not lost for long … Turtleback Cookies

It popped up in my news feed one day not long ago, courtesy of Saveur magazine. Titled “Turtleback Cookies: Alabama’s Almost Lost Recipe”, I was immediately intrigued. I’d never heard of a turtleback cookie and the addition of “almost lost recipe” set the stage. There it was. I was drawn in, like a moth to a flame. I needed to learn more. That my friends, is what they call a successful lede.

Turns out that a turtleback is a pecan spice cookie with a brown sugar glaze, named because it resembles the back of a turtle. A pale, perhaps albino turtle, but ok I get the point. I read the story and was charmed by the local favorite from Demopolis, Alabama and the specialty of a particular local bakery, Traeger’s. Though the bakery burned down in 1993, stories like this are what make me start planning road trips.

Spice and brown sugar based cookies of all kinds are particular favorites of mine so of course I was going to make this one. The dough was similar to a classic chocolate chip dough – brown sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flour – but with the outstanding addition of cinnamon, cardamom and pecans. Always one to each a fair amount of raw dough before any cookies are baked, this was the most delicious cookie dough I’ve made in quite some time. I could not stop eating it. Once the cookies were baked and glazed with a brown-sugar icing, I absolutely swooned. These were great. I attribute it to the cardamom, a spice not typically found in these cookies from what I could tell. Outstanding.

The only problem was something was up with this recipe. I was surprised; Saveur recipes are usually well-tested but this one was a disaster. I should have known better. The dough was too soft and spread all over the baking pan and a 25 minute bake was way too long. The cookies merged during baking to form a sheet of thin, crispy, overly browned batter. Hooray. For the next batch, I added more flour, cut the eggs in half and put really well chilled dough in a slightly lower oven temp for a much shorter bake. Much better. There was also one other annoying tick within the recipe: the cookie dough and glaze ingredients were combined in the ingredient listings with the subtle “divided” after several ingredients. I really dislike finding out in the middle of the instructions that I wasn’t supposed to dump the full amount of brown sugar in the mixer for the cookie dough. I know one is supposed to read through the full recipe before baking but Saveur I expect better from you. Needless to say in the recipe below, I separated out the dough and glaze ingredients accordingly. Harumph.

As I find with many things southern in nature, these can be quite sweet. It’s the glaze that brings it over the top– two kinds of sugar can make your teeth ache. To counterpoint this, do not be tempted to cut the salt in either the cookies or the glaze. They are so much better for it.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: C IS FOR COOKIE. Baking cookies is an extremely rewarding task. They’re certainly delicious but also easy and with a high reward factor. They make people happy. Freshly baked, homemade cookies (none of that dough in a tube crapola) make everyone smile. If you roll the dough and freeze into little balls, you can essentially have cookies on demand. Bake off 2 dozen or bake off 2; same difference. And what’s especially great about these cookies is they have a glaze on top, the kind that crusts over in the most delightful manner. They are wonderful.

Seven years ago: Roasted Tomato & Asparagus Quiche
Six years ago: Homemade Saltines
Five years ago: Homemade Crème Eggs
Four years ago: Popovers & Strawberry Butter
Three years ago: Avocado Lime Tequila Popsicles
Two years ago: Guinness Crème Anglaise
Last year: Flourless Chocolate Cookies

TURTLEBACK COOKIES – adapted from this recipe
Makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies

for the cookie dough:
1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon=
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

for the glaze:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick)
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl combine the flour, pecans, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda and salt; set aside until needed.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, sugar, butter, and vanilla on medium-high until smooth and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the egg, mixing well to fully combine. Scrape the bowl.
4. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 2-3 increments until just combined.
5. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic, wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours until firm and well chilled.
6. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325˚F.
7. To bake: Roll the dough into 1 ½” balls, place on parchment or silicone lined sheet pans 1” apart and flatten into circles about ½” thick.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until lightly browned on the bottoms. Cool on the sheet pans.
9. For the glaze: in the bowl of a standing mixer, sift in the powdered sugar to remove any lumps and add the cinnamon and salt.
10. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly and bring to a boil.
11. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and cream.
12. Add to the powdered sugar mixture and mix with the whisk attachment on medium-high until smooth.
13. With a small offset spatula or a butter knife, top each cooled cookie with a thin layer of icing, spreading almost to the edge. The icing frosts a bit neater while still slightly warm. A few seconds in the microwave can be helpful if the icing cools too much to spread neatly.
14. Allow the icing to harden completely before serving, at least 30 minutes.
15. Cookies will keep, tightly wrapped, at least 3 days. Do ahead: the dough will keep frozen, tightly wrapped, up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before continuing. Alternatively, roll the freshly made dough into balls, freeze then transfer to a Ziploc bag and freeze for longer storage. Bake directly from the freezer as directed above.