Bourbon chocolate pecan cookies. And… I can’t even.

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Can I even? No, I can’t even.

Write Christmas cards, that is. I started, and found my cheery end-of-year narrative devolving into muffled curses and ink-smearing rages that this usually wonderful time of year has been sabotaged, co-opted, trashed by the abject monstrosity of 2016 politics and a hideous jot of a human being who makes Paul LePage look like Angus King at his noblest. No, I can’t even.

I can’t even keep what I wrote earlier. Probably a wise thing…

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In spite of the above, I’m going to make these today — mostly for some nearby friends. I posted this originally over two years ago, but you’ll probably never find it, so here we go again.

Bourbon chocolate pecan drop cookies – yummy rich

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These cookies are chocolaty rich and nut-crunchy with a whisper of whiskey flavor. They’re easy to make, and they’re just as good with gluten-free* baking mix as with flour. They’re also less sweet than most cookies, but to my way of thinking just sweet enough. This recipe makes between 15 and 20 cookies. (* Note that the bourbon in the recipe may have small amounts of gluten from the distillation of grains other than corn [bourbon by definition must be at least 51% corn, but the rest of it can be wheat, barley, rye – all gluten-rich grains]. I say “may,” because distillers claim the gluten from non-corn grains is destroyed during distilling, but experts on Celiac’s disease aren’t necessarily buying it. So, if you can’t tolerate gluten in any amount, best to leave the bourbon out.)

You’ll need:

  • 1/2 cup butter at room temp
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 1/2 cups flour or gluten-free all-purpose baking mix (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (only if using gluten-free mix)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2-3 oz. bourbon
  • small handful shredded coconut (optional)
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • pecans for putting on tops of the cookies (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, then blend in brown sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour (or gluten free mix, with the 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum), salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder until well-blended. Now pour the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture, add the bourbon, and stir until thoroughly blended. Add chopped pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut (optional) and mix (this will be quite a workout!) until everything’s totally mixed. Spoon some globs out on a cookie sheet (I usually get 22 to 24 cookies per batch) and bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will be a little squishy on top, but they’ll be chewy when they cool off.

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There it is. By the way, I write fiction – it’s not much of a living but important to my creditors. Any of my novels is a good read, praised by agents and editors (but still self-published), and quite different in narrative approach from what you read in this blog. A good writer needs to adopt a fresh voice for each new story, whoever may be telling it. So pay a visit to my website (click on the book covers) and go to Amazon for either paperback or Kindle versions. Thanks!

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Ned White

About Ned White

Ned White is a writer, novelist, crossword puzzle constructor, traveler through 49 states, and at times a danger in the kitchen. He lives with his wife in South Thomaston.