Today is September 21

Published 11:03 am Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATIONAL PECAN COOKIE DAY

Each year on September 21st, people across the United States celebrate National Pecan Cookie Day.

This delicious cookie can be eaten and enjoyed morning, noon and night. If you’re a pecan snacker, another pecan related celebration is National Pecan Day on April 14.

Pecan is an Algonquian word, meaning “a nut requiring a stone to crack.” A member of the hickory family, the pecan is native to central and southern United States.

One of the best ways to enjoy the celebration is by having freshly baked pecan cookies straight from the oven. Add a cold glass of milk to wash it down, and you’ll have found near perfection. Joining a friend while savoring the buttery goodness is even better. The variety of recipes for soft or firm cookies astounds most bakers. The toasted nuts and sugary sweetness melts in your mouth, keeping you coming back for more.  They delight, and when stored properly, they stay fresh, too.  But pecan cookies won’t last long when they’re baked right.

Gather up the ingredients for your favorite recipe. Whether soft and chewy or the dunking kind, bake up a batch for Pecan Cookie Day.

Recipe from https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/butter_pecan_cookies/

Butter Pecan Cookies

PREP TIME15 mins
COOK TIME15 mins
TOTAL TIME30 mins
SERVINGS12 servings
YIELD1 dozen

Recipe adapted from a Butter Pecan Cookies recipe in Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup (70g) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  •  1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup (80g) pecans, chopped

Method

  1. Make cookie dough:

    With an electric mixer, beat the butter for about a minute. Add sugar and beat until light, about 1 minute more. Beat in vanilla, salt, and flour, scraping down sides of bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans.

  2. Roll into balls, place on cookie sheet:

    Separate dough into 12 pieces; shape dough into walnut-sized balls. Place 3 inches apart on a baking sheet.

  3. Gently flatten with a glass:

    Using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie. Reshape sides if necessary.

  4. Bake at 350°F until golden brown:

    Bake 15 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through for even cooking. Remove and cool cookies on a wire rack.

On this date:

What Happened On This Day – September 21

  • 2013 The Westgate Mall is attacked in Nairobi, Kenya

    In a daring siege, militants of the extremist group al-Shabaab took over the Mall. 63 shoppers were killed during the attack that lasted a few hours, and before the Kenyan security forces rescued the hostages, 4 terrorists were also killed. Al-Shabaab declared that it had undertaken the attack as retaliation for the presence of Kenyan armed forces in Somalia.

  • 1964 Malta gains its independence from the UK

    The southern European island country came under British control in 1814 as part of the Treaty of Paris. The country initially retained the Queen of England as its head of state but declared itself a republic on December 13, 1974.

  • 1961 Boeing CH-47 Chinook takes flight for the first time

    The American-made helicopter has been used by the US military in a variety of conflict-related operations including during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also been often used for medical evacuation and search and rescue operations during natural disasters around the world.

  • 1942 Boeing B-29 Superfortress flies for the first time

    The bomber was used extensively by the US in World War II and the Korean War. The two planes – Enola Gay and Bockscar – that dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were from the silverplate series of Boeing B-29s.

  • 1937 JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit is published for the first time

    The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a young adult fantasy novel that follows the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he traverses through Middle Earth to find treasure guarded by a dragon named Smaug.