Butter Pecan Shortbread

Lately I have been attending what seems like an unending (albeit delicious) stream of holiday potlucks. As you all probably know by now, I LOVE baking. However, time has not been on my side lately so I have been turning to my old standby recipes such as this one and this one. This week I wanted to try something new, but it still had to be super easy and quick. I decided on this shortbread recipe from Land O'Lakes website. It was beyond easy and I had all the ingredients (I even added some sprinkles on top to make them Christmassy).

The shortbread is rich and crumbly. The flavor is reminiscent of pecan pie, just more buttery and less gooey. In about a half hour, you too can have delicate buttery shortbread cookies cooked and ready for all your holiday potluck (or snacking) needs! Yum!

Butter Pecan Shortbread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Topping

3 to 4 tablespoons coarse grain sugar or sugar

3 to 4 tablespoon finely chopped pecans

Sprinkles (optional)

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang.

Ok so for the next part, I didn't want to break out my mixer so I just mixed the butter, brown sugar and vanilla together really well with my wooden spoon and then mixed in the flour and 1/4 cup pecans.

I think it turned out great, but feel free to follow these directions with your mixer: Combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour and 1/4 cup pecans. Beat until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes). (Mixture will be crumbly.)

Pat crumbly mixture evenly into prepared pan.

Sprinkle with coarse grain sugar and 3-4 tablespoons pecans (I added some Christmas sprinkles cause I'm festive like that☺). Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes.

Lift shortbread out of pan, using parchment.

Cut into bars. Cool completely.

TIP: If using dark baking pan; bake at 325°F for 18 to 20 minutes.

Just had to sample a bit... for quality control purposes of course!