When that happens, I head to bakeries or farmers’ markets. At both, there are people displaying their wares and their creativity. I need both, believe me!
At the market a few weeks ago, a woman was selling turtle scones. The second I saw them, I knew I had to bake my own. Here they are. Could anyone not want these for breakfast? Nope, didn’t think so!
I’ve had a soft spot for Turtles (the candy, not the animal) since I was a kid. My dad would bring my mom a box every Valentine’s Day, and she would always share with me. How great is that? A mom sharing her special candy with her kids is true love. I’ve loved Turtles ever since.
The animal I’m less certain about. Turtles live for a looooong time. Sea turtles live to be at least 100, and those little ones you buy in the pet store live to about 30. I’m not sure I could ever make that long a commitment. Imagine how attached I’d get to my turtle, and how I’d feel when he passed. If he passed before me, that is. They can really hold on.
Still, turtles are cute. I remember this one from my zoology class in high school that somehow got into a duct and crawled all the way through and into our vice principal’s office. Oh, the screams. That was such a good day.
These turtle scones will only cause screams of joy, I guarantee you. I promise!
The base of these scones is cream, which makes them light and crumbly in the best way. Chopped caramels, pecans (or walnuts) and chocolate chips get right in there for a true breakfast pastry party. No better way to start your day that I’ve ever seen!
No matter what kind of turtle makes your day, these scones are definitely the way to go on this particular day. Hope you have a great Wednesday!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cold butter and using the tips of your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry mixture until crumbs of varying sizes form.
- Add the egg and cream, using a fork to stir them in until a dough forms. You can use your hands or the fork to knead lightly until the dough is fully formed.
- Gently mix in the caramels, chocolate chips, and the pecans with your hands.
- Turn the dough out onto your prepared cookie sheet, pressing it into a circle that is about six inches in diameter.
- Cut the dough into six wedges. Bake for around 20 minutes until the scones are golden.
- Cool the scones until the chocolate hardens. Serve or store in an airtight container.
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If you have, you can inform them that they are missing a soul. I’m sorry, I know taste is subjective. But I mean, come on. It’s a chocolate chip cookie!
When you’re feeling lazy, make bars instead. These chocolate chip bars are also full of chopped pecans and topped off with chocolate drizzle. The flair on top is optional, but I love me some drizzle.
Of the chocolate kind, that is. Rain drizzle is just kind of stupid. It’s like the weather can’t make up its mind, so it does this half-baked job of getting us sorta wet. Indecision is never pretty, my friends.
Of all my faults, I’ve rarely been guilty of being indecisive. The worst of it usually happens at a restaurant when I’ve ordered one entrée and feel the pangs of regret as I see another one I was considering floating to another person’s table, and it looks so good.
Or when I’m out shopping and there’s a dress that’s just so cute, but it also costs about a hundred bucks. To some people, that might not be expensive. But usually, that’s a deal breaker for me. Still, I stand there and hold it, wondering if there’s any way I’ll regret not buying the dress for the rest of my mortal life. But you know what? I’ve usually forgotten the dress a week later forever, so I guess it’s not a problem.
It’s harder to make decisions when you feel like something really important is on the line. I mean, obviously. What people don’t get is that not making any decisions is yet…another decision. No matter what happens, options either open or close.
A while back, I talked to a friend who was having a hard time deciding whether or not to commit to her boyfriend. Her point of view was that marriage is a trap of sorts, and she was trying to put that off. My point of view is that any choice she made would be a trap. If she didn’t commit to her boyfriend and the relationship ended or stalled, then that would be one path. If she opened up the possibility of having more with him, then that would lead another way. But one way or another, her life course would change.
We can’t stand still and hope that by not making any decisions, life will take control for us. By not making those choices, we’ve already set a destination, whether we want to admit it or not. That’s why people who are commitment-phobic are caught on a spiral of endless indecision. They are creating a pattern that might never change.
How’s my amateur psychology lesson going? Good? Bad? If you say I have no authority to share any opinions on this subject, you’re right. I don’t. I’m just having fun and sharing my two cents. I have more authority to talk about bar cookies.
If this hasn’t come up before, bar cookies are the best. They don’t require dough chilling, or dropping dough onto a cookie sheet, or anything else that takes time. This base is kind of like a blondie. The result is a bar that pretty much replicates a chocolate chip cookie experience, minus all the work. And the pecans add crunchy goodness. And protein. This is totally a health food.
