Football Fridays: Praline Cookies

A lot of the Football Friday recipes posted so far have been for appetizers, but every Football weekend also needs a good dessert and cookies are the perfect treat to grab and go. I never imagined that a praline cookie would be so good. My sister-in-law introduced me to praline cookies a few years ago. She brought the family a sample box to try from a restaurant in her town. They tasted similar to this recipe, only the icing was twice as thick, making it so rich I could only eat half a cookie! In my opinion, this recipe has the best balance of sweetness. This is another cookie that holds a spot in my top three favorite cookies! My only note about this recipe is, once you make the icing, you must work very fast, otherwise the icing will dry and harden before you are done frosting all the cookies!

Praline Cookies

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For the Cookies:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1 /2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

For the Icing:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (the amount depends on preference)

In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating well. Cover and chill until dough is easy to handle (about 1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Form dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with fingers. Sprinkle each cookie with pecans. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

To make the icing, combine brown sugar and cream in saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Drizzle over cookies and immediately sprinkle with pecans.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen, March/April 2007

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