Homemade Pecan Butter Food

HOMEMADE PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• If roasting pecans, place on a greased cookie sheet in preheated 350 degree oven. Spread them out in a thin layer to roast evenly.
• Roast for 5 minutes, stir, then roast for another 5 minutes until you can smell them. Take care not to scorch them!
• As soon as they come out of the oven, place them on a flat plate or piece of parchment paper to cool.
• Add cooled pecans to food processor and blend on HIGH until finely ground, 2-3 minutes.
• Add vegetable oil 1/2 tbs at a time and continue to blend until butter reaches desired consistency.
• Add salt to taste.
• Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge. Usually, this will keep 1 to 2 months if you used fresh nuts. Storing at room temperature will accelerate rancidification.

PECAN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter 2 cookie sheets and set aside. Roast 3/4 cup of pecans in oven for 10 minutes or until they emit a good aroma. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. When cooled, chop pecans with sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add flour, butter, egg yolk and salt. If dough is too soft, add up to 1/4 cup more flour; otherwise work dough with your hands.
• Gather dough into a 1 1/2 inch round sausage, wrap in waxed paper and rest in fridge for 2 hours or overnight. Cut into 1/4inch rounds and set on baking sheet. Press a pecan half in center. Don't place cookies too closely together or they will run into each other as they spread during baking. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the cookies' edges are golden brown. When they are baked they will give off a wonderful aroma. Remove baking sheets from oven and let cookies cool on sheets for 3 minutes. Then, remove them to a cookie rack to cool them further. Be careful when you handle these as they are very fragile.

PECAN BUTTER CRUNCH

Steps:

• Cook sugar, syrup and water until mixture thickens and bubbles (about 230 degrees). Add butter and pecans. Stir continuously and continue cooking until nuts begin to brown or start popping (290 degrees). Remove from heat. Add vanilla and soda and stir thoroughly. Pour quickly in several pieces on large buttered surface. Do not spread with knife or spoon. Allow to cool slightly. Stretch and pull with hands until very thin. (The thinner it is stretched, the more brittle it will be.) When cooled and hardened, break into small pieces. Store in airtight container.

PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine all ingredients; stir until creamy. Store in the refrigerator.

TOASTED PECAN BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F/165 degrees C.
• Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet; toast in the preheated oven until they start to turn golden brown and become fragrant, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully as they bake, they burn quickly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Pulse the brown sugar, butter, and vanilla together in a food processor several times to thoroughly combine. Butter will be slightly fluffy. Sprinkle in the cooled nuts and pulse several times to combine. For more finely ground pecans, pulse several more times. Serve immediately, or pack into a jar with a lid and refrigerate.

HOMEMADE BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan, heat the milk, cream, sugars and salt until bubbles form around sides of pan. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into the eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly., Cook and stir over low heat until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Quickly transfer to a bowl; place in ice water and stir for 2 minutes. Stir vanilla. Press waxed paper onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight., In a small skillet, saute pecans in butter, stirring constantly. Cool. , Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Stir in toasted pecans. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. When ice cream is frozen, transfer to a freezer container; freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.

BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a small skillet over medium heat, cook pecans in butter until lightly browned and fragrant, stirring constantly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl; set aside. Combine brown sugar and half and half in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; remove from heat. Gradually pour hot mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Return custard to saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture coats the back of a spoon (see Editor's Note). Remove from heat and stir in cream, vanilla, and pecans.
• Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers' directions.

PECAN BUTTER TARTS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• For Tart Shells:.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Slowly pour 1/8 cup water in through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water to a maximum of 1/4 cup. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
• Turn dough onto work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.
• After the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch rounds. It may be easier to roll the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap, instead of on a floured surface. Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. You may need to coax the rounds into the tin, leaving a fluted edge. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up.
• While dough is chilling, toast and chop the pecans. Reserve 12 pecan halves, which will be used to top the tarts.
• For Filling:.
• In a medium sized saucepan lightly whisk the eggs. Add the butter, sugar, and cream. Place on medium heat, bring this mixture just to a boil - stir constantly to prevent scorching. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (For a runnier filling, remove when filling starts to thicken but has not reached a boil.).
• Place a teaspoon of chopped pecans into the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked shells with the filling. Top each tart with a whole pecan. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned and filling is set.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.