Life might be full of tough decisions, but eating a chocolate chip pecan cookie bar should never be one of them. Bar cookies rule!
1
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and then mix in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and set.
- Cool completely. If desired, melt the 1/2 cup chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir until smooth and drizzle on top of the bars with a spoon.
- Allow the drizzle to harden. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
Does that work for everyone? Nope. My friend is more of an evening exerciser. By that time, I am done and a half. Can barely move, except to lift the fork to my mouth to eat dessert. That’s my workout later in the day!
When you want a good breakfast treat that is homemade but easy, I recommend turning to refrigerated biscuits. Not to make biscuits with, silly. To make something far more fun. This salted caramel pecan pastry ring is delicious and perfect for the morning, not to mention pretty quick to put together. It takes the usual five minutes or so!
When I bake, I often listen to music. It helps pep everything up and I like to fling flour around while I dance in the privacy of my own kitchen. Sometimes the songs are a bit lacking, like this one on the radio lately that just will not stop.
I have no idea who sings it, so bear with me. It’s got lyrics that go something like, “If we’re talking bodies, you’ve got a perfect one so put it on me.” Wow. Those are some lyrics. Yes, I’m being a snob about it. I’m an English teacher.
But the most annoying part about the song is the kind-of chorus, where the singer just bleats one word: “Bodies.” Like, over and over. Or at least it seems to never end.
Why do I keep listening? Well, I don’t anymore. Now I change the station as soon as I realize what’s happening. But the first few times, it was like rubbernecking at a traffic accident. I just couldn’t listen away. I had to figure out if this was really a song.
If I’ve offended you because you love this artist, song, or bodies in general, sorry. I had to get that off my chest before moving onto a much more pleasant topic.
This miracle of a breakfast treat is made by dipping bits of refrigerated biscuit dough into a brown sugar and butter mixture laced with pecans and coarse sea salt. The result is quite lovely, and must be taken very seriously.
In other words, have plans to eat breakfast if you make this. Don’t skip it. Commit.
Breakfast should be something you look forward to, no matter what you crave. Hey, we all like different music, clearly. So we probably don’t all want sweet pastry for breakfast. But I do, so pass this over!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, pecans, sea salt, butter, and water. Heat on medium until the butter melts, stirring consistently. Remove from the heat.
- Open the biscuits according to package directions. Separate the biscuit dough into roughly 20 thinner pieces and break each piece in half. Roll each half into a ball and drop it into the brown sugar mixture in the saucepan.
- Toss all the dough pieces to coat. It's fine if they get mushy and lose their shape.
- Spoon the dough into the bundt pan, pressing down to make one even layer. The dough will only come up partway in the bundt pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes until brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool for five minutes. Invert carefully onto a plate.
- The ring is best served warm, so if you need to, you can heat it up later in the microwave.
Did you say “apple pie?” If you did, I salute you. That’s the expression. But I’m not here for apple pie today. I’m here to talk about an oft-neglected staple of American dessert cuisine: the pecan.
We never really think about something until it’s gone, which I learned with the pecan from my sister-in-law’s mother. She hails from Ecuador, and apparently, the pecan action there is rather lacking. She once told me that when she comes to the U.S., she gets her fill of pecans and chocolate chips. They’re not available everywhere. Remember that next time you turn down that slice of pecan pie!
In general, we try not to take things for granted because they don’t last forever. I was doing my D.C. summer thing today, walking the streets (as opposed to streetwalking, which is very different) and nosing in and out of shops. The problem is, so many of my favorite shops are now gone.
Let me take a moment to pay my respects to Cone E. Island, the ice cream shop near George Washington University. That place got me through graduate school, and now it’s gone. Countless bakeries and restaurants are similarly shuttered, replaced by large chains. I mean, do we really need another Chipotle? And today, I discovered to my horror that a favorite chocolate boutique was also closed.
It’s the way of the world, I suppose. Change. Do I keep having to be reminded that life is short and that all is temporary? I’d rather think that it will all last forever. But everything is in short supply, from sunny sweet days to pecans in other countries.
My initial plan was to bake pecan pie bars, but these are different. I’d call them pecan brownies, but that would be misleading, since there’s not any chocolate here. Essentially, there is a pecan shortbread crust that is topped with a brownie-like (I’m talking consistency) layer of brown sugary pecan goodness. No, I did not copy that tagline from a cereal box, though it sounds as if I did.
