EXTRAORDINARY 2017 RECIPES

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix well, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Lastly, add in the salt and flour and mix together until dough is slightly crumbly. Add in 2 tsp of the milk until dough comes together and is spreadable and pipeable. The key is to add as little milk as possible to prevent spreading.
• Fit a piping bag with a large open star or closed star tip. I used Atecco 849, but Wilton 8B or Atecco 826/827 can be used. Do not attempt with a smaller tip as it will be impossible to pipe. I recommend adding a little bit of dough to the piping bag first to test a cookie to pipe to make sure it's the proper consistency. If all is good, pipe into a swirl circular shape onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Refrigerate the baking sheet with piped cookies for at least 30-40 minutes or until chilled. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line another pan with parchment paper.
• Place 3 rows of 4 cookies each onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time in the center rack of the oven for 12-16 minutes or until light golden brown around on the bottoms.. Cool completely on the baking sheets as the cookies are quite fragile. Bake remaining cookies off on another prepared sheet.
• If decorating with chocolate and sprinkles, melt the chocolate wafers according to package directions or until smooth. Dip half of the cookie into the melted chocolate, allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Return to the baking sheet and immediately garnish with sprinkles. Allow the chocolate to set before serving or storing.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line a 13x9" light metal rectangular baking pan with foil or parchment paper, extending the sides of the foil or parchment over the edges of the pan. Spray the foil or parchment with cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a large bowl for the crust ingredients, combine the flour, brown sugar, and butter and beat at medium speed with a handheld electric mixer for about 1-2 minutes or until mixture is crumbly and butter is mostly incorporated into small pebbles. Press the crust mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the crust. Set aside.
• In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, combine the 1¼ cups butter and remaining 1 cup brown sugar. Cook and stir until mixture is bubbly and comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract quickly but carefully as mixture is VERY hot. Immediately pour the caramel mixture over the pecan layer in the pan.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the entire surface is bubbly and golden brown. Remove from the oven and wait 1-2 minutes, then sprinkle the entire surface evenly with the chocolate chips. Allow the chocolate chips to set for a minute or two, then use an offset spatula to smooth the now melted chocolate chips around into an even layer to cover the caramel layer.
• Allow chocolate to set and bars to cool and firm, about 3 hours, before cutting into squares.