Just Baking

It may be a little late to include these in your 1st or 2nd night seder, but for a nice mid-week kosher-for-Passover treat, these Praline Cookies are quick and easy to throw together in order to fill a  cookie Jones in this time of baked-good deprivation.  Oh, the sufferin’….

I found this recipe a few months ago in a cookbook from my mom’s bookshelf:  “River Road Recipes”  - from the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which she picked it up during a visit to New Orleans in the late 1970’s. Being a fiend for pralines, I was drawn to this recipe based on its heavy reliance on brown sugar and pecans, and also due to the fact that I might be able to produce the effects of a pecan praline without having to futz with the whole candy thermometer meshugas.

They were even better than I expected.  And, don’t say I didn’t warn you: they are dangerously addictive.  They  have been  a big hit each time I’ve made them, and so I decided to convert them into a Passover cookie, substituting matzoh cake meal for the flour.  Because the recipe calls for only 2 Tablespoons of flour, I suspected that the substitution would be undetectable.  I was correct.

PRALINE COOKIES - Mrs. Carlos G. Spacht, Sr.
From River Road Recipes II (Jr. League of Baton Rouge)  - adaptations and notes by Joanna Miller:

1 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbs Flour - For Passover, substitute Matzoh CAKE meal (not regular “matzoh meal.”
1/2 tsp salt – I (at least)  double this amount in a single recipe – a little less than doubled for a double recipe.
1 egg white, beaten stiff but not dry
1 tsp.  Vanilla
2 cups pecans  (I used only ONE cup of pecans (chopped) for a double recipe.  This is personal preference  - use more if you want.  More pecans will result in a thicker, more voluminous cookie.

Sift sugars, flour (or cake meal) and salt together.  Fold in egg white and vanilla

Fold in nuts carefully

*I add quite a bit more salt than is called for in the recipe.  This is, obviously, a personal preference.  If you enjoy the salty/sweetness of Kettle Korn, salted caramel, etc., I strongly recommend this.

Drop bits (less than 1 tsp.) on well-buttered cookie sheet.  (I think parchment-lined cookie sheets are better – they became greasy and flimsy on a buttered pan, but that could be due to the fact that I didn’t cook that particular batch long enough.

Bake @ 275 degrees, 20-35 minutes, or just until firm.  Maybe it’s my oven, but they never take that long to cook.  Just take them out when they start looking dry on top.

Cool them on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.  Otherwise they will fall apart on your spatula.