The bars are less sticky than traditional pecan pie bars and therefore more durable and portable. In this season of July 4th potlucks, you can carry these around without having to worry about everything falling apart. And you still get a crust. It’s a winner!
If you want to make your life easier, rinse out the mixer bowl after you make the crust and then just combine the filling ingredients by hand in the same bowl. It eases up on dishes and counter clutter. I hate clutter. My grandmother always taught me to clean as I bake!
In the end, you’ll have a perfectly American dessert that everyone will love and be grateful for. I bet you never realized that pecans shouldn’t be taken for granted, did you? Think about all the things you might take for granted and then take some time to appreciate them!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. Coat liberally with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in the chopped pecans by hand.
- Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, flour, salt, and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
- Pour the filling onto the baked crust and distribute the chopped pecans evenly over the top.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden and set.
- Cool completely and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
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Full confession: until a few years ago, I turned my nose up at all coconut desserts. All of them. And then one day, the angels spoke to me and I ate an Almond Joy. Boy, did I feel like an idiot. It was delicious.
Since then, I’ve come to realize how much a heap of coconut on top of a dessert can change the game. And when that heap of coconut happens to be couched in easy, gooey German chocolate frosting, so much the better.
For the past few days, my family has been enjoying the benefits of Lancaster, PA. If you’ve never been there, it’s home to kiddie amusement park Dutch Wonderland, designed for kids aged three to eight or so. It’s pretty much a barrel of fun for your little crumb-crunchers. But that’s not the most exciting part.
It’s also home to Turkey Hill ice cream, and they have a museum and ice cream experience. As part of admission, you can not only create an ice cream flavor, but you can also have unlimited ice cream samples. Do you know how big those samples are? A scoop. YES. A whole scoop, my friends! Talk about heaven on earth!
We recently had lunch with a family who informed us that wherever they go, they look for food factory tours, especially those involving chocolate. And I’ve been thinking about it since then. Those people are geniuses. Who wouldn’t make that part of a fun family vacation? And next time we hit Lancaster, I see that there are also pretzel factory tours. Sign. Me. Up.
While I’ve had my fill of ice cream over the past couple of days, it’s comforting to think that waiting for me at home are these brownies. I can never get my fill of brownies. Brownies are always there for me. And these are quite special.
Filled with giant chocolate chunks and smothered in German chocolate frosting, these are pretty hard to resist and not difficult to make. Remember, liking German chocolate doesn’t mean making a cake every time. These brownies are a perfectly acceptable way to get your cravings taken care of without taking out the round cake pans and building layers!
It’s Friday and after all the vacationing, I’m pretty much exhausted. Food factory tours will do that to you, as will kiddie amusement parks. But summer calls for all kinds of activity, not to mention indulgence. Make these brownies part of your season!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cocoa into the melted butter until it dissolves. Add the sugar and stir again. When the sugar is incorporated, mix in the vanilla and eggs. Add the salt and flour, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until done.
- While the brownies are baking, make the frosting. Melt the butter with the condensed milk and egg yolks, stirring constantly. When the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken, remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans.
- Allow the frosting to thicken, about 15 minutes. When the frosting is thickened, spread it over the brownies.
- Place the pan in the refrigerator to allow the frosting to harden a little more. They will cut more easily that way.
- When you're ready to serve, cut the brownies into squares. Store in the refrigerator this time of year to avoid the frosting getting too sticky or gooey on the counter.
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Diseases terrify me, mainly because my house is like a germ incubator. With three kids running around, we get no break between October and May in the sickness department. For the past few years, I’ve averaged 5 stomach viruses per school year. Colds are nothing in comparison.
So I’m still going at full speed, and I’m still baking. I’m just washing my hands a lot. But if I’m due to lose my taste buds in a day or two, I want to party while the going’s good. That kind of attitude calls for this pie. This amazing, caramel and ganache-filled Turtle Pie.
My mom likes Turtles. When I was a kid, my dad gave her a box every Valentine’s Day. I always got to have one of them, and it was always kind of special that she was sharing her annual treat with me. I sure don’t share my Godiva truffles with my rugrats.
Anyway, I wanted to make a pie that felt like a Turtle with that amazing caramel center, but better. So I made an Oreo crust, put in a layer of thick caramel, added a lovely layer of ganache, and sprinkled the whole thing with salt. You know, because salted caramel is my friend!
The top has pecans on it and those caramel-filled Nestle chips. And one actual Turtle. They’ve made mini ones. And they’re so cute!
