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Mexican Praline Cookies

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Submitted by jef

Mexican praline cookies made with brown sugar, butter, toasted pecans, cinnamon, and egg yolk, dusted with powdered sugar. A rich, buttery shortbread-style cookie with warm spice and nutty crunch.

YIELD

3 1/2 dozen

PREP

15 min

COOK

20 min

READY

45 min

These cookies are closer to a Mexican wedding cookie than a traditional praline, and they’re dangerously easy to eat.

Two cups of butter creamed with brown sugar creates an incredibly rich, sandy dough. Only one egg yolk goes in, which keeps the texture crumbly and shortbread-like rather than cakey. Cinnamon adds a warm spice note that nods to the Mexican polvoron tradition.

Toasted pecans get chopped and folded in at the end. Toasting them first is a must. It intensifies their flavor and adds a crunch that holds up against all that butter.

Roll the dough into generous two-tablespoon balls and bake until the edges just begin to brown. They need about 22 minutes, which is longer than most cookies, because the high butter content means they’re slow to set. A final dusting of powdered sugar through a fine sieve gives them that classic snow-capped look.

Pro Tips

  • Cream the butter and sugar until truly smooth. Any lumps of butter create uneven texture in the finished cookie.
  • Don’t overbake. Pull them when the edges barely start to color. The centers will look underdone but they firm up as they cool.
  • Dust with powdered sugar after cooling completely. Warm cookies absorb the sugar and it disappears. Cold cookies let it sit pretty on the surface.

Variations

  • Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to the dough for a Mexican hot chocolate vibe.
  • Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar instead of just dusting for a thicker coating.
  • Use walnuts or almonds instead of pecans for a different nut flavor.

Ingredients

1 237
CUP ML BROWN SUGAR
light, packed *
2 473
CUPS ML BUTTER
softened
1 1
LARGE LARGE EGG YOLK
½ 2.5
TEASPOON ML CINNAMON
0.6
TEASPOON ML SALT
2 473
1 237
CUP ML PECANS
chopped, toasted
2 30
TABLESPOONS ML POWDERED SUGAR

Directions

Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Place rack in center of oven. In a mixer, cream the sugar and butter until smooth.

Mix in the egg yolk, cinnamon and salt.

Add the flour and mix well.

Add chopped pecans and mix until just blended.

Take 2 tablespoons of dough, and roll into a ball.

Place on ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart.

Cookies will spread slightly when baked.

Bake until edges begin to turn brown, about 22 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely onn wire rack.

To serve sprinkle tops with confetioners’ sugar, pressed through fine sieve.

* not incl. in nutrient facts Arrow up button

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Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 212g (7.5 oz)
Amount per Serving
Calories 1259 81% from fat
 % Daily Value *
Total Fat 113g 175%
Saturated Fat 60g 302%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 296mg 99%
Sodium 731mg 30%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 19%
Dietary Fiber 4g 18%
Sugars g
Protein 21g
Vitamin A 58% Vitamin C 1%
Calcium 6% Iron 21%
* based on a 2,000 calorie diet How is this calculated?
Trans-fat Free, Good source of fiber
 
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