Praline Cookies

I've been trying to find my Sour Cream Bacon Cold Potato Salad recipe to post before the weekend, so everyone can try it out for their BBQ, but it's nowhere to be found. Hmph. Perhaps I left out at our cabin. I will scour it this weekend to see if it's there.

Last week I bought a new cookbook, called Let the Flames Begin, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. Of course, I found it at my favorite bookstore on Fourth Avenue in NYC. This bookshop has a great selection, but what I love about it most is that it has a great used cookbook section, filled with brand new cookbooks and half price with the jackets wrapped in protective cellophane book wrap. When I quizzed one of the sales people about how they came upon these cookbooks, they divulged that there was an elderly neighborhood man who was a former cookbook reviewer, who when strapped for cash, unloads parts of collection. There's a recipe for grilled fresh mozzarella and bread skewers with tomatoes, red onion, and pesto vinaigrette that I MUST try over Labor Day weekend.

But my potato salad and Fourth Avenue aside, today I came to post praline cookies--more specifically Aunt Mary Dillon's Praline Cookies. I will usually bake up a batch of these cookies when required at a family event of the Husband's in Queens or Long Island. The topping on these cookies is very sweet, so a cookie or two will usually do, but they are really fabulous, and I recommend them heartily.

Aunt Mary Dillon's Praline Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more if necessary
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and broken in to large pieces

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sit together four, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In the brown of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups light-brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until fully combined. Add dry ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined.

3. Drop batter in rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until until and barely golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks.

4. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup light-brown sugar and the cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add confectioners' sugar, and whisk until smooth. (If frosting thickens, thin with cream.) Add pecans pieces. Place cookies on a cooling rack over a lined baking pan. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon praline mixture onto each cookie.

This recipe originated from Ellen Riordan, Bridgeport, Connecticut.