Maple Pecan (Oat Flour) Shortbread Cookies

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Make sure your butter is softened (leaving it out at room temperature for 10 minutes worked just fine for me). If you are anything like me, you have the urge to melt the butter. Don’t do it, I say!

Cream the butter by itself using a KitchenAid or hand mixer. I definitely recommend using a mixer as I think I would have lost patience had I done this by hand. Add the vanilla, maple syrup and salt. Add half of the oat flour and mix well. Then add the other half, mixing until all of the clumps smooth out and you’re left with a dry looking dough. Add the chopped pecans and mix to incorporate.

Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour in an air-tight container (if you’re doing this ahead of time, you can refrigerate overnight). After the dough has chilled, use a spoon to scoop out a cookie sized portion of dough. Roll it into a ball and flatten it out.

These cookies stay in the same shape that you mold them into, so you can get creative by rolling the dough out and using cookie cutters or forming shapes. (I made a few hearts for Valentine’s Day).

Place cookies on a non-stick cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remember, I bake at elevation so you may need to adjust the oven temperature and length of time if you happen to not live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.