Recipe: Mrs. Fields Maple Pecan Butter Balls (cookies)

MAPLE PECAN BUTTER BALLS

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup finely ground pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and finely ground pecans. (For extra flavor, saute pecans in 1 tablespoon butter until slightly browned.) Mix ingredients well and set aside.

In another medium bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer set on medium speed until mixture forms a grainy paste. Add syrup and egg and beat until slightly thickened. Add the flour mixture and blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

Place dough in plastic bag and refrigerate until firm, about an hour. Remove dough from refrigerate and shape into 1-inch balls. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet, 1-inch apart.

Bake for 17-18 minutes or until cookie bottoms are golden brown.
Immediately transfer to a cool, flat surface.

VARIATION:
To make cookies more festive, sprinkle cookies with
confectioners' sugar using a small mesh sieve. then, spoon chocolate icing into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe decorative patterns onto cookies.

Makes 24 cookies
Source: Mrs. Fields Cookie Book