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So, did I tell y’all about my son? My fifteen year old son? My fifteen year old son who happened to get his driver’s permit and is now driving my car around like it ain’t no thang.
I don’t want to weird anyone out or anything, but he was a tiny little peanut that lived inside my body not all that long ago.
And now I’m hanging on to the dashboard in my car and screaming at him to please, for the love of all that is holy, use the brake when you make a turn, Son!
How did this happen? How did we go from itty bitty baby to hairy man? And more importantly, how do we make it stop?
Just for fun, here’s a picture of the kid when I started this blog in 2008.
Aaaaaand, here’s a picture of him now. Ridiculous.
Anyway, because I’m obviously in the midst of a midlife crisis, I thought I’d make some cookies. Some freakin’ amazing cookies, in fact.
I took my classic pecan sandies cookie recipe and I skipped the part where you roll the dough in sugar before baking. I know. That doesn’t sound like something I would do…skip sugar? Weird.
But, I had grander plans than boring old sugar.
I whipped up my most favorite of glazes – browned butter glaze. It’s so simple to make, only takes 3 ingredients, and is legit done in about 5 minutes. I know browned butter is, like, a thing now and every and their mom is doing it to be cool and trendy, but I am here to tell you that it is so not about that. It’s about the taste! It’s rich and deep and just has so much flavor.
I drizzled the glaze right over these pecan cookies and then I got in the car with my son. Every time I got the urge to grab hold of the steering wheel, I just shoved a cookie in my mouth instead.
(Alright, so actually, my kid is doing really well at driving! He’s super cautious and careful and sometimes I even have to tell him to speed up. I really do have to remind him about using the brake when turning though. One day he’s going to flip us right over, I’m sure of it.)
Browned Butter Glazed Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
For the glaze:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- To make the cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
- Slowly add to the butter mixture and mix on low until just combined. Stir in the pecans.
- Drop balls of cookie dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet 1 inch apart (they don't spread much at all) and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges are golden.
- Cool on wire racks.
- To make the glaze, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat until browned, whisking constantly, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar and milk until smooth.
- Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cookies.
Joe says
So last year a good friend of mine made these cookies for me and I have to say absolutely amazing. I wanted to give it a shot so I asked him for the recipe. Tried it step by step amd had 2 issues one which I cam resolve easily. First mistake was I used kosher salt so I could taste the salt chunks in a few bites. Ipl know next time to just go with regular salt. Problem number 2 which was the major one was that once they were baked. They crumpled really easy. Not sure what I did wrong. Amy suggestions?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Joe! If they were crumbly, I’d guess it was the flour. You want to spoon the flour into your dry measure. Once it’s overflowing a bit with flour, use the back of a butter knife to level it off. Don’t scoop from the container with the measure or pack the flour in as it adds quite a bit more than it should this way.
Kali says
Hi! I made these and I think I under measured the flour because they spread out and were kinda flat. I measured by fluffing the flour with a spoon and then spooning it into the measuring cup and then swiped the cup flat with a knife. Is that how you do it? The dough was sticky too which makes me think too little flour? These look delicious and would love to get this right!
Karly says
Hi Kali!
I’m sorry you had problems with this one. That’s frustrating.
I measure flour by spooning into a dry measuring cup and swiping with a knife as well. I don’t really fluff it first, but I can’t imagine that would make too much of a difference. I’m wondering if your butter was possibly too soft? Sometimes if it’s melty, cookies will go flat. Did you use granulated sugar instead of powdered? Otherwise, I’m not sure what the issue could be. I’ve made these quite a few times and the cookies really don’t spread at all. If you try again, maybe add an extra tablespoon or so of flour and see if that works better for you.
Good luck! 🙂
Jen and Emily @ Layers of Happiness says
I am dying over that glaze… how yum!!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
bahahaaa good luck with the driving!:P
and omg that browned butter glaze paired with these cookies was the best idea of all time!
Joanne says
I would totally be freaking out too. THEY GROW UP SO FAST! It’s too bad these cookies can’t slow down time…but at least they can make you feel better about it!
Stephanie | Worth Whisking says
Basically butter pecan cookies. . .LOVE! These cookies are scrumptious!
Joan Hayes says
Oh my, good luck with those driving lessons, Karly! I love the look and sound of these cookies (pecan sandies are one of my all-time favorites), and this brown butter glaze totally seals the deal. I will most definitely be making these soon, thanks for the recipe!
Katy | Her Cup of Joy says
They do grow up fast, I have a two year old and still have to pinch myself sometimes to believe that I am a mom! Less than 8 years ago I remember getting my permit, and now my daughter is driving her little push toy cars hah!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I am so not looking forward to teaching my daughter to drive. I mean…I’ll say “Watch out! There’s a car coming!” and then she’ll argue with me about it and then we’ll die.
That glaze. OMG!
Debra says
K, those cookies look pretty tasty but what I had to leave a comment about is your son. I’m in the same place right now. Cept mine doesn’t actually have that piece of paper .. Oh, he passed and all that, but I am luring him into good behavior before I actually go and get his license.. Here he has to get his learners first, which I go and pay for if he’s well behaved and charming, then he gets to practice driving with his instructor .. seems like only yesterday he was more than happy with video games ..
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
I hear brown butter glaze and I am there! I could drink it! So crazy good! I’d love a dozen of these cookies. My girls just had their ballet recital and I was a bawling mess! And it wasn’t their first. Kids need to slow down with this whole growing up thing. Seriously.
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
I don’t have kids, so I can’t fully understand what you’re going through, but I know that live moves WAY to fast.
So I think we should slow down for a second and eat 100 cookies in that one second. Because these? I need them. Pinned!