Bacon-Pecan Sandies
2014-06-17 00:44:14
Ingredients
- 5 strips bacon
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until very crisp. Drain on paper towels; let cool and crumble. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon drippings; spoon into a small bowl. Cover, and refrigerate until firm.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, combine half of bacon (reserve remaining bacon to garnish cookies) and pecans; pulse until finely ground, 6 or 7 times.
- In a large bowl, beat chilled bacon drippings, butter, and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add flour, salt, and baking powder; beat on low speed until blended, stopping to scrape bowl occasionally. Add pecan mixture and vanilla; beat until blended. Divide dough in half.
- Using floured hands, roll each half of dough into an 8½-inch log. Wrap each log tightly in wax paper. Refrigerate until firm, approximately 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unwrap 1 portion of dough; using a sharp knife, trim ¼ inch from each end of log. Cut dough into approximately 3/8 inch-thick slices. Place 1 inch apart on prepared sheet.
- Bake until lightly browned around edges, approximately 12 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Using a spatula, place cookies on a cooling rack. Let cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining dough half.
- Melt chocolate according to package directions; let cool slightly. Line 2 baking sheets with wax paper. Spoon 1 tablespoon melted chocolate onto wax paper. Top with a cookie; lightly press until chocolate extends approximately ¼ inch around edge of cookie.
- Spoon approximately ¼ teaspoon melted chocolate on top of cookie. Place 2 bacon crumbles in center of chocolate. Repeat procedure with remaining cookies, melted chocolate, and crumbled bacon. Set aside in a cool place until chocolate is thoroughly set and can be easily removed from wax paper, approximately 3 to 4 hours.
Taste of the South https://tasteofthesouthmagazine.com/
