Nutty Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Coppersmith Michael Bonne is the fourth in my Sunday series featuring American Artisans. There are so many exceptionally talented craftspeople across the country who share a love of all things handmade, and this is my chance to introduce them to you. These artisans are creating beautiful and useful products that elevate the experience of everyday cooking and eating, and they’re using skills and techniques that might otherwise be lost in our era of throwaway mass production. Their work makes me happy, and I hope it does the same for you. Each feature will be paired with a giveaway to give you the chance to experience their work for yourselves. I’ll be doing these features every other Sunday for the foreseeable future, so be sure to check back, and enjoy! Today we’re heading down to Florida to the studio of Michael Bonne who makes charming folk art style cookie cutters from sheets of solid copper.  We’ve not only made a virtual sweep across the country so far, from California, to Texas, Vermont, and now Florida, but we’ve also sampled a wide variety of skills and media.  Michael has 30 plus years of working with copper, and he has a passion for …

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks) at room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup pecan halves (crushed)

Method

1. set oven to 350F
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together.
3. Blend in the almond extract, and the flour until the dough comes together.
4. Fold in the crushed pecans.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and bring together with your hands. Form into a flat disk and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Roll out the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out your cookies.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes until slightly golden. Cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a rack.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island