Sugar cookies with pecans

Preheat the oven to 150°C. To toast the pecans, spread them out on a lined baking tray and toast them for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before chopping with a knife or food processor. Use about 90 g for the dough and save the rest for decoration.

Prepare the biscuit dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a second, larger bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and BAM vanilla paste and beat at high speed until fully combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir at low heat until combined. Stir in 90 g roasted chopped pecans. The dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky to roll, add 1 tbsp flour. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each part on a lightly floured baking sheet. Roll out the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin to a thickness of about 0,5 cm. If the dough seems too sticky, use more flour. The rolled out dough can be any shape.

Lightly dust one of the rolled out doughs with flour. Place a piece of baking paper on top of the dough and then place the other rolled-out dough on top of the paper. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminium foil and place in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours.

When the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 to 3 large baking trays with baking paper. Carefully remove the top piece of dough from the refrigerator. If it has stuck to the bottom, rub it with your hand to make it easier to remove. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into any shape you like. Roll out the remaining dough again and continue cutting until all the dough is used. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

Arrange the biscuits on the baking trays about 3 centimetres apart. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. Once the cookies have cooled, they do not need to be covered.

Cut the butter into pieces and place it in the pan. Melt the butter over a medium heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, the butter will start to foam. Continue stirring. After 5 to 8 minutes, the butter will start to brown - you will notice that light brown dots start to form on the bottom of the pan and the butter will have a nutty smell. Once the butter has browned, remove from the heat immediately and cool for a further 5 minutes. Whisk the remaining icing ingredients until smooth.

Dip the top of each biscuit immediately into the icing or allow the icing to set at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. Then spread with a knife or icing scoop. Decorate with the remaining toasted chopped walnuts immediately after the icing has been applied. The icing hardens after a few hours at room temperature, so these biscuits can easily be stacked or even transported.