An Inspired Cook

For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by Georgia O’Keeffe’s story. She is renowned for her landscape and floral paintings in and around Ghost Ranch. When she first visited in 1934, the land was owned and occupied by a dude ranch, however she was offered a stay in a cottage on the property. It’s said that Georgia found solace at Ghost Ranch and spent her summers there painting until 1949 when she convinced the owner to sell her a parcel of land where she made it her home. Ghost Ranch is one of my favorite places on earth and I can see why she would embrace this beautiful landscape. Each time we visit I get a sense of traveling in her footsteps and viewing the scenery that she painted so long ago. I chose my blog header for the breathtaking landscape that is fondly known as “Georgia O’Keeffe country. I remember standing there in awe trying to capture the beauty before me, not knowing that Joe would take that photo.
This post was originally going to be a recipe for Mexican Wedding cookies, however I came across Georgia’s recipe for Pecan Butterballs which looked and sounded very similar. Georgia opted for honey in place of powdered sugar for these pecan filled cookies. I was intrigued by her cookies and that search lead me to a different story. I found that a collection of Georgia O’Keeffe’s recipes were auctioned by Sotheby’s and sold in 2020. There is an image of the recipe card that she hand wrote for her Pecan Butterballs. Her pecan butterball cookies are perfect with a cup of afternoon tea. They also make a nice treat to share over the holidays. Hope you enjoy!

To start you’ll need butter, honey and vanilla.

I found a bag of toasted pecan pieces from Trader Joe’s which will save the trouble of toasting and chopping the pecans.

Soften the butter and add the honey in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Add the vanilla, I ran out of extract and found vanilla paste which works just as well.

Use a hand mixer to beat all the ingredients until they are creamy.

In a smaller bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add about 1/3 of the flour beating after each addition until all the flour has been incorporated.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl mold the dough with a spatula.

Add the toasted pecan pieces and use a spatula to fold and incorporate the pecans throughout the dough.

Once the dough and pecans are well combined, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill 1 – 2 hours.

After the dough has chilled, roll into small balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I used a #50 cookie scoop to make the balls the same size. Once you scoop, remove and roll between your hands to make the balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Space about 1 inch apart.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes.

They should be soft to the touch and slightly browned on the bottom.

Roll each ball in powdered sugar.

This is the hand written card that Georgia O’Keeffe wrote and was part of her recipe collection that was auctioned and sold in 2020.

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Pecan Butterballs (adapted from Georgia O’Keeffe’s hand written recipe card)

1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1/4 cup Honey
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 – 2 cups Toasted Pecan Pieces
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar, to roll butterballs

Beat softened butter, honey and vanilla together with a hand mixer. Add the flour and salt together. Begin to add about one third of the flour mix and blend with a hand mixer. Continue beating the mixture after each addition of flour until the all the flour is incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and form the dough together. Add the toasted pecan pieces and use a spatula to fold and incorporate the pecans throughout the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 – 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a #50 cookie scoop or approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place each ball on the prepared baking sheet approximately 1 inch apart. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes. The cookies should be soft to the touch and starting to brown on the bottom. Roll each ball in powdered sugar.

Makes approximately 15 Pecan Butterballs.