I decided to try another cookie after seeing a recipe posted from Smitten Kitchen by my friend Vanessa for an Egg Nog Florentine. She had talked about making the egg nog into a creme brulee. I thought caramel of some sort would be fun for the cookie contest…

I set to work…

It’s funny how my idea of good changes. Had someone offered me one of these cookies I would have raved about how good they are. Critiquing them for a cookie contest has me looking at them totally differently. I liked the cookie – I didn’t like my caramel filling.

The cookie itself is pretty straightforward. Nicely chewy-crisp with a pretty good pecan flavor, although just a tad greasy, even after blotting with paper towels. Not really unusual for a Florentine, but I noticed it. The filling was more like a cake frosting – just not what I was looking for. I also think toasting the pecans a bit might help.

I took the basic recipe that was posted and tried reworking it with a bit of caramel. While the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of rum, I added a mere teaspoonful and it was overpowering. I added more caramel to counteract, which necessitated more powdered sugar, which is why the filling was more of a frosting – and still not caramelly enough!

It’s definitely not a bad cookie by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s not an award-winner. I think an actual caramel would be better – or maybe a chocolate caramel.

I think I shall play a bit more in the kitchen this weekend…