MAPLE PECAN COOKIES
Source: The Ultimate Cookie Cookbook by Barbara Grunes
Makes 30 cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup ricotta cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon maple extract or flavoring
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or spray cookie sheets.

Soften butter for 1 to 2 minutes at medium speed. Add ricotta and beat at high speed until creamy. Stir in maple extract and sugar. Beat in egg. Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt at high speed to make a medium dough. Stop mixing and scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.

Stir in nuts. Using two spoons as guides, drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing cookies about 1 1/2-inches apart.

Bake in the center of the oven for 10 minutes, or until cookies are firm to the touch and a light golden brown on the bottom. Remove from the oven and let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

You can sprinkle a small amount of chopped nuts on the cookies before baking. Another alternative is to frost the cookies with maple frosting when they are cool.

TO MAKE MAPLE FROSTING:
Cream 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature. Beat in 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon maple extract, and 2 to 4 tablespoons milk to make a creamy frosting.