In a few weeks I’ll be heading to Mixed, a food bloggers conference held at the historic Mountain Lake Hotel in Virginia. Remember the resort in the movie Dirty Dancing? Yep, that’s where it’s being held and I can hardly contain my excitement that I’ll also be meeting up with some of my favorite foodie friends there as well.
In preparation for the conference, the folks at Dixie Crystals have teamed up not only as a sponsor and advocate for their Bake It Forward program, but as host to a mini BAKE OFF contest. If you’re unfamiliar with Bake It Forward and you love to bake, please take a moment to head over to their website and see how you can participate. There’s nothing more special than baking up something wonderful for someone deserving and sending some happiness to their mailbox!
I debated and debated the cookie recipe I’d submit for the BAKE OFF. But in true Southern spirit, I modified several recipes and created something that’s delicious as it is sassy and an absolute representation of the state I’ll be representing. I mean, after all, I’m pretty sure I’ll be the only Louisiana girl in attendance. And besides, who can wait until Spring for king cake? Not this girl!
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1¾ cup sugar, divided
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 Tbs honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon extract
- 2 Tbs ground cinnamon, divided
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- Pecan Praline Topping:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 2 tbsps butter
- 1¼ cups pecan halves
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- *optional sprinkles/edible glitter for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In large bowl, cream butter, 1¼ cups sugar, and ½ Tbs ground cinnamon until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg yolks, honey, vanilla and lemon extracts.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar and gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
- In a shallow bowl or baking dish combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. (Depending on how much you like cinnamon you may adjust your cinnamon and sugar mixture to taste.)
- Shape a heaping tablespoon of dough first into a golf ball size ball, then roll a 6″ log. Roll the log into the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
- Take your log roll and loosely wind into a circular spiral.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.
- For the topping:
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, white sugar and milk. Bring to a boil.
- Stir in butter, pecans and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool 2-5 minutes. Unlike making an actual praline, you want the consistency to be liquid enough to "glaze" over the cookie but thick enough to set. Continue stirring until desired consistency is reached. Pour over your spiral lovelies.
- **I put wax paper, aluminum foil, etc under the wire rack to catch the excess praline topping. Otherwise, you'll have a mess. **
- Sprinkle with purple, green, and gold sprinkles! A little or a lot, just give the sprinkles a shot.
- {Because I'm picky about the sprinkle ratio, I combine the colors in a small ramekin, mix, and make sure I'm happy with how much purple to green I have going prior to sprinkling}.
These are super cute! My husband is from New Orleans and we are there twice a month. I love all things Cajun. And the Mardi Gras colored sanding sugar is perfect! So cute! I’m posting mine later today I hope. Although I think it’ll be totally awesome to win, I’m a little intimidated by the bake off!!!
Hi Christy! I’m so glad you appreciate the sanding sugar- I went back & forth on adding it, how much to add, etc. It really didn’t need it, but you can’t call something king cake and NOT have color. 🙂 I am TOTALLY intimidated by the bake off, but couldn’t not at least give it a try. I’ll be looking for your cookies and can’t wait to meet you!!!
These cookies sound beyond YUMMY! Best wishes for the contest…sounds like you have a winner!
Thank you, Shannon! Win or lose they are delicious and one of my new favorites.
Hi. Can you make these as drop cookies and not roll them into a rope before dipping into the cinnamon / sugar mixture? Thanks!
Hi! Absolutely! I rolled them to somewhat resemble a king cakes’ layers, but you most certainly skip the rolling. Just shape the dough into a ball then press into a circle to bake. In fact, it’s waaaaaay easier. Happy baking!
These cookies are AMAZING!! Better than King Cake, I believe! I even love them without the topping!
Is there a substitute for the evaporated milk?
You could use heavy cream. 🙂