I’ve never tried topping a cookie before baking, but after sampling these Chocolate Orange Pecan Cookies last night, I have a feeling you may be seeing a lot of “cookie crust” variations in the months to come! Brainstorming has consumed my thoughts and I have some great ideas, though I’ll try to intersperse the cookie recipes with other genres of baking so I don’t make you crazy, too. They won’t win any awards for beauty, and I’m doubtful they will go viral on Pinterest, but hey…looks aren’t everything, right? So here’s what we have: A deep chocolate cookie covered with a pecan, sugar, orange zest and egg mixture – basically a chewy meringue. The topping bakes along with the cookie, and turns into a dense, flavorful crust that hardens just enough to make them easy to store without fear of mushing the cookie tops.
The story here isn’t about the cookie; I used my cookie dough recipe for Nonpareil Cookies, which worked nicely. The story is about the topping, and how it complements the cookie’s flavor and texture. Here’s the recipe for the topping:
| Orange Pecan Cookie Topping | Print |
- 1 large egg and 2 egg whites
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups pecans (lightly toasted, for best flavor)
- Finely chop the pecans (a food processor works best).
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg and egg whites until foamy. Add the sugar gradually, beating continuously until all sugar is added. Beat about 3 minutes, until the mixture lightens in color.
- Add the orange zest, vanilla, and salt and mix well.
- Stir in the pecans.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Drop by small spoonfuls onto thin unbaked cookies and bake following the cookie recipe instructions.
Instead of rolling out the cookie dough, I rolled the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and went the lazy efficient route and used a cookie stamp (or you can crisscross it with a fork, like a peanut butter cookie) to flatten it to about 1/4-inch thick.
Flatten with a cookie stamp or fork.
Add topping.
I baked them at 350F for about 12 minutes. If you want a crispier cookie, try stamping (or rolling) the dough thinner or cooking them for another minute or two.
After being sealed in a plastic bag overnight they actually had a fairly soft texture, more like a brownie. Yum. Perfect with a hot cup of coffee.
For the record, I’m really not fond of coconut, but tried a few cookies rolled in coconut and a few with chopped coconut added to the topping. Both were excellent – if you like coconut!
I’ll be back with more. Chocolate topping, streusel topping, berry topping…you can’t stem the flow of this tide! If you’re looking for me, I’ll be in the kitchen.
Lorinda
A cookie with a crust that tastes like a brownie the next day? How can I not love it?
I don’t love coconut either so I’ll skip that variation. But then who needs another variation of perfection?
Here’s the best part, Karen: the few that were still left 2 days later were even better! The man even commented on that. They seem to get even more flavorful. They may not be purdy, but they are definitely on my list of favorites now.