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Saturday, January 16, 2016

Crispy Praline Cookies and the Cookie of the Month Club

My Dad is incredibly challenging to buy gifts for.  He's a pretty low maintenance guy and doesn't really care for things like gloves or scarves.  He has hobbies but other than golf it's mostly just fixing things around the house or working in the yard or doing pool related maintenance so there's not much gift giving ideas there.  So a few years ago around his birthday I was fussing at him about difficult he was to buy gifts for and he said "Just make me cookies."

And from that our kind of Cookie of the Month club was born.  I love it because I get to try out new recipes and he gets cookies so we're both happy.  My family is much more of a chocolate chip cookies only and so this allows me to try out new recipes and have the results not go to waste and he gets different cookies.

This month's cookie came from Southern Living 2002 Annual Recipes.  I used to be a big fan of Southern Living cookbooks but had kind of drifted away in the last 5 or 6 years.  I realized when I was cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year that so many of our absolutely favorite it can't be Thanksgiving without that on the table dishes are from Southern Living and thought it might be fun to revisit some of their older cookbooks.  I'm very glad I did as these cookies are delicious!

Crispy Praline Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used light because that's what I had)
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (these were optional but when are chocolate chips actually optional?)

Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl, blending well.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 13 to 15 minutes (I did just 13).  Cool on baking sheets 1 minute; remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

And that's it!  Other than using light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar I made no changes.  My oven is older and somewhat temperamental so I did use a stoneware baking sheet because that seems to regulate the baking temperature a little bit better for the cookies so I can't say if these would stick to a regular cookie sheet.  They came off the stoneware easily.

My Results:  Oh my these were good!  I didn't find them particularly crispy but they might have been if I'd cooked them a little bit longer.  I'm not a huge lover of crispy cookies so I was good with that.  They were soft but held together, full of nutty pecan flavor and lots of yummy chocolate chops.  If you're a fan of pecans make these cookies!  You won't regret it!

I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads

16 comments:

  1. What a great idea and how sweet, no pun intended, that you make something for your father very month. My dad was always telling me to hang on to my money, he didn't need anything and he was, like your dad, always fixing things around the house.

    Great idea there, Katherine, and I love your choice of cookie too.

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  2. I love this! My dad is hard to get gifts for too. I'm not much of a baker, but perhaps I could suggest this to him?

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  3. Yes! It is a wonderful idea---and what a great way to try out new cookie recipes. I have a few of those Southern Living cookbooks, but like you, I've gotten away from them in the past few years. I was even thinking of donating them to the thrift store, but now? Maybe I'll have to give them another look.

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  4. I love that you make cookies for your dad. What a wonderful idea! I like this recipe and could actually make it gluten free pretty easily. I may actually make these.

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  5. A great idea! My father isn't living anymore, but I do have a brother-in-law that loves cookies and my sister doesn't bake much. She is a salty snack lover, and a gourmet cook. I am going to give this a try, a Cookie of the Month gift.

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  6. Oooh, these look wonderful. And I love the cookie of the month gift. What a great idea, and I hope you share more recipes I used to be a big fan of Southern Living books; I need to revisit them.

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  7. Oh my gosh that sounds good! I'd probably do the little less cooking time. I like soft vs crunchy here too :)

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  8. It's a great idea. I usually don't even bake cookies unless it's for an event or for someone, so a good excuse to try new treats!

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  9. Those sound delightful! All I need is pecans and I can make them so I hope to try them soon! And I agree why would we ever exclude chocolate chips when we have the option?!?

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  10. I love your cookie-of-the-month club idea -- what a wonderful gift! And these cookies sound awesome and very easy to make. I think I've even got all the ingredients...

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  11. What a wonderful idea for a gift. Wish I'd thought of it. The cookie recipe looks like a good one - one my husband will like. Thanks

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  12. What a fantastic gift idea, I love it! And these cookies sound amazing.

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  13. Katherine,

    These sound too yummy! Thank you for sharing your story and recipe from Southern Living 2002, Annual Recipes.

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  14. Oh my God, those sound delicious. I love pecans so much.
    Where can I sign up for this cookie of the month? Lol!

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  15. These sound very good, Katherine. I love praline flavored candy or cookies!

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