Vegan Pecan Meltaway Cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes
Makes: approx. 26 – 30 cookies
For The Cookies
♦ 1 cup (2 sticks) salted vegan butter, softened (can use regular salted butter for non-vegan cookies)
♦ 1 cup powdered sugar
♦ 2 cups pecan halves (chop the halves into very small pieces if you are making this recipe by hand or in a stand mixer)
♦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
♦ 1 Tablespoon vegan milk (almond, oat, etc.) or ice water
♦ ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
For The Toppings
♦ 3/4 cups powdered sugar for rolled version, 1/2 cup maple syrup and 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar for maple glazed version – these proportions make half of each
In the bowl of a food processor, add the vegan butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Blend until combined, scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and pulse a few more times. Add the pecan halves and vegan milk and pulse until the pecans are in small pieces, scraping down the sides when necessary. Add the flour and pulse until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, scraping the sides when necessary. Transfer the cookie dough into a bowl or container, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can also make this dough the day before and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough into balls about the size of walnuts (approx. 2 Tablespoons of dough per ball) and place an inch apart on the baking sheet. These cookies will not spread much in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. While the cookies are baking you can prepare your topping ingredients. Empty the powdered sugar into a bowl for the rolled version and whisk together the maple syrup and powdered sugar in a bowl for the glazed version. If you are making the rolled version of the cookies, then allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before rolling in the powdered sugar, but they do still need to be warm or the sugar will not stick. I like to roll each cookie in the sugar twice, so they are thoroughly coated. For the glazed version, make sure to let the cookies cool completely before dunking them into the maple glaze. These cookies freeze beautifully.
