Gwen’s Cinnamon Sandy Pecan Cookies – Vegan
I made these cookies when my goddaughter was in town for a visit. She and her boyfriend are vegan and I always want to make them something special. They came out so good. Even better than I had hoped. It’s all about the texture with these cookies. Crunchy, but tender, too. They weren’t the prettiest cookies I ever made, but they are one of my new favorites.
The inspiration for this recipe was Gwen’s great grandmother’s shortbread recipe, with a few important changes. Instead of 2 cups of butter in the original recipe, I used coconut oil and almond butter. I added cinnamon, cornstarch and nuts. I also reduced the amount of flour from the original recipe. In the end I was really happy with how these cookies came out. They have that sandy shortbread quality plus cinnamon and nuts to add flavor and texture. So here is the recipe. Enjoy!!
Gwen’s Cinnamon Sandy Pecan Cookies- Vegan
1 c. sugar
1 c. coconut oil
1 c. almond butter- peanut or other nut butters could be used
2 T. vanilla
3 c. flour
¼ c. cornstarch
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. salt
¾ c. fine chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients and stir until smooth. Beat until mixture gets a little fluffy. You can do this with a stand mixer, sturdy hand mixer or by hand. Combine flour, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl and stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in nuts and continue to blend. It’s going to seem at times like the dough won’t come together, but it will. At the end I mixed the dough by hand. The almond butter and coconut oil had both been in my fridge and were cold. In hindsight, I should have let them come to room temperature first. Use a cookie scoop or by hand form dough into 1-1½ inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet or you can use parchment or a silicone baking sheet liner. Leave an inch between the cookies. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be light brown on the bottom and firm. Let them sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before trying to move. They are a bit crumbly. I forgot to count how many cookies it made. I want to say 3-4 dozen.
