My Very Own Recipes

Paw-Paw's Homemade Pecan Sandies

As with all of my recipes, I derived at this one by adding more and/or taking away ingredients from other recipes. I'd relied on a certain recipe for baking shortbread cookies. That recipe was great because you could make 3 or 4 other cookies using a one ingredient variant. Well when it came time to make my Father-in-law's favorite cookie, pecan sandies, the recipe just didn't produce enough flavor or the right texture. So what does a Mommy do? You know what we do. We go to "work" to find just the right mix of great ingredients to get what we want. And so the story goes...

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup  (plus one rounded tbs.) powdered sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cold water 

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, butter (cut in chunks), salt, vanilla and water. Hold down pulse button until mixture becomes a ball or tube of dough. Empty contents of food processor into a clean, medium size bowl, pour in then fold in chopped pecans.

Using a sheet of plastic wrap, cover the dough/pecan mixture, then shape into about an 8 inch tube. Place in freezer for 15 minutes or refrigerator for 30 minutes until butter has cooled and dough is firm enough to slice.

When you remove from fridge, slice tube into approximately quarter inch slices, place on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Place in oven, bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. The edges of your cookies should begin to turn golden brown.

Friday Family Fun Night Parfaits

This is a light and delicious way to end a hard week of work for the family!

2 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups granola
tsp honey
1 pkg fresh strawberries
1 pkg fresh blue berries
1 ripe banana
Real Whip Cream (in the can)

Melt butter in a saucepan, pour in granola, continuously turn with a spatula (never stop). When granola starts to turn golden, drizzle in honey and continue to toast until granola is a medium golden color.

In a champagne flute, goblet or wine glass, spray in about 2 tbs of whipped cream into the bottom of glass, top with about 2 tbs of granola. Layer in about 2 tbs of chopped banana, follow with more whipped cream and granola. Layer in blueberries, then cream and granola. Finish it off with a couple of tablespoons of chopped strawberries, granola and whipped cream on the very top. Makes about 4 servings!

 

Crazy Delicious Pecan Pie

I just made 3 more of these pies. One for the Falcon's first play off game of the season! They won!! And one for my mother last night since she kept the girls for me! Thank you mom!!!! Here goes, it's amazing...

Pillsbury unroll and bake pie crust
3 eggs beaten
3/4 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar packed
1 tbs pure honey
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs melted butter
pinch of salt
1/2 cup crushed pecans
3/4 cup quartered pecan
1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll pie crust and place in a 9 inch deep dish glass pie plate. Press into dish and fold tops of pie crust over the edge of the pie plate. If you do not do this your crust may fall over your pie during the baking process and not be as pretty when you take it out of the oven.

Place quartered pecans in bottom of pie plate over the crust.

In a mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs. Add Karo syrup, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, melted  butter, pinch of salt, and crushed pecans. Using a sturdy plastic spoon or spatula, stir ingredients until well blended. Pour mixture over quartered pecans,

Gently place pecan halves over the top of mixture and put in the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Pie is amazing if allowed to cool and sit over night. No need to refrigerate the first night.

Coming Soon...


Peanut Butter Hazelnut Swirl Cookies

Flounder Piccata