Pecan Sugar Cookies With Maple Icing

• 1 tablespoon - vanilla extract
• ¼ cup - sugar
• ¾ cup - dark brown sugar
• 1 cup - unsalted butter
• ½ teaspoon - Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon - baking powder
• 2 ½ cup - all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup - pecan halves

Instructions

1. Place the pecans in a sauté pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the pecans are toasty and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
2. Pour the toasted pecans in a bowl and cool to room temperature. Chop or pulse in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and Kosher salt. Set aside.
4. Then, in a large bowl, cream the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until it's light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Then, mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
5. Add the flour mixture and beat just until the dough forms. Fold in the pecans.
6. Form the cookie dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap (it'll be a bit sticky). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
7. Once the dough is chilled and you're ready to roll it out, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Then, remove one disc from the fridge. Roll the dough on a floured surface until it's 1/4-1/2'' thick (1/4'' for crisp cookies, 1/2'' for soft cookies). Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, as desired. For wreath cookies, use a 3'' cookie cutter and then a 1'' cookie cutter in the center. Repeat until the dough is used up. You can form and re-roll the dough up to 3 times.
8. Place the cookies 1'' apart on the parchment-lined sheet pans. If the cookies have warmed up at all, pop them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (this will keep them from puffing up too much). Bake for 9-10 minutes, flipping the pan halfway through, until the centers are set and the edges are light golden-brown.
9. Let the cookies cool on the pans for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat this process with the second disc of dough.
10. To make the royal icing, sift the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the meringue powder, water, and maple extract.
11. Whip the icing on high for 2-3 minutes, adding more water as necessary, until the icing is the consistency of thin honey. On dry days, you may need up to a cup of water (or more!). When you drizzle the icing, it should melt back into the rest of the icing in 10-15 seconds. That's how you know it's done! If it's too thick, add more water. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar or whip it for 1-2 more minutes.
12. Color the icing, as desired and place in bowls, squeeze bottles, or piping bags with tips depending on how you'd like to decorate the cookies.
13. To decorate these cookies like wreaths, pour about 1/2-1 cup of icing into 3 separate bowls. Color one bowl of icing with red food coloring and the other 2 bowls with 2 different tones of green. You can also just use 1 green tone if you like. Pour the colored icings into squeeze bottles or piping bags with tips. Then, pour the remaining white icing into a shallow bowl.
14. Next, dip the top of one cookie into the white icing. Let the excess drip off and then flip it onto a counter. Gently tap the bottom of the cookie to evenly distribute the icing. You can also use a toothpick!
15. While the white icing is still wet, pipe a circle of green dots around the cookie. Then, use a toothpick to gently drag a circular line through the centers of the dots. (See a tutorial in the video above).
16. Lastly, use the red icing to pipe 'berries' all around the wreath. Let them set on a wire rack for at least 5-6 hours. Store the set cookies in an airtight container with a piece of parchment between each layer of cookies.
17. If you do not want to decorate the cookies like wreaths, decorate as desired with different colors of icing, sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc. Let the cookies set on a wire rack for 5-6 hours. Store in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer.