Shhhhh, It’s A Secret!

I’m pretty good at keeping a confidence. If you tell me something’s a secret, it’s in the vault and there it stays. I’ve kept this to myself for a very long time and now I just have to share it. Long ago I fell for this cookie from a local cafe and tried to no avail to obtain the recipe through both Bon Appetit and Gourmet. Whenever I was near the cafe I would treat myself to this amazing pecan cookie, but I always held out hope for baking it in my own kitchen.

As luck would have it a good friend was given the recipe years ago and was kind enough to share it with me. I’ve held it close to my chest all these years and I’ve now decided to let it out. This cookie will probably only be recognizable to those of you living in San Diego or Orange County and have eaten at this cafe. The rest of you will have to take my word for it that it is incredible. I chose to make these cookies half of their normal size to ease a little of the guilt of eating a whole one!

Pecan Cookies With Lemon Glaze

1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 pound butter
2-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar together in mixer. Add remaining ingredients. Use a small muffin or ice cream scoop, form half spheres and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove to rack and let cool. When cooled place a dollop of frosting on each cookie. Yield: 24 cookies

Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Juice of one lemon
Strips of lemon rind

Add lemon juice slowly into powdered sugar, making sure to keep the glaze very thick and viscous.