you ever get down that way, I highly recommend a visit.

Ingredients – for 3 dozen cookies

1 large egg white

1 cup, packed, or 200g brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups, chopped, or 225g pecans

Method

Preheat your oven to 275°F or 135°C and line your cookie sheets with baking parchment or silicone liners.

Beat your egg white in a clean mixing bowl until stiff peaks form.

Mix in the brown sugar.

Fold in the chopped pecans and the vanilla.

Drop by heaped teaspoons on to the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 23-­28 minutes or until puffy and cooked through.

Leave to cool for a few minutes and then transfer with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. I have to tell you that as delicate as these would seem to be, I have stacked them in a plastic container where they traveled from Dubai to Bali in my luggage and arrived in perfect condition! Don't be afraid to ship some to a friend who might need cheering up.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and have I got a treat for you, seven special Mardi Gras recipes for your celebration. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cajun Nachos
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Muffuletta Sandwich
• Cook with Renu: Homemade Baked Donuts
• Food Lust People Love: Pecan Praline Cookies
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms
• Palatable Pastime: Bourbon Chicken Wings
• Sneha Datar : Marble Stuffed Coconut Pancakes

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

If "praline" is one of your OMG, I love that! trigger words, you might also like my coconut pralines with pecans, my black bottom pecan praline bars or my chocolate praline pretzels. Check 'em out.

Pin these Pecan Praline Cookies!

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Baked Nutty Truffles

These baked nutty truffles are soft and chewy, so chocolatey, perfect for your Valentine or special people you love. If you don’t have a heart-shaped pan, use a mini muffin pan. It’s all good. 

A few weeks ago we needed an outing and since restaurants unmasked still aren’t feeling safe, we headed out to Target. Our nearby store was recently renovated so we wanted to check it out. 

While I was aimlessly roaming the aisles, I came across a heart-shaped  mini cupcake pan on a random shelf nowhere near kitchenware. Fortunately, there was working price check scanner one aisle over. When I scanned the barcode, it told me the price ($12.99) but also that the item was out of stock. Au contraire, I said to myself and anyone else who happened to hear me, I hold one in my hand! I took that as a sign that I should buy it. 

It’s made out of silicone but has a metal frame inside which makes it sturdier than plain silicone bakeware which bends in half so easily. That said, I still put it on another baking pan before putting it in the oven.

Baked Nutty Truffles

I used sweetened condensed coconut milk for this recipe. It adds a subtle coconut flavor to the baked truffles. If you can’t find it though, replace it with dairy condensed milk. The truffles will still be delicious! This recipe is adapted from one on the Betty Crocker website. 

Ingredients

For the baked truffles:

2 oz or 56g semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter, plus more for the baking pan

7 oz or 198g sweetened condensed coconut milk

1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur

1 1/4 cups or 156g flour

1/4 cup or 30g chopped almonds

about 1/4 cup or 40g dark chocolate morsels 

For the icing:

1/2 cup or 63g powdered sugar

1-2 teaspoons milk

Candy sprinkles for decorating, if desired

Method

Lightly toast the chopped almonds in hot pan over a medium flame for just a few minutes, until they are golden. Shake the pan frequently to stop the almond pieces from scorching on one side. 

In large microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter uncovered on medium (50%) 2 minutes, stirring once, until melted. 

Stir in the condensed milk, liqueur, flour and nuts. 

Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your mini muffin pan or mini heart pan by greasing it with a little butter.

Shape dough by tablespoons around two chocolate morsels. 

Press the mixture into the spaces in the buttered baking pan. Continue until all 16 holes are well filled. 

Bake 13-15 minutes or until the dough is shiny on top and set but still soft. 

Cool for 20 minutes then remove from the baking pan to a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding the icing.

To make the icing, mix together both ingredients, adding just enough milk to make it piping consistency. 

Pipe some lines on the little hearts and immediately add sprinkles, if using, so they stick to the icing. While I was searching through my box of sprinkles, I came across a small jar of red hearts so I pressed one of those on each as well. 

These would make a pretty little gift for someone special. If you don’t have a decorative box or plate, cover a square of stiff cardboard with foil and tape the bottom to secure. Add a paper doily, if you have one. If not, just wrap with cling film. No bow necessary because the pretty truffles show through!

