Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

Pecan Filling:
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tbs butter
3 tbs honey
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Cookie:
3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Pecan Filling:
Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until you’ve just reached a boil.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the pecans and set aside to cool while you prepare your cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; prepare a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick liner (butter + flour works too!).

In a bowl, mix the butter and the 1/4 cup sugar on low speed until smooth (about 60 seconds).

Add flour and continue beating on medium-low until just blended (about 60 seconds).

Using your hands, knead and roll 1 inch balls of dough. Roll each ball in the sugar we set aside.

Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet (I like these parchment paper sheets), about 1 to 2 inches apart.

Press a well in the middle of each ball with your finger, almost to the bottom (if the edges split too much, re-roll the dough and try again).

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the top of the cookies look dry, remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Once cool, repress the wells if needed and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of pecan filling.