Maple Pecan Thumbprints and Lemon Pecan Snowdrops

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a great one, full of fun and family and, of course, food!
Here are the two things I make every year without fail:

Lemon Pecan Snowdrops (more commonly known to us as Lemon Balls; these are my MIL's favorite!)

Cookie

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon, softened
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 to 3 tablespoons milk

Topping

Coarse grain white sugar

Heat oven to 325°F. Combine 1 cup butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, pecans and 1 tablespoon lemon zest. Beat until dough forms.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Cool on cookie sheets 1 minute; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine all glaze ingredients except milk in medium bowl. Beat at medium speed, gradually adding enough milk for desired dipping consistency. Pour glaze into small bowl.

Dip tops of cooled cookies into glaze; shake off excess glaze. Place onto waxed paper; sprinkle tops with coarse grain sugar. Let stand until glaze is set (about 1 hour). Store in loosely covered container between sheets of waxed paper.


Maple Pecan Thumbprints (MY favorite!)

Cookie:

1 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 1/4 c. finely chopped pecans
1 egg white, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 375.

Combine butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat at med speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour and salt and beat until dough forms.

Put pecans in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch round balls. Dip each ball into egg white and then roll in pecans. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Make indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb or back of teaspoon. Bake 11-13 minutes or until very light browned and set. Cool completely.

Frosting:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
3 T. butter, melted
2 T. Milk
3/4 tsp maple extract

Combine all in small mixing bowl. Beat at low speed until smooth. Fill centers of each cooled cookie.

(Both of these recipes come from some magazine Land O'Lakes put out - this is in tiny print because the magazine is REALLY OBNOXIOUS, putting their brand name in every ingredient list. But I ain't no thief! Except for the part where I stole their pictures.)