Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread

My kingdom for a packet of sugar in the raw....

This recipe calls for turbinado sugar.   Basically sugar in the raw.   Enough to sprinkle on the tops of the cookies.   Of course, when I was baking these, I wasn't ready to run to Whole Foods to see if they had it in their bulk bins.  I'm also not in the habit of liberating sugar packets from restaurants.  So there I was in the KS (King Soopers for those not in CO) and I gave in and bought a box of sugar. A freakin' $4 box of sugar. 

I'm going to be dusting cookies and sweetening my coffee with this sugar for a long time!  

Enough about the sugar, let's focus on the cookies:  Crisp, buttery and full of brown sugar goodness.    Yum!

What You Need

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 tablespoons finely chopped pecans, toasted  (basically a 1/4 cup before you chop them)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened (real butter is the only way to go with shortbread)

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup ice water

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

 

What You Do

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Place butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 1 minute).

Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed. (Mixture will appear crumbly.) Sprinkle ice water over flour mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Shape the dough into 2 (6-inch-long) logs; wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until very firm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Put a silicone baking mat on your cookie sheet. Unwrap dough; cut each log into 16 slices (my slices must have been skinny, because I ended up with more than 32 cookies total...ok by me) using a serrated knife. Place dough circles 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle tops evenly with turbinado sugar, gently pressing into dough. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets; cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Source:  Cooking Light, June 2007