Caramel Pecan Shortbread Cookies

You can never go wrong with shortbread cookies. A classic cookie studded with toasted pecans and drizzled with rich caramel sauce is a popular choice and go to for me; especially since it combines sweet and salty.


Caramel Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from: Daily Adventures in Cooking

Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans
1C butter, softened
1/2 cup + 1 Tbl icing sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup toffee or caramel candies
3 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a fry pan on medium low and add the pecans. Toast gently, tossing regularly until fragrant. This should take about about 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Place two thirds of the pecans into a ziploc bag and crush with the back of a pot. Keep the remaining third for garnish.

Beat butter until nice and fluffy then beat in icing sugar and then cornstarch. Stir in flour and salt, followed by 1/4 cup of the crushed pecans. Drop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a cookie sheet. Roll each mound into a ball. If desired press a pecan onto the top of the cookies. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating trays halfway through cooking. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

Once cookies have cooled for at least 15 minutes you can start the caramel drizzle. In a small saucepan combine the toffees and the cream. Turn the heat on to medium low and melt them together, stirring regularly. Once it is uniform and bubbly you are ready to drizzle. Put cookies on a rack for drizzling. I recommend setting this rack on top of a paper line sheet for easy cleanup. Now drizzle away, be careful the caramel will set quickly and be harder to deal with. You can always reheat as necessary. Top drizzle with extra pecan crumbs if desired.