Baked Treats, Dessert, Vegetarian

Pumpkin Butter Filled Pecan Wafers

November 03, 2015 Scroll to recipe

I made pumpkin butter the other day and it ended up making way more than I imagined it would. It’s absolutely delicious on toast, mixed into yogurt, on top of pancakes, etc. But there was still so much of it that I needed to come up with another way to ~~get rid~~ make use of it. We are finally getting some crisp and cool weather around here in Los Angeles so I thought it would be a good time to try out some cookie recipes. Up until now, having the oven on for a couple hours was going to result in inhumane conditions in our house… and we have air conditioning. It’s just been that hot.

I decided to go with pecan wafers because it reminds me of home and every year around the holidays I get a little home sick. These cookies go great with coffee or tea and I think I’ll be enjoying them for breakfast for the next few days if they last that long.

Delightful Recipe

Serves Makes about 16-18 cookies
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of Pumpkin Butter
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon ground toasted pecans (about 3 Tablespoons pecan pieces, toasted and then ground up in the food processor)
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and position the racks in the top 1/3 of the oven.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground pecans. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter until it is fluffy and creamy.
Add the sugar and mix some more, scraping the sides of the bowl once along the way.
Mix in the egg yolks one at a time and then vanilla extract, scraping the sides again if needed.
Being careful not to over-mix, stir in the flour mixture by hand.
Turn the dough out onto the counter-top, kneed it once or twice (just so it comes together) and form one large ball. Cut the dough into four quarters, then shape each piece into a ball. Flatten each of the four balls into 1/2-inch thick pancakes, and wrap each piece individually in plastic before chilling in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Roll out the dough thin as can be on a lightly floured surface – wafer thin, about 1/8-inch, and stamp out using the cookie cutter. I used a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter and if yours is smaller or bigger the yield will be more or less. Just FYI.
Arrange cookies 1-inch apart on prepared baking sheets before sprinkling with a small pinch of salt and sugar.
Bake for about seven minutes or until the cookie edges are just starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.
When you are ready to assemble the cookies, spread a heaping teaspoon of pumpkin butter on the “bottom side” of one of the wafers and then make a sandwich with another wafer.
Enjoy!