BUTTERY PECAN BAR COOKIES



BUTTERY PECAN BAR COOKIES

Buttery, nutty cookies that make a great addition to a tray of holiday cookies.  Keep in the freezer or refrigerator, depending on the texture that you prefer.  I rather liked them straight from the refrigerator.

3/cup pecans (175 mL)
2 sticks butter (4 oz each; 125 g)
1 large egg
Liquid sweetener (sucralose or stevia) to equal 1/  cup sugar (125 mL)
1/4  cup powdered erythritol (60 mL)
1 tsp vanilla extract (5 mL)
1/tsp molasses (2 mL)
1/tsp salt (1 mL)
21/cups Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2 (625 mL)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).  Grease a jelly roll pan (not quite the same size as a cookie sheet).  Mine is 15 x 10 inches (38 x 25 cm).  Line with parchment paper.

In nonstick frying pan, dry fry the pecans until they start to smell toasty.  Keep an eye on them.  This will go quickly.  Place in food processor and grind coarsely.

In food processor, or in bowl of mixer, process butter.  Add egg, liquid sweetener, powdered erythritol, vanilla, molasses and salt; process.  Add Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, page___; process. Stir in coarsely ground pecans. Scoop batter onto parchment paper and spread out to all the edges of the pan (I originally made these 1-inch shy of the pan length, however, I preferred the thinner edges, so I recommend spreading the batter out completely for thinner, crispier cookies).  Bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges have turned golden brown.  While warm, cut into square shapes.  Any cookie dough that lifts slightly, press down onto the cookie.  If possible place the whole cookie sheet in the freezer to allow the cookies to harden.  Otherwise leave them to come to room temperature.  Use a flat, metal spatula to carefully remove the cookies. I would be inclined to freeze them on dinner plates first and then place in freezer or refrigerator in a sealed container.  Use pieces of parchment paper in between.

Helpful Hints:  I did not use gelatin or xanthan gum in these cookies.  The egg is enough to keep these cookies together quite nicely.  If more of a shortbread kind of cookie is desired, you can take some of the cookies (after freezing) and place them bottom side up on a cookie sheet.  Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.  Watch in the last 5 minutes as they brown very quickly.  I liked these kept in the freezer.  My husband did not care for the shortbread version.  I really liked them, so it will be a YMMV thing!

Yield:  35 cookies
1 cookie
94.6 calories
1.4 g protein
9.1 g fat
0.1 g fiber
1.9 g net carbs 



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