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Adapted from The Tenth Muse, by Judith Jones by Orangette

The original recipe does not specify whether or not, or how much, to pack the brown sugar. I lightly packed mine, just enough to smooth the top, and it worked out nicely. Also, does anyone know what the nonfat dry milk does here? It must do something important, but I'm stumped.

Lastly, note that the flavor of these cookies takes some time to develop. I baked them last night, and they were good, but they were even more interesting by this morning. And they're fantastic tonight.

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 0.5 tsp. baking soda
• 0.5 tsp. salt
• 14 Tbsp. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1.5 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease two cookie sheets, or line them with silicone mats.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. (I used my stand mixer for this.)
4. Add the egg, dry milk, and vanilla extract, and beat to incorporate.
5. Add the dry ingredients, and beat to blend.
6. Fold in the pecans by hand. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each mound. (I was able to fit about 10 or 11 cookies on each sheet.) With damp fingers, press each mound into a circle about 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Carefully scrape up the cookies with a spatula, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets.
8. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yield: about 30 cookies