Butter Pecan Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped/minced pecans
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Servings: who the heck knows (a million cookies depending on how big you make them)

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1. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until well blended.
2. Sift together the flour and salt. Add these slowly to the liquid mix. Once everything is well blended, mix in the chopped pecans.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (though it will be better if it can be left overnight).
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Roll one inch pieces of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour or just using your fingers. Press a pecan into top of dough.
6. Bake about 9-10 minutes, until lightly golden.

There’s a bit of lore that cookie batter that’s been allowed to rest for a significant time in the refrigerator will bake into better tasting cookies. The longer the better - 24 hours, even 36 - 48 hours. While there is a page that claims a blind taste test supported this theory, I didn’t quite believe it until my father piped up after tasting one batch one day (left in the fridge for 1 hour) and tasted another batch 2 days later (this one left in the fridge for 30 hours). He noted without prompting that the second batch was better - the taste richer and more even. The handling of the second batch’s batter was a bit different though - it was far stickier and malleable once it reached warmer temperatures. They also took less time to burn - the first batch took 10 minutes, but I had to adjust it down to 9 for the second, so keep an eye on those cookies while they bake!