Pecan Scotch Shortbread

My grandmother (dad's mom) has been making pecan Scotch shortbreads for as long as I can remember. When I was little, she would roll them into balls before baking. I don't remember when, but at some point she started rolling them into longer pieces. They don't look like these because they don't puff up as much as these gluten-free ones.

I tried these with Pamela's bread mix & flour blend and then again with a homemade flour blend that's supposed to be good for cookies. As anyone who has been baking gluten-free knows, even the flour blends that are supposed to be good for "all" recipes sometimes aren't good for the ones you are trying them out for. This was the case with the second flour blend. The taste was decent but they fell apart the minute you touched them. (Don't throw away your crumbly cookie attempts as I share in this link.) I was just happy I got one of the two batches to come out pretty well. So, the taste is almost the same as MaMaw's. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did. They were gone within a day.

Projected prep time: 10 min; Projected bake time: 8-10 min.

1/2 c. unsalted butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/4 c. Pamela's Bread & Flour mix

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1/2 c. pecans, chopped fine

Powdered sugar

Chop pecans in food processor. 

Cream butter, add sugar and mix well. Add flour and vanilla and mix well. Add nuts.

Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll to about the size of your little finger. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and bake at 375 degrees on top rack (for gas oven) about 6 minutes, then turn sheets and bake until edges are light golden brown.

Remove from oven and let them sit on sheets until you can handle them without them breaking and cool enough to handle without burning your fingers. Roll in powdered sugar while still hot then cool on wire racks. When completely cool, roll in powdered sugar again. 

Store in airtight container lined with wax paper, in single layers separated with wax paper.