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with heart! Our host is Rebekah from Making Miracles and she introduced the theme thusly: "You gotta have heeearrrttttttttt!! Happy almost Valentine's Day! Interpret this literally or figuratively. Is your recipe full of the love you poured into it, does it actually contain some type of heart, or is it heart-shaped? Be creative!" Check out all the recipes with heart below.

• Palatable Pastime: Antipasto Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Baked Nutty Truffles 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Crispy Veg Heart Cutlet 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Heart Shaped Garlic Knots 
• Making Miracles: Heart Shaped Pizza Pocket 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Heart Shaped Raspberry Rolls

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin these Baked Nutty Truffles!

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Gingerbread Biscotti #CreativeCookieExchange

All the spicy flavors of gingerbread, ramped up a notch or two with the addition of chewy crystallized ginger and crunchy toasted almonds, are represented in these very dunk-able biscotti, decorated with the requisite royal icing. They are perfect to enjoy on a winter morning with a hot cup of something special, or to wrap up as gifts. 

When my girls were growing up and we neared Christmas on the calendar – we lived far too near the equator for the other usual harbingers of the season like falling leaves or a nip in the air – I often baked gingerbread for their after school snacks. And we always made some gingerbread men together as a weekend project, decorating them lavishly with royal icing. The smell as the gingerbread bakes is heavenly!

Yes, somehow gingerbread and the Christmas season just go together. How could I resist turning gingerbread into biscotti for this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange? And don't forget, being twice baked and crunchy, biscotti are very good travelers, in case you need a homemade gift for someone far away.

Many thanks to Laura from The Spiced Life for organizing us each month and for coming up with this great theme!

This recipe is adapted from one at Christmas Cookies.

Ingredients for about 55-60 biscotti
For the biscotti dough:
1 cup or 150g almonds, blanched
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 cup or 113g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 120ml dark molasses
3 eggs
3 cups or 375g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 75g candied ginger, coarsely chopped

For the royal icing:
1 1/2 cups or 190g icing sugar
1 egg white (Do not serve raw unpasteurized eggs to persons with compromised immune systems.)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch salt

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line two cookies sheets with baking parchment or silicone baking mats.

Toast your almonds for about 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven using a small baking pan where they can fit in one layer. Keep an eye on the almonds and shake or stir the pan at about the five-minute mark to make sure they aren’t scorching on one side. You are looking for a nice golden color.

Let the almonds cool, chop them very coarsely, and set aside. Turn your oven temperature down to 300°F or 149°C.

In large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, butter and molasses until smooth.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Your batter may look a little curdled at this point but it's nothing to worry about.

In another mixing bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and salt.

Add the candied ginger to the dry ingredient bowl and use your fingers to separate the pieces and coat them with the dry ingredients so they don’t stick together again.

Add in the almonds to the dry bowl and mix well.

Tip the dry ingredients into the egg mixture; mix well to combine. The dough is going to be quite sticky.

Divide your dough up into four equal pieces and wrap each in a large piece of cling film. Use the cling film to shape the dough into four flat loaves, about a 1/2 in or 1 1/4cm thick and 2 inches or 5 1/2 cm wide.

Turn your dough loaves out on to your prepared pans, leaving plenty of room between them for expansion as they bake.

Dampen your hands with water so they won't stick to the dough and to pat the loaves into shape, if necessary.

Bake in your preheated oven until browned at edges and springy to touch, about 25 minutes. Depending on how well your oven circulates, you might need to rotate the pans midway though the baking time so everything gets evenly browned.

Leave the loaves to cool for about 15-20 minutes on the baking sheets.

Remove the loaves to a cutting board and use a serrated bread knife to cut them into long, 1/2-inch or 1 1/4cm thick diagonal slices.

Return the slices to the baking sheets, with one of the cut sides down.

Return to the oven and bake about 15 to 18 minutes longer, turning the biscotti over once halfway through the baking. Once again, rotate the pans if necessary to get an even bake. They should be slightly more brown around the edges.

Transfer biscotti to racks and let cool completely.

To make the royal icing, sift your sugar into a small bowl, then add the pinch of salt, the lemon juice and the egg white. Mix together until smooth.

Spoon the icing into a piping bag and use a small tip to decorate the biscotti.

Serve, or store in an airtight container of up to 1 month; wrap well and freeze for longer storage.

So much gingerbread biscotti! 

Enjoy!

Biscotti (or mandelbrot or any other twice baked cookie by any other name) are one of the perfect Holiday tin cookies! They last forever, and there are so many ways to make them festive. So Creative Cookie Exchange has got you covered--sweet, savory, low fat, loaded with decadence, you name it, we’ve got it! Happy Holidays!