This pie is the business, kids. Don’t eat it on a day that a dessert might be too rich for you. You need to eat it when there’s a horrible cold looming and you’re surrounded by mugs of tea and germy little hands and you just need a break. Or maybe that’s just my life. Insert your own needs here and get you some pie!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a pie pan with cooking spray.
- Combine the crushed Oreos with melted butter until the crumbs are fully moistened. Press the crumbs into the pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes to set.
- While the crust is baking, make the caramel. Melt the heavy cream and the caramel on the stovetop until the the ingredients are combined and smooth.
- Pour the caramel into the crust. It doesn't have to fill the entire pie shell. It will spread on its own.
- Quickly rinse out the pot to make the ganache.
- Melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream, stirring until melted. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Pour the ganache into the crust. Refrigerate for one hour.
- Remove the pie from the refrigerator and decorate as desired with the garnish ingredients. Return the pie to the refrigerator and chill for anywhere from 3 hours to overnight.
- Slice into wedges and serve.
Well, folks, them days are over. And thank heaven they are, because dessert is being pushed farther than ever before, all because of food blogging. How can anyone possibly object? We’re baking as fast as genius food manufacturers are developing newer products.
Like Nestlé’s pumpkin spice-flavored morsels. I saw them at Target and bought 4 bags. I had to play with them! And the first recipe they yielded is this caramelized pecan and pumpkin spice fudge.
The only thing better than a nut is a caramelized nut. And making them is so easy! When you’re done, you have a wonderful salty and sweet confection, perfect for creating a crunch in your fudge.
This microwave fudge recipe is no-fail and absolutely my most favorite recipe ever. It takes little to no effort or time to produce, and when you’ve let the fudge chill in the pan for a few hours, you’re all set to go!
The pumpkin chips produce a softer fudge, so be aware. But if you’d like it to be harder, just chill it longer. The refrigerator works wonders!
And your life will be endlessly awesome once you make this recipe! There will be plenty of chocolate fudge in life, so take a break for its pumpkin sister! She’s spicy in all the right ways!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the brown sugar, stirring until the sugar becomes bubbly and frothy. Immediately turn off the heat and add the pecans, stirring to coat.
- Spread the pecans in one layer on a piece of aluminum foil, being careful not to burn yourself. Allow them to cool.
- Take an 8 x 8 pan and line with waxed or parchment paper, using enough to let the paper hang over the sides of the pan.
- While the pecans are cooling, make the fudge. Heat the pumpkin spice chips and the condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 and 1/2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Fold in the caramelized pecans.
- Pour the fudge into the lined pan and spread it out as evenly as you can.
- Chill for 2-3 hours until completely firm and set. Remove from the refrigerator and let the fudge come to room temperature.
- Lift the fudge out of the pan using the overhanging lining. Cut into squares with a sharp knife.. Store in an airtight container.
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You can wander up and down aisles, picking things up at leisure and putting them down. You can try free samples. You can hunt for new products. And if there’s a Starbucks in the store, you can do it all with a lovely hot cup of beverage.
When I see new products, or even better, limited edition products, I snap them up. It’s hard to resist. Who doesn’t buy pumpkin spice M & Ms when they’re only out for a short while? Who doesn’t buy Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough in pumpkin flavor with cheesecake chips?
Not me, I can tell ya. I buy it all. And then I bring it home, stare at it, and wonder what I can bake with it. And half the time, the answer is magic bars.
Such was the case this time around. I saw the pumpkin cookie dough and threw it in the cart without even hesitating. Same with the M & Ms. My husband looked at me as we were checking out and said, “Really?” To which I replied with the appropriate amount of both haughty indignation and condescension, “I’m. A. Baking. Blogger.”
Some people. Really. Sorry, babes. I love you!
Anyway, I patted the dough (with some help from a baking helper, a.k.a. my friend’s third-grader) into the bottom of the pan. We topped it with chopped pecans, white chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, and those pumpkin spice M & Ms. Which, bizarrely, seem to taste exactly like regular M & Ms. And then we poured condensed milk on top.
The result was delightful. Chocolatey and cinnamony and pumpkiny. All of that. In a bar. In a very short space of time. Pumpkin lovers, this one is for you!
Whenever you see cool seasonal products on your grocery store runs, snatch them up! Life is too short to hesitate. Even if you’re not a baking blogger.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
- Flatten the cookie dough rounds out and press into the bottom of the pan. You will have to press them very thinly for the dough to cover the whole surface.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- In the following order, sprinkle the ingredients evenly over the surface: pecans, M & Ms, and both kinds of chips. Pour the condensed milk over the top, covering the entire area.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.
