June 6, 2010

Aunt Mary Dillion's Praline Cookies

To start: I DO NOT have an Aunt Mary Dillon.  However, I think someone from Martha Stewart's staff (or maybe event Martha Stewart herself) does.  I tried this recipe - it was really easy to make, but based on the amount of brown sugar called for, extremely sweet.

It's a yummy cookie, but for those who don't want a dessert toothache (or a sugar crash), reduce the amount of brown sugar used in the baking from 1.5 cups to 1 cup (since you'll be drizzling the sugared pecans on top of the finished cookies).

The cookies are actually pretty interesting - the time needed to bake these things varies from top rack to bottom rack.  The cookies on the top rack definitely needed an extra 2 minutes to turn golden, but the ones on the bottom only needed about 10 minutes at 345 degrees.

The difference in texture in just two short minutes is astounding.  They're either perfectly crisp to soft and doughy (which isn't bad in itself - it just doesn't work out so well for this type of cookie).