• Almond Lemon Biscotti by Basic N Delicious
• Banana Walnut Biscotti by Upstate Ramblings
• Chocolate Almond Biscotti by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Toffee Biscotti by Live Bake Love
• Currant Walnut Biscotti by Magnolia Days
• Dark Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti by Flours and Frostings
• Gingerbread Biscotti by Food Lust People Love
• Gluten Free Chocolate Biscotti by What Smells So Good?
• Holiday Biscotti Bar by The Spiced Life
• Honey Beescotti by Oven Delights
• Mocha Biscotti by A Baker's House
• Orange Pistachio Biscotti by 2 Cookin' Mamas
• Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Peppermint Kahlua Chocolate-Dipped Biscotti by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• White Chocolate Glazed Gingerbread Biscotti by Christmas Tree Lane

Creative Cookie Exchange is  a great resource for cookie recipes! Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). We post together the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Looking for more gingerbread deliciousness?

Check out my Rich Gingerbread Muffins with Honey Ginger Glaze

Or my Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins. Both perfect for a special tea or breakfast!

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Chocolate Praline Pretzels

The perfect mix of sweet and salty, these chocolate-covered pretzels are dipped in crunchy pecan praline. They make a great hostess gift or holiday party treat.

I am not a big sweet eater but the exception is any treat that mixes salty with sweet, like salted caramel or, indeed, these easy-to-make pretzels. You can use pretzel sticks or traditionally shaped ones, whatever you have on hand.

Chocolate Praline Pretzels

These are adapted from My Recipes. The original recipe makes only 16. I completely forgot to count how many this makes but it's a bunch. As you might guess from the ingredients list below, at least 55. Cue up a Christmas movie to watch while making them.

Ingredients
Butter for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups or 165g chopped pecans
1/4 cup, firmly packed, or 50g light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons heavy cream
7 oz or 200g semisweet chocolate bars (I used two Lindt bars.)
Butter for greasing baking pan
55-65 pretzel sticks

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and butter a 9 in or 23cm round cake pan.

Stir together your chopped pecans, brown sugar, salt and cream. Spread the mixture out evenly in the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes then take the pan out and stir the mixture.

Spread it out again and bake an addition 10-15 minutes or until sugar is slightly crystallized.

Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn the praline out onto a cutting board. Allow to cool completely and then chop finely with a sharp knife.

Spread the praline bits out on waxed paper or baking parchment.

Place your chocolate in a microwave-safe measuring cup and microwave on high for 15 seconds at a time, stirring well in between time, until just melted. You don’t want the chocolate super hot or it will be too runny.

Dip your pretzels in the chocolate.

Then lay them on the praline bits.

Cover with more praline bits.

See the pretzel sticking out? The chocolate part should be completely covered.

Wait about 10-15 seconds till the praline bits are stuck on, tapping down gently on the pile.

Remove the covered pretzels to a lined tray to harden up. You may find as you go on that the smaller bits of praline stick first so you are left with bigger pieces in your pile. Use a knife to chop them more finely, if necessary.

The work station. Not pictured: A Charlie Brown Christmas showing on my laptop.
This job takes a while but requires little brain. 

Continue until you run out of praline bits or chocolate or pretzels. I ran out of praline bits first this time, and made more than 5 dozen chocolate praline pretzels.

The pile gets tiny. 

Now box these babies up and share them with a neighbor or friend!

Enjoy!

Christmas Week recipes! Please visit all our talented participants:

• Chocolate Mocha Roulade from Mother Would Know
• Chocolate Praline Pretzels from Food Lust People Love
• Christmas Wreath Cupcakes from The Redhead Baker
• Cranberry Tangerine Mojito from Mind Over Batter
• Creamy Espresso Hot Chocolate from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen 
• Fresh Cranberry Mini Scones from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Gingerbread Oatmeal Creme Pies from From Gate to Plate 
• Gingerbread Sugared Almonds from Crumb: A Food Blog
• Macadamia Coconut Macaroons from Aloha Flavor
• Mexican Chocolate Panna Cotta from Cooking in Stilettos
• Peppermint Mocha Truffles from Try Anything Once Culinary
• Peppermint Popcorn from Poet in the Pantry 
• Red Velvet Swirl Fudge from Cravings of a Lunatic
• Stained Glass Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories

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