(Texas) Pecan Shortbread Cookies

I watch the Bachelor.  

I watched when Trista met Ryan, the formerly chubby comedian, Jen, the football player, the actor's brother, the British guy, Brad, Deanna, Jason - paused after Jason because it was so gross - Ali, and now back to Brad.  

I watch with my husband and my sister.  It has become something of a Monday tradition; three otherwise normal people completely engrossed in some producers' idea of fantasy dates, and hanging onto every clue giving goo-goo eyed look, and promise of "I'm here for the right reasons".

Mark likes to call it from the very first episode and on more than one season he has been right.  Julie and I watch for the subtleties (if you can call them that) in each date.

Tonight is the finale, and tonight Brad will follow his heart back to Texas with one girl as happy as can be, and another girl heartbroken - or at least reality tv broken.

Texas Pecan Shortbread Cookies

*Did you know that the Pecan Tree is the state tree of Texas?

1 stick of butter 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup pecans (ground up in a food processor after 45 seconds)

3/8 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinammon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

First I poured the flour into a pan and sort of toasted it a la Dorie Greenspan's Roasted Flour Shortbread cookies.  Whole wheat flour tends to have a nutty flavor and fuller texture than traditional flour but the 5-8 minutes of "toasting" on medium heat seemed to really highlight that flavor.

With the flour off the heat add the the salt, cinnamon and processed pecans.  Pecans add even more flavor, they're a good source of antioxidants and are low in cholesterol.  Hey, when you're making cookies you look for the goodness anywhere you can.

In a medium size bowl cream the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.  When the butter is sweetly yellow and fully incorporated and smooth add the flour mixture. 

When the flour and butter are fully blended form the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.  Truly, I don't think an hour is necessary - it was late on Sunday night so 40 minutes worked just fine.

With the dough out of the refrigerator is going to be firm and perfect for cookie cutters.  Here is a tip, layer the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and first use your hands to massage it flat and then use a roller to make it thin (about 1/4") and uniform.  The heat of your hands will warm the dough a bit, the roller on the dough, when it is right from the fridge, will crack it up too much.

I chose hearts, you know, Bachelor finale and all.  Set the oven to 300 degrees and bake for about 18 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown.

Allow to cool.  Then you can dip into chocolate, drizzle with chocolate or eat plain. 

I have my favorite in tonight's finale, but I'll tell you what these cookies taste a lot better than a rose and come with a lot less heart ache.  Enjoy the show and the cookies (they can both be a guilty pleasure!)