This is year 15 for me as a teacher, and every year, I love it just a little bit more. Teaching is unpredictable and active and just so much fun. I laugh a lot at work. But then, I find people funny. Kids especially. I know that my own kids get really mad when they think I’m laughing at them (i.e., all the time), so I will do a better job of hiding my smiles at work. Maybe.
To make my esteemed colleagues feel a bit better about returning, I’ve made some treats. One of my teacher buddies can’t have gluten, and guess what? She’s been teaching for over 35 years. So I think she deserves these bars! They’re a sea of goodness. See the gooey sea?
They’re a twist on traditional magic bars. Instead of a graham cracker crust, the base is made of gluten-free refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough. Use Immaculate Baking if you can find it, because it’s the best! And piled on top, instead of just the usual chocolate chips, pecans and coconut are also gluten-free chocolate cream sandwich cookies and some white chocolate chips. Nothing to hate here! It looks like snow. And chocolate. And cookies.
People never realize these are gluten-free. There’s just too much going on. And they’re addictive, thanks to the generous can of sweetened condensed milk that gets poured on top. I always use fat-free, because again, nobody can tell the difference. I love being healthier at no cost!
If you have a gluten-free buddy but you’re not the biggest baker in the world, this is for you. It’s easy, quick and impressive. And it makes enough for the whole office!
Happy back to school season, everyone. Take comfort in the end of summer with the happy knowledge that apple and pumpkin desserts will be returning to your favorite food blogs everywhere! But for now, let’s just focus on getting those backpacks stocked and the kids awake.
Ingredients:
- 16 oz. gluten-free refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
- 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped pecan halves and pieces
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 package gluten-free chocolate cream sandwich cookies (like Glutino), broken into pieces
- 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat-free)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
Using your hands, make flat discs out of each piece of cookie dough. Place them evenly in the prepared pan and press down to make a thin, even dough. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven.
In this order, sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top: start with the pecans, then the coconut, then the chocolate and white chocolate chips, and finally, add the broken cookies. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the top of the pile. The idea is to get all of the ingredients in each bite.
Bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Cool completely and cut into squares. These bars will be super sticky, so be prepared! Store in an airtight container.
]]>I was doing her hair the other day and she asked for me to do it “just like Elsa’s.” I swear to all the powers above, Frozen is doing me in. My hair is turning gray from that movie alone and how addicted my kids are to it. Anyway, no matter what I did to her hair, she continued to insist that it didn’t look right. I mean, duh. She has shoulder-length dirty blonde curly hair. Elsa has waist-length platinum flowy masses of Pantene commercial hair.
But try explaining that to a preschooler. To say she threw a tantrum would be an understatement.
She’s also been planning her fourth birthday party with way too much intricate detail. Have I mentioned she has two themes? Hello Kitty and (duh again) Frozen. Luckily, when it comes to party prep, I actually bake enough to satisfy her. And these cinnamon crunch bars are all part of the pre-party baking binge!
They’re really decadent. Buttery and crumbly and nutty and loaded with cinnamon. They’re a bit of extra work because you have to make two different layers, but the end result is pretty worth it.
For those of you with nut allergies, leave out the pecans. It’ll still taste good! But if you have no objections to having them stay, they toast very nicely in the oven and provide a great contrast for all the cinnamon sweetness.
On the bottom of these lovelies is a cinnamon sugar cookie dough layer. Kind of like a Snickerdoodle, actually, but better. And then the top is crumbs. Lots and lots of crumbs! And when they bake, they get all crunchy and crumbly. Nothing to hate here!
And nothing for my daughter to object to, I hope. As demanding as she is, my little girl doesn’t complain about dessert! She takes after her mommy that way.
Enjoy this party sampling!
Cookie Layer:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Crumb Layer:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 cups chopped pecans
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Start with the crust layer. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Using the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolk and mix again. Gradually, mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
Press the dough onto the cookie sheet. Bake for ten minutes.
While the crust layer is baking, clean out your mixer parts and make the topping. Combine the flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Add the pieces of cold butter an beat until crumbs form. Stir in the pecans gently.
Crumble the topping layer over the crust layer and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Cool completely.
When the bars are cool, mix the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the bars. When the glaze has solidified